NBA Live 16

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 by lamenting another rash decision that led to me losing updates and content…again.

When it comes to uninstalling and reinstalling games after their servers have been shut down, you’d think that I’d have learned my lesson by now. In fact, back in 2020, I wrote an entire article reflecting on making that mistake! Of course, to err is human as the saying goes, and I’m only human at the end of the day. Still, that doesn’t stop me from kicking myself, especially when it comes to preventable mistakes; in this case, not uninstalling and reinstalling a game when I didn’t need to. I’d say live and learn, but again, clearly I didn’t.

The game in question this time is NBA Live 16. I uninstalled and reinstalled it a little while back, and although there was a reason for it, it wasn’t entirely necessary. I chose to do it though, and in the process, I lost updates and content that I’ll never get back since the servers were shut down on October 19th, 2020; just a few months after I wrote about losing content and updates when reinstalling games that no longer had online support! And so, in addition to lamenting my losses and chastising my rash decision, this is another public service announcement to be careful with your installed games. If you’re a retro gamer, content creator, or both, please learn from my blunder!

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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 a few of the free agents who were in NBA Live 16, and putting them back in uniform.

To say that the roster customisation options in the eighth gen NBA Live releases were a disappointment is a massive understatement. After all, they were missing entirely until a patch added roster editing to NBA Live 18, and even then, the functionality was botched and buggy come NBA Live 19. Still, it’s far easier to set up a custom roster or fantasy scenario in those two titles, compared to the first three releases on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Indeed, outside of the official roster updates – which are no longer available – Dynasty mode is the only way to see players in a new jersey.

It’s also the only place that you’ll see the selection of Free Agents that are included in NBA Live 16. To that point, there are some veterans still in the game that, if we could create custom rosters, would’ve allowed us to set up some fun scenarios. It can still be done in Dynasty, but with the limitations of the salary cap and an inability to edit jersey numbers, re-creating lineups is quite a challenge. Nevertheless, I’ve been able to place some of those NBA Live 16 Free Agents back in a uniform that they once wore, correct number and all. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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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 EA Sports cover players that can be found in NBA Live 16.

Did you know that every single NBA 2K cover player is available to play with in NBA 2K24? Between the cover players that are still active and the game’s array of classic and All-Time teams, they’re all accounted for. Obviously, we haven’t had a new NBA Live since 2018, but even then, NBA Live 19 didn’t include every cover player in the history of the series. On top of that, a couple of the cover players that were included in NBA Live 19 were nevertheless retired, and thus exclusive to the collection of Legends in Ultimate Team.

If we want to find the last NBA Live game that featured a healthy selection of players who appeared on the cover of EA Sports’ long-running basketball sim series, we must go back a few years to NBA Live 16. In fact, not only does NBA Live 16 feature a number of NBA Live cover players, but also players who graced the covers of EA Sports’ college basketball titles. And so, I thought it might be fun to spotlight those cover players who are readily accessible in NBA Live 16, wearing EA Sports jerseys in the game’s practice mode. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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I think many of us still find it tough to wrap our heads around it – and the passage of time doesn’t make it any easier – but it’s been four years since we lost Kobe Bryant in a tragic helicopter crash. Since then, there have been many tributes to the Mamba including NBA 2K covers, and of course his enshrinement into the Hall of Fame. Basketball gamers are actively keeping his memory alive by playing with him on the virtual hardwood, and to that end, I replayed Kobe Bryant’s last game against the Utah Jazz in NBA Live 16.

Since I was playing on six minute quarters, replicating his feat of 60 points was always going to be difficult. While I did fall short of that number, I kept feeding the Mamba the ball, and pulled off some very satisfying highlights in the process. NBA Live 16 is a game that I’ve come to appreciate more upon revisiting it in recent months, and it’s always fun getting buckets with Kobe. I’m sure that many basketball fans will be taking control of Kobe today and this weekend, and this is my tribute to one of the greatest to grace the hardwood, both real and virtual.

