Pre-order incentives have become a norm in the gaming industry, as publishers attempt to hook consumers before they even know if a game will be any good. It's become adviseable not to pre-order in many cases, but sports games may be the exception. The majority of the time consumers aren't going in blind because these are games that release every year and rarely change dramatically from one to the next.
2K Sports is taking a more dramatic approach with the pre-order bonus for NBA 2K16. With an official release date now set for September 29, those who pre-order the game will get it four days in advance of that, on Friday, September 25.
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Additionally the pre-order incentive includes 10,000 in Virtual Currency (used to improve players in MyCareer or on packs in MyTeam) as well as bonus packs for MyTeam Mode.
NBA 2K16 will release for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. The game will also have a PC version; however, that one is excluded from the early release. The "Early Tip-Off" edition of NBA 2K16 is already available for pre-order through retailers that include Amazon and Gamestop .
Bryan Wiedey posts sports gaming news and analysis daily at Pastapadre.com, is a regular participant in the Press Row Podcast and Hangout shows, and can be reached on Twitter @Pastapadre.