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 new basketball games that I’d like to see developed in the future.

Happy 2K Day everyone! NBA 2K20 is out today, which means a lot of gamers in our community will be spending time with it this weekend; I know I will be! While I hope I’ll enjoy NBA 2K20 as much as I did NBA 2K19, I’m also hoping that it won’t be the only release this year. We’re still waiting on any information about NBA Live 20, and the future of the NBA Live series. A release is slated for next quarter and various reps have said that EA Sports aren’t pulling the plug, so we can only wait and see what happens.

I still firmly believe that we need at least two viable choices when it comes to the sim-oriented NBA games on the market. Ideally, we’d also have some more arcade games and other titles to choose from, too. Obviously a lot of people are getting the virtual basketball experience they crave from NBA 2K, but competition, alternatives, and different takes on the sport are important to have. Beyond seeing NBA Live catch up to NBA 2K and be competitive again, there are other ideas for basketball games that I’d like to see come to fruition. Some of these ideas are easier said than done when you take licensing into account, but I’m throwing them out there anyway.

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2K has posted a teaser of a new game mode in NBA 2K20, called MyPLAYER Nation. No further information is available at this time, but the mode will be tipping off alongside the 2020 NBA season on October 22nd.

As we await further details and the launch of NBA 2K20, the teaser certainly invites speculation. Based on the name and the teaser image, it seems a safe guess to say that it’s part of a connected MyCAREER experience. Common suggestions that I’ve seen so far include leaderboards and challenges, similar to what’s been implemented in MyGM. Whatever it entails, it likely involves some kind of content relevant to the real NBA, given that the mode launches with the start of the 2020 season.

It’s also worth noting that attendees of the NBA 2K20 Community Event have already seen the mode. A moderator over on the official NBA 2K Subreddit who attended the event has confirmed that it isn’t something completely new, such as an online co-op career. To that end, they’ve advised getting our hopes up too much with guesses that are completely wild.

More details will be coming soon, so I’ll follow up when they become available. In the meantime, feel free to speculate on what MyPLAYER Nation might entail in the comments section below, and join in the discussion here in the NBA 2K20 section of the NLSC Forum.

With 2K Day 2019 almost upon us, I’ve opened up the NBA 2K20 modding and Downloads sections in the NLSC Forum! Obviously there isn’t a lot of content there right now, but given how quickly our community works after a game is released, it shouldn’t be long before we see the first uploads.

If you’re after some quick links, here they are:

• Modding Forum
• Tutorials & FAQs Forum
• NBA 2K20 Downloads

I’ve also added a portal for NBA 2K20, and of course, I invite everyone to join in the discussion here! I’m hoping we can get some good topics going this year related to gameplay, slider tweaks, and modes that we’re playing. As I’ve said before, we aim to be your one stop hub for all things basketball gaming!

A quick note about NBA 2K20 modding. While we’re currently still allowing ad links, they are becoming problematic and we may have to amend our policy. As our community gears up to mod this year’s game, I encourage everyone to make use of our hosting facilities, which allow mods to be readily and permanently available. For more information on how to upload files to the NLSC, check out this video tutorial that JaoSming put together a few years ago.

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 some players that I remember because of video games.

In response to my retrospective of NBA Live 95 for our 25th Anniversary of NBA Live celebrations, our own Q noted that the game helped him form opinions about NBA players. I can certainly say that video games were one of my main resources for learning about the league and its players when I was first getting into basketball, and I know a lot of other 90s kids can say the same. I’ve wondered if that still applies to the younger gamers these days. NBA 2K’s success has unquestionably made the genre mainstream, but the Internet has also made the NBA itself more accessible than ever.

