NLSC Your source for basketball video games.

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 final few NBA Live games that were released on PS1.

The launch of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S has resulted in an interesting situation as far as multi-generation support is concerned. Obviously, the ninth gen consoles are receiving the flagship version of NBA 2K as far as technical innovation and features. However, the eighth gen version – which is also the one ported to PC – hasn’t been completely left behind. With NBA 2K23 in particular, 2K made a point of trying to implement as many features from the new gen version into the prior gen release. There also continues to be cross-generation support in MyTEAM.

Looking back through decades of console launches and multi-generation releases for basketball video games, outmoded platforms haven’t always received this kind of love and attention. It helps that nowadays the gap isn’t quite so wide, and the architecture is far more similar to the previous gen. The limited availability of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S has also left many gamers stuck on the previous generation longer than planned. When it comes to the final NBA Live games for PS1 back in the day, they didn’t stack up to their new gen successors quite as impressively. At the same time, they had some strong points of their own. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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Today’s NBA 2K23 mod releases include new faces, presentation updates, and the latest version of PCBasket. Pick them all up at the links below!

bongo88
NCAA Lower3rd Simple Team Color
TNT Wipes Version 2 (Hex Edited)

VinceCarter15
Steve Kerr Face

Hjoked
Ryan Rollins Face

Shuajota
PCBasket 2K23 Roster Demo (Updated to v3.0)

Thanks to everyone who continues to contribute to our Downloads database! If you need help uploading files, be sure to check out this video tutorial. For more information about downloads, the modding community, and Mod Releases bulletins, please see this FAQ in our Wiki.

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 few thoughts on the importance of the net in basketball video games.

Yes, that’s right. An entire article about virtual basketball equipment: the net. Of course, the net is a vital part of basketball. Practically speaking, it serves two main purposes. It indicates that the ball has indeed passed through the hoop, and also slows its descent so that it’s easier to catch. As anyone who’s ever played on an outdoor rim without a net can attest, you’ll certainly notice a difference when it’s not around to fulfil these functions! And of course, there’s the swish – the act and sound of hitting nothing but net – representing supreme accuracy when shooting.

Whether nylon, polyester, or the steel chains often used on the blacktop, this is what the net brings to basketball. As such, any virtual representation of basketball needs to do its nets justice. In the grand scheme of things, there are more important aspects that determine whether or not a basketball video game is fun and overall well-made. Still, like inaccuracies on a jersey or a quirky transitional animation, it’s something that knowledgeable hoops gamers will recognise. If there are issues with the nets, such as shape, length, physics, and so on, you can be sure that they’ll be noticed! It may seem nitpicky, but not when you consider their importance and the satisfaction they bring.

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #464 of the NLSC Podcast!

After some messing around, we were able to connect to play a co-op session of NBA Full Court Press. Although it isn’t one of the all-time classics, it’s nevertheless an intriguing game to revisit today. We’ve also got some further progress reports on modding projects, including the revival of the All-Time Teams roster for NBA Live 96. With the 30th Anniversary of NBA Jam upon us this year, we’re itching for a new release, and we’re not alone in that regard! We discuss our ideas for a hypothetical new NBA Jam, as well as the community’s responses of what they’d like to see. Finally, we make some plans for our basketball gaming rotations through the rest of February.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:10:14 — 48.6MB)

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!

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.

Welcome to another week of exciting moments in basketball gaming, courtesy of the NLSC Top 10 Plays! Appropriately enough, new all-time leading scorer LeBron James makes a couple of appearances in this week’s countdown, providing a truly unique highlight at the number one spot. The GOAT is also in action as Teddy Bear The Gamer provided another fantastic play from virtual Michael Jordan, while the NBA Live 2001 Legends are gearing up for All-Star Weekend with another jaw-dropping dunk contest performance. As always, these spectacular highlights from four different games are the perfect entree to a weekend of hitting the virtual hardwood or blacktop!

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 look at five ways that VC earnings have been reduced in recent NBA 2K games.

When I discussed the rising cost of MyCAREER a couple of years ago, I mentioned that I believe 2K is counting on us forgetting about the VC prices and earnings in previous releases. Once the servers have been shut down, there’s no way to go back and check those figures, unless we have some screenshots and/or videos on hand. Those resources do exist, of course. In the wake of my article, Agent 00 did even further research, and put together an excellent video that expanded upon my findings in great detail. VC earnings have indeed fluctuated, and seldom to our benefit.

