The mental wear and tear of NBA2K11

38 matches is a long time in the Premier League. Add F.A. Cup and Carling Cup matches (depending how far you go) and you've got an even longer and arduous season of football. How long can a player keep up the mental toughness required to be at the top of their game? What happens when they drop the ball and lose focus?

Now take 38 games, add another 44 and you've got yourself just the regular season of NBA without consideration of playoff matches. That's 82 matches, some games played back to back, sometimes three matches played in the same week. It's long, and it's tough, and by the mid point of the season it's extremely hard to maintain the intensity you had at the beginning of the season. By the way I'm talking about NBA 2K11 not real life basketball.

But answer me this - how different is it to the real thing? Of course strip away the physical aspect of the game (because we all know that gamers are unfit and undesirable, thanks to the media) and instead focus the mental side of the sport.

I still remember how pumped I was when I played my first game as the Cavaliers against the Boston Celtics. I was itching to get onto the court with a Lebron-less team, and Kevin Harlan, Clark Kellogg and Doris Burke did a fantastic job of reminding me that it was the opening of the season. The crowd in Quicken Loans Arena were loud and raucous, and everytime I scored they cheered. Now fast forward to 54 games in, and while I'm at the top of the Eastern Conference (sans Lebron HAH), it's fair to say that mental fatigue has set into my play. I'm a lot more eager to go for fast basket, go for a steal and be called for a reach in foul, or just have mental lapses in the third and fourth quarter. The fierceness and determination to win has now been replaced with notions of each match being a chore, and sooner or later I'm going to stumble and fall, while Paul Pierce, Dwayne Wade and Dwight Howard are waiting in the wings to snap at first position on the ladder.

Through 2K giving the player the option to play every single game, they have recreated the most realistic aspect of sports games in general, where 54 games into the season and counting – the feeling of mental fatigue has crept into the mind of the player. Now let's compare real life - is there any doubt that the performance of Derrick Rose dipped some way throughout the season due to mental wear and tear? Lebron's exodus from the Cavaliers was somewhat due to the relief that he would no longer have to carry the offense 'night after night' and instead become more of a distributor for the Miami Heat – inevitably being a one man team took a lot out of him. At some point or another basketball stopped being a passion and became a job for them. And I think I'm starting to feel the same way about 2K11. And it kinda sucks.

It's no doubt that there are parallels between 2K11 and real life basketball. Beyond the realism of Jordan sticking out his tongue whenever he drives to the basket – it's hard not to feel worn out by mid season. Is that any fun though in terms of game design? At what point does a player stop playing and start simulating, leaving the fate of his team to a bunch of unseen numbers that determine win or loss because they can't be bothered playing anymore? In the end I play games like 2K11 to relax and have fun, but the mental fatigue I'm feeling at the moment is starting to take its toll on me. I'll play the 82 games and every post season game (mmm trophies) but whether I'll be playing another season...I'll have to decide after my ticker-tape parade.