I’ve previously joked that you know you’re a long-time hardcore NBA fan when you can name benchwarmers from over a decade ago. Trading cards and video games are also a reason that I remember a lot of lesser-known players from the 90s and 2000s, and a few of them will often spring to mind thanks to the virtual hardwood. For this week’s Wayback Wednesday, I’m recalling some of those players who stuck in my mind due to their video game counterparts. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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The system requirements for NBA 2K20 PC have been revealed by the game’s store page over on Steam. If you can run NBA 2K19 without any problems then you should have no issues, as both the minimum and recommended specs are almost identical this year. The NBA 2K20 system requirements are as follows:

Minimum

• Windows 7 64-bit, Windows 8.1 64-bit or Windows 10 64-bit
• Intel® Core™ i3-530 @ 2.93 GHz/AMD FX-4100 @ 3.60 GHz or better
• 4 GB RAM
• NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 450 1GB/ATI® Radeon™ HD 6450 1GB or better
• DirectX 11
• 80 GB available HDD space
• DirectX 9.0x compatible sound card
• Dual-analog gamepad

Recommended

• Intel® Core™ i5-4430 @ 3 GHz/AMD FX-8370 @ 3.4 GHz or better
• 8 GB RAM
• NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 770 2GB/AMD® Radeon™ R9 270 2GB or better

I’ve added that information to the NBA 2K20 article in our Wiki. If you’d like to check your system’s compatibility, you can run a test over at System Requirements Lab. With the game launching in just a couple of days, be sure to keep it locked to the NLSC, and join in the discussion taking place here in our Forum! No doubt our modding community will be hard at work soon, so stay tuned for mods and all the other content.

To mark the 25th Anniversary of NBA Live, we’re taking a look back at every game in the series with retrospectives and other fun content! This also includes re-running some features from our 20th Anniversary celebrations, with a few revisions. Whether you’re a long-time basketball gamer who grew up with NBA Live and are keen on taking a trip down memory lane, or you’re new to the series and want to learn about its history, we hope that you enjoy celebrating the 25th Anniversary of NBA Live here at the NLSC! Today, I’m sharing some personal recollections of NBA Live 95.

I hope you enjoyed my retrospective of NBA Live 95 that tipped off our celebration of the 25th Anniversary of NBA Live! Although I shared some personal memories of the game in my retrospective, I have a couple of other stories that I’ve saved for their own separate article. Specifically, I wanted to talk about playing NBA Live 95 for the first time on Super Nintendo, and playing a Season with the Houston Rockets with my cousin on PC. It’s the story of how I came to be a fan of the series…and also, how I engineered an unlikely comeback for Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird.

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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 some final thoughts on NBA Live 19 and NBA 2K19 as we enter the final days leading up to NBA 2K20’s release.

Cue “The Final Countdown” by Europe, as we’re just days away from the release of NBA 2K20! As for NBA Live 20…well, we’re still waiting to find out what’s going to happen with EA Sports’ long-running series. In any event, the impending release of NBA 2K20 means that we’re days away from NBA 2K19 and NBA Live 19 officially becoming last year’s games. That is to say, they’ll no longer be the most up to date sim-oriented NBA titles, and the community’s interest will shift to the game set in the forthcoming 2020 season.

It’s a strange period of limbo in the annual basketball gaming cycle. If you’re done with last year’s games, you’ll be itching to get your hands on the new release. If you still have unfinished business, you’ll likely be furiously playing them to achieve some semblance of closure before moving on to this year’s title. After all, it’s not easy to go back and pick up where you left off when you’re hooked on a new game that will itself be outmoded a year from now. With that in mind, as we find ourselves in the final days before NBA 2K20 officially succeeds NBA 2K19 and NBA Live 19, I’m taking a moment to reflect on the past year of basketball gaming, and to look ahead.

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To mark the 25th Anniversary of NBA Live, we’re taking a look back at every game in the series with retrospectives and other fun content! This also includes re-running some features from our 20th Anniversary celebrations, with a few revisions. Whether you’re a long-time basketball gamer who grew up with NBA Live and are keen on taking a trip down memory lane, or you’re new to the series and want to learn about its history, we hope that you enjoy celebrating the 25th Anniversary of NBA Live here at the NLSC! First up, it’s a retrospective of NBA Live 95.

