Thanks to everyone who continues to contribute to our Downloads database! If you need help uploading files, be sure to check out this video tutorial. For more information about downloads, the modding community, and File Additions bulletins, please see this FAQ in our Wiki.
We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Start your week here at the NLSC with a feature that’s dedicated to opinions, commentary, and other fun stuff related to NBA Live, NBA 2K, and other basketball video games. This week, I’m tipping things off with a few thoughts on juggling time between multiple basketball games.
Compared to other sports, we’re in an enviable position when it comes to basketball games. There are two developers working on sim-oriented titles, and while one game is in the lead, the other is steadily improving and becoming a viable option. We’ve also seen the resurrection of the arcade basketball genre, providing us with a brand new alternative to the sim experience. Throw in a wonderful retro concept in the form of Basketball Classics, and we’ve got quite a few options these days as far as the virtual hardwood is concerned.
That does present a certain problem, of course. There are only so many hours in a day, and only so many of them that we can commit to video games. With so much to do in modern basketball games, it can be difficult to spend ample time with each of them if you do decide to buy more than one. As far as problems go, this is admittedly very low stakes, and indeed a desirable one to have, but those tougher issues in life are beyond the scope of a website dedicated to basketball gaming! In any event, if you’ve invested in more than one basketball game this year and you’re trying to get the most out of each, know that you’re not alone.
Episode #265 of the NLSC Podcast is out now! Join Arcane and I as we discuss the official updates for NBA Live 19, online play in NBA 2K19, and recent NBA news.
On this week’s show…
EA Sports has been pushing through patches for NBA Live 19 on a weekly basis, but the community is growing a little frustrated with the lack of adjustments to gameplay and game modes. Could the updates for NBA Live 19 stand to be more substantial?
The NLSC crew had more fun playing The Playground than the Jordan Rec Center in NBA 2K19 this week. We were glad to have some fun hooping together online, but we’re still disappointed in the new approach to NBA 2K’s Pro-Am modes.
Speaking of online play, could NBA Live and NBA 2K be doing more to reward good teamwork and punish bad sportsmanship?
We wrap up Episode #265 of the NLSC Podcast with this week’s NBA discussion. Topics include Kyrie Irving’s post-game outburst, a trade for Jimmy Butler, and Carmelo Anthony’s future.
Click Play to listen to the show!
Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:21:40 — 56.2MB)
Have some thoughts on the latest episode? Got a mailbag question or topic suggestion for the next show? Sound off in the comments section below, or join in the discussion here in the Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki.
Let’s catch up on the latest file additions for NBA 2K19 PC! Today’s new and updated releases include dornas, faces, courts, and rosters. Check them all out at the links below!
Thanks to everyone who continues to contribute to our Downloads database! If you need help uploading files, be sure to check out this video tutorial. For more information about downloads, the modding community, and File Additions bulletins, please see this FAQ in our Wiki.
Welcome to this week’s edition of The Friday Five! The Friday Five is a feature that I post every Friday in which I give my thoughts on a topic that’s related to NBA Live, NBA 2K, and other basketball video games, as well as the real NBA, and other areas of interest to our community. The feature is presented as either a list of five items, or in the form of a Top 5 countdown. This week’s Five is a countdown of the Top 5 developer cameos in basketball games.
The first video game Easter egg dates back to 1979, when Warren Robinett added a means of accessing a hidden screen in Adventure for Atari 2600, which displayed the message “Created by Warren Robinett”. At the time, Atari did not give credit to any of their developers for fear of having to negotiate expensive salaries for well-known and highly regarded designers, and Robinett’s Easter egg was his response to that policy. Since then, video games have come to credit their design teams, and these days, key developers are well-known to gamers, and often interact with us.
Of course, the credits screen isn’t the only place that developers have had a presence in their own games. Several basketball games have included secret unlockable bonus teams featuring members of the development team, though the practice has largely been phased out in recent years. We still see developer cameos in other areas of the games though, as they lend their names (and sometimes faces) to fictional coaches, NPCs, and generated rookies. They’ll also pop up in a few other places outside of the credits. Playable or not, developer cameos have provided some amusing moments in basketball games, and this week, I’m counting down my picks for the top five.
