NLSC Your source for basketball video games.

Episode #390 of the NLSC Podcast is out now! Derek (aka Dee4Three) and I are your hosts for this weekly podcast that’s all about basketball gaming.

After reflecting on a major milestone, we turn our attention to the new 2K NextMakers program. It’s not something we’re likely to be a part of, and we have our concerns about its effectiveness. Meanwhile, our first game of NBA Live 10 in a few weeks produced one of the most memorable moments either of us have ever experienced on the virtual hardwood. We also continue to marvel at the detail in the last great NBA Live release. Elsewhere, prices are rising for video game collectors, and it’s beginning to affect hoops titles as well. There’s some NBA 2K22 news, but it’s difficult to muster excitement about go-karts in MyCAREER. In this week’s mailbag, we discuss the status of two former NBA 2K developers, and roster inaccuracies.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:32:16 — 63.7MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | RSS

Join in the conversation in the comments below, or here in the Forum! Additionally, feel free to hit us up with any feedback on the episode, as well as mailbag questions and topic suggestions for future shows. 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.

It’s time to enjoy some virtual hardwood highlights in the NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week! This is a weekly feature curated by Derek (aka Dee4Three) spotlighting the best plays from the basketball gaming community, which includes a few of our own memorable clips from time to time. Submit your clips in the Forum, or hit up Derek on Twitter!

Judging by this week’s NLSC Top 10 Plays, the basketball gaming community has been having a blast on the virtual hardwood and blacktop as of late! Big shots, big dunks, and broken ankles make up the latest countdown of highlights across a variety of hoops titles. The number one play this week is truly unbelievable, and frankly, I’m not even bummed that I was on the receiving end of it! Stay tuned for the full highlights from that game, but for now, enjoy another entertaining Top 10!

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 spectacular moments on the virtual hardwood or blacktop. All basketball games are welcome, new and old! Also, be sure to subscribe to us on YouTube for more basketball gaming videos.

Welcome to this week’s edition of The Friday Five! The Friday Five is a feature that I post every Friday in which I give my thoughts on a topic that’s related to NBA Live, NBA 2K, and other basketball video games, as well as the real NBA, and other areas of interest to our community. The feature is presented as either a list of five items, or in the form of a Top 5 countdown. This week’s Five is a list of five things that I’ve learned in the twenty years that I’ve been running the NLSC.

Yes, as of yesterday, I’ve officially been running the NLSC for twenty years! It was an overwhelming thought when I realised a few years back that I’d been running the site for as long as I hadn’t been running it, and now the scales have tipped in the other direction. As I’ve been saying as I’ve hit milestone after milestone, I don’t know how long I’ll end up running the site, except to say that as long as I’m enjoying myself and am able to put in the time and effort, I’ll keep doing it. Right now, I have no plans to stop anytime soon, as it’s both a passion and an immensely satisfying creative outlet.

Of course, even though the NLSC is about having fun with basketball video games, the task of running the site hasn’t always been fun and games! I’ve connected with some great people over the years thanks to our mutual appreciation of the virtual hardwood, had tremendous opportunities such as attending community events in the USA and Canada, and produced content that I’m quite proud of. At the same time, there has been unpleasantness, difficult people, and stressful times where I’ve thought about stepping away. Still, the tough times have been learning experiences as much as the good ones, and to that end, running the NLSC has taught me these five things.

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The latest Courtside Report (aka developer blog) for NBA 2K22 has revealed details on the WNBA career mode and connected online experience, known as The W and The W Online respectively. For those who are unaware, these modes are only in the Next Gen version of the game.

In a nutshell, The W will be far more similar to MyCAREER in NBA 2K22. The Badge progression system now utilises the same four categories, with your performance in games gaining XP that goes towards earning Badge Points. Badges can be swapped in and out, and it will be possible to save custom loadouts for quick changes.

The W Online includes an option to play with your friends, making it easier to link up with them for games. Games in The W Online will also earn Season XP, similar to the connected modes in MyCAREER. Check out a summary below, and feel free to add your thoughts on the WNBA in NBA 2K22 in the comments, as well as join in the discussion here in the Forum. As per 2K’s roadmap for the rest of the preview season, next week we’ll be hearing about gameplay and MyTEAM.

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Today’s file additions for NBA 2K21 include retro faces, three face updates for Kevin Durant from different stages of his career, and 1976 Denver Nuggets branding. Pick them up at the links below!

mjk2000
1976 Larry McNeill Face
1976 Denver Nuggets Logo & Court
1976 David Thompson Face

NoXeMo
Kevin Durant 3 Faces Pack

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 File Additions bulletins, please see this FAQ in our Wiki.