Feel free to share your memories of Kobe, and if you post any highlights on social media, be sure to tag us. Beyond that, we’re constantly uploading basketball gaming content to the NLSC YouTube channel, so please subscribe, and hit us up with suggestions of any games that you’d like to see us play. Rest in Peace, Mamba.

From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #508 of the NLSC Podcast!

We’re back on the air after a hard drive mishap, and it’s also our 2023 Christmas Special! After celebrating the arrival of a brand new desktop, we catch up on an exciting Top 10 Plays, and also compare NCAA March Madness 08 to NBA Live 08. Since we got into the festive spirit by playing a couple of games of NBA Live 16 using the Christmas Day jerseys, we recap those sessions, and once again discuss the game’s strengths and weaknesses. With the 2024 season well underway, we also join the community in listing the players and teams that we’re enjoying watching, and reflect on some of our favourite Christmas gifts involving basketball and basketball video games.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:35:28 — 65.9MB)

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!

Merry Christmas and Season’s Greetings, basketball gamers! I hope that you’re all enjoying the festive season. That might include spending some time on the virtual hardwood, and indeed, that’s what Dee and I have been doing, playing a Christmas Day showdown between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors in NBA Live 16!

As you may recall, Christmas Day 2015 featured that NBA Finals rematch, and the special jerseys that were worn in that game are available in NBA Live 16. To that end, it only made sense to take control of the eventual champion Cavs in co-op play, and try to gain some revenge over the team that defeated them just a few months prior. It was a competitive battle with LeBron James and Kyrie Irving doing their thing, while the Splash Brothers gave us everything they had at the other end. It reminded us of how fun NBA Live 16 can be, and you’ll find the highlights below.

You can also look forward to our recap of the game in Episode #508 of the NLSC Podcast, which will be out soon. Prior to our most recent show, Dee also fired up NBA 2K24 PC with some NBA In-Season Tournament mods installed, and played the finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Indiana Pacers. On top of that, I’ve put together a highlight reel from Games 21-30 in Year 6 of my NBA 2K14 MyCAREER on PlayStation 4. Both of those videos can also be found below.

It’s been a great year of producing basketball gaming content for the NLSC YouTube channel, so be sure to subscribe if you haven’t already! As always, feel free to hit us up with any suggestions of games that you’d like to see us play. Once again, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and best wishes to you and your family!

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #505 of the NLSC Podcast!

Is Slam ‘N Jam 96 the worst arcade basketball video game that we’ve ever played? After connecting for a co-op session with the PlayStation version this past week, it’s definitely a candidate! We compare it to Konami’s NBA Give ‘n Go, which we remember as a superior take on the sim-arcade hybrid. On the plus side, we had a much better time revisiting NBA Live 16, and continuing our Road Trip in NBA Jam: On Fire Edition. In this week’s mailbag, we join the community in sharing stories about who we most enjoy playing basketball video games with, and also solicit suggestions for basketball shoes.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:09:33 — 48.1MB)

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!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our virtual ballers in the United States! I realise that many of you are probably enjoying quality time with family and friends right now, but I wanted to offer up a couple of Thanksgiving treats in the form of NBA Jam: On Fire Edition and NBA Live 08 videos. Dee has also recently uploaded some great highlight reels for NBA 2K14 and NBA Live 16 that you should definitely catch if you haven’t already.

First up, there’s a seasonally-appropriate NBA Jam: On Fire Edition video, featuring a full game between The Gobblers and characters from SSX. I’m playing the game on Real AI difficulty, which means that the CPU is very aggressive, and throwing my own strategies back at me. These turkeys may have escaped ending up on the dinner table, but it was a tough challenge to avoid them being roasted on the virtual hardwood instead!

Next up is a redux of my re-creation of Dazzling Dunks & Basketball Bloopers’ recap of the 1988 Dunk Contest in NBA Live 08 PC. You may recall that I posted that re-creation back in February for Michael Jordan’s 60th Birthday, and I decided to create a picture-in-picture version that compared my efforts to the original segment. As for Dee’s videos, he put together a reel from our exciting co-op session on NBA 2K14 using 2012 rosters, as well as a game of NBA Live 16 that he played against the CPU. We discussed both of those games in Episode #504 of the NLSC Podcast.

