Tag Archives: Jordan vs. Bird: One on One

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 Michael Jordan in NBA Live 2004.

These days, we think of Visual Concepts as the company to bring Michael Jordan to the virtual hardwood. After all, he’s been available as a Legend since NBA 2K11, we’ve had two iterations of the Jordan Challenge, and he’s graced the cover of four editions of the game. However, long before NBA 2K was celebrating His Airness, he was closely associated with EA Sports. From licensing him for the NBA Playoffs series as he disappeared from other early 90s titles, to games such as Jordan vs. Bird, Michael Jordan in Flight and Chaos in the Windy City, it was EA who brought us MJ.

Of course, the last time that Michael Jordan made an official appearance in an EA Sports game was in NBA Live 2004. Indeed, until NBA 2K11, it marked the last time that he was officially featured in any video games. Needless to say, adding him to the Legends Pool and 90s All-Stars was an annual task for our modding community from NBA Live 2005 through NBA Live 08, so we were still able to play with him on PC. There was something special about official appearances though, especially given MJ’s absence from the virtual hardwood in the late 90s. 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 basketball gaming on the Nintendo Entertainment system, aka the NES.

Saturday will mark forty years since Nintendo launched the NES in select test markets in the United States, some two years after the Famicom debuted in Japan. Over the next few years, it launched in Europe, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and other regions, going on to sell 61.9 million units worldwide. Support for the NES was officially discontinued thirty years ago in North America, Europe, and Australia, but actually continued in Japan until 2003. Since then, its library has been re-released digitally and via the NES Classic Edition, and of course, unofficially emulated.

Coming in the wake of the infamous Video Game Crash of 1983, the NES ended up bringing us some iconic games and franchises: Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Metroid, just to name the biggest first party properties. There were many other classics from the likes of Capcom, Konami, and other developers that became titans of gaming. However, the NES isn’t usually remembered for having a great selection of basketball titles. With that being said, there are some decent ones that, if nothing else, paved the way for better games to come. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #554 of the NLSC Podcast!

What is it that keeps us hooked on the virtual hardwood? This week, we join the community in sharing the reasons why we play basketball video games, ranging from a love of the sport, to bonding experiences with family and friends, to joyful fantasy and escapism. Following on from last week, we and our listeners pick three stars from the 2000s to bring into the modern NBA in their prime. In response to the end of online support for NBA Live 18, we note how the offline version of The One succeeds where MyCAREER fails nowadays. We also share an interesting tidbit about Dr. J vs. Larry Bird, and answer a question about bad basketball video games in another edition of Andrew Asks.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:09:28 — 48.1MB)

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