Tag Archives: Franchise

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 inaccuracies and other issues that have bothered me while basketball gaming.

Even the best basketball video games have had issues and inaccuracies. Perfection is basically an impossible bar to reach, and coding a sophisticated video game of any genre is hardly as simple as typing plain English into a word processor! Also, some ideas simply just don’t pan out. And so, we accept that our favourite hoops titles will have imperfections. In the best case scenario, it doesn’t stop us from enjoying them. Mind you, because we’re passionate about basketball and basketball gaming alike, any major inaccuracies and technical issues are naturally difficult to ignore.

Of course, these issues and inaccuracies don’t always ruin basketball video games. As I said, even our favourite games have them, and we all have different standards and expectations besides. With that being said, while technical problems, inaccuracies, and other issues may not completely spoil a game, they can still end up bothering us. The good ultimately outweighs the bad, but they’re still the finer points that we can’t help but notice, and would like to see fixed and improved upon for an even better experience. To that end, while the following five issues and inaccuracies didn’t stop me from having fun on the virtual hardwood, they were nevertheless a bit annoying!

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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 saluting former NBA player Gary Grant, who celebrated his 61st birthday yesterday.

One telltale sign of a long-time hardcore NBA fan is the ability to recall some of the most obscure players from decades ago. Obviously it’s easy to remember the all-time greats that younger fans who weren’t even born yet have still heard of, and many of the other prominent players from yesteryear also stick in our minds. However, when you grow up obsessed with hoops – watching games, playing video games, collecting trading cards, reading magazines – you also remember the journeymen, deep bench reserves, and that one player who had a six-game stint with your favourite team!

That brings me to Gary Grant. Although I remember dozens of players from the 90s, I’m not inclined to profile all of them in Wayback Wednesday. To that end, Grant is definitely a special case! In addition to popping up in games I watched and becoming a very familiar face in packs of trading cards, he’s also been involved in some of my fondest basketball gaming memories. He also stuck around for more than a decade, which is no minor feat. It’s time to give Gary Grant his due on the real and virtual hardwood alike, so let’s take a look back…way back…

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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 revisiting NBA Live 19 with an updated retrospective, in light of the game re-entering my rotation last year.

Last year, after I made a post that mentioned NBA Live 18 on the NLSC’s socials, I received a response asserting that NBA Live 19 was “ten times better”. As someone who never really warmed up to the game, that was certainly an intriguing claim! I was sceptical, but I wasn’t about to stubbornly dismiss it out of hand. After all, a second look at NBA Live 18 made me realise that I enjoyed it even more than I remembered. Furthermore, a dedicated contingent of gamers continued to play NBA Live 19 for many years after its release, suggesting that there was a fun experience on offer.

And so, I decided to give NBA Live 19 another try. Considering that it became my basketball game of choice from August last year right through to its server shutdown back in January, it’s safe to say that I have a far more positive view of it now! There are still aspects that I don’t like, or believe could and should have been better, but at the very least I’ve developed more of an appreciation for it. Is it ten times better than NBA Live 18? Well, I wouldn’t go that far, but it’s a respectable release that should’ve been a stepping stone to an even better game. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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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 whether a franchise mode game can ever truly be failed.

I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: completion is what we make it in basketball video games. There are also different reasons to play video games in general, with completion being but one of them. For example, our NLSC THRILLHO squad played over 500 games of 2K Pro-Am in NBA 2K17. We didn’t win any tournaments, snare any prizes for a top ranking, or reach a definitive end point. However, we were having so much fun that we kept meeting up to play all those games, and in doing so, created many fond memories. Competition and camaraderie were the point, not completion.

Traditional NBA season play, whether in the form of a single season, franchise, or career mode, is obviously a little different. Sure, it’s also about competing and having fun along the way, but the format provides a long-term goal: finish at least one season and ideally cap it off with a championship. Franchise modes have also grown deeper over the years, inviting us to customise the experience to our liking and take on more responsibilities. It’s all too easy to get impatient and bored during a long season, or find that setting up the board was more fun than playing the game. Completion is what we make it, but even so, is it ever fair to say that a franchise game has “failed”?

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #618 of the NLSC Podcast!

Another NBA trade deadline has come and gone, and it’s inspired us to reflect on some of the most notable midseason swaps. To that end, this week we’re reacting to Complex’s list of the Top 20 trade deadline deals in league history. Needless to say, we don’t necessarily agree with all of their rankings, and we also have a rather significant correction to make to their list! We also join the community in recalling some of the most memorable deals that our favourite teams have made – as well as moves that we wish they could’ve pulled off – along with some of the franchise mode trades that we can’t believe we got the CPU to agree to. It would seem that a few of us have some familiar trade targets!

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:10:01 — 48.4MB)

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!

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 realistic moments that are difficult to satisfactorily represent in basketball video games.

