NBA 2K6

NBA 2K6 is a basketball video game that strives to simulate the experience of the National Basketball Association. Players mostly play NBA games with any real world team, and may customize certain aspects, such as the camera angle, sound levels, and sliders, which adjust the realism. Players can play quick games, as well as other game modes, including Association, where players select a team, and play through NBA seasons, customizing various aspects. Players act as the manager of the team, trading players, drafting college players, firing coaches, and playing NBA games of various levels (playoffs, regular season, practice, etc.).

Gameplay-wise, players may play basketball games with the whole team or one player, and will perform all the basic basketball moves that the individual player can perform. The player can dunk, pass, play in the post, run plays, call timeouts, and blocks shots (etc.). The game features many visual and presentation elements that help improve the realism; the game includes commentary, crowd animations, lighting effects, sound effects, and other small details. Kevin Harlan is the play-by-play commentator, Kenny Smith is the colour commentator, and Craig Sager is the sideline reporter.

Shaquille O'Neal is the cover athlete of the game. As well as being the cover athlete, O'Neal also helped with the development of the game's low post gameplay. O'Neal worked with the design teams to help create new animations, providing the motion capture for some of the pump-fakes, drop-steps, and blocks the players in the game perform. O'Neal was once again the cover athlete for NBA 2K7.

NBA 2K6 was released on September 26, 2005, for PlayStation 2 and Xbox, and November 16, 2005, for Xbox 360. This is the first game in the NBA 2K series to be released on the Xbox 360. It is also the first game in the series to be published by 2K and not Sega.

NBA 2K6 received "favorable" reviews on all platforms according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.

com complained of the Xbox 360 version's "biggest setback -- it doesn't have the instant visual appeal, next-gen look, or out-and-out raw emotion that gamers want to see in a next-gen sports game. The actual mechanics of the game are quite strong (the shot stick and free throw system are perhaps the best mechanics we've seen in a basketball game to date), and it has all the depth and options we've come to expect from a veteran basketball series. feels like a natural evolution of the franchise more than something that makes you want to rush out and buy it to show off your shiny new console. If you're a pessimist, well, the game isn't much more than a high-definition port of its excellent current-gen counterparts.