Season 7 will be tipping off this Friday in NBA 2K23, which means Patch 7.0 has been pushed through. As of writing, it’s available for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The PC patch should be out in time for the new Season. As always, the patch will be downloaded automatically as long as you’re online. If it doesn’t, try restarting your console/Steam client, or checking for updates manually.

In addition to preparing MyCAREER and MyTEAM for Season 7, the patch includes a handful of player likeness updates and stability fixes. Notably, it resolves a rare hang in MyTEAM when two cards from the same pack receive a walkout reveal, fixes an errant wipe in Rec and Pro-Am games, and addresses a bug with Start Today related to Playoff progression.

You can find the full notes for NBA 2K23 Patch 7.0 below, as well as in the Next Gen and Current Gen update histories in our Wiki. Feel free to add your impressions in the comments below, as well as join in the discussion in our NBA 2K23 Forum!

Read More »

This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! From retrospectives of basketball games and their interesting features, to republished articles and looking at NBA history through the lens of the virtual hardwood, Wednesdays at the NLSC are for going back in time. This week, I’m going back to the N64 version of NBA Live 99, and seeing if it can be suitably updated for the 1999 season.

While I do have fond and nostalgic memories of the Nintendo 64, it’s fair to say that the console hasn’t aged as well as other platforms. The 3D era was in its infancy, so on top of graphics that tend to be unappealing nowadays, many games display the teething problems of expanding into a new plane while designing game worlds and gameplay. Some of the best releases do still hold up, though very few of them tend to be sports games. The N64’s controller is a major culprit here, as it wasn’t ideal for several cross-platform genres.

Nevertheless, I was excited to get NBA Live 99 for N64 for Christmas in 1998. Due to the lockout of course, the game had to launch with final 1998 season rosters. This ultimately wouldn’t be a problem on PC, thanks to mods and official patches. As we were a long way from consoles supporting downloadable updates, those platforms were left out in the cold. We had to make do with the default rosters, or try our best to update them ourselves. With that being said, is it possible to make a sufficiently detailed roster update for NBA Live 99 on N64? Let’s take a look back…way back…

Read More »

From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #477 of the NLSC Podcast!

When we connected on Parsec to play NBA Inside Drive 2003, we weren’t anticipating having one of the most exciting games we’ve ever experienced on the virtual hardwood. One epic comeback later, and it was definitely a contest to remember! To that point, we’re recapping our showdown between the Toronto Raptors and Philadelphia 76ers for posterity, and to emphasise the fun that can be had when you don’t give up on a game after falling behind. We also compare it to some famous comeback victories in real NBA history, to which it bears some uncanny similarities. In this week’s mailbag, we join the community in discussing basketball video game series that would make a welcome return.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:02:12 — 43.1MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!

We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Join me as I begin the week here at the NLSC with my opinions and commentary on basketball gaming topics, as well as tales of the fun I’ve been having on the virtual hardwood. This week, I’m tipping things off with some thoughts on taking great screenshots of basketball video games; or, if you prefer, virtual hardwood photography.

When it comes my original content related to basketball video games, I’ve been drawn to writing over more visual mediums. This goes back to what I was passionate about (and generally good at) in school. I enjoyed creative writing far more than arts and crafts, which I wasn’t particularly skilled at. I’ve enjoyed dabbling with some video content over the years, and that will continue, especially as I can combine it with writing through video essays and the like. However, outside of modding, my content has largely consisted of articles.

With that being said, feature articles have a visual aspect to them as well. Besides neatly formatting the text, images are essential as they provide aesthetically-pleasing breaks, and further illustrate the topic being discussed. To that point, I not only take pride in my writing and self-editing to the best of my ability, but also including relevant and appealing screenshots. If I’ve prepared a topic then I’ll go out of my way to get relevant screenshots, but the screenshots and gameplay videos that I’ve captured for posterity have also provided me with a handy media library spanning my entire collection of games. Either way, I take pride in my virtual hardwood photography.