It’s stating the obvious, but we want to see realism in sim basketball games. Or do we? For many years, gamers enjoyed seeing NBA Live and later NBA 2K becoming deeper and more realistic virtual basketball experiences, but there has been some backlash in recent years. A vocal contingent of gamers – especially those in the online scene – have expressed a desire to see NBA 2K implement mechanics that are more about reflexes and competitive stick skills than realism. The word “arcade” is often used here, though I’d suggest it’s really more about a casual approach to sim.

Of course, it’s not just competitive online gamers and more casual hoops gamers who have quibbles with realistic moments in sim titles. Even dedicated simheads that are keen on seeing as much realism as possible have come to realise that this also means results that aren’t necessarily desirable. I speak from experience here! From outcomes that defy our expectations as gamers, to the concept of reality at times being stranger than fiction, it can be difficult for sim games to represent realistic moments in a way that’s satisfying and enjoyable. It’s a challenge for developers, and as these examples demonstrate, sometimes a few understandable breaks from reality may be in order.

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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 NBA Jam 99.

After Acclaim snatched the NBA Jam moniker away from Midway, they attempted to continue the series with NBA Jam Extreme. Although losing the iconic brand was naturally a blow, Midway nevertheless released their own superb follow-up to NBA Jam Tournament Edition in NBA Hangtime. To that point, while Acclaim had the name, Midway boasted the superior game. With that in mind, it’s perhaps no surprise that Acclaim sought to change up the formula with NBA Jam 99, moving away from an arcade style and adopting more of a sim or sim-arcade hybrid approach.

Of course, while that differentiated it from previous NBA Jam titles and Midway’s new arcade hoops games, it also placed NBA Jam 99 in direct competition with the NBA Live series. However, Acclaim didn’t completely abandon the series’ roots with NBA Jam 99, as it included an arcade mode. While true sim-arcade hybrid basketball games have their place and I’ve come to appreciate them, NBA Jam 99 wasn’t a good take on the concept. Indeed, it was proof that Midway deserved the name that they coined far more than Acclaim did. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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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 NBA 09: The Inside for PlayStation 3.

The 2008 season lineup of basketball video games is arguably one of the weakest in the history of the genre. Outside of College Hoops 2K8, its titles aren’t popular picks for all-time favourites, or widely considered to be among the best in their series. NBA Live 08 was significantly better than NBA Live 07, but that was a low bar to clear, with plenty of room left for improvement. NBA 2K8 was a strange misstep following NBA 2K7. NBA 08 was at least on par with NBA 07, but to that point, there was no major leap in quality.

Fortunately, the genre bounced back for the 2009 season, providing basketball gamers with a couple of solid titles, and one fantastic release. Was NBA 09: The Inside one of those games? Well, not to spoil the entire retrospective, but unfortunately it wasn’t. In fact, in the spirit of the season, I’d suggest that anyone who was unlucky enough to receive NBA 09: The Inside for Christmas in 2008 may as well have been gifted a lump of coal in their stocking! So, why the harsh words for San Diego Studio’s final NBA game on PlayStation 3? Let’s take a look back…way back…

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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 revisiting games in which I mostly played MyCAREER, and enjoying some fresh experiences.

When it comes to our impressions of basketball games with an array of modes, what we play is a significant factor. After all, while the underlying gameplay mechanics are obviously the same, their suitability and our tolerance for any issues can vary from mode to mode. There have definitely been games that were more enjoyable in certain modes, depending on the tuning and whether or not we could alter it. As such, if you mostly stick to one mode, you may not be aware of some of a game’s strengths and weaknesses. It’s why we can remember the same games very differently.

After really getting into MyCAREER in NBA 2K13, it became my mode of choice for the next seven years or so. That’s not to say that it was the only mode I played, but when it comes to NBA 2K on PlayStation 4 and PC, many of my fondest memories are of MyCAREER and its connected experiences. I don’t regret that, as it represents hours of fun on the virtual hardwood. At the same time, it does mean that there were modes and content I wasn’t able to truly enjoy, since levelling up a MyPLAYER and playing through an NBA season is a huge commitment. To that end, revisiting some of those games and playing something other than MyCAREER has been refreshing.

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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 lost basketball video game saves that I’m tempted to reboot and play once again.

Decades of basketball gaming has resulted in far too many of my saves being lost. Sometimes it’s due to unfortunate technical issues, but all too often, I’ve made the mistake of believing that I was done with a particular game and carelessly discarded those files. As I’ve come to realise – especially with my preference for retro basketball gaming in recent years – I’m actually quite likely to revisit old favourites and make them a part of my rotation once again! To that point, it’s a shame that I can’t resume those lost Season, Franchise, and Dynasty saves when I dust off classic titles.

Of course, while the original saves may be lost, the ideas live on! With that in mind, while recovering those lost saves is highly unlikely unless I discover some backups somewhere – and trust me, I’ve already looked – I can always re-create them. Now that I’ve made my return to franchise gaming and reignited my passion for playing through seasons, I’m open to making that something I do with any old favourites that I end up getting hooked on. Sure, it wouldn’t be a true continuation of those lost saves, and it’d be tough to truly re-create the magic of the original experiences. I do think it’d be a lot of fun, though! With that being said, I’m quite tempted to reboot these five lost saves.

