Visual Concepts/2K Sports
One of the big third-party titles coming to the Nintendo Switch later this year is NBA 2K18. The wildly-popular basketball simulator will be the first NBA 2K to appear on a Nintendo console since NBA 2K13 on the Wii U.
The game is on par with the other versions which is good news for Switch owners but a listing on the Japanese Nintendo store page may actually suggest the Nintendo Switch version is getting additional support in the form of amiibo.
No information on what amiibo will work has been given so all we have is speculation. This doesn’t mean a LeBron James amiibo is coming any time soon but it does suggest that already existing amiibo may have some sort of functionality with the game. It’s possible we could see Mario jerseys or something of the sort appear in the game.
Mario appearing in basketball games isn’t something that has never happened before. He made an appearance in NBA Street V3 for the GameCube and he has headlined his own game called Mario Hoops 3-on-3 for the Nintendo DS.
NBA 2K18 isn’t the only game appearing on the Switch to feature exclusive Switch features. Skyrim on the Nintendo Switch, which was shown off during E3 2017, confirmed the Switch version will include amiibo support to unlock Breath of the Wild gear and will feature motion controls. The Switch version will also come packed with all the DLC released for the game in the past.
Kyrie Irving is set to appear on the cover of the game although there are trade rumors swirling around him. If he does end up being traded, he won’t be the first cover star to appear on a different team before the game was released. There was a similar issue for the Madden 09 cover and Brett Favre. EA eventually released a second cover that featured Brett Favre in a Jets jersey.
NBA 2K18 releases September 19 for Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, Nintendo Switch and PC. While you can just pick up the standard edition, you could instead opt for the Legend Edition which will get you a bunch of in-game items such as VC, MyTEAM packs and more.