Skip to main content
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ The Games, Movies, TV & Comics You Love
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
  • TV
  • Movies
  • Hardware
  • Video
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Guides
  • Deals
  • More
    • PS5
    • Xbox Series X
    • Nintendo Switch
    • Nintendo Switch 2
    • PC
    • Platforms
    • Tabletop Gaming
    • Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsletters
    • About us
    • Features
Total Film
Gaming Magazines
Gaming Magazines
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe from just £3
  • Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12
Subscribe now
Trending
  • Gamescom 2025 schedule
  • Gamescom
  • Battlefield 6
  • New Games for 2025
Don't miss these
FC 26
EA Sports FC EA Sports FC 26 has surprised me by forgoing a gimmicky selling point in favor of smarter, smaller tweaks: "Gameplay is always going to be the most important thing"
NBA 2K25
NBA 2K NBA 2K25 locker codes guide to free MyCareer and MyTeam items
Madden 25
Madden NFL Madden 26: Everything you need to know about the new NFL game
Madden 26
Madden NFL Madden 26 preview: Scott Hanson delivers ESPN NFL 2K5 half-time show vibes at long last
College Football 26: a player running while holding the ball
Sports Games College Football 26 preview: EA says “We listened” with 2,800 new plays and 300 coaches
College Football 26
Sports Games College Football 26: Everything you need to know about the upcoming sports game
FC 26
EA Sports FC EA Sports FC 26: Everything you need to know about the upcoming football sim
Kyle Crane looks out at the horizon in Dying Light: The Beast with the GR+ Horror Special badge
Survival Horror Games Dying Light: The Beast is more than a homecoming for Kyle Crane – "For us, this is Dying Light 3"
A header crop of the Drag X Drive key art, showing a heavily padded character in a wheelchair spinning a basketball on their finger with a neon-lit basket in the background
Sports Games Animal Crossing co-creator and longtime Mario Kart programmer are the leads behind the Nintendo Switch 2's newest exclusive, a Rocket League-esque basketball game
Madden 26
Madden NFL Madden 26 review: "The finest entry in a decade by some margin"
lego batman screenshot showing him bopping someone on the head with a frying pan
Adventure Games Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight's combat was inspired by the Arkham series: "We also wanted to bring our own Lego approach to that foundation"
Shinobi
Retro Retro Gamer magazine celebrates the history of Shinobi
Rematch players celebrating in a large stadium
Sports Games "The essence of football is not in the rules": Rematch's creative director on nailing that five-a-side feeling and making a game "about kicking a ball rather than kicking heads in"
Kyle Crane looks through a pair of binoculars in Dying Light: The Beast, with the GR+ Horror Special badge
Survival Horror Games "Our fans would kill us": Dying Light: The Beast director outlines Techland's "areas of perfection" that "we cannot mess up to any extent"
Lego Batman
Action Games The stealthy spirit of Arkham Knight returns in Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, and I never believed a Lego game could pull this off
  1. Games
  2. Sports Games
  3. NBA 2K
  4. NBA 2K13

NBA 2K13 - 7 things you didn't know about this year's baller

Features
By Andy Hartup published 4 October 2012

Gameplay director Rob Jones spills the secrets to NBA 2K13

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

How to be a team player

How to be a team player

NBA 2K13 is out in the wild. Our review copies arrived a little late, but we'll be posting our verdict by the end of the week. In the meantime, we sat down with gameplay director Rob Jones to find out more about what makes Visual Concepts' newest title tick. From community feedback to how the team strives to capture the essence of the sport, there's plenty to discover from our chat with Mr. Jones.

Page 1 of 9
Page 1 of 9
GamesRadar: What is the secret to creating a great basketball game?

GamesRadar: What is the secret to creating a great basketball game?

Rob Jones: I think the trend in games is capturing the true emotion. Not only the mechanic of playing the sport, but the emotion and the feeling of actually being involved and being involved in everything thats going on. I think we need to embrace that the media has really brought basketball lifestyle to the forefront. You have to sell that fantasy. I think that adventures games have done it, and I think sport games have started scratching that surface. Sure, the heart of the game is a simulation of basketball that feels real, and feels fun. As long as we do that, all the other stuff will come along with it.