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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 ESPN NBA 2Night 2002 by Konami.

In my retrospective of ESPN NBA 2Night, I described it as one of the absolute worst basketball video games from a Triple-A developer that I’ve ever played. That’s a bold declaration that I don’t make lightly, and I stand by it. From poorly-designed controls to underwhelming AI to unpolished animations and collisions, gameplay was a mess. It could produce a rare fun moment, but on the whole, it was a lacklustre sim-arcade hybrid. As such, some of its impressive features like the ESPN presentation and face editing deserved to be in a much better game.

To that end, there was really nowhere to go but up for its sequel, ESPN NBA 2Night 2002. Released for the PlayStation 2 and original Xbox midway through the 2002 season, ESPN NBA 2Night 2002 definitely made an effort to be an improvement on its predecessor. Right out of the gate, I will say that it was respectably successful in that regard. That may sound like a backhanded compliment, but the game did make a commendable leap from the first ESPN NBA 2Night in some key areas. Does that make it a good or even a great game, though? Let’s take a look back…way back…

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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 by talking about how I enjoy tinkering with rosters.

I know I’ve said it many times before, but it’s been an absolute joy to change up my basketball gaming habits in recent years. Because I’m no longer forcing myself to play the newest game even if I don’t enjoy it, I’ve also broken the habit of grinding away in MyCAREER year after year. I’m also not beholden to any MyTEAM Agendas, and I’m avoiding the online scene. Stepping away from those modes and leaning towards retro gaming has created time for other activities on the virtual hardwood, and that’s made basketball gaming as fun as it’s ever been for me.

Obviously, this includes playing into my seventh year of an NBA 2K14 MyCAREER, and at long last returning to franchise gaming; solo in NBA Live 16, and co-op with Dee in NBA 2K9. I’ve also played through 24/7 mode in NBA 2K6 and NBA 2K7, and hit The Streets in NBA Live 18 and NBA Live 19. Something that I’ve really had fun with however is just playing an assortment of exhibition games in titles that I’ve been drawn to. That in turn has led to me tinkering with the rosters of various games. Although that can lead to more in-depth projects that I’ll release publicly – such as my minimalist 2005 roster for NBA 2K6 – I’ve had a blast just casually editing rosters.

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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 two camera angles that I prefer to use in basketball video games.

As is the case with just about any fandom, the basketball gaming community has had some silly arguments and engaged in ridiculous gatekeeping. Post a fun highlight clip, and someone is bound to sneer that you must be playing on a lower difficulty level. That may or may not be true, but it’s needlessly judgemental when the point of a clip was to show off a cool animation, not to brag about stick skills. However, nothing compares to the ridiculous gatekeeping and elitism surrounding the choice in camera angles. It truly is the most absurd thing to judge other basketball gamers on!

I find the idea of there only being one “correct” choice in camera angles particularly silly as there are actually two that I primarily use, and a couple of others that I also like. Don’t get me wrong; even if there was only one camera angle for me, I wouldn’t consider others to be incorrect, or a sign of ineptitude and source of shame. For that matter, I don’t think that my preference for multiple camera angles makes me better than anyone, either! Indeed, given that there’s a reason basketball gamers prefer a particular view over other camera angles, my approach is arguably the weird one. However, there’s a reason that my basketball gaming is a tale of two camera angles.

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #598 of the NLSC Podcast!

Why do we still play basketball video games after all these years? This week, we discuss the factors that keep us hooked on the virtual hardwood, from a love of competition and shared experiences with friends and family to the way that it allows us to feel connected to and indeed more informed about our favourite sport. In fact, through a combination of modding, new releases, and a library of old favourites to revisit, we’re arguably enjoying basketball gaming as much as ever with the options that we have at our disposal nowadays! We also reflect on the lingering stigma surrounding gaming as an adult, and push back on the notion that it’s a childish hobby that needs to be left behind.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 51:34 — 35.8MB)

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!

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 roadblocks that stood in my way of returning to franchise gaming for far too long.

At long last, I’ve returned to franchise gaming on the virtual hardwood. It’s been a goal of mine since 2017, so to say that it’s overdue is a massive understatement! It feels great to be back, and while it hasn’t completely replaced career mode play in my basketball gaming rotation, I anticipate splitting my time more evenly between the two moving forward. That’s because I’ve been able to overcome the roadblocks that were the cause of my lengthy detour from franchise gaming. As soon as I was able to start those new franchise games, I was hooked, just as I was all those years ago.

Of course, that may sound melodramatic. What roadblocks can there be when those modes are readily available, and I can freely choose to play whatever I want? Well, it’s not quite that simple. From habits I’d formed to various concerns about the modes in recent titles, it’s been more difficult than I’d anticipated to return to what was once my mode of choice, and the flagship experience in sim basketball video games. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has fallen into a basketball gaming rut that has lasted for way too long. To that end, hopefully discussing the roadblocks that I encountered can help you to overcome any that stand in the way of your virtual hardwood fun.

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