NLSC Your source for basketball video games.

As discussed in Episode #430 of the NLSC Podcast, the long-dormant NBA Jam: On Fire Edition servers have been unexpectedly reactivated. If you fire up the game on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, or Xbox One, you’ll be able to establish a connection, and accept the online terms and conditions. After that, you’ll be able to see the leaderboards, as well as the number of users who are currently online.

You’ll also be able to download the last roster update for the game, if you don’t already have it. This requires going to the Online Arena, which will prompt the game to check the rosters, and then update them if need be. The roster updates added a handful of players from the Class of 2011 to the game, including Kyrie Irving. It also accounted for player movement accurate as of the 2013 season, and updated a handful of ratings.

Note that to access the Online Arena on Xbox 360/Xbox One, you’ll need an Xbox Live Gold subscription. If you don’t have an active subscription but just want to grab the update, you can always purchase a one month subscription and then cancel the renewal. While you’ll lose access to the Online Arena, you’ll keep the updated rosters as long as you don’t delete your data.

Obviously this also means that online multiplayer is available once again, though judging by the reported number of users online, you may have difficulty finding a game. Of course, if word spreads and the NBA Jam: On Fire Edition servers remain active, the scene could soon be jumping again. If so, there may be opportunities to unlock some of the online Trophies/Achievements, if you haven’t already done so.

We’ll keep an eye on the situation with the NBA Jam: On Fire Edition servers, and report on any further changes. In the meantime however, this unexpected but very welcome development has provided an opportunity to download a long-lost update, and potentially breathe new life into a fantastic release. If you own NBA Jam: OFE and are missing the updated rosters, I’d recommend looking into this ASAP!

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 some thoughts on the prospect of Triple-A basketball games being free-to-play (aka F2P).

It’s no secret that NBA Live, once the brand leader in sim NBA video games, has been struggling for well over a decade. It hit a low point with the failed attempt to rebrand and revamp the series with NBA Elite 11, one that it hasn’t been able to recover from to date. With its inability to topple NBA 2K, or even just make some inroads into gaining a bigger share of the market, I’ve seen people suggest that the console version of NBA Live become a free-to-play title. The argument is that it would be a lower risk, and encourage more gamers to give it a try.

Interestingly, I’ve also seen suggestions that NBA 2K become a free-to-play game. In this case, the suggestion has nothing to do with quality, but rather finance. As you’re undoubtedly well aware, the nature of NBA 2K being an annual release means that in modes such as MyCAREER and MyTEAM, there’s a reset on our progress with each new game. That means more grinding, and more money spent. With annual sports titles often being derided as glorified roster updates, it’s no surprise that a free-to-play model, or perhaps a new game every few years with subscriptions for updates in between, are ideas that have been floated. I certainly have some thoughts on that.

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #430 of the NLSC Podcast!

During a session of NBA Jam: On Fire Edition, we made the exciting discovery that the servers appear to be reactivated! We’re hoping it isn’t temporary, and note a few other games we’d like to see receive online support again. A vague Tweet from EA has invited those of us hoping for NBA Live’s return to speculate once more. This leads us to discuss our concerns about influencers giving a new NBA Live game a fair chance, if and when it comes out. A clip from the archives prompts us to reflect on The Jordan Challenge in NBA 2K11, and the attention to detail that was paid to Michael Jordan’s return to video games. We also answer a question about whether games have become too realistic, and open up the mailbag to talk about our favourite highlights, real and virtual.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:27:30 — 60.5MB)

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.

On a recent episode of the NLSC Podcast, we discussed how it tends to be easier to create offensive highlights compared to spectacular defensive plays. Appropriately enough, this week’s NLSC Top 10 Plays demonstrates that great defense does indeed create memorable moments on the virtual hardwood, especially when it leads to impressive buckets at the other end. On top of some impressive D, this week’s countdown also features the usual assortment of entertaining dunks and crafty moves. Once again, these great plays came from a variety of titles, from NBA Live 2001 to NBA 2K22.

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 cover players that won NBA titles in the same season their game came out.

Last week, I listed five players who graced video game covers in the same year that they made the NBA Finals. More specifically, I was referring to players who made the Finals, but were ultimately the runners-up. Obviously, cover players who won titles while being the face of a game technically qualify as examples for last week’s list as well. However, I did want to draw a distinction between the cover players who “only” made it to the Finals that same year, and those who actually won titles. While both are accomplishments and interesting trivia, the latter is naturally rather more special.

To that end, the number of cover players that won titles in the same year is smaller than the already select group of names who made the Finals while being the face of NBA Live, NBA 2K, or another title. As I noted last week, publishers like EA and 2K are no doubt more interested in a player’s popularity and marketability than whether they’ll be in the Finals, or NBA Champions. I have no doubt that they’re happy when it does occur, but given that it’s a gamble even if they ink a deal with a player from a contender, it’s a bonus boost to the brand at the end of the day. NBA Champion cover players are something that a handful of titles can boast however, including these five.

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Today’s new mod releases for NBA 2K22 feature more fictional player faces by OG2K. Download them all at the links below!

OG2K
Fictional Cyberface by OG2K
Fictional Cyberface Pack 1 by OG2K
Fictional Cyberface Pack 2 by OG2K
Fictional Cyberface Pack 3 by OG2K
Fictional Cyberface #2 by OG2K

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.

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 another ten players that became familiar faces back in familiar places.

Since there are a number of players who became familiar faces back in familiar places at some point in their career, its time for the sixth instalment of this series! For those who are unfamiliar with the topic, I’m taking a look back at players who returned to teams that they’re usually most closely associated with, after stints elsewhere. While many big names never had a proper reunion with their former clubs until after they retired, others did don the same jersey once again (or an updated version of it). The same goes for players who weren’t stars, but still noteworthy names that we recall.