Page 2 of 9
Page 2 of 9
GR: How do you get the sport so right?

GR: How do you get the sport so right?

Rob Jones: I spend my time working on basketball; I try to teach basketball through the videogame, while making it fun. I get to go to NBA games all the time as part of what I do, and so basketball has given me a lot--Im passionate about the sport. I run my own basketball program back home; I teach kids how to play. When they find out I make the videogame on top of that, its like "Oh my God, thats the full thing." Nothing is as exciting as seeing the smile on somebody thats playing your game and really feels like youve hit the nail on the head.

Page 3 of 9
Page 3 of 9
GR: How much do you listen to the community?

GR: How much do you listen to the community?

Rob Jones: The communitys ideas are usually the same that we have, internally, about what does and doesnt feel right. From the first videos of 2K13 most people realised, even watching guys that werent very good on the sticks, that a lot of the things they were upset with the year before were gone. Thats good--it carries because those are the guys who are going out evangelizing things for us. As much as press does as well, word of mouth is so strong for NBA 2K.

Page 4 of 9
Page 4 of 9
GR: How far are you taking NBA 2K beyond traditional consoles?

GR: How far are you taking NBA 2K beyond traditional consoles?

Rob Jones: I think this is really our beginning in terms of where were at with this stuff. I think that as we see the success of our apps that are out there well be able to judge. Im a huge Football Manager fan. I spend my time playing it, and I have a friend who posts about Football Manager all the time. I see a value in an Association app. When and how well get there that I dont know. Its the only thing I can say honestly, I dont know. But I see a huge value there.

Page 5 of 9
Page 5 of 9
GR: Who really owns games the developers or the players?

GR: Who really owns games the developers or the players?

Rob Jones: I think the game still belongs to us. Because as developers we are the end user you know? You would never hire somebody that wasnt also the target user on to your team. One of the big discussions that we have is this: so, Im a guy that focuses on gameplay and talks about gameplay--my opinion and your opinion about 2K13 may differ completely, but the only way for a game to truly be right is if were somewhere in the middle, appeasing both sides. Maybe both sides arent completely happy, but I cant make this side happy and leave this other guy upset. It belongs more to us than it does to the players, especially because of the features that we introduce to them that we want them to gravitate to.

Page 6 of 9
Page 6 of 9
GR: Whats the future of the NBA 2K series?

GR: Whats the future of the NBA 2K series?

Rob Jones: One of the things Ive always said is "when we reach a point where I think were mimicking the sport, will be the day I go and do something else... maybe another title or another type of game." When I started on 2K we were really far from what playing basketball in real life felt like. Were getting a lot closer, but were still not as close as Id like to be. I know people say its the best simulation, but its still not quite the experience you have when youre on the basketball court. Trying to mimic that is really important to me, and thats what drives me every day.

Page 7 of 9
Page 7 of 9
GR: Finally, who will win the 2012/13 season?

GR: Finally, who will win the 2012/13 season?

Rob Jones: The Heat will probably be able to repeat, but if the Lakers can stay healthy, that team is pretty hard to beat

Page 8 of 9
Page 8 of 9
Hit the court

Hit the court

That about does it for this, but be sure to check back soon for GamesRadar's review of NBA 2K13 if you're interested in seeing how the game turns out.

And if you're looking for more sports-related coverage, check out our sports podcast, Box Score and the things we want from future sports games.