Patch 1.13 has been released for NBA Live 19. It will be downloaded automatically as long as your PlayStation 4 or Xbox One is online, but if you encounter any difficulties, try restarting your console or checking for the update manually.
This time around, we do have some release notes:
New Art
Player head updates
Live Event data
Desync detection info and Desync fixes
A full breakdown of the new player likeness updates, roster moves, and additions to The One Store can be found here over on Reddit. I’ve also updated our own patch history for NBA Live 19 in our Wiki. As always, feel free to share any thoughts in the comments below, as well as join in the discussion here in the NBA Live 19 section of the NLSC Forum.
Thanks to everyone who continues to contribute to our Downloads database! If you need help uploading files, be sure to check out this video tutorial. For more information about downloads, the modding community, and File Additions bulletins, please see this FAQ in our Wiki.
This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! In this feature, we dig into the archives, look back at the history of basketball gaming, and indulge in some nostalgia. Check in every Wednesday for retrospectives and other features on older versions of NBA Live, NBA 2K, and old school basketball video games in general. You’ll also find old NLSC editorials re-published with added commentary, and other flashback content. This week, I’m taking a look back at the bonus teams in NBA 2K over the years.
A couple of weeks ago, I took a look back at the bonus teams that were featured in older NBA Live games. While NBA 2K has become better known for providing basketball gamers with a wide selection of historical squads, it has also featured a variety of bonus teams from Decade All-Stars and developer teams to sports brand and Draft Class squads. While some of them certainly were not essential, they did inject a little extra fun into the game. As with the bonus teams in NBA Live, they provided a means of shaking things up with an enjoyable change of pace.
These bonus teams may now be overshadowed by a bevy of historical content in the form of retro and All-Time squads, but they’re still an important part of NBA 2K’s history of going above and beyond the bare minimum of including all the current NBA teams. Let’s take a look back…way back…
Our first batch of file additions for NBA 2K19 PC this week includes faces, dornas, and the latest modding tools. Check them all out at the links below!
Thanks to everyone who continues to contribute to our Downloads database! If you need help uploading files, be sure to check out this video tutorial. For more information about downloads, the modding community, and File Additions bulletins, please see this FAQ in our Wiki.
We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Start your week here at the NLSC with a feature that’s dedicated to opinions, commentary, and other fun stuff related to NBA Live, NBA 2K, and other basketball video games. This week, I’m tipping things off with a few thoughts on the ideal starting ratings for career modes, and why they must be a little higher than they currently are.
The only reason that I’m considering spending any time in MyCAREER this year after feeling burned out on the experience is to build a player for the online modes. Since our NLSC squad has spent a little time in the Jordan Rec Center so far, I’d like to have a player that stands a chance of being competitive online, without having to spend any money on VC this time around. Fortunately, Badges are easier to earn in NBA 2K19, but the process of levelling up from 60 Overall is still quite a daunting task if you don’t have a stack of VC on hand for an initial boost.
In previous articles, I’ve talked about how the grind has turned me off MyCAREER, and how it makes starting over every year feel wearying and unsatisfying. While I’ve vaguely touched on some solutions, I’d like to offer up some more definitive ideas on how to address the problem. One of the key issues that must be addressed is the low starting ratings we begin with every year. It’s a delicate situation as those ratings can’t make the game too easy or too hard, the journey too long or too short. Throw in the matter of competitive and accessible online play, however, and I think it’s clear that starting ratings in MyCAREER must be higher.
Episode #264 of the NLSC Podcast is out now! After a long hiatus, Arcane and I are back to our weekly discussions about basketball video games, and a little bit of real basketball as well. Since it’s been several weeks and patches since the last episode, we have a few things to catch up on!
On this week’s show…
We tip off the episode with some housekeeping matters, including an explanation for our unplanned hiatus.
NBA Live 19 has received some significant updates since launch, and the game is better for it. We discuss the various additions and changes, what we’d still like to see, and the modes we’ve been playing.
Updates have also been pushed through for NBA 2K19, though a couple of much-desired changes have yet to be made. Apart from that though, we do have some positive impressions and stories to share.
NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 launched during our hiatus. Has the partnership between 2K Sports and Saber Interactive yielded a better product than last year’s release?
Turning our attention to modding, we talk about the enjoyment and satisfaction of updating an old favourite. This time, it’s a work-in-progress roster update for NBA 2K11.
