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.
I love how our NLSC Top 10 Plays takes me back to watching the Courtside Countdown in NBA Action back in the 90s, and I’m sure I’m not alone there. Indeed, this week’s countdown has a strong connection to those days, with a flashy and fearsome poster dunk by Antonio McDyess in NBA Live 98! It’s not just about dunks though, as smooth moves, clutch shots, and impressive defensive plays are also on the menu. Six different basketball games are featured this week, as always underscoring the variety that our community enjoys so much. 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 outlines the five principles that maximise my enjoyment of basketball gaming.
My family first got online in August 1997, which is when I discovered the NLSC. I originally ran my own site – the NBA Live Domain – from 1998 to the end of 2001, when I closed it and merged much of its content into the NLSC, which I’d taken over in August that year. In short, I’ve been involved with the online basketball gaming community in some capacity for more than 25 years now. I wouldn’t still be around, creating as much content as I do, if I wasn’t passionate about the genre. I’m not doing this for clout, fame, or money. It’s a passion project, inspired by a beloved hobby.
I’ve obviously been enjoying that hobby even longer than I’ve been a part of this community. Many games have been released during that time, with several of them becoming my all-time favourites. Those outstanding games – as well as the titles that I haven’t cared as much for – have shaped my preferences and expectations for future releases, as well as how I critique them. At this point, I know what I want basketball games to be like, what will make for a consistently enjoyable gaming experience, and what will spoil my fun on the virtual hardwood. I can sum up the way that I approach the hobby these days with what I’ll call my five principles of basketball gaming.
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 mouse controls in basketball video games.
I’ve observed some unusual gatekeeping when it comes to PC gaming, basketball or otherwise. There are some people who feel that multi-button gamepads are a console idea; that a true PC gamer uses the keyboard and mouse for their controls. I’m not a fan of gatekeeping at the best of times, but this particular stance has always puzzled me. As someone who grew up playing games on PC in the 90s, joysticks, gamepads, and steering wheels were all highly desirable among hardcore gamers. Peripherals were as much a thing for PC as they were for consoles, if not more so!
Of course, by that time, mice had basically become a standard peripheral. I don’t know anyone who had a home computer in the 90s – one that was manufactured in that decade, at any rate – that wasn’t using a mouse. Beyond their use in navigating the operating system, they were also gaming devices. Indeed, the point-and-click genre of adventure games is based entirely around the use of a mouse; it’s right there in the name! With that being said, they weren’t the ideal peripheral for more action-oriented titles such as sports games, yet mouse controls were actually supported on the virtual hardwood. Let’s take a look back…way back…
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 my retro basketball gaming habits in recent years, which have frequently seen me walking the road not taken.
“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I could not travel both…I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference”. These are the opening and closing lines of Robert Frost’s most famous poem, “The Road Not Taken”. My first exposure to the poem was – as so many things were – via a scene from The Simpsons. In the years since then, it’s been interesting to read the entire poem, and also to learn that it’s commonly misinterpreted as championing the idea of “following your own path”. (Don’t worry; I do have a point here beyond pretentiously referencing poetry!)
In fact, “The Road Not Taken” is intended to be ironic, mocking that notion. In short, it pokes fun at indecisiveness, and overemphasising or romanticising our choices, as well as needlessly regretting the ones that we’ve made. To that point, revisiting games that we’ve overlooked is “The Road Not Taken”, both literally and in terms of Frost’s intended meaning. Obviously, we chose a different path – playing something else – and we may lament that, and try to retroactively justify our choices. However, not only did we walk that path for a reason, but with retro gaming, it is possible to go back and take the other route, as I’ve been doing (see, I told you we’d get there!).
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.
You’ll see a lot of wild and spectacular moments in the NLSC Top 10 Plays, but it’s a safe bet that the #1 play this week is one of the most insane submissions that we’ve ever received! Such a unique moment is almost always guaranteed to take first place in the countdown, but there’s plenty of excitement in the other nine entries as well. From prime Vince Carter doing his thing in NBA Live 2001, to a glimpse of the 2025 season with a Russell Westbrook poster in NBA Live 18, to a ridiculous move from Derrick Rose in NBA 2K11, it’s another exciting Top 10 to tip off a weekend of basketball gaming. 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 sensible roster choices that were made in classic basketball video games.