This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! In this feature, we dig into the archives, look back at the history of basketball gaming, and indulge in some nostalgia. Check in every Wednesday for retrospectives and other features on older versions of NBA Live, NBA 2K, and old school basketball video games in general. You’ll also find old NLSC editorials re-published with added commentary, and other flashback content. This week, I’m taking a look back at the very first MyCAREER story, featured in NBA 2K14 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Although I’ve written many articles about MyCAREER stories, and spoken at length about the topic on the NLSC Podcast, I’ve yet to cover the very first MyCAREER story that appeared in the PlayStation 4/Xbox One version of NBA 2K14. There’s a reason for that: I didn’t play much of NBA 2K14 when it was new. As I explained when I revisited the game for a retrospective, there were a few factors that put me off NBA 2K14 before I even played it, and when I did get my hands on it, I wasn’t as impressed as other basketball gamers were.

That was then and this is now. While I do stand by many of my criticisms of NBA 2K14, I have come to appreciate it more during some retro gaming sessions. Indeed, if I’d given it more of a chance, there’s a strong possibility that I would’ve spent more time with it and played through a season in MyCAREER, which had become my mode of choice. At the same time, I have been critical of the story-driven approach, and NBA 2K14 is where it all began. How does that tale hold up after revisiting it all these years later? Let’s take a look back…way back…

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With the preview season finally getting properly underway, 2K has posted a developer blog about Seasons in NBA 2K22. As previously noted, this year the Seasons approach will be utilised in MyCAREER and The W Online, as well as MyTEAM.

Similar to MyTEAM, Seasons in MyCAREER will feature a grand prize, in addition to rewards such as apparel and banners. As an example, Season 1’s rewards will unlock inline skates at Level 30 and go-karts at Level 40, providing quicker transportation around The City and The Neighborhood. Each Season will also add new songs to NBA 2K22.

The W Online – available in Next Gen only – will feature similar seasonal rewards including clothing, nail polish, and more usefully, Badges. MyTEAM’s approach to Seasons will be similar to NBA 2K21, with both new and familiar Agendas to earn XP and unlock card rewards.

It isn’t a particularly lengthy or in-depth insight, but there are some further details that I’ve summarised below. Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments, or join in the discussion in our NBA 2K22 Forum!

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If you’re feeling underwhelmed by the lack of news during the NBA 2K22 preview season so far, you’re not alone. However, the official NBA 2K Twitter has posted an updated schedule, outlining when we can expect to hear more details about this year’s game.

This week, we’ll be hearing more about the Seasons approach to content, as well as what’s going on with the WNBA. Next week will yield insights into gameplay and MyTEAM. The week after that, which will be leading up to the September 10th release, will focus on The City, MyCAREER, and MyNBA.

As Dee4Three and I discussed in Episode #389 of the NLSC Podcast, there have been a few tidbits from Gameplay Director Mike Wang (aka Beluba). These came via an appearance on NBA 2KTV, as well as a series of Tweets which have since been deleted. I’ve summarised the details below; shout out to yyy2k from the official NBA 2K subreddit for originally compiling the information from Beluba’s Tweets!

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No, it’s not Wayback Wednesday, and I did say that last week’s feature was capping off the content inspired by my recent retro basketball gaming kick. However, I have put together a reel of NBA Live 10 highlights from my recent successful attempt to unlock the “Kobe’s 81” Achievement on Xbox 360, which I’m posting to mark the late Hall of Famer’s 43rd birthday.

As you can see, I tried to score in a variety of ways, just as Kobe did when he dropped 81 on the Toronto Raptors on January 22nd, 2006. At the same time, I didn’t want to leave anything to chance, so I did take it to the hoop whenever the opportunity presented itself. Every point scored on the way to 81 has been accounted for, including four free throws. And yes, the length of 8:24 (actually 8:24:081 to be precise) was absolutely deliberate.

It’s still surreal to reflect on the tragic accident in which Kobe, his daughter Gianna, and seven others lost their lives. Difficult as it may be to process, I’m sure that watching his best moments and playing with him in video games has been comforting for many fans. In that spirit, I hope that you enjoy this NBA Live 10 highlights reel. Kobe’s 81 point outburst certainly felt like a video game performance, so it’s only appropriate that it’s been used as an Achievement/Trophy on the virtual hardwood. Happy Birthday, Mamba!

We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Start your week here at the NLSC with a feature that’s dedicated to opinions, commentary, and other fun stuff related to NBA Live, NBA 2K, and other basketball video games. This week, I’m tipping things off with a few thoughts on the nostalgia I’m seeing – and also feeling – for games released in the new millennium.

Although I’ve still got a number of very old titles I’d like to cover in my Wayback Wednesday features, at some point, I will have talked about almost all of the classics. Of course, they can be revisited in new and interesting ways, but eventually I’ll have covered all of the really old basketball games that I feasibly can. However, the beauty of Wayback Wednesday is that as time moves on, everything becomes “wayback” relative to the present, and people start feeling nostalgic for a new era. As such, there’ll always be something to talk about in Wayback Wednesday.

