NLSC Rewind 2022

Posted by: Andrew in Community, Site News December 31, 2022 0

Welcome to the NLSC Rewind for 2022! It feels like it was only a few months ago that I was compiling last year’s Rewind, but that’s how it goes these days. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that the last few years have all run together. That’s largely due to the pandemic, but it’s also true what they say: time does seem to go faster the older you are! In any event, it’s been another fun and productive year here at the NLSC.

Our modding community has been busy all year, seamlessly transitioning from NBA 2K22 to NBA 2K23 when the latter was released. A handful of older titles were also kept updated in 2022, including NBA 2K13 and NBA 2K14. Glancing at the various modding sections, it’s clear that even more great work will be coming in 2023, with some great projects brewing for classic games as well. As always, a big thank you to everyone who continues to release work here! I’d like to remind everyone that the upload facilities in our Downloads database remain 100% free and available to all.

With that out of the way, let’s get to the NLSC Rewind for 2022! For those who are unaware, I use the Rewind to share some “editor’s picks” of our original content from the past year. Obviously I encourage you to peruse our entire archives; as with topics in our Forum, old comments sections are still open, and I’m proud of all our work. At the same time, there were some features and episodes of the NLSC Podcast that I’m particularly proud of, and I believe that you’ll really enjoy checking them out if you did miss them the first time around (or perhaps, enjoy them again a second time!). Without any further ado, let’s rewind the year that was 2022 here at the NLSC!

Monday Tip-Off

One of my goals with Monday Tip-Off this year was to strike a balance between more critical pieces, and articles reflecting on the fun I’m having on the virtual hardwood. That way, I’m able to both celebrate basketball gaming and share my experiences with all of you, but also speak out with what I believe is important commentary on the hobby. The fun I had with basketball gaming in 2022 inspired some more creative features as well, and I’d definitely like to draw everyone’s attention to them in this NLSC Rewind. I always aim to tip off every week here at the NLSC with something that’s fun, thought-provoking, or both, and hopefully I achieved that throughout 2022.

Wayback Wednesday

Compiling this NLSC Rewind for 2022 reminds me that I’ve still got a long list of classic games that I want to cover in Wayback Wednesday. I’m hoping to tick at least some of them off the list in 2023, but with that being said, I did have a blast producing Wayback Wednesday features this year. In case it isn’t clear by now, I greatly enjoy the interactive almanac aspect of basketball video games, so I’ll always be keen to look at NBA and player trivia through the lens of the virtual hardwood. It’s also fun to explore some more esoteric topics. Game and feature retrospectives are the bread and butter of Wayback Wednesday though, so definitely expect more of them in 2023.

The Friday Five

Can you believe that next year will mark ten years of producing The Friday Five every week (save for a couple of Fridays)? Indeed, I’ll be republishing and reflecting upon that very first Friday Five column for the first Wayback Wednesday of 2023! I’ve covered many topics in that time, but new ideas always seem to come to mind. On top of that, I have a few ongoing multipart series, and there are also other topics that are worth revisiting. As I always do with the Five, throughout 2022 I aimed for a mix of fun facts, thoughtful lists, and critical commentary. I’ll continue that approach into 2023, but for now, here’s a rewind of my favourite Friday Five articles for 2022.

NLSC Podcast

Unfortunately, I was responsible for breaking our streak of releasing a new episode of the NLSC Podcast every week. I came back from a weekend away with friends very under the weather, and wasn’t able to record a show. Apart from that, Derek and I have prided ourselves in bringing you a fun and interesting show every week that’s tight and well-produced. Dee organised a few guests this year, and that’s something we’ll look to do again in 2023 as well. As with the other features I’m spotlighting here in the 2022 NLSC Rewind, it’s tough to pick a Top 25 – again, by all means go through the entire catalogue – but these are my favourite shows of the year.