As I’ve mentioned on many occasions, NBA Live 95 is a title that’s often remembered fondly by long-time basketball gamers. Beyond its significance as the first game in the NBA Live series, it’s also generally considered to be a classic for the way it advanced the genre. Even after 25 years, it holds up remarkably well considering how far basketball video games have come. I always feel nostalgic when I dust off NBA Live 95, but I also find that I’m impressed by the quality and how much fun it can still be, given its age. Let’s look back 25 years to where it all began.

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The NBA 2K19 PC modding community is still going strong up to the launch of NBA 2K20. Check out the latest releases at the links below!

Torogi
China World Cup Court
RKJ No Injuries Roster (With New Retro Teams) (Updated to v2.7)
Muscle And Sweat Global [Final] (Updated to v6.0)

pinoy21
San Antonio Spurs Fictional Fiesta Jersey (pinoy21)
Detroit Pistons Jersey (pinoy21)
Toronto Raptors Jersey With Gold Patch (pinoy21)
Miami Heat Jersey (pinoy21)
Milwaukee Bucks Jersey (pinoy21)
Brooklyn Nets Jersey (pinoy21)
Chicago Bulls Jersey (pinoy21)
Sacramento Kings Jersey (pinoy21)
Minnesota Timberwolves Jersey (pinoy21)
Utah Jazz 2020 Classic Edition Jersey (pinoy21)

sticky-fingers
1991-1992 NBC Scoreboard & Wipe for NBA 2K19

TwisT
Utah Jazz Vivint.SmartHome Arena (Classic Edition)

Manni Live
Portland Trail Blazers Moda Center 2020 4K

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 excuses that we must stop making in order to downplay valid criticisms of basketball video games.

There are times when it’s only fair to make excuses for basketball video games. There are limitations to what can be achieved with the technology that’s currently available. Issues with likeness rights meant that certain historical players can’t be included. NBA games have a brutal development cycle compared to titles that don’t come out every year. In fact, you might be inclined to call these “reasons”, as the term “excuses” often has negative connotations. It’s splitting hairs on the definition in some respects, but it’s understandable that some people balk at the idea of “making excuses”.

The problem with excuses is that they can easily work against our best interests. If we don’t hold developers accountable for certain decisions and design choices, then we’ll have no choice but to endure whatever undesirable situation we find ourselves in with basketball video games. Look, I’d like to think that I’m as passionate about the hobby as anyone else in the community, and I also believe in being fair and constructive in our criticism. It’s just astonishing how far some people will go to make excuses for the games though, even when an issue is clearly detrimental to them. These are the excuses that we need to cut out, or else we’ll continue to suffer the consequences.

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The NBA 2K20 Neighborhood trailer has dropped, providing a preview of what to expect in this year’s MyCAREER hub. 2K have also spotlighted some of the key features, which are as follows:

• The return of Park Rep
• 3v3 outdoor Pro-Am
• New Show-Off Stick
• Dynamic seasonal changes
• Over a dozen new Events

Check out the trailer below, or catch it here over on YouTube.

What are your thoughts on The Next Neighborhood in NBA 2K20? Have your say in the comments section below, and join in the discussion here 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 a look back at the history of Aussies in basketball games.

If you listen to the NLSC Podcast or pay close attention to the way I spell certain words, you’ll know that I’m an Aussie. Being a basketball fan in Australia hasn’t always been easy, even with the NBA’s explosion in popularity in the 90s, as well as the heyday of our own local league, the NBL. Sadly, the sport hasn’t always had the most favourable reputation with many of my fellow Aussies. While those of us who love hoops do so passionately, it’s always battled cricket, tennis, and at least three different codes of football (rugby, Australian Rules, and soccer) for popularity.

