Wayback Wednesday: Timberwolves Franchise in NBA Live 2003

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Re: Wayback Wednesday: How We Used to Create Rosters

Postby [Q] on Thu Sep 19, 2019 3:19 am

Andrew wrote:Wayback Wednesday: How We Used to Create Rosters

Back when we were the NBA Live Series Center, our founders described the site as "the official home of the Roster Patches and the NBA Live Editors for Windows". In those days, there were no official rosters pushed through by EA Sports, and limited in-game editing facilities. Modding existed before the NLSC, and the PC versions of NBA Live for that matter, but it's fair to say that the efforts of Tim, Lutz, and Brien were instrumental in bringing the hobby to the virtual hardwood. It certainly blew my mind when I discovered the NLSC, and I was inspired to make my own rosters.

Of course, even with the editors that our founders created, it wasn't always easy. I've talked about the technical aspects of editing those early games, and some of the tools that made it possible. In this week's Wayback Wednesday, I'd like to reflect on the process of making rosters; in other words, how we found the necessary information that made those projects possible. It's a process that's become a lot easier as online resources have expanded, but back then, we had to hunt around a little more. Let's take a look back...way back...

The NBA.com transactions page was really my only source of information but I would record the NBA drafts and sit there and write all the draftees' info down and create them in the game
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Re: Wayback Wednesday: Reimagining NBA's Greatest

Postby Andrew on Tue Sep 24, 2019 12:30 pm

Oh for sure, we'd get info any way we could, and fudge it when we couldn't find enough info! Like I said, I look back on those efforts fondly and with some degree of pride, especially the retro rosters because of the creative ways we had to find information. It's so much better now, though.
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Re: Wayback Wednesday: Scottie Pippen in Basketball Games

Postby Andrew on Wed Sep 25, 2019 11:09 pm

Wayback Wednesday: Scottie Pippen in Basketball Games

Chicago Bulls legend and Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen turns 54 today. Incidentally, September 25th is a birthday that he shares with Mark Hamill, Will Smith, and my friend Courtney (Happy 30th Birthday, Courtney!). As you may know, my all-time favourite player is Michael Jordan, but Scottie Pippen is a close second, being MJ's teammate on six Bulls championship squads in the 90s. I have many fond memories of that dynamic duo - dubbed "The Dobermans" by Johnny Bach due to their tenacity at both ends of the court - which could fill several Wayback Wednesday articles.

However, we obviously focus on basketball video games here at the NLSC. To that end, as it's Pip's birthday and he's one of my all-time favourite players - as well as one of the greatest players in the history of basketball - it seems only appropriate that I take a look back at his legacy on the virtual hardwood. In my opinion, he has a rather interesting history in that regard, given how basketball video games were developed during his prime, and considering his standing among the NBA greats. Let's take a look back...way back...
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Re: Wayback Wednesday: Scottie Pippen in Basketball Games

Postby [Q] on Thu Sep 26, 2019 7:26 am

Scottie was so dominant in Hangtime!
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Re: Wayback Wednesday: Scottie Pippen in Basketball Games

Postby Andrew on Thu Sep 26, 2019 12:55 pm

In lieu of MJ, he was indeed The Man!
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Re: Wayback Wednesday: Affiliations in MyPARK

Postby Andrew on Wed Oct 02, 2019 9:12 pm

Wayback Wednesday: Affiliations in MyPARK

The Playground has never been my main mode of choice - Pro-Am is more my speed when it comes to NBA 2K online - but I've had some fun with it over the years. More to the point, it has become one of the most popular modes in the game, and through the introduction of The Neighborhood, a major part of the main MyCAREER hub. From its introduction as The Park in NBA 2K14 to its rebranding as MyPARK and subsequently The Playground, the mode has gone from an online offshoot of NBA 2K's career mode to its own fully fleshed out and immersive experience.

