Gaming Friday: NBA 2K10 cover announcement

I've been intrigued to follow the announcements on next year's NBA video gaming covers.  As mentioned earlier, EA Sports will be announcing their cover athlete for NBA Live 10 during NBA Draft week.  Meanwhile, in sync with Game One of the NBA Finals (and e3 week), 2K Sports announced Kobe Bryant as their cover athlete.  Honestly, not a huge surprise.  Here's a good read on ESPN about Kobe and the game.  What I found mildly surprising was their announcement commercial, which also aired last night:

Spike Lee going through a list of possible Knicks to slot on the cover, before settling on his recommendation of Kobe in a Knicks uniform.  Fans can vote online here.  On the site are 4 covers of Kobe (and only Kobe).  3 Lakers poses, 1 Knicks pose.  As of now, NY Kobe is in second place.  Which kind of surprises me -- as the contest itself feels, well unauthentic.  (Did they have this concept in place when they were cutting a deal with LeBron and then just kept it for Kobe?)  It's interesting to me I guess to see this, as 2K's gaming lineup has always been billed as the one with the most authentic feel and this year we see this launch, while EA is delaying showing their hand until NBA Draft week.  Is this a changing of the guard?

What I would like to see though is a way to tap into the emotion of fans in a way that is meaningful and authentic and I just don't think it has been tapped into yet, by anyone.  Spike does a great job of illustrating the passion each fan has for their team.  But how far off are we from customizing your own cover?  Create your own artwork around the chosen athlete and order it...  or (even better) choose from a list of athletes.  That makes gaming covers more pieces of art and less pieces on a shelf or in an entertainment cabinet.  It taps into the minds of creatives out there.  And, well, it's fun.