Check out all of those videos below! Once again, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who is celebrating it today. Be sure to subscribe to the NLSC YouTube channel for more basketball gaming content, and as always, feel free to hit us up with any suggestions of games that you’d like to see us play.

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #504 of the NLSC Podcast!

If you can believe it, last Wednesday marked a decade since NBA 2K14’s release on PlayStation 4! As such, this week we’re celebrating the tenth anniversary of a truly iconic game, and a personal favourite. That includes looking back to our first impressions of both versions of NBA 2K14, reminiscing about the countless hours we’ve spent with them right through to today, and reflecting on the PC modding scene. We also read out some memories of NBA 2K14 that the community shared with us. Additionally, we have some fantastic basketball gaming sessions from the past week to catch up on, including a game of NBA Live 16 that makes us wistful about yet another missed opportunity for EA Sports.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:27:40 — 60.6MB)

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!

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! Next up is a retrospective of NBA Live 16.

I have mixed feelings when I look back at NBA Live 16. On one hand, it’s a very solid game that was an improvement on NBA Live 15. I also had the opportunity to play it early, and to date, that was the last community event that I attended. On the other hand, the game also introduced concepts that while fun, have since taken the series in the wrong direction upon becoming the main focus. That makes it a pivotal title in the series, and in hindsight, there were some red flags about what was to come. At the same time, the good things that it did were cause for optimism, and deserve credit. With that in mind, NBA Live 16 is a rather interesting release to reflect upon.

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Episode #335 of the NLSC Podcast is out now! Derek (aka Dee4Three) and I are your hosts for this week’s show.

The NBA 2K21 Current Gen trailer has given us something to really sink our teeth into this week. We share our thoughts on what we saw, and touch on some of the community reactions. A glimpse of the new Shot Meter and recent comments by Beluba also inspire us to once again discuss shooting mechanics. Meanwhile, remarks by 2K’s CEO have continued to stir up controversy regarding the Next Gen price increase. We have a few things to say on the matter, along with our subsequent expectations for Next Gen. With the NBA Live 16 servers shutting down, we also encourage everyone to wrap up their business ASAP, and take some time to reflect on the game.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:47:16 — 73.7MB)

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What’s your take on this week’s conversation? 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. The show also comes out on our YouTube channel, so be sure to subscribe for future episodes and other video content.

The NBA Live 16 servers will be shutting down on October 19th 2020 at 11 AM EST, as per a new in-game notification. Upon the shutdown, all online content such as Ultimate Team, Head 2 Head, and LIVE Pro-Am will no longer be available.

As usual, my advice would be to wrap up any unfinished business between now and the shutdown. This includes acquiring Trophies/Achievements that require online connectivity, LUT challenges, and if you’re a content creator, getting video and screenshots of features that will soon be unavailable.

EA Sports has been shutting down the servers for older NBA Live games over the past twelve months, as the number of gamers still playing them has continued to dwindle. As it stands, NBA Live 14, NBA Live 15, and now NBA Live 16 will have all had online support for over five years by the time their servers are shutdown. This is far longer than usual, and it remains to be seen if NBA Live 18 and NBA Live 19 will receive similar service. The cancellation of NBA Live 20 and NBA Live 21 may indeed result in the extension of their online support.

Thanks to Pavel for the heads up on the impending shutdown of the NBA Live 16 servers! Once again, be sure to complete any unfinished business ASAP, as October is only a couple of months away.

The week is in the dying minutes of the fourth quarter, which means it’s time for the Sunday Substitute! It’s the article where I get some valuable minutes while the star is resting on the bench. I might not have the time to do this every week, but I like to think I’m still making a contribution to the team. Since it looks like NBA Live 18 will be released this year, I figured it would be a fantastic opportunity to look back at NBA Live 16 and determine what features are worth salvaging. For this article, I’m going to focus on the player upgrade system.