Generally speaking, roster accuracy is something that we want to see basketball video games strive for. Of course, in the days before official roster updates were common, it didn’t take long for games to become outdated. A big trade or an abrupt retirement shortly after the roster cut-off date could leave games with glaring inaccuracies. Still, we wanted the games to do their best: all of the necessary players as of the roster cut-off date, the correct players starting, and so on. Even in arcade titles, we wanted to see up-to-date squads that featured the most sensible roster choices.
To that point however, sometimes the most sensible roster choices in classic games – both simulation and arcade – have meant foregoing accuracy. In these situations, a completely accurate roster or starting lineup wouldn’t be as fun, because it would mean leaving out a player we want to take control of on the virtual hardwood. If a game lacked an inactive roster, was a sim or sim-arcade hybrid that didn’t include full lineups, or otherwise called for a break from reality, it was the right choice to make. With that in mind, here are five classic games where the developers wisely made sensible roster choices, even when it technically meant getting something wrong.
Happy Halloween, everyone! Since the spooky season is here again, it’s time to dive into another basketball video game urban legend with a new Tales from the Virtual Hardwood video. On this occasion, I’m examining an alleged eerie occurrence involving the late Jason Collier and NBA Live 06 PC.
As long-time basketball fans may recall, former Atlanta Hawks big man Jason Collier sadly passed away a couple of weeks before the 2006 season tipped off. He was removed from the Xbox 360 version of NBA Live 06, but as the PC and sixth gen console versions shipped months earlier, Collier was still included in their rosters. After his untimely passing and removal from the rosters on PC however, he reportedly showed up as a referee on the sideline. Is there any truth to this urban legend? Here’s the actual story!
I hope this was an interesting tale for Halloween! Be sure to subscribe to the NLSC YouTube channel for more basketball gaming content, including video essays, highlight reels, our podcast, the weekly Top 10 Plays, and more. As always, if you have any suggestions of games that you’d like to see Dee and I play, or topics you’d like us to tackle on the podcast or in a video, please let us know!
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 Street Hoops.
There was a time when multiple studios threw their hat into the ring with basketball video games, providing a choice beyond the brand leaders such as NBA Live and NBA 2K. Of course, while that era is nostalgic now and many of us miss having a plethora of hoops games, the market glut definitely wasn’t sustainable. Not every game ended up being a big enough hit to spawn sequels or a series, often for very good reasons. Still, there are some overlooked gems and interesting releases that became cult classics and personal favourites for gamers who grew up with them.
As I’ve expanded my collection, it’s been fun to experience games that I overlooked back when I was primarily playing NBA Live, NBA Jam, and NBA Street. Even the titles that lack the polish of the all-time classics are still fun to revisit, and they’re definitely fascinating to dive into all these years later. That’s an apt summary of Street Hoops by Black Ops Entertainment! Like its spiritual sequel, AND 1 Streetball, this 2002 release for PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube is rough around the edges, but unquestionably had ambitious ideas and potential. Let’s take a look back…way back…
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 frank thoughts on how grinding is not only antithetical to fun, but also the concept of stick skills.
It’s interesting – and honestly, a bit alarming – to see what we’ve come to accept in video games. Far too many gamers defend microtransactions, excusing them as being “optional” or “just cosmetic”, or indeed, that it’s “just business“. Excessive grinding will also be defended as a necessary part of the experience, usually suggesting that anyone that takes issue with it wants to be OP and done with a game in a week. And, since heavy grinding and microtransactions are intertwined in NBA 2K, the apologist rhetoric for both problems is likewise combined in a shameful display of shilling.
I’ll say it again. Everyone who criticises recurrent revenue mechanics understands all too well that video game development is a business, and that profits are something that a billion dollar corporation is going to strive for. We just don’t enjoy the negative effect that has on gameplay! Likewise, gamers that are fed up with releases that are a total grindfest understand the need to have a challenge and a journey. We just want it to be fair and fun, and grinding for grinding’s sake is antithetical to that. However, it’s also antithetical to the concept of testing stick skills, and the almighty mythical skill gap. We only need to cast our eyes back to some classic games to see the proof.
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.
Admittedly it isn’t Halloween until next Thursday, but that doesn’t mean this week’s NLSC Top 10 Plays can’t get into the spooky spirit early! The community has submitted some terrifyingly spectacular highlights, from monster jams to cold-blooded clutch shots. You’ll also notice that in addition to the legends of the game, some role players are also getting a chance to strut their stuff. For that extra Halloween touch, the countdown tips off with the Skeleton Crew in NBA Jam: On Fire Edition, one of seven games featured this week. 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 star players who played for both the Lakers and Celtics.