As much focus as it receives and as popular as it is, however, not all Playground gamers are completely satisfied with its evolution. One aspect that was left behind in the MyPARK era is affiliations. It's not uncommon to see Playground gamers asking for the return of MyPARK affiliations in response to 2K's Tweets, though as of NBA 2K20, it's yet to make a return. What was it, and why was it so popular? Let's take a look back...way back...
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Re: Wayback Wednesday: Retro Team Additions in NBA 2K16

Postby Andrew on Wed Oct 09, 2019 11:04 pm

Wayback Wednesday: Retro Team Additions in NBA 2K16

After The Jordan Challenge and NBA's Greatest established retro teams as a staple of NBA 2K's content, a few years went by before we saw any new additions. A handful of players disappeared from and later reappeared in the rosters as 2K lost and regained the rights to their likenesses, but the selection of historical squads remained the same, outside of the 1992 Dream Team appearing in NBA 2K13. Without a dedicated mode, it seemed as though we weren't going to see any new additions to the roster of retro NBA teams anytime soon.

Fortunately, we were proven wrong. As the preview season for NBA 2K16 loomed, an episode of NBA 2KTV revealed three of the twelve new retro teams that would be featured in the game. Not only was it a promising sign that retro content wouldn't be abandoned moving forward, but the choice of teams set a precedent that allowed it to expand beyond the scope of the squads added for The Jordan Challenge and NBA's Greatest. Let's take a look back...way back...
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Re: Wayback Wednesday: My NBA Live 96 Rosters

Postby Andrew on Wed Oct 16, 2019 11:11 pm

Wayback Wednesday: My NBA Live 96 Rosters

This week's Wayback Wednesday happens to have fallen on my 35th birthday. As such, I feel like reminiscing about my history in the community, and my modding endeavours in particular. I haven't been as active modding NBA Live PC in recent years, and apart from my current plans to update the rosters for NBA 2K11, I haven't been too involved in NBA 2K modding either. There are a few reasons for that, but it mostly comes down to making a lot of updates for many years beginning in 1997, burning out on the hobby, and wanting to create different content.

That's not to say that I haven't enjoyed my time messing around with mods over the past 22 years. Even though rosters in particular can feel like a chore, it's tremendously satisfying when a project comes together. Rosters have been my bread and butter for the most part, and I've updated several iterations of NBA Live, right through to the final PC release with NBA Live 08. For me it all started back in 1997 with one of my all-time favourite games, NBA Live 96. Since I'm up to NBA Live 96 in our 25th Anniversary of NBA Live celebrations and I touched upon the subject of modding the rosters in my retrospective, let's take a look back...way back...
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Re: Wayback Wednesday: Orange Juice in NBA 2K17

Postby Andrew on Wed Oct 23, 2019 11:22 pm

Wayback Wednesday: Orange Juice in NBA 2K17

After NBA 2K14 brought us the first story-driven MyCAREER mode, and NBA 2K15's story delivered us the gift of infamously bad acting from NBA players, NBA 2K16 tried taking the concept to the next level with Spike Lee's "Livin Da' Dream". Although the production values and acting were a lot better, the story had its own issues, and didn't gel with the RPG aspect of MyCAREER. As such, the story-driven approach would be retooled in NBA 2K17, increasing the amount of gameplay in our rookie seasons while also allowing for more flexibility with the player character.

2K would also bring in Aaron Covington, co-writer of Creed, to write and direct the story. Michael B. Jordan, who starred as Adonis Creed in the aforementioned film, was also signed on to play Justice Young. Together with the MyPLAYER character, The President of Basketball - aka Pres - he formed a duo known as Orange Juice. The name drew some scorn when it was revealed, but how does the story and its impact on NBA 2K17's MyCAREER hold up today? Pausing for a moment to note that there will be spoilers, let's take a look back...way back...
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Re: Wayback Wednesday: EA Sports World

Postby Andrew on Wed Oct 30, 2019 10:56 pm

Wayback Wednesday: EA Sports World

I've taken a look back at some very old basketball video games in my Wayback Wednesday features, and it's impossible not to marvel at how far the genre has come. Of course, even in the last ten years or so, we've seen some big leaps and changes. The improvements in graphics and the depth of modes are obvious talking points, but the concepts that became outdated and left behind are also quite interesting. I suppose it can be said of technology in general, but it's funny to look back at ideas that once seemed revolutionary and the way of the future, but instead quickly became obsolete.

