Tech difficulties.

My laptop's been shutting off unexpectedly lately when I play NBA 2K14, which I have been playing since it got released. Whenever the program starts, I put the laptop on High Performance, and about a month ago when it started to make a high pitched sound and the "shut-downs" started. My laptop hovers from 70-80 degrees when playing. and my settings are not maximized. I run 2K14 on an LED monitor connected to the laptop.

Specs:
CPU: i3-2350 @ 2.30GHz
RAM: 2GB
Motherboard: ASUSTeK K43SD
GPU: Nvidia GeForce 610M 2GB and an Intel Integrated HD Graphics 3000 (1366 x 768)

NBA 2K14 Settings:
Resolution: 1280 x 720
V-sync: On
Window Mode: Off
MSAA: 2x
Players: High
Crowd Detail: Low
Texture Quality: High

Sounds like it's overheating.

Possibly overheating. I too play NBA 2K14 on my laptop and this happened to me a couple of times.

And just for clarification, does heavy game development demand a lot more power from the laptop than 2K14?

It puts more strain on the system, which is certainly going to be an issue if it's running hot.