Of course, sometimes we forget about their return stints, especially if they were brief and towards the end of their career, and there was no hoopla of an “official” farewell tour. As I’ve said before, one way to recall these familiar faces being back in familiar places is to fire up an old video game, and see them there in the rosters. It’s why I’m looking at these examples through the lens of basketball video games, on top of them being what we’re all about here at the NLSC. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #429 of the NLSC Podcast!

Is it worse to be called a moron by Steve Kerr, or hear Grant Hill go full “How do you do, fellow kids?” and call something lit? Suffice to say, the past week has delivered some awkward moments in virtual commentary! Conversely, Twitter produced some surprisingly positive (but certainly welcome) interactions. Playing NBA Live 06 PC also reminded us of a unique animation, and our frustrations with canned moments in recent titles. In light of confirmation that Madden 23 will be another last gen port, we speculate on what to expect from NBA 2K23 PC. We also discuss unfortunate generated player tattoos, choosing a retro season mod to play with, and whether a squad of Christian Laettners is better than a team of Andrew Langs.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:14:44 — 51.7MB)

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!

We have some new retro jersey mods – albeit technically in the future for the game – in today’s NBA Live 2003 mod releases. Tichmall has released updates for the the 2009 Hornets home jersey and 2007 Wizards alternate jersey, which you can pick up at the links below.

Tichmall
2008/2009 New Orleans Hornets Home Jersey
2006/2007 Washington Wizards Alternate Jersey

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 look at the worst virtual NBA Finalists that I’ve encountered in all my years of basketball gaming.

Simulation engines are far from infallible. They already have a tough task as far as generating realistic results, given that the actual NBA can produce some unexpected outcomes. However, some of the results we see in our virtual seasons are definitely unrealistically favourable to upsets and underdogs. It makes me wonder about the articles that simulate the forthcoming season in NBA 2K. Did they run with the first simulation, or did they have to keep trying until the game produced more believable results, with realistic NBA Finalists and Champions?

Having finished seasons in multiple games, I’ve encountered a variety of virtual NBA Finalists, including a few surprising ones. The Minnesota Timberwolves in Year 3 of my NBA 2K14 MyCAREER would definitely qualify as such a squad. Indeed, when I mentioned to Dee4Three that they were my opponent, and sent him a screenshot of their roster, he observed that they were a strong candidate for the worst team to ever make the NBA Finals. Dee suggested that they merited a closer look in an article, and I liked the idea; especially as it got me thinking about some of the other virtual NBA Finalists I’ve faced in games, and whether any were as weak as those Timberwolves.

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Today’s NBA 2K14 mod releases include the latest player faces from IceCr, and retro Cavaliers jerseys by Pep. Download them all at the links below!

IceCr
P.J. Tucker Face
Al Jefferson Face
Elton Brand Face (Updated to v4.0)

Pep
1980-1983 Cleveland Cavaliers Uniforms

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.

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.

This week’s NLSC Top 10 Plays features eight different games, ranging from the Super Nintendo version of NBA Live 98 through to NBA 2K22. You’ll see Isaiah Rider pulling off the East Bay Funk dunk in NBA 2K13 using URB, Larry Johnson throwing it down in NBA 2K19 thanks to the 1995 season mod, and eras colliding with a Doctor J windmill in NBA 2K17. There’s even one of my highlights from NBA Live 15 Ultimate Team, discovered in the archives and remastered by Dee! In short, it’s another countdown filled with flashy moves and fun moments on the virtual hardwood.

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 cover players that made the NBA Finals in the same season their game came out.

The 2022 NBA Finals are upon us! Fittingly, in this 75th Anniversary season, the two teams squaring off are the Golden State Warriors, and the Boston Celtics. Not only are they two of the original three BAA/NBA teams – the New York Knicks being the third – but the Warriors and Celtics have plenty of championship history between them. The Warriors were the inaugural BAA champions, and have gone on to win another five titles since. Boston, meanwhile, were long-time record holders for total NBA championships, and are currently tied with the Los Angeles Lakers with 17.

While there’s plenty of real life history involved with this year’s Finals matchup, it is lacking a tie-in with the virtual hardwood, namely involving cover players. There was only one game on the market for the 2022 season – NBA 2K22 – and while it boasted a few different covers, none of them featured a player that will be competing in this year’s championship series. Popularity and marketability are obviously the deciding factors when EA Sports and Visual Concepts choose their cover players, rather than likelihood of winning or at least competing for a title that year. Of course, it’s quite fortuitous when they do! Here are five cover players that made it as far as the Finals.

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We’ve got a big batch of face updates in today’s mod releases for NBA 2K22! These include fictional player faces, both standalone and in packs, and retro faces for Stephen Curry and Rasheed Wallace. Download all of today’s NBA 2K22 mod releases at the links below!

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.

Read More »

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 Signature Skills in NBA 2K.

A key improvement as basketball video games have evolved is the way in which different player abilities are represented. Indeed, the difference between an old basketball video game that shows its age and a title that holds up extremely well is that in the former, every player tends to play the same. Whether it’s their speed, shooting ability, or another part of their game, they might as well be generic. Of course, in games like Double Dribble, they were! It worked there, but NBA games that utilised real players needed to accurately represent their skills and athleticism.

This led to the implementation of player ratings, many of which became standard across basketball video games. As games became more sophisticated, ratings alone weren’t enough. Player-specific moves and animations, as well as tendencies, helped games take the next step. There needed to be a mechanic that went beyond ratings, though; something that represented an uncanny knack or specialised skill. These days, NBA 2K achieves this through the use of Badges. Before Badges however, we had Signature Skills. In some ways, they were better than their successors. If nothing else, they paved the way for them. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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