Monday Tip-Off: My Basketball Video Game Collection (2022 Edition)

Posted by: Andrew in Basketball Video Games, Features, Monday Tip-Off April 4, 2022 0

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 a look at my basketball video game collection, as of 2022.

Back in March, I tweeted out a photo of my entire physical basketball video game collection, with some follow-up screenshots of the digital releases I own. I’m proud of my collection and satisfied in how I’ve been able to amass it, so I was pleased with the reception. While collecting is something that I do for my own enjoyment – and create content for the NLSC, of course – I was naturally hoping that my fellow hoops gamers would be impressed and get a kick out of the photo. I wanted it to inspire nostalgia, intrigue, and yes, a slight touch of good-natured envy. I’d say mission accomplished!

Given the old maxim of a picture being worth a thousand words, I could just leave it at those Tweets. However, I would like to talk a little more about my basketball video game collection, and provide a comprehensive listing as it’s impossible to get every title to be clearly visible in one photo. There are also a few digital releases that I didn’t display in my follow-up screenshots, including a couple I neglected to mention since they’re standalone releases and not on a digital platform such as Steam, Xbox Live, or the PSN Store. Finally, it’s been almost seven years since I wrote about my basketball video game collection, and I’ve been able to make some exciting additions since then.

The Whole Physical Basketball Video Game Collection

I’ll start out by reflecting on my physical basketball video game collection as a whole. I’ve become more open to digital copies since 2015, in part because my connection is now faster, but also because it’s the only option for NBA 2K on PC. However, I do still like physical copies, and they’re obviously the only option when we’re talking about retro collecting. Continuing to build the collection over the past seven years has necessitated some reorganisation of my shelves and drawers to accommodate the new arrivals. At this point, I’ve collected almost all of the games I can for the systems that I actually own, so while I do have space for more, they’ll mostly be future releases.

You may notice that several games are disc or cartridge-only. While I’m not against collecting “complete in box” (or at least the case/box in addition to the media), that tends to be far more expensive. I’m interested in playing the games, not displaying them, so getting my hands on a working copy at a reasonable price is my aim. Most of the games from the PlayStation 2 era onwards came in their original case, though I saved a considerable amount of money by picking up disc-only copies of the college basketball games for PS3. As it is, I had to be patient in waiting for affordable listings to pop up on eBay, and then act fast so as not to miss out on such a fantastic deal.

If you’re thinking that it must have taken a while to get out my entire basketball video game collection, arrange it for some photographs, and then put it away again, then you’re absolutely correct! I did have to set aside a few hours to do it. In fact, I did it twice! After I’d put everything away for the first time, I realised that I’d left a few of the Konami games off to the side. It wouldn’t have been noticeable, and the photo of my basketball video game collection would still be impressive with them missing. I’d know they were missing though, so I had to set it all up again! I know it’s difficult to see every single game, but that’s by design, emphasizing the size of the collection.

New Platforms & Series

Since I last wrote about my basketball video game collection in 2015, I’ve expanded into other platforms, and set myself up with the means to run games that didn’t receive PAL releases. A friend gifted me his old PlayStation 3, which as I touched on above, allowed me to finally import some college basketball games. Due to the Xbox 360 being region-locked, I wasn’t able to play the NCAA titles from EA Sports or Visual Concepts. Now, NCAA March Madness 08, NCAA Basketball 09, NCAA Basketball 10, College Hoops 2K7, and College Hoops 2K8, are all part of my basketball video game collection. It’s been a blast to finally own and play them, all these years later!

I also invested in a universal adapter for my Super Nintendo, which allows me to play NTSC releases from the United States, and Famicom releases from Japan. As such, I’ve been able to add the SNES version of NBA Live 98, Super Dunk Shot, NCAA Basketball, College Slam, and the NTSC version of Tecmo Super NBA Basketball, to my collection. I also picked up a copy of NBA Showdown – the immediate forerunner to NBA Live 95 – which for some reason had a PAL release on the Sega Mega Drive, but not the Super Nintendo. I’ve also double-dipped with some PS1 versions of games I own on other platforms, and picked up a few rarities including some PC releases.