Read More »

On the most recent NLSC Podcast, Dee and I recapped our co-op session of NBA Inside Drive 2004, and shared our impressions of the game. The next episode will feature a discussion of NBA Inside Drive 2003, as our co-op game over Parsec turned into one of the most epic virtual hardwood contests that we’ve ever had!

Dee and I chose to play with the Toronto Raptors, and take on the Philadelphia 76ers. Desiring more of a challenge after quickly racing out to an early lead in our first attempt, we abandoned it in order to crank up the difficulty and start over. The CPU was now suitably ruthless, and although we kept pace through two and a half quarters, the 76ers pulled away and seemingly had the game in hand by the end of the period. This set the table for a furious fourth quarter Raptors rally, in which we had to overcome a 23-point deficit. Check out the highlights as we attempt the seemingly impossible!

Gameplay videos from a variety of basketball titles are frequently being uploaded to our YouTube channel these days, so please subscribe and check out what else is on tap! As I’ve mentioned before, Dee and I both have large collections of basketball video games at our disposal, so feel free to hit us up with suggestions of what else you’d like to see us play.

Get ready for more fantastic highlights from the basketball gaming community in the NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week, curated by Dee4Three! New and old games alike are featured in this celebration of spectacular moments on the virtual hardwood. To submit your clips, post them in this topic, or hit up Dee on Twitter.

It’s always fun when a particular theme emerges in an instalment of the NLSC Top 10 Plays, and this week, it’s tip dunks! Putbacks can be rare and challenging to pull off on the virtual hardwood, but we have some people in the community that are adept at them, as you’ll see in the countdown. Of course, dunks are spectacular in general, so there’s the usual array of posters – preceded by great moves and defensive stops – and a slick play in NBA Live 19. Finally, six different games are featured this week, ranging from Team USA Basketball to NBA 2K23. Let’s get to the action!

What was your favourite highlight this week? Sound off in the comments below, and once again, get in on the fun by sending us your best plays! Remember, as long as it’s a basketball game, it’s eligible for the countdown. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to us on YouTube for more basketball gaming videos.

Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is a list of five concepts that must never return in future basketball games.

One of the benefits of revisiting older basketball games is rediscovering features that have since disappeared, and would make a welcome return in new releases. Over the years, we’ve seen a number of features and mechanics brought back due to popular demand, which has always been a cause for celebration. To that end, I’m sure we all have further suggestions for aspects we’d like to see again. Of course, there’s no guarantee that all of those concepts will return at some point. Some of them just aren’t feasible, while others are outdated ideas and no longer relevant to modern design.

And then, you have the concepts that must never return in a future basketball game. These are the bewildering ideas and design choices that didn’t just fail to make their games better, but in many cases made them actively worse. Even if those concepts didn’t entirely ruin a game, they unquestionably impacted the fun, or displayed a complete lack of goodwill. Some of the concepts that I’m discussing here do seem unlikely to return, but we can never be completely sure of that, as some games have revisited undesirable ideas that we hoped were gone for good. You may disagree with one of the below examples, but for the most part, I think we’ll all be on the same page.

Read More »

Dee and I have discussed the NBA Jam: Legends On Fire Edition mod for NBA Jam: On Fire Edition at length on the NLSC Podcast, and we’ve also had johnz1 on the show to discuss the project. It’s something that we’ve been waiting for years to see, and we’ve had a blast connecting on Parsec to play with it! Recently, we used the mod to replay the 1993 NBA Finals matchup of the Chicago Bulls vs. the Phoenix Suns.

With Dee as the host and controlling Scottie Pippen, I took control of Michael Jordan as we battled Charles Barkley and Kevin Johnson. Even with our experience playing co-op together and the skill of MJ and Pip, Sir Charles and KJ proved to be an extremely challenging matchup. Needless to say, Dee recorded our arcade take on the 1993 NBA Finals, and put together another fantastic highlight reel for the NLSC YouTube channel!