I really love the player creation and upgrade system in NBA Live 16. It began for me with the most seamless face scan I have ever done in any video game. I’m not sure how everyone else went with it, but I know that my player in NBA Live 16 looks much more like me than any player I’ve created in the NBA 2K series. But my appreciation for player customisation in NBA Live 16 has gone far beyond that since I bought a full copy of the game.

Not only is the player upgrade system an excellent feature in NBA Live 16, but I believe it is superior to that of NBA 2K16, and even NBA 2K17. I know it’s a big call – since the NBA 2K games have the advantage in most areas – but I think NBA Live 16 had some intuitive features when it comes to upgrading created players. So, here are the player upgrade features that I not only love in NBA Live 16, but I think should be considered for NBA Live 18.

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Episode #196 of the NLSC Podcast is out now! We’re back on the air after skipping last week, as we wanted to wait until the NBA trade deadline had passed so that we could discuss any deals that went down. There’s quite a few other things to talk about as we catch up this week, including suggestions to improve 2K Pro-Am, a busy week in basketball gaming, and the 2017 NBA All-Star Weekend.

On this week’s show…

• A solid, well-thought out list of suggestions for improving 2K Pro-Am was posted over at Operation Sports. It’s certainly a topic that interests us, so we take a look at the ideas, and throw out a few suggestions of our own.
• Visual Concepts recently did something very cool with Make-A-Wish, though some unfortunate wording was used to promote it on Twitter.
• In Our Week in Basketball Gaming: We played a little bit of everything this week! Thoughts on Park After Dark #3, Kenny’s impressions of NBA Live 16, comparisons between LIVE Pro-Am and 2K Pro-Am, and updates on what we’ve been doing in MyCAREER and MyTEAM.
• The 2017 NBA All-Star Weekend came, disappointed, and went. You might think we’re turning into grumpy (grumpier?) old men, but a lot of people seem to share our sentiments.
• As it turned out, the biggest trade happened during the All-Star Game, and not at the trade deadline.
• We wrap up Episode #196 of the NLSC Podcast with a quick discussion of recent NBA news and results, including injuries and the Playoff push.

Click Play to listen to the show!

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 2:01:00 — 83.2MB)

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Have some thoughts on the latest episode? Sound off in the comments below, or here in the Forum. Also, if there’s a topic you’d like us to discuss on the next episode of the NLSC Podcast, feel free to hit us up in this thread.

Episode #175 of the NLSC Podcast is out now! We’re in the final countdown to NBA 2K17, so it’s been another busy week with several previews. Join us as we react to the latest news, share our recent basketball gaming experiences, and talk about a couple of other topics that caught our attention.

On this week’s show…

• We now know a lot more about what to expect from MyCAREER in NBA 2K17, by way of a developer blog and a trailer. What do we think of this year’s approach?
• The MyNBA2K17 app is out now, but as of recording, it isn’t much use yet.
• A couple of new tidbits about MyLEAGUE and MyCAREER have given us some ideas for league expansion. We’re also really glad that there’ll be no four point line.
• The Arena Authenticity trailer spotlighted some cool presentation elements, but are we particularly hyped about them?
• We discuss what certainly appears to be a hoax about a PC version of NBA Live 17, and recap what we know so far about the next game from EA Sports.
• In another social media gaffe, Ronnie 2K continues to alienate basketball gamers who dare to express legitimate complaints about NBA 2K.
• Our Week in Basketball Gaming includes some of our final sessions of 2K Pro-Am – though there might be a couple more – and a return to NBA 2K11 for the Jordan Challenge. Also, a bit of talk about NBA Live 16 (yes, it’s been a while).
• We wrap up Episode #175 of the NLSC Podcast with another game of Trivia Time!

Click Play to listen to the show!

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:36:27 — 46.2MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

Have some thoughts on the latest episode? Sound off in the comments below, or here in the Forum. Also, if there’s a topic you’d like us to discuss on the next episode of the NLSC Podcast, feel free to hit us up in this thread.