It is undoubtedly the most iconic rivalry in the history of the NBA. It even inspired the title of the very first game in the NBA Playoffs/NBA Live series! As of writing, the Lakers and the Celtics have combined for 35 of the 78 championships in league history, and have clashed in the Finals a record 12 times. The 2024 season saw the Celtics edge ahead of the Lakers with their 18th championship, and they also have a 9-3 edge in their twelve NBA Finals clashes. Boston also leads the all-time series, and is the only team with a lifetime winning record against LA.
Of course, despite the rivalry and all of the passionate responses it invites from Lakers and Celtics fans, the teams have often done deals. Furthermore, taking into account players that joined one or both teams via free agency, there’s a long list of players who have donned both Celtics green and Lakers purple and gold. That’s inevitable with the teams being around for decades, but it does get interesting when you look for stars and Hall of Famers who ended up playing for both of these storied franchises. To that end, there are five particularly noteworthy players that come to mind here. As we tip off a new season where all eyes are on both teams, let’s take a look at who they are!
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 the long-running recap, magazine, and highlight show, NBA Action.
Several years ago now, during a discussion in the NLSC Forum, I saw someone refer to “that awful NBA Action show”. I was quite surprised – shocked even – and ready to disagree! As a young fan in the 90s who eagerly anticipated the latest episode of NBA Action every week, I was puzzled to see it described in such unflattering terms. The more I thought about it though, the more it made sense. It was no longer the show it had once been. There was a new host, and new segments. Most importantly, it didn’t have the same relevance in the digital age.
In short, if you weren’t watching NBA Action before the mid to late 2000s, then you didn’t see the show at its peak. Anyone who is accustomed to getting NBA news and highlights on demand may understandably struggle to see its value. It’d be like trying to convince someone who never watched golden age episodes of The Simpsons that it’s one of the best comedies in history. Like The Simpsons though, NBA Action was a must-watch for me in the 90s, and I’m confident that many basketball fans around my age will say the same. Let’s take a look back…way back…
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 the importance of balance in basketball video games, and what balance really entails.
Balance is undoubtedly one of the most important attributes a basketball game can have. In fact, it’s an essential ingredient in most action-oriented video games. Of course, like “skill gap“, the term is prone to being reduced to a buzzword. Gamers say they want balance and developer blogs will talk about the upcoming game having much better balance, but what does that truly mean? Even if we can define it, is it something that can actually be achieved, or is it just a pseudo-intellectual way of saying that we like the gameplay of a certain title, and that it works for us personally?
I brought up “skill gap” deliberately, as a lot of mechanics that strive to achieve that concept do run into issues with balance. Whether they’re tuned to cater to the most elite gamers (or at least, the elitist gamers), or they’re too powerful and easy to abuse, some mechanics are too unbalanced to work. To that point, no gameplay mechanic exists in a vacuum, and must mesh well with other mechanics in order to have the right balance for an enjoyable – and for that matter, truly competitive – experience on the sticks. Before we sneer at someone to “get good” and declare that their criticism is merely a “skill issue”, we must look at whether or not a game is actually balanced.
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.
Hopefully the latest patch won’t dampen the community’s enthusiasm for NBA 2K25, as it continues to contribute some excellent highlights to the NLSC Top 10 Plays! NBA 2K23, NBA Live 18, and NBA Jam: On Fire Edition are also in this week’s countdown, which features an assortment of spectacular two-way plays, clutch moments from the NBA and WNBA alike, action from FIBA and The Streets, and of course, jaw-dropping poster dunks. Looking for a way to get hyped for another weekend of basketball gaming? Look no further; 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 offseasons that ended up being quite exciting for basketball gamers.
As another offseason draws to a close and a new season gets ready to tip off, we’ve got some new lineups to look forward to in the NBA this year. To that end, for those who play with current season rosters, the offseason always sets the table with some intriguing scenarios for the upcoming campaign. Whether you want to play with a team that just made a big trade or signing, or defeat them if they’re a bitter rival of your favourite club, gamers are just as invested as seeing those stories play out on the virtual hardwood as in real life.
Some offseasons are wilder than others of course, leading to lineups that make the games set in the forthcoming season even more memorable. With that in mind, I’ve compiled a list of what I believe are five of the most exciting offseasons from the perspective of basketball fans and gamers alike. Before I get into them however, I’ll give an honourable mention to the 2003 offseason, which saw Gary Payton and Karl Malone join Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant on the Lakers. It’s an honourable mention because it feels like a played-out example, and other offseasons were arguably more exciting league-wide. With that being said, here are my five picks!
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