We’re consistently uploading great basketball gaming videos to our YouTube channel these days, an initiative that Dee has been spearheading with gameplay reels for a multitude of hoops titles, not to mention the weekly Top 10. I’ve also posted a couple of video retrospectives for Wayback Wednesday recently, including NBA Jam: On Fire Edition, so be sure to subscribe for more virtual hardwood fun!

This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! From retrospectives of basketball games and their interesting features, to republished articles and looking at NBA history through the lens of the virtual hardwood, Wednesdays at the NLSC are for going back in time. This week, I’m taking a look back at loading screens in basketball video games.

While catching up on some Zero Punctuation and Extra Punctuation videos, the one in which Yahtzee is reminiscing about loading screens really spoke to me. And so, once again, I’m shamelessly jumping on a topic that was brought up by a far, far more well-known content creator! It’s a topic that I undoubtedly relate to, though. In the video, Yahtzee notes the nostalgia at play here, acknowledging that faster loading times are obviously an improvement. However, for gamers of our generation, they’re not just a reminder of youthful excitement, but also examples of creative design.

In particular, Yahtzee notes the use of mini-games and interactive elements on loading screens. This got me thinking about how basketball games have tried to keep us entertained while they load, notably the approach that NBA Live took during the seventh generation. Needless to say, lengthy loading times are not something I want to see return, and they can be an annoyance while retro gaming. There’s nevertheless nostalgia there however, and it’s interesting that some ideas were dropped before loading times were shortened. Let’s take a look back…way back…

Read More »

From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #476 of the NLSC Podcast!

If you go could back and play any basketball video game for the first time, which one would it be? This week, we join the community in reminiscing about the hoops titles that we wish we could experience anew, because of how much we were floored by our first impressions of them. A couple of other games that we’ve since changed our minds about, and would’ve liked to have had a better first impression of, likewise get a mention! After playing it over Parsec, we also take a look back at NBA Inside Drive 2004, an Xbox exclusive from Microsoft that more than held its own against stiff competition from the other 2004 season releases.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:11:40 — 49.6MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!

We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Join me as I begin the week here at the NLSC with my opinions and commentary on basketball gaming topics, as well as tales of the fun I’ve been having on the virtual hardwood. This week, I’m tipping things off with some reflections on how I prefer to start a game with realistic rosters, but end up with fictional lineups and outcomes.

Realism is relative when it comes to the virtual hardwood. I’m sure I’m not alone in admitting that as basketball video games became more sophisticated and encouraged a more strategic approach, I realised that my style of play wasn’t as “sim” as I thought. If nothing else, I was quite content to toss a more realistic style out the window if I desperately needed buckets, and use reliable tricks that would help me get them. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course. The goal is to win – whether you’re up against the CPU or another person – and to enjoy the games that we play.

My point is that even those of us who value the sim style will take some liberties with realism from time to time. Indeed, it’s inevitable in franchise and career play. Those modes invite us to create our own reality, whether it’s placing ourselves in the league, or donning our GM suits to make the trades we wish our favourite team would in real life. The fictional results and player movement make playing through multiple years in franchise and career modes interesting, creating alternate history and fun scenarios. However, despite the appeal of these fictional outcomes, I’ve always preferred to begin new franchise games with real rosters, rather than shake things up right away.

Read More »

As you may be aware, in addition to our modding community and original content here on the NLSC, we’re also active over on YouTube! It’s an initiative that Dee4Three has been spearheading for some time now, and his latest gameplay videos spotlight AND1 Streetball and the NBA Jam: Legends On Fire Edition mod for NBA Jam: On Fire Edition.

Both reels are from co-op sessions that we played over Parsec. In AND1 Streetball, we assembled a squad featuring some of the biggest names of the Mixtape Tour back in the day, including The Professor, Escalade, and Sik Wit It, and played a pickup game at Rucker Park. It was a joy to revisit this somewhat overlooked and underrated street hoops game, and produce some fun highlights. We also discussed the game in Episode #475 of the NLSC Podcast, and I’ve previously covered it for Wayback Wednesday.

