The National Basketball Association is no closer to working out its labor issues. Instead, things have actually taken a major turn for the worse.

NBA players are planning to dissolve their union which will pave the way for an antitrust lawsuit. Going to court not only jeopardizes the current season but could possibly drag into 2012 and endanger next year’s licensed basketball games.

Sports gamers are used to publishers shutting down servers after a couple of years. When Madden 12 hits stores, I soon expect a gentle nudge to stop playing Madden 10 online. EA shut that server down in August 2011, right before Madden 12′s release. 2K Sports earned the ire of its online community by announcing it would shut down NBA 2K11 servers this month. Yes, the game that released this time last year. The timing couldn’t be worse, as NBA 2K12 is under fire for a substandard online experience. After much outcry, 2K Sports announced it would extend the NBA 2K11 server life until April 2012.

The NBA 2K games have become the standard in basketball sims. That’s through innovations including the Jordan Challenges and also because EA can’t get a product out consistently.

2K’s Achilles heel has been online play. It takes a long time to get matches and disconnects and lags are a frequent problem. A patch on the 360 that was supposed to iron these problems out didn’t and seems to have created more. Game invites aren’t working properly. Finding a random match already is difficult, with the inability to invite friends to games online is an even bigger mess.

Pro basketball players are looking for other means of income during the NBA lockout. Several are making deals to play overseas. Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward is going pro in a different game, StarCraft II Hayward has joined the IGN Pro League and will play in the IPL Origins event in Atlantic City Oct. 6-9. He will also serve as a spokesperson for the event. Hayward’s already paying dividends in that department. CBS Sports and Yahoo are among the news outlets that have picked up the story.

Real world labor negotiations have been playing havoc on sports video games in 2011. Madden NFL 12 had the National Football League lockout to deal with. The National Basketball Association has locked its players out as well. NBA 2K12 won’t be able to include rookies drafted in 2011 until the league’s labor problems are fixed. Once the lockout is done with, the rookies can enter the game through a roster update. 2K Sports has the players, their season starting ratings and commentary about them ready to go for that update. The only thing holding 2K up is the lockout. Right now, there’s little progress on that front.

NBA 2K11 was a huge critical and commercial success for 2K Sports, due in no small part to the inclusion of Michael Jordan. His involvement wasn’t just in name. The game also featured the Jordan Challenges, which asked players to recreate some of the greatest moments in his career. 2K Sports has announced three separate covers for NBA 2K12, featuring Jordan, Earvin “Magic” Johnson and Larry Bird. The Jordan Challenges concept has now expanded to the NBA’s Greatest Mode. You’ll have to relive great achievements from the careers of 15 basketball legends including Julius Erving and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. After doing those challenges, you unlock the players and teams to use in other modes.

Kobe Bryant made an appearance at the Sony press conference to demo 2K Sports’ NBA 2K12.

The latest installment in the 2K franchise will be implementing motion control with the Playstation Move. This will allow Move users to point at a given teammate and with the push of a button, allow them to pass, steal, rebound and defend against their opponents.

Debate surrounding how college athletes should be compensated for their skills is never ending. EA Sports, at least for now, is no longer part of those issues. On May 4, 2011, Judge Claudia Wilken removed EA Sports from a lawsuit that also included the NCAA and the Collegiate Licensing Company.

The lawsuit combined the cases of former college quarterback Sam Keller and college basketball player Ed O’ Bannon. In her dismissal of EA from the case, Wilken said the lawsuit alleges a conspiracy to use player likenesses and deny compensation through NCAA rules. Wilken said the complaint doesn’t actually allege that EA Sports participated in the conspiracy.

The National Basketball Association playoffs are at hand and Playdom is taking full advantage with NBA Dynasty. This sim charges you with being the owner, general manager and head coach of your favorite NBA team. Unlike many games on Facebook, you have a level of interaction beyond clicking and waiting for things to happen. The first three quarters of the game are simulated but, during the fourth quarter of games, you have the option to coach the team. You’re trusted with three timeouts as well as first aid kits for injuries and sports drinks to get players back in the game fast.

EA Sports’ basketball simulation reboot is having a harder time getting onto the court than oft-injured Portland Trail Blazers draft pick Greg Oden.

Mixed in with EA’s press release about NBA Jam On Fire Edition was a “we hope you don’t notice this” quote about EA’s basketball simulation franchise. EA Sports President Peter Moore confirmed that EA will release its next basketball sim in 2012. That means EA is taking a two-year hiatus from releasing an NBA sim.