A prime example of that is the subject of this week's Wayback Wednesday: EA Sports World. Supporting EA Sports' lineup of titles including NBA Live 09 and NBA Live 10, it was designed as a hub for sharing content and utilising various online features. Today however, it's long defunct. So, what was EA Sports World, and what happened to it? Let's take a look back...way back...
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Re: Wayback Wednesday: Players I Remember Because of Video Games (Part 2)

Postby Andrew on Wed Nov 06, 2019 9:45 pm

Wayback Wednesday: Players I Remember Because of Video Games (Part 2)

Back in September, I listed ten players that I remember in large part because of basketball video games. I could have easily listed many more, but I didn't want the article to be too long. I also figured that it was a topic I could revisit from time to time, much as I've done with my series of Friday Five articles on retro teams that I'd like to see in NBA 2K. Furthermore, it's something I enjoyed doing the first time around, as the players we used to play with and against in old basketball games make up a big part of our nostalgia for them.

Although I may also remember these players from watching real games, or collecting basketball trading cards, video games tend to be the main reason that I recall their names and faces. Through playing with and against them on the virtual hardwood, they remain familiar to me all these years later, even though they weren't NBA All-Stars or future Hall of Famers. Let's take a look back...way back...
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Re: Wayback Wednesday: Unused Retro Files in NBA 2K11

Postby Andrew on Wed Nov 13, 2019 11:38 am

Wayback Wednesday: Unused Retro Files in NBA 2K11

For as long as we've been tinkering with basketball video games and poking around in their files, we've been discovering unused assets and leftover data from cut content. It's always fun to discover such content, speculate on what might have been, and in some cases put those assets to use in mods. Examples include custom coach faces in NBA Live 2004, which would appear to be remnants of a scrapped custom team feature, and the leftover retro team player data in the PC version of NBA Live 08, which hints at the original plans for the game's bonus content.

The latter example is particularly interesting because of the history of retro content in basketball video games. NBA Live and NBA 2K had both featured Legends and All-Decade teams in some capacity, but it wasn't until NBA 2K11 that we saw full retro teams as part of The Jordan Challenge. However, digging through the game's files reveals that even more content may have been planned. Let's take a look back...way back...
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Re: Wayback Wednesday: Throwback Jerseys in Video Games

Postby Andrew on Wed Nov 20, 2019 9:05 pm

Wayback Wednesday: Throwback Jerseys in Video Games

Yes, it's a throwback article about throwback jerseys; the circle is complete! Just as the real NBA celebrates its history and recognises great teams and players from the past, so too does the virtual hardwood pay tribute to yesteryear. I've covered several examples in Wayback Wednesday, from the appearance of retired players as secret characters and the introduction of Legends, to modes such as The Jordan Challenge and NBA's Greatest. I've also mentioned how I enjoy the retro content in Ultimate Team and MyTEAM in some of my other features.

Something that I haven't touched upon yet is throwback jerseys. They've obviously become a big part of basketball culture, as Hardwood Classics jerseys and retro uniforms for current players are fashionable to wear. NBA teams themselves will also celebrate specific eras by wearing throwback jerseys on designated nights. This trend has been around for some time, and it's come to be represented in NBA video games as well. What is the history of throwback uniforms on the virtual hardwood? Let's take a look back...way back...
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Re: Wayback Wednesday: Throwback Jerseys in Video Games

Postby [Q] on Thu Nov 21, 2019 11:23 am

NBA Live 2005 had the best throwbacks, probably due to their official tie in with Mitchell and Ness. There was a good selection and most importantly they were all 100 percent accurate.

