2K Games has announced that NBA 2K13 is coming to the Wii U console, and will be released in the launch window. The Wii U is rumored to be launching on November 18, 2012, while NBA 2K13 will launch on October 2 for the Xbox 360 and PS3. 2K didn’t reveal any Wii U specific features for the NBA basketball game, although we expect it not only to look better due to more powerful hardware, but some form of innovative use of the controller as well.
NBA 2K13 is one of the first sports titles to be officially confirmed for the Wii U, the other being EA’s Madden 13. EA is also expected to bring the rest of their EA Sports lineup to the console, including FIFA 13, NHL 13, and others. 2K also revealed that those who pre-order NBA 2K13 will get a free DLC: the NBA All Star event, where players can stage their own All Star game, 3 point shootout, and dunk contest. It’s unknown if this DLC will be available to regular buyers of the game. We’d be surprised if it’s an exclusive pre-order bonus.
Sports titles are some of the games that can clearly benefit from the Wii U controller. The tablet screen can be used to show detailed stats of the game, to call out plays, manage the player squad — the possibilities are endless. Hopefully developers won’t just do straight ports to the Wii U of their games, but find some great ways of utilizing this new technology.