Episode #264 of the NLSC Podcast wraps up with a quick discussion of the real NBA, including a career night for Derrick Rose, and a contentious situation with Jimmy Butler.
Click Play to listen to the show!
Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:44:47 — 72.0MB)
Have some thoughts on the latest episode? Got a mailbag question or topic suggestion for the next show? Sound off in the comments section below, or join in the discussion here in the Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki.
Let’s get the weekend started with the latest file additions for NBA 2K19 PC! The newest releases from our modding community include dornas, jerseys, courts, rosters, and more. Pick them all up at the links below!
Thanks to everyone who continues to contribute to our Downloads database! If you need help uploading files, be sure to check out this video tutorial. For more information about downloads, the modding community, and File Additions bulletins, please see this FAQ in our Wiki.
Welcome to this week’s edition of The Friday Five! The Friday Five is a feature that I post every Friday in which I give my thoughts on a topic that’s related to NBA Live, NBA 2K, and other basketball video games, as well as the real NBA, and other areas of interest to our community. The feature is presented as either a list of five items, or in the form of a Top 5 countdown. This week’s Five is a list of five ideas that future basketball games should consider borrowing from titles in other genres.
Basketball games, like all sports titles, differ from other genres of video games when it comes to their nuances and our expectations. In many video games, there are several breaks from reality that are not only acceptable, but desirable. The lack of realism in specific aspects of gameplay doesn’t break our sense of immersion the same way it will in a game that is attempting to accurately depict a sport. To that end, certain features, functions, and concepts that we find in other genres of video games aren’t necessarily a good fit in basketball titles.
At the same time, while Da_Czar’s famous catchphrase of “Don’t play video games; play basketball!” is a great philosophy for developers and basketball gamers alike, the fact remains that basketball games are still video games. There are aspects of real life, such as commercial breaks, that they don’t need to replicate. Similarly, there are good ideas for features, functions, and even content that can be utilised by a wide variety of genres. Even though the concepts aren’t basketball-centric in and of themselves, they could still greatly enhance future NBA Live and NBA 2K releases. Here are five such ideas that basketball games could stand to borrow and make their own.
NBA Live 19 has received a new official patch (1.12) on both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It will come through as long as your console is connected to the Internet, but if you encounter any difficulties, try restarting or checking for the update manually.
No official patch notes have been released as yet, but it appears that it’s mainly a content update. New gear has been added to The One Store, including Halloween-themed items. The update history on PlayStation 4 also contains the usual generic note about minor bug fixes.
If any further information is released then I’ll be sure to post it. In the meantime, I’ve updated the NBA Live 19 patch history in our Wiki. Feel free to share any thoughts and impressions in the comments section below, as well as in this topic in the NLSC Forum.
This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! In this feature, we dig into the archives, look back at the history of basketball gaming, and indulge in some nostalgia. Check in every Wednesday for retrospectives and other features on older versions of NBA Live, NBA 2K, and old school basketball video games in general. You’ll also find old NLSC editorials re-published with added commentary, and other flashback content. This week, I’m taking on a retro basketball gaming challenge with the PC version of NBA Jam Tournament Edition.
It’s been far too long since I made a video feature, despite my intention to produce more video content this year. Better late than never though, as I had a fun idea for this week’s Wayback Wednesday. Whenever I played NBA Jam Tournament Edition solo back in the day, I tended to play with Tag Mode off, and scored most of the team’s points with the player I was controlling. However, playing point guard for our Pro-Am squad in NBA 2K has given me a taste for racking up assists, which left me to wonder: can I win a game of NBA Jam TE with my CPU teammate scoring all of our points?
I fired up my old favourite, and gave the No Points Challenge a shot. Let’s take a look back…way back…
Catch it here on our YouTube channel if you can’t see the embedded video, and while you’re there, be sure to subscribe! With any luck, I’ll be able to produce some more videos in the not too distant future. I’ll probably also look to upload some excerpts from the NLSC Podcast – which will also be returning soon – so stay tuned for that. I may also tackle some other retro basketball gaming challenges for future Wayback Wednesday features, so if you have any suggestions in that regard, feel free to post them in the comments below!
NLSC Your source for basketball video games.