My first 2k game was 2k7 and it was hard to understand how despite their attention to detail, they went years with the same inaccurate jerseys with the wrong colors, number fonts, name fonts, etc
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Re: Wayback Wednesday: Throwback Jerseys in Video Games

Postby Andrew on Thu Nov 21, 2019 11:32 am

I suppose they served their purpose, and the novelty of having them made us less critical at times.
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Re: Wayback Wednesday: Throwback Jerseys in Video Games

Postby [Q] on Thu Nov 21, 2019 3:48 pm

Yes, but it hurt me when I would play with a jersey knowing there was something wrong with it lol
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Re: Wayback Wednesday: Throwback Jerseys in Video Games

Postby Andrew on Thu Nov 21, 2019 7:12 pm

For sure, you do pick up on these things when you're a stickler for details, as many of us are.
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Re: Wayback Wednesday: The Weird Virtual Career of Junior Harrington

Postby Andrew on Wed Nov 27, 2019 9:53 pm

Wayback Wednesday: The Weird Virtual Career of Junior Harrington

I love finding little quirks and oddities in old basketball video games that make for interesting trivia notes. Sometimes it's serendipity, as I find them when I'm revisiting a game for another topic altogether, and that's immensely satisfying. Other times, an idea will come to me and I'll have to dust off various games to do some research, and that's always fun as well. This is how I've come up with lists of players who have appeared in more video games than actual NBA games, players who only appear for certain teams in games, and other unusual occurrences on the virtual hardwood.

In that vein, how about a player who tended to appear more often in video games when he wasn't actually in the league, but was still active? That player is Lorinza "Junior" Harrington, who had a brief NBA career from 2002 to 2007. His career in the virtual NBA was quite unusual, and to date, I don't think there have been many other players - if any - who have found themselves in quite the same situation. Let's take a look back...way back...
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Re: Wayback Wednesday: The Fake NBA Live 2002 PC

Postby Andrew on Wed Dec 04, 2019 10:23 pm

Wayback Wednesday: The Fake NBA Live 2002 PC

As I've mentioned in my 25th Anniversary of NBA Live retrospective and a few other articles, NBA Live 2002 is a game that I'm oddly nostalgic for. It has its quirks and I definitely wouldn't call it the best game of its generation, but it's one that I did have a good amount of fun with when it was new. It was also the upcoming game when I took over the NLSC back in 2001, so it'll always stick out in my mind for that reason. Oh, and also the fact that it was the first game in the NBA Live series not to come out on PC. That definitely made it a controversial release in our community.

For a while there however, people were reporting that a PC version of NBA Live 2002 did exist, because they'd found a pirated version of it on peer-to-peer file sharing applications. Searching for NBA Live 2002 PC on those platforms did yield results, but what was the story behind those downloads? Let's take a look back...way back...
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Re: Wayback Wednesday: Jordan Challenge vs NBA's Greatest

Postby Andrew on Wed Dec 11, 2019 11:08 pm

Wayback Wednesday: Jordan Challenge vs NBA's Greatest

I like to mix things up here in Wayback Wednesday. From retrospective reviews and profiles of modes and features, to interesting trivia and media from yesteryear, it's my goal to cover a broad range of throwback content. Something that I haven't done yet is to directly compare a couple of retro games, modes, or features, and conclude which one is superior. That changes today with what will hopefully be the first of many "Versus" articles for Wayback Wednesday, as I'm comparing The Jordan Challenge to NBA's Greatest.

I've covered both The Jordan Challenge and NBA's Greatest in several articles for Wayback Wednesday, but the question remains: which is the superior mode? Both modes took NBA 2K's retro content to a new level, providing some fun challenges and establishing a precedent for all future releases as far as including a variety of historical teams. Let's compare these two great modes across some key criteria as we take a look back...way back...
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Re: Wayback Wednesday: Jay-Z in NBA Live 07

Postby Andrew on Wed Dec 18, 2019 10:18 pm

Wayback Wednesday: Jay-Z in NBA Live 07

I'm sure that Jay-Z needs no introduction for basically everyone reading this. As a rapper, producer, and record executive, he's considered one of the best and most influential names in his genre. He's also proven himself to be a highly successful businessman, and as of 2019, is a billionaire. On top of that, he's married to Beyoncé, making him half of one of the most prominent power couples in the entertainment industry. Again, this is all widely known, as is Jay-Z's love of basketball and his involvement with the sport, as he formerly owned a stake in the Brooklyn Nets.

