It's hard to believe that this year marks the ten year anniversary of the Dreamcast. I remember giddily anticipating the 9.9.99 release of what would be Sega's last hardware entry, if for no other reason than the release of NFL 2K, which still remains one of the most incredible sports games of all time. However, tucked just behind NFL 2K's September 1999 release was another sports game from the folks at Visual Concepts--NBA 2K, released in November of that year--which did nearly as much for basketball as its football brethren did for pigskin. Today, 2K announced a special anniversary edition version of its upcoming NBA 2K10--which, obviously, is the tenth game in the famed basketball series. To coincide with the announcement, we spoke with 2K's Vice President of Sports Development Jeff Thomas to get his thoughts on the history of the series, as well as what fans can expect from the limited edition version of 2K10.

GameSpot: This being the tenth anniversary of the NBA 2K series, let's take it back to the beginning. What do you remember about the development of NBA 2K?

Jeff Thomas: It was HARD! No, kidding aside, I remember being amazed at the power of the Dreamcast and what it was capable of doing. This was the start of it all.

GS: What was building the team like? This being the first basketball game you made, how much "NBA 101" was required in order to get the team up to speed?

JT: Building any development team is difficult but we were lucky to get people that had actual college basketball experience. I still hear the stories about taking "so and so" to the rim at the Purdue campus!

GS: What was the hardest thing to get right about the sport? What aspect of the game came easiest to you during development?

JT: The hardest thing about making any sports title is "the feel" . A game just has to feel right and that is a very difficult thing to accomplish. As far as easy goes, I am still waiting for that!

GS: At the time, Visual Concepts was riding high from the buzz surrounding NFL 2K's release with the launch of the Dreamcast. Were you worried that the NBA game would be lost by comparison?

JT: Of course NFL was in the limelight because it was the first one completed and with the popularity of football in this country, it was no doubt going to get the buzz. But we always knew that NBA was going to be an incredible game as well. All of the same technology that was driving NFL 2K was also driving NBA, and with the amount of drive the NBA team has it was only a matter of time before it ruled the NBA market.

GS: Leading up to the debut game's release in 1999, what was the atmosphere like at Visual Concepts? Was it competitive between the NFL and NBA teams? Friendly? Or was everyone just sort of buckled down and trying to get their product finished?

JT: Competition was always very high here at VC, but not between the NFL and NBA teams but between us and the competing products. The reason we have such a great game today is because of the driving force needed to beat the big company down the road. NBA 2K10 will launch alongside the standard release. Titled NBA 2K10: Anniversary Edition, this special release is to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the NBA 2K franchise.

The Anniversary Edition will reportedly retail for $99.99 when it launches later this fall. What will you get for the 40-dollar price hike? For starters, you'll of course get your own copy of NBA 2K10. In addition, you'll also get a 2K Sports locker that can hold up to 20 games inside. And yes, it comes with a padlock for security's sake. You'll also get a 3" figurine of Kobe Bryant designed by McFarlane Toys, a 16" x 36" Kobe Bryant poster, a commemorative anniversary DVD that runs through ten years worth of past cover athletes, and access to the Gold Room which is the NBA 2K10 VIP online lobby.There are only 30,000 copies of the NBA 2K10: Anniversary Edition being made, so fans who want to get their hands on one should head out to stores early. Ten lucky fans will win an autographed Kobe Bryant fine-art print, designed by Shepard Fairey's Studio Number One. The print will be hidden in the 2K Sports locker.

NBA 2K10: Anniversary Edition is scheduled to launch alongside the standard edition of NBA 2K10 later this fall and will retail for $99.99.