Specific NBA 2K12 Covers Cant Be Preordered

As soon as the announcement was made that there would be three different covers for NBA 2K12 consumers began declaring which version they planned to get. Michael Jordan remains immensely popular of course but the novelty of being on the cover has somewhat worn off given its his second straight year while Magic Johnson and Larry Bird have a large number of fans and come from huge markets as they make their first appearance on the cover.

Unfortunately getting ahold of the specifically desired cover may be more difficult than anticipated. Retailers are at least initially stating that due to the same UPC being used across the board plus the uncertain shipment quantities means there there will be no way to request a specific cover when preordering. Some websites have already added a disclaimer that there will be no guarantee on which cover will be received.

The Bird and Johnson covers are expected to be in limited supply. This would seem to be a miss for 2K Sports who may have been able to sell them for more as “limited editions” – instead what will happen now is the creation of a secondary market for those covers. It could even effect preorders as some may choose to wait and try and get a certain version from the store or resellers once the game has released. There is obviously a split of fans that will be seeking a certain cover and that is something 2K is playing on to generate interest. Not making it easier to obtain the desired version though may be a source of frustration going forward.