What you may not know is that Jay-Z has an interesting history with basketball video games. His songs have been featured on various soundtracks, and of course he was an executive producer on NBA 2K13 - a topic I'm sure I'll discuss in a future Wayback Wednesday feature - but he was also playable in NBA Live 07. JaoSming covered this noteworthy appearance several years ago, but it's a piece of basketball gaming trivia that still tends to be overlooked. With that in mind, let's take a look back...way back...
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Re: Wayback Wednesday: Christmas on the Virtual Hardwood

Postby Andrew on Wed Dec 25, 2019 12:54 pm

Wayback Wednesday: Christmas on the Virtual Hardwood

Merry Christmas and Season's Greetings, basketball gamers! I hope you're enjoying the festive season, and are looking forward to some of the marquee games that are set to tip off this Christmas Day. Since this week's Wayback Wednesday has fallen on Christmas Day itself, I thought it would be fun to look back at how the occasion has been celebrated on the virtual hardwood. After all, a lot of video games have included Christmas content as Easter eggs - if that's not too ironic a turn of phrase - and there are even seasonal games, such as the classic Holiday Lemmings.

Basketball games tend to have a more straightforward approach to the matter, but there's still some interesting history with the virtual hardwood and the holiday season. With that in mind, and in the spirit of the season, let's deck the halls, rock around the Christmas tree, and take a look back...way back...
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Re: Wayback Wednesday: NBA Live 2000 & NBA Live 10 Trivia

Postby Andrew on Wed Jan 01, 2020 9:37 pm

Wayback Wednesday: NBA Live 2000 & NBA Live 10 Trivia

Happy New Year, everyone! It's strange to tip off a year with a retro feature, but it is Wednesday, and on Wednesdays we go way back. Speaking of which, as part of the lead up to the release of NBA Live 18 and NBA Live 19, I posted a couple of articles containing trivia facts about NBA Live 98 and NBA Live 08, and NBA Live 99 and NBA Live 09. I'd intended to do the same thing this year with NBA Live 2000 and NBA Live 10, ahead of the release of NBA Live 20. Of course, NBA Live 20 was ultimately cancelled, so I didn't get an opportunity to do so back in September.

Looking back, I'm certainly glad I didn't run it pre-emptively while we waited for that announcement! However, it seems like a waste of a good Wayback Wednesday idea to let it go, and of course, it all ties in to the 25th Anniversary of NBA Live content that we're doing despite the series going on hiatus once again. With that in mind, here are the trivia facts I would've originally shared to celebrate the release of the third NBA Live game with a year ending in zero. Let's take a look back...way back...
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Re: Wayback Wednesday: NBA Hangtime Retrospective

Postby Andrew on Wed Jan 08, 2020 9:11 pm

Wayback Wednesday: NBA Hangtime Retrospective

One of the benefits of Wayback Wednesday is that eventually, everything becomes "retro" enough to talk about. As it is, I've bent the rules slightly with some more recent games from time to time, but generally speaking, I've preferred focusing on titles that are several years old. To that end, I've tried to cover many of the classics before touching on more recent nostalgia. However, there are several titles from the early days of basketball gaming that I still haven't covered, but definitely mean to get to. NBA Hangtime is just one of the games that are overdue for a retrospective.

Perhaps it's only fitting that I've yet to cover the game, going on five years of running Wayback Wednesday features. As popular as it was with basketball gamers in its day, it does tend to be overlooked when we discuss the best arcade hoops titles. It was a strong follow-up to NBA Jam Tournament Edition - one of my personal favourites - and a game that I really enjoyed on the Nintendo 64. Let's take a look back...way back...
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Re: Wayback Wednesday: NBA Hangtime Retrospective

Postby [Q] on Thu Jan 09, 2020 8:32 am

I had Hangtime on Super Nintendo and played it religiously. I owned the Prima guide, so unfortunately I knew I was already playing the inferior port as it showed the rookies not available for my game. I was really sad that I couldn't play as Kobe and team him with Eddie Jones on my hometown Lakers. So I played a lot as the Pistons with Grant Hill.

It was nice that logo and jersey color changes were included as I believe teams used older colors on the arcade. Also, there was no time limit for the create a player modes.

I also never knew there was an actual song for the game. The SNES port had a simple instrumental track.
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