Of course, it’s not just a matter of awarding us less VC, though that certainly is part of it. There’s a reason that MyCAREER didn’t feel anywhere near as much of a grind in NBA 2K17 as it does in NBA 2K23, and the inflated prices of upgrades are only half the story. Various methods that were useful in earning extra VC have been removed, in an effort to push gamers towards spending money to upgrade their MyPLAYERs. It’s easy to overlook the removal of these bonuses and the trimming of VC earnings across the board, and it doesn’t help that too many influencers (and gamers) justify it. Nevertheless, we can identify some clear ways that VC earnings have been reduced.

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It’s time to share another story from my NBA 2K14 MyCAREER! Previously, I’ve told stories about humorous generated player tattoos, and profiled Terry Hanson and Elden Jennings. Today, I’m recounting how the 2014 offseason saw LeBron James and Kobe Bryant team up in Los Angeles.

As I noted earlier this week, LeBron vs. Kobe was an NBA Finals matchup that was highly anticipated, but never came to pass. Around the same time, a Kobe for LeBron trade was discussed, which turned into a counteroffer that would’ve seen the two all-time greats become teammates. It’s been interesting to see this “What If” scenario actually play out in my NBA 2K14 MyCAREER, where the AI is obviously responsible for all of the player movement. Mind you, it hasn’t been going as smoothly as the virtual Lakers would’ve hoped.

Seeing LeBron and Kobe team up is a great example of why it’s a blast to play multiple seasons in franchise and career modes. I’m actually hoping that virtual Kobe changes his mind about retiring and sticks around for at least one more year, just to see how it adds to the ongoing saga. In the meantime, I’ll be sharing more stories from my NBA 2K14 MyCAREER, so please subscribe to the NLSC YouTube channel! Dee and I will have plenty more basketball gaming content throughout 2023 and beyond, so join us as we celebrate the fun we’re having on the virtual hardwood.

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 our very first Wishlist compiled for NBA Live 98, and how far basketball games have come since then.

On February 6th 1997, our founders submitted a Wishlist for NBA Live 98 on behalf of the community. It’s fun to look back at those suggestions now, and see just how many of them have been implemented in subsequent games. NBA Live was able to grant several of those wishes, and as NBA 2K became the premier brand in sim basketball titles, it also introduced features that once seemed like pipe dreams. Of course, going down that Wishlist, we can also see some ideas that unfortunately fell by the wayside after debuting, as well as some suggestions that weren’t so great.

Since Monday marked the 26th(!) anniversary of that very first Wishlist, I thought it’d be fun to go through it section by section, discussing what did eventually make it into video games, what still hasn’t, and in hindsight, what weren’t such great ideas. I believe it will demonstrate that feedback is (or certainly was) never in vain, as well as how far basketball video games have come as far as content, features, and mechanics. It may not always have been as we originally envisioned, but our wishes have indeed come true. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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In 2007, the NBA was buzzing about the possibility of LeBron James and Kobe Bryant teaming up, when the latter was demanding a trade from the Los Angeles Lakers. Of course, Kobe stuck around, the Lakers acquired Pau Gasol, and together they won two titles in three NBA Finals appearances. Unfortunately for fans who were hoping to see two of the league’s biggest stars clash, we never got to see LeBron vs. Kobe in the Finals.

Funnily enough, Kobe and LeBron have teamed up in my NBA 2K14 MyCAREER; a story that I’ll be getting to in a video next week. While capturing some footage for that feature, I decided to play out a LeBron vs. Kobe NBA Finals matchup in NBA Live 10. I opted to use Kobe and the Lakers, and it was a fun challenge to mount a comeback after LeBron and the Cavs stormed out to an early lead. Kobe was still at the top of his game in 2010, and while I obviously tried to share the ball around, it was tough not to just give it to the Mamba and demand everyone else get out of the way! Enjoy the highlights from this “What If” NBA Finals showdown.

Be sure to subscribe to the NLSC YouTube channel for more video content from Dee and I, and stay tuned for the next instalment in my NBA 2K14 MyCAREER Stories series!

As you may have heard Dee and I discuss in Episode #463 of the NLSC Podcast, we had a couple of fun Parsec sessions with NBA Live 10 and NBA Live 98 last week. I posted a bulletin with the NBA Live 98 reel over the weekend, but Dee has also put together highlights from our NBA Live 10 game.

Although we’ve connected several times to play head-to-head in NBA Live 10, it was our first time playing co-op. Many of our games these days are co-op, and it’s proven to be just as fun as squaring off against one another! In this game, we used the Denver Nuggets and faced the New York Knicks in NBA Live 10’s rendering of Madison Square Garden. We were able to connect on some exciting alley-oops, make spectacular forays to the hoop, and come up with some impressive defensive stops. NBA Live 10 highlights are a lot of fun, so check them out!