Page 9 of 9
Page 9 of 9
CATEGORIES
PlayStation Xbox Platforms
Andy Hartup
Andy Hartup
Social Links Navigation
See more Playstation Features
Read more
FC 26
EA Sports FC 26 has surprised me by forgoing a gimmicky selling point in favor of smarter, smaller tweaks: "Gameplay is always going to be the most important thing"
NBA 2K25
NBA 2K25 locker codes guide to free MyCareer and MyTeam items
Madden 25
Madden 26: Everything you need to know about the new NFL game
Madden 26
Madden 26 preview: Scott Hanson delivers ESPN NFL 2K5 half-time show vibes at long last
College Football 26: a player running while holding the ball
College Football 26 preview: EA says “We listened” with 2,800 new plays and 300 coaches
College Football 26
College Football 26: Everything you need to know about the upcoming sports game
Latest in NBA 2K
A screenshot from the reveal trailer for NBA 2K25: Gravity Ball, showing a group of people stood outside the Gravity Ball building.
NBA 2K25 is taking notes from Fortnite, becoming a strange new digital platform by offering the only way to play the new game from acclaimed Lego racing devs
NBA 2K25
NBA 2K25 locker codes guide to free MyCareer and MyTeam items
NBA
NBA 2K23 player grinds for 700 hours, gets a tiny car and four badges
NBA 2K23
Nbasketball 23 tricked unwitting NBA 2K23 buyers before it was delisted from the Xbox store
NBA 2K23
Why I love NBA 2K23 despite not really caring about basketball
NBA 2K23
NBA 2K23 ratings guide with the top 10 players at every position
Latest in Features
Borderlands 4 screenshot shows someone holding a weapon forward towards the camera.
"We tend to commit to the bit": Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford talks Borderlands 4, the evolution of looter-shooters, and $80 game discourse
Valor Mortis
Ghostrunner devs abandon parkour for Valor Mortis, a first-person soulslike that might explain why the rest of the genre follows Dark Souls' lead
A mech firing a machine gun in the desert in Menace
Menace is an XCOM-Warhammer hybrid that makes turn-based strategy feel like an immersive sim, and for the first time in my life I'm playing a game that seems made for me
Metal Gear Solid 5 showing Snake and Ocelot looking to the horizon in front of more soldiers
10 years later, Metal Gear Solid 5 remains a masterpiece that was never going to live up to its own hype
Dogtooth
The new Yorgos Lanthimos movie is getting rave first reactions out of Venice Film Festival, but I think it's worth revisiting his breakout feature Dogtooth before Bugonia hits theaters this fall
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Legacy of the Forge DLC showing Henry and two allies standing looking down
I built a home and ran a business in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2's next DLC, and the added role-playing guarantees I'll spend another 70 hours in my current game of the year
  1. Kaser clad in black and Victor in white clash swords in Lost Soul Aside
    1
    Lost Soul Aside review: "We (don't) have Final Fantasy Versus 13 at home"
  2. 2
    Hell is Us review: "The lack of waypoints and explicit objectives is a double-edged magical sword that pulls me deep into its harsh world"
  3. 3
    Shuten Order review: "The Danganronpa creator's new multi-genre mystery feels like a forgotten DS cult classic I would have been obsessed with"
  4. 4
    The Rogue Prince of Persia review: "I roguelike but don't roguelove this freerunner – there's just not enough to stand out"
  5. 5
    Shinobi: Art of Vengeance review: "So close to being to a pitch-perfect revival of a classic series, but just can't quite line up the killing blow"
  1. Jacob Elordi as the monster in Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein
    1
    Frankenstein review: "A classy, if somewhat safe, adaptation"
  2. 2
    Weapons review: "A twisted fairytale that bests Barbarian"
  3. 3
    The Fantastic Four: First Steps review: "An occasionally thrilling heroic adventure that sits safely within a B-tier MCU range"
  4. 4
    Superman review: "A triumphant reinvention and a promising start for the DCU"
  5. 5
    Jurassic World Rebirth Review: "An unscary sequel that needed a little more time in amber"
  1. John Cena as Peacemaker holds a gun to the head of a different John Cena as Peacemaker in Peacemaker season 2.
    1
    Peacemaker season 2 review: "Darker and sadder than the first year, but there's still a lot of fun to be had with the 11th Street Kids."
  2. 2
    Wednesday season 2 part 1 review: "Complex and exciting but weighed down by too many subplots"
  3. 3
    Alien: Earth review: "Arguably the franchise's strongest outing since James Cameron's Aliens"
  4. 4
    King of the Hill season 14 review: "Hank Hill himself has evolved into a much more open and accepting person"
  5. 5
    Eyes of Wakanda review: "A creative premise shortchanged by the runtime and Marvel bloat"

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...