Titles in the In the Zone/NBA Pro series, Midway’s sequels to NBA Jam and NBA Hangtime, and Sony’s NBA series, are now part of the collection. I’ve been able to get my hands on oddities such as Kidz Sports Basketball, Nicktoons Basketball, Jammit, and Backyard Basketball 2007. Other fun collectibles include the Japanese versions of NBA Live 2002 and NBA Street with Michael Jordan on the cover, and the alternate covers of NBA 2K12 with Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Double Dribble, Hoops, AND 1 Streetball, Street Hoops…as you’ll see below, the list goes on! I even found an affordable copy of NBA Basketball for Intellivision, to run on the original console.

Putting That Basketball Video Game Collection To Use

Obviously, my basketball video game collection has also expanded with the annual releases that have come out since 2015. I’ve sunk a varying amount of time into each of those games, depending on how much I enjoyed them. Going back and spending several hours with older titles hasn’t always been feasible, since newer titles have had my attention. I do love having so many games that I can pull out on a whim, though. Needless to say, I have plenty of material for Wayback Wednesday features moving forward! I already had a sizeable list of ideas concerning games that have been in my collection for a while, so recent additions have ensured years of throwback content.

Generally speaking, I prefer to play games on their original hardware. It’s the more authentic experience, and it would defeat the purpose of collecting those original copies if I never played them. If I need to get screenshots or footage for a feature however, I will sometimes use emulators for some of the older consoles, to ensure better quality. With newer consoles, or when I need to specifically capture from the original copy – such as with my glitched NBA Live 97 cartridge – I’ll use my Elgato. At some point I’ll need to upgrade to a new device that captures in 60 fps, but for now, the Elgato that I have gets the job done, especially for 360 and PS3 screenshots.

In the case of the latter, I’ve had to put in some extra work. The model of PS3 that I was gifted doesn’t include the option to disable HDCP, as on PS4 and PS5. To get around that, I needed to invest in a HDMI splitter. Fortunately they’re not expensive and the cable configuration is only slightly different, but it was a setback at first when I encountered a blocked signal. In short, I’m now set up to play my entire basketball video game collection whenever the mood strikes, and also in a position to capture media for features as necessary. The only thing holding me back is being a creature of habit, and defaulting to preferred favourites and games I know work well over Parsec!

Future Additions & The List As Of Today

Right now, I’m extremely satisfied with my basketball video game collection, and am not looking to make any major additions. As I said, I’ve collected most of the games that are available on the platforms I own, with the gaps mostly being very rare and expensive titles. While I’m passionate about basketball gaming and my collection, it’s been my aim to be as frugal as possible, and a savvy collector. I’d need to be quite wealthy before I even think about dropping $25,000 on a copy of NBA Elite 11! I do keep an eye out on eBay and local retro gaming stores, but it’s not something that I’m constantly spending a lot of money on. I’ve been picking up titles here and there.

Unfortunately, it’s not the best time to be a collector. Retro video game collecting in general fluctuates in price according to its current popularity. The more popular it is, and the more that people are convinced they can cash in, the higher the prices will be. I strongly advise anyone looking to collect to be savvy, especially if you’re looking to sell later. That isn’t my intention, but whatever your goal in collecting, be wary of inflated prices and gouging. There are a couple of games that I’d like, such as the PS1 version of NBA Jam Tournament Edition and Looney Tunes B-Ball, but the current eBay prices are more than I’m willing to pay. I’ve got enough to play in the meantime!

So, I’ve discussed my basketball video game collection as it currently stands, as well as the process of amassing it. I’ve included some photos, and you’ll find a few more at the end of this article. It’s time to share the complete list as it stands today, organised by platform. The pile you see in the photos above no doubt gives you an idea of how many games I own, but listing them all here – including the digital copies – really does drive home how many titles I have. At some point, I’ll need to compile an updated list of my favourites, and perhaps my picks for the best and worst basketball games of all-time. Until then, I share with you a collection that’s been years in the making!