Once again, a reminder that we’re looking to produce even more video content this year, so be sure to subscribe to the NLSC YouTube channel! Dee and I have a huge variety of basketball games in our respective collections, so feel free to hit us up with any suggestions of what you’d like to see us play.

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 my thoughts on mobile basketball gaming, and why I’m not a fan of it myself.

NBA Live is not dead. I don’t say that because I believe that the series is poised to make a big comeback – though every so often, there are hints that it might be a slim possibility – but rather because the name does technically live on through NBA Live Mobile. I do actually have NBA Live Mobile installed on my phone, but it’s not part of my basketball gaming rotation. Although I’ve seen fit to continue installing it as I’ve upgraded to a couple of new phones over the years, I’ve barely touched it except to get screenshots.

The same goes for the mobile version of NBA Jam. I posted a brief but positive review of the Android release over a decade ago, but it hasn’t been a regular in my rotation either. As for the mobile versions of NBA 2K, I haven’t ever bothered to buy and play them. Indeed, since I gave up on getting the face scan to work, I no longer even install the companion app for the console/PC releases! I’m not here to bash mobile gaming, basketball or otherwise. I’m all for developers exploring different platforms, and if you enjoy those releases, more power to you! However, I do have an aversion to mobile basketball gaming, and frankly, I don’t think it’ll ever win me over.

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #463 of the NLSC Podcast!

Following a co-op session of NBA Live 10, we may have to bring it back into the rotation! We also connected to play NBA Live 98 PC with an old NLSC roster, and note that despite improvements in its immediate successors, it holds up just as well. Meanwhile, following up on a basketball management game riddled with microtransactions, it’s clear that the developer has no interest in goodwill or constructive feedback. We’re also talking about franchise mode follies, including the phenomena of “rosteritis” and “tradeitis”. We note how franchise mode burnout is similar to modding fatigue, and share tips on how to have a successful franchise game. In this week’s mailbag, community members share the origin stories of how they became basketball fans and gamers.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:30:15 — 62.3MB)

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!

This past week, Dee and I connected on Parsec to play NBA Live 98 – a standout game in the series – and as always, our session produced some fun highlights. Dee has put together a reel of those moments, and uploaded them for the community to enjoy.

As you can see, we took control of the Chicago Bulls in a co-op showdown against the Utah Jazz. It was a highly competitive game that saw us make a furious rally to force overtime. In case you’re wondering about the presence of Michael Jordan in these NBA Live 98 highlights, we were playing with the 1998 season roster update created by our founders, Lutz and Tim. That mod is still available here in our Downloads database, for anyone who would like to use it in their own retro gaming sessions!

We’ve said it several times on the NLSC Podcast, but connecting to play over Parsec has been an absolute joy, and we expect it to be a large part of another fun year of basketball gaming in 2023. Dee has been spearheading the initiative to share gameplay highlights for the past couple of years – from reels to the weekly Top 10 Plays – and there’ll be a lot of fun coming your way throughout the year. To that point, please subscribe to the NLSC YouTube channel, and feel free to hit us up with any suggestions of games that you’d like to see us play!

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.

It’s a new month for the NLSC Top 10 Plays, but as always, we have some old favourites to go along with great moments from NBA 2K23! Hoops for NES is making its first appearance in the countdown, courtesy of a couple of clutch plays in a one-on-one clash. There are some fantastic poster dunks, including one that pays tribute to the 1992 first round series between the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat, and one from the NBA Live 2001 Legends with LeBron James in NBA 2K14. You’ll also find ankle breakers, breathtaking layups, and other spectacular plays as the community once again comes through with the goods!

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 90s classics that needed the official updates that today’s basketball games receive.

Official updates for basketball video games are something we’re both wary of, and take for granted. After all, they can break aspects of a game while trying to fix others, and leave a title in a worse state than it was before. On the bright side, over the years we’ve seen official updates make fixes that would’ve once had to wait until the next game came out. For all the controversy that comes with day one patches, they have had their benefits. This wasn’t possible before consoles had hard drives, and even PC patches were rare and small back in the day. Many 90s classics stand as proof of this.

The fact that I’m referring to these basketball games as 90s classics should indicate that I still think very highly of them. Even without official updates, these were some of the best hoops titles of the decade, and still have replay value today. However, whether it’s a quality-of-life fix, a gameplay tweak, or updated rosters, these games definitely would’ve benefited from the official updates that are now commonplace. Obviously, the modding community was able to step up in some cases, but there are some fixes that only the developers can make. Again, it’s not my intention to dump on these 90s classics, but as far as receiving useful fixes, they sadly came along too early.

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