Video: Inside NBA 2K13’s My Team mode

NBA 2K13 will be released to the North American audience on Oct. 2. One of the innovative modes that I am excited about is My Team, where it allows users to cultivate their own unique rosters.

My Team has expanded significantly since NBA 2K12 as they have added a couple of elements that will make the game more realistic.

Player salaries- To field a 12-team roster, you will need players. There are three levels — bronze, silver and gold — that will cost varying amounts of money. The bronze players will be essentially free — ie: Andrew Goudelock, Cory Joseph — and it is our goal to eventually accumulate enough money to acquire gold level players. Superstar laden teams are unlikely unless you are willing to pour in excessive amounts of time in this game.

The developers made acquiring superstars difficult to mirror the actual free agency market; purchasing Kobe Bryant alone would likely take upwards of 20 hours of game play. Plus, these player salaries will fluctuate when the season begins, making diligence imperative to fully taking advantage of the dynamic market. Ratings will be influenced by schedules and recent performance.

Booster packs- These will be the initial structure of your team. You can receive coaches, uniforms, court floors, players, legend players and signature skill cards (spot-up shooter, corner specialist, etc) in these packs. If you are not feeling lucky, purchasing individual players is another alternative.

Road to the playoffs- Your team will begin outside the playoffs and needs to win three out of 12 games to move to the No. 8 seed. The underlying goal is to eventually earn the No. 1 seed. Succeeding in this mode will result in rewards, players, currency and booster packs. This mode is online only.

Exhibition- Exhibition mode requires no salary to play the CPU. You can play against bronze, silver and gold level teams — defeating the gold teams offer the biggest rewards, and the biggest challenge, which helps increase your VC balance. The money in your VC balance can be used to buy players, booster packs and pay salary for the Road to the Playoffs mode.

More in depth coverage of NBA 2K13’s My Team Mode can be found in the accompanying video.

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Photo courtesy of pastapadre.com