For our session with NBA Jam: On Fire Edition using the Legends On Fire Edition mod, we replayed the 1995 NBA Finals matchup of the Houston Rockets vs. the Orlando Magic. It was a battle that went down to the wire, showcasing how challenging and exciting the mod can be! In case you missed it, a new version of NBA Jam: Legends On Fire Edition has just been released, and johnz1 also joined us on the podcast back in April. I also covered NBA Jam: On Fire Edition for Wayback Wednesday this week, with an in-depth video retrospective.

Check out both highlight reels below, and be sure to subscribe to the NLSC YouTube channel for more gameplay highlights, retrospectives, and other content! We’re also open to suggestions for games that you’d like to see us play, so by all means hit us up with those ideas.

Read More »

Get ready for more fantastic highlights from the basketball gaming community in the NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week, curated by Dee4Three! New and old games alike are featured in this celebration of spectacular moments on the virtual hardwood. To submit your clips, post them in this topic, or hit up Dee on Twitter.

Our awesome community frequently submits a variety of highlights for the NLSC Top 10 Plays, but sometimes, it’s hard to go past a dunk! This week we have another countdown that’s all about slams, from vicious posters to jaw-dropping alley-oops. You’ll see Dee and I connecting in AND1 Streetball, from a session we discussed in Episode #475 of the NLSC Podcast. The NBA Live 2001 Legends are also changing things up with some Vinsanity in NBA 2K3, as everyone takes to the air to strut their stuff. Seven different games are on display this week, so let’s get to the action!

What was your favourite highlight this week? Sound off in the comments below, and once again, get in on the fun by sending us your best plays! Remember, as long as it’s a basketball game, it’s eligible for the countdown. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to us on YouTube for more basketball gaming videos.

Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is a list of five fun details that could be found in NBA 2K19’s MyCAREER story.

Since their introduction in NBA 2K14 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, MyCAREER stories have been controversial. Some of them have been intrusive, poorly-written, or both. Others have been more enjoyable to play through, though many gamers still opt to skip the better ones. This ability to skip the story was first implemented in NBA 2K19’s MyCAREER, but that wasn’t the only good addition that year. Indeed, some of the fun details in NBA 2K19’s MyCAREER story made it worth playing through at least once, if not twice. I personally played through it on both PC and PlayStation 4.

Unfortunately, NBA 2K19’s MyCAREER story is no longer playable, as the server shutdown has left the game with the stripped-down offline version of the mode. As such, these fun details are now permanently lost. It may not be a big deal to everyone, but it’s a shame that the single player portion of MyCAREER is now so intertwined with the connected experience that it’s limited – or completely absent – following the servers being shut down. NBA 2K19’s MyCAREER story had some fun details that could’ve potentially made it an enjoyable retro gaming experience, but I’m glad I was able to enjoy them when I could. Here are five of those details that stand out to me.

Read More »

Back in March, johnz1 released the initial version of the NBA Jam: Legends On Fire Edition mod for the PlayStation 3 version of NBA Jam: On Fire Edition. As you may recall, the mod includes 67 squads based on the best NBA teams from the 1980s through to the 2020s, and a revamped Road Trip mode. Today, johnz1 has released v1.1 of the project!

The new version of NBA Jam: Legends On Fire Edition contains several ratings updates for better player performance, and corrects the colours of the press row tables for a number of teams. It also utilises a new installation method, and should now work properly on jailbroken PS3s as well as the RPCS3 emulator. A couple of other minor fixes such as changes to player order are also included. Full release notes from johnz1 can be found below.

Download v1.1 of NBA Jam: Legends On Fire Edition here! For more information and support, check out the release topic here in our Forum. Don’t forget that johnz1 has also released a 2023 update for NBA Jam: On Fire Edition, and joined us on the NLSC Podcast to talk about modding the game. Finally, if you need a reminder of how awesome NBA Jam: On Fire Edition is, be sure to check out my newly-posted Wayback Wednesday retrospective!

Read More »