With that being said, just last year I wrote an article pondering the future of basketball gaming nostalgia. At the time, I wondered if basketball gamers would continue to feel nostalgic as the years went by. As I mentioned in that article, there is somewhat of a backlash against nostalgia in recent times, and it isn’t something that everybody likes to indulge in. Almost a year and a half later, I’m seeing answers to questions that I raised in that article. I’m noticing more and more nostalgia for games that came out in the new millennium, in addition to trailblazing classics from the 80s and 90s. It’s not just younger gamers who are feeling it either, as I find myself partaking in it, too.

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Episode #389 of the NLSC Podcast is out now! Derek (aka Dee4Three) and I are your hosts for this weekly podcast that’s all about basketball gaming.

We’re back to our regularly scheduled programming this week, and there’s a tiny bit of NBA 2K22 news to cover! There’s also some controversy as Ronnie 2K’s ratings Tweets are drawing the ire of players, and for that matter, their wives. We also reflect on recent retro basketball gaming sessions, which have featured NCAA Basketball 09, and further progress in NBA Jam: On Fire Edition’s Road Trip. Revisiting NBA 2K14 has also illuminated some startling changes to MyCAREER over the years. In the return of the listener mailbag, we suggest some examples of underrated players in various video games over the years.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:29:01 — 61.5MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | RSS

Join in the conversation in the comments below, or here in the Forum! Additionally, feel free to hit us up with any feedback on the episode, as well as mailbag questions and topic suggestions for future shows. 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.

It’s time to enjoy some virtual hardwood highlights in the NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week! This is a weekly feature curated by Derek (aka Dee4Three) spotlighting the best plays from the basketball gaming community, which includes a few of our own memorable clips from time to time. Submit your clips in the Forum, or hit up Derek on Twitter!

In addition to spectacular plays from NBA 2K21 and other familiar titles, we’ve got some new games making their debut in the NLSC Top 10 Plays this week: Run and Gun, NBA Ballers, and NCAA Basketball 09! Once again, it just goes to show that you don’t need to be playing the latest release in order to make memories on the virtual hardwood…or indeed, feature in our weekly countdown.

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 spectacular moments on the virtual hardwood or blacktop. All basketball games are welcome, new and old! Also, be sure to subscribe to us on YouTube for more basketball gaming videos.

NBA 2K22 news may be slower than anticipated, but our modding community is still working on mods for last year’s game! Today’s file additions for NBA 2K21 include player faces and Summer League rosters. Check them out at the links below!

mjk2000
1977 Bill Robinzine Face
1975 John Gianelli Face
1977 Nate Archibald Face

Shuajota
2021 Summer League
Rokas Jokubaitis Face

NoXeMo
LeBron James 2007 Face
LeBron James Full Beard Face

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 File Additions bulletins, please see this FAQ in our Wiki.

Welcome to this week’s edition of The Friday Five! The Friday Five is a feature that I post every Friday in which I give my thoughts on a topic that’s related to NBA Live, NBA 2K, and other basketball video games, as well as the real NBA, and other areas of interest to our community. The feature is presented as either a list of five items, or in the form of a Top 5 countdown. This week’s Five is a list of items that were often included in or suggested for our old Wishlists, which now seem odd and unnecessary.

If you want to see how far basketball video games have come over the past twenty years or so, one only needs to fire up an old favourite from the turn of the millennium. If you don’t have one of those games or the necessary hardware set up, you could also take a glance at our old Wishlists. So many things that we wanted to see added to the virtual hardwood have made it into games at some point, from franchise and career modes to deeper controls and retro content. Between NBA Live and NBA 2K, many of our wishes have come true.

Not all of them have of course, and while that’s disappointing in some respects, it’s arguably a good thing in other ways. If nothing else, in hindsight some of our wishes and suggestions weren’t particularly good or useful ideas. Now, basketball gaming has obviously changed, which means our needs and desires have also evolved. It’s very easy to dump on the past because as the old saying goes, hindsight is 20/20, and not everything ages well. Still, it’s funny to look back on those Wishlists, not only to see some seemingly lofty suggestions that became a reality, but also a few ideas that NBA Live and NBA 2K simply didn’t ever need to seriously consider, let alone implement.

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Although NBA 2K22 news is still at a trickle, ratings reveals have begun via the official NBA 2K Twitter. The ratings accompany the First Look screenshots of various NBA and WNBA players.

It appears as though the maximum Overall Rating for active NBA players at launch will be 96 Overall. Four players will hold that distinction, namely Finals MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant, LeBron James, and Steph Curry. Additionally, Curry will boast the highest three-point rating among active players at 99, while Zion Williamson is the top dunker with a rating of 97 in that category.

Please see below for a full list of NBA 2K22 ratings reveals so far, along with the new screenshots. Presumably, detailed previews of modes and gameplay are not far away, though it has certainly been an abbreviated preview season. In any case, feel free to add your thoughts in the comments, as well as take the discussion to our NBA 2K22 Forum!

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