2K Sports Welcomes Fans to The Other Season for NBA 2K9

October 2, 2008

2K Sports Welcomes Fans to "The
Other Season" for NBA 2K9

2K Sports creates a fantasy
league where NBA superstars are the owners and gamers are the stars

2K Sports, the sports publishing
label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., today announced details for The
Other Season, a freshly unique online fantasy league for the highly anticipated
basketball title NBA 2K9. With a new twist on the fantasy sports phenomenon,
eight real life NBA superstars have signed up to participate as team owners,
while online gamers playing exclusively on Xbox LIVE  online entertainment
network and PlayStation Network will have the exciting opportunity to be drafted
onto one of the NBA superstars’ NBA 2K9 fantasy team.

“The Other Season is an amazing
opportunity for fans to be on the virtual team of their favorite NBA player,”
said Greg Thomas, senior vice president of sports development at 2K. “We can’t
wait to see how these teams match up against each other throughout the season.”

NBA 2K9 cover athlete Kevin Garnett
Boston Celticswill be one of the many fantasy team owners for The Other Season,
along with the other popular NBA superstars Andre Iguodala Philadelphia 76ers),
Carlos Boozer Utah Jazz), Chauncey Billups Detroit Pistons), Steve Nash Phoenix
Suns), Greg Oden Portland Trailer Blazers), Derrick Rose Chicago Bulls), and
Monta Ellis Golden State Warriors). 2K Sports will make a contribution of
$10,000 to the charity of choice of the NBA player whose fantasy team wins The
Other Season championship.

The teams and owners in The Other
Season, along with the charities they are competing for, are:

Kevin Garnett: The OBF Soldiers.
Brothers in Arms. Monsters in the paint. Charity: Komplete Academy
www.kompleteacademy.com

Andre Iguodala: The Iguo-Dollaz.
Intensity and versatility you can bank on. Charity: Andre Iguodala Youth
Foundation 
http://www.iguodala9.com/youth.html

Carlos Boozer: The Boo-Yaz. Made for
the highlight reel. Charity: Boozer’s Buddies

www.boozersbuddiesfoundation.org

Chauncey Billups: Smooth’s Squad. No
buzzer left unbeaten. Charity: Porter-Billups Leadership Academy
www.porter-billups.org

Steve Nash: The Nash Potatoes. An
MVP staple that always delivers. Charity: The Steve Nash Foundation
www.stevenash.org

Greg Oden: Oden’s Hammers. Everyone
else is just a nail. Charity: Oregon Mentors
www.oregonmentors.org

Derrick Rose: The Great Poohdinis.
Now you see us, now you don’t. Charity: Children First Fund

http://www.2ksports.com/childrenfirstfund

Monta Ellis: The Mississippi
Warriors. River speed meets delta force. Charity: The United Negro College Fund
www.uncf.org

Fans can now sign-up online to
receive registration information for the NBA 2K9 fantasy league draft through
www.theotherseason.com,
and while every player who registers and participates will be drafted, fans can
make their own pitch for why they should be drafted to a specific team by
describing their strengths and weaknesses, platform they play on, gamertag, and
they can even upload personal images and videos. The Other Season fantasy league
website will also offer exclusive video content and news updates from each NBA
superstar and his individual fantasy team, track how well each fantasy team is
performing, and provide dedicated fans with a community message board to chat
about the latest happenings. The official fantasy draft will be posted at 12:01
a.m. EDT on October 28.

Individual player statistics and
overall fantasy team rankings will be tracked through online play. A real-time
leaderboard will also be available on The Other Season website to showcase the
top ranked players in the league. After a team owner drafts a player, he will
send a message to congratulate the player on helping his team’s standings in the
league, though for players who are not active in the league for over a month,
they will also be in jeopardy of being cut from the team.

Scoring in The Other Season will be
based on overall statistical performance in ranked online one-on-one game play.
A player’s overall score is his Fantasy Points Score FPS). Points are awarded as
follows:

  • Point: +1

  • Rebound: +1

  • Assist: +1

  • Steal: +2

  • Block: +2

  • Turnover: -2

  • Foul: -1

A player’s individual FPS is
calculated by the total of all fantasy points scored in all ranked online
one-on-one games, divided by the total minutes played in ranked online
one-on-one games. Team scores are based on the average of all team members’ FPS.

The Other Season is a real league
with real results and incentivizes the best virtual athletes in NBA 2K9 to
practice their game and be rewarded like never before. For more information on
The Other Season and official rules, please visit
www.theotherseason.com

NBA 2K9 is the latest edition of NBA
2K, the series that has been the #1 rated NBA simulation for seven years in a
row* and is back for its 10th season. NBA 2K9 is the premier basketball game for
serious players, and will deliver the most realistic and feature-rich simulation
experience ever available in the NBA 2K franchise – from gameplay and graphics
to presentation and online features. NBA 2K9 is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB
and will be available on October 7 for the Xbox 360® video game and
entertainment system from Microsoft, and the PLAYSTATION®3 and PlayStation®2
computer entertainment systems. For more information about NBA 2K9, please visit
http://www.2ksports.com/games/nba2k9.

*The NBA 2K series developed by
Visual Concepts outranked competitors based on GameRankings.com average scores
of 2001-2007 NBA video games.