YouTube, Tournaments, & Discord

Of course, Derek hasn’t just been co-hosting the NLSC Podcast with me. As I’ve mentioned in recent posts, he’s been spearheading the efforts to create more content for the NLSC YouTube channel. Thanks to Dee’s efforts, enthusiasm, and acumen for video creation, we’re seeing much more activity on the channel with a big increase in subscribers, and regular viewers who are very supportive of the content. Dee is also much more active on Twitter than I am, constantly sharing clips and highlight reels from his gaming sessions. He’s been uploading to the channel all year long, and we have to begin with the NLSC Top 10 Plays, a weekly fixture for well over a year now.

Honestly, it’s impossible to handpick a selection of Top 10s, because they’re so much fun every week. As I did last year, I’m just going to recommend that you start with the January 1st 2022 edition, and then let the playlist run! The same goes for the playlist of gaming highlights, which run the gamut of basketball video games, both new and old. There are other series in the works too, such as the Greatest Performances reels spotlighting virtual hardwood legends. Although I’ve mostly been focused on written content, Derek has certainly inspired me to try my hand at more videos, pointing me in the right direction as far as video editing and capture software, and a new Elgato.

Additionally, Derek has been overseeing the NLSC Discord, and helping gamers to connect to play with and against each other using Parsec. This facilitated tournaments for NBA Jam: On Fire Edition and College Hoops 2K8, as well as the finale of the NBA Live 10 tournament that tipped off in late 2021. Dee hosted the tournament games in addition to producing the videos, and the community had a blast whether they played or watched. Beyond the playlists I’ve linked to, check out the channel and subscribe for even more great video content, and join the Discord. Check out Dee’s comprehensive Parsec resources, and follow him on Twitter for even more highlights!

The Final Word on 2022

I’ve said it before, but I wouldn’t still be running the NLSC after 21 years and counting if I didn’t enjoy it! We have our ups and downs every year, and there’ll always be challenges in the community. As far as modding goes, I’d love to see us return to our roots in 2023: making great mods that are readily available, free of charge. I’m also hoping that with some of the preparations I’ve made as far as building up a buffer of weekly features, I’ll be able to get back into some modding, too. It also opens up the floor to more video content and other ambitious features, since I have work that’s ready to go if I’m not able to complete those projects as quickly as I’d like.

Thank you as always to everyone who supports us, from posting in the Forum and sharing mods to reading and watching our content. Shout out to our Patrons for helping us to keep the lights on so that we can have a platform for our content, and serve the basketball gaming community. Ultimately, I appreciate that people still care about us and remain interested in what we’re doing after more than 25 years online. I certainly couldn’t do it alone, and again, Derek has been spearheading a ton of content creation throughout 2022. Kenny’s also returned with some Sunday Substitutes, and I want to recognise all the help and support from the team and community in general.

Again, there’ll be more video content coming in 2023, along with the usual articles. I’ll also be looking to make some upgrades across the site. I had plans of doing that in 2022, but there are some technical challenges involved. There are some changes that will need to happen sooner rather than later though, so stay tuned for announcements of any downtime/interruptions. With any luck, it’ll be a smooth transition with all of the upgrades, and nothing will be lost or broken! We’re definitely in this for the long haul, so we want to future-proof the site from a technical standpoint, and make sure that we can do everything that we want to do for the basketball gaming community.

NBA 2K23 turned out to be a solid release, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned over the past couple of years, it’s that you should always go back to an old favourite if you’re not feeling a new game. We’ll continue to cover NBA 2K23 and beyond, NBA Live if/when it returns, and all manner of classic and not-so-classic hoops games! A New Year is looming, but our mission remains the same. We’re for basketball gamers, by basketball gamers. We’re fans, not fanboys; critics, not haters. Thank you again for all your support throughout 2022. We hope that we’ll continue to be your destination for basketball gaming in 2023, and for years to come! And finally, as is tradition:

Remember the safest order of things on New Year’s Eve: 1. Fireworks, 2. Drink, and not vice versa!

See you in 2023!

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