I’ve always felt that our struggles on the world stage have contributed to the game’s up-and-down popularity down under. The Boomers are yet to win an Olympic medal, but just this past week, they scored a huge win over the USA in the second exhibition game played in Melbourne; the first time they’ve ever defeated the US. It helps that we have a few more Aussies in the NBA these days, which also means that we see them on the virtual hardwood. In honour of the Boomers’ big win, I’m reflecting on the history of Aussies in basketball games. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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The latest developer blog provides in-depth insights into what to expect from MyTEAM in NBA 2K20. A trailer has also dropped, providing a concise overview of this year’s mode. The blog is particularly lengthy and I recommend checking it out in full, but here is a brief summary:

• Evolution cards are upgradeable by accomplishing single game and career tasks. A free and permanent Evolution card will be granted upon firing up the mode for the first time.
• Single player Triple Threat has been re-designed, with randomly determined opponents. There is also a new prizing mechanic in the form of a slot machine.
• There are bonuses for logging in daily, and special prizes for logging into MyTEAM every day of the week. Prizes include Tokens, MT, packs, and more. There’s also a prize wheel that can be accessed via Locker Codes, as well as the weekly grand prize for logging in every day.
• Today in MyTEAM features special events and challenges. Limited Time Events are available during the peak playing hours in each region, while The Agenda is similar to the daily bonus tasks in last year’s mode, only much deeper and with custom objectives. There will also be different boards for the Ball Drop this year.
• A Community Hub will allow interaction with the developers, provide tips and tricks, and so on.
• Players can only be slotted in at their primary or secondary positions, preventing cheesy lineups.
• The PRIME Collection is the top collection of premium cards. Throwbacks have been replaced by the Spotlight Collection. The Legacy Showcase series will spotlight Legends who deserve more attention.
• Domination has been re-designed with Star levels depending on the difficulty you choose, and Heat Check cards have been tweaked. Online matchmaking has been improved along with server stability, and the Auction House will be accessible much sooner.
• Players will still have contracts, as evident in the trailer.

Check out the trailer below, or catch it here on YouTube. What are your thoughts on the NBA 2K20 MyTEAM developer blog and trailer? Have your say in the comments section below, and join in the discussion here in the NLSC Forum!

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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 some reflections as I celebrate 18 years of running the NLSC.

Today, I’m not just tipping off a new week here at the NLSC, but the start of another year of my tenure as the site’s webmaster, administrator, and primary content creator. It doesn’t seem that long ago that I was an excited young basketball gamer of almost 17, accepting the offer to take over the biggest and best NBA Live fansite. That was August 26th 2001 however, which means it was quite some time ago: 18 years, to be precise. To say that basketball video games have come a long way, and that the NBA itself has changed a lot during that time, would be an understatement.

I always get reflective around the time of my NLSC anniversary. Maybe that’s part of being a so-called old head, or maybe I’m just the sentimental type. This year feels like a particularly big milestone as at this point, I’ve been running the NLSC longer than I haven’t; literally more than half my life! I’ve mentioned it in previous reflections, but I do sometimes wonder how long I’ll end up running the site for. Presumably until it’s no longer an enjoyable creative outlet for me, and honestly, that time hasn’t come yet. I still plan on being around and keeping the NLSC going for a while yet, especially when some of its most rewarding experiences have come this past decade.

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Episode #296 of the NLSC Podcast is out now! With the release of the NBA 2K20 Demo, I have some impressions to share, as well as some thoughts on the MyCAREER trailer, Game Informer preview, and other news from the past week.

The countdown to NBA 2K20 is entering its final two weeks, and we’re getting a better picture of what to expect. The MyCAREER trailer provided a glimpse of this year’s story, and while it promises great things, it also feels like more of the same. Meanwhile, the NBA 2K20 Demo’s hands-on preview of what to expect on the sticks has indicated that it’s not quite the same game this year. It’s not a deep demo, but it showcases aspects that are good, bad, promising, and concerning ahead of the full release. In other news, a Game Informer article suggests a much less grindy approach this year, and some preview videos confirm that some key players are missing from classic teams.

Tune in below!

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 51:06 — 35.2MB)

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What are your thoughts on the MyCAREER trailer and NBA 2K20 Demo? Sound off in the comments section below, or join in the discussion here in the Forum! Additionally, feel free to hit us up with any feedback on the episode, as well as suggestions for topics that you’d like to hear us discuss in future episodes. For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki.