Tag Archives: Mods

From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #650 of the NLSC Podcast!

There have been some exciting developments over the past week or so with the revival of online features in NBA 2K15, NBA 2K16, and NBA 2K17 via community-maintained servers. Unfortunately, those efforts hit a snag following a DMCA takedown, though the project relaunched with the aim of complying with 2K, including dropping the approach of it being a paid service. One thing’s for sure, though: people are interested in revisiting old favourites, in large part due to dissatisfaction with NBA 2K27 and other recent releases. To that point, this week we join the community in reacting to those server revival projects, and the Save The Game movement that’s currently gaining traction with NBA 2K gamers.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 59:44 — 41.4MB)

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!

A couple of weeks ago, I described some of the ways that I’d love to mod the PC version of NBA Jam Tournament Edition; something I’ve dreamed of doing since I picked it up 30 years ago! Daex, who has been diligently creating some great modding tools in recent weeks, was keen to lend a hand in making those dreams a reality. To that end, we now have a utility to edit NBA Jam TE for PC: Sigil Jam TE.

Sigil Jam TE allows us to edit player names, replace player heads and portraits with a pixel painter tool, change audio assignments, and move players between teams. In short, basically all of the ideas that I outlined in my Friday Five article are possible with this modding tool! Therefore, you can expect to see some mods for the PC version of NBA Jam Tournament Edition – minimalist and more comprehensive – in the not-too-distant future. It might be a while before those projects rival the depth and scope of the ROM hacks for the Super Nintendo and original arcade releases, but it’s definitely going to be fun to finally tinker with a classic after three decades.

The tool has also led to some interesting discoveries after digging into the game’s files. As such, I’ll most likely be revisiting NBA Jam TE in another Wayback Wednesday feature to discuss them. That’s one of the fun things about so many old favourites. As the situation with Kevin Edwards in NBA Jam TE demonstrates, there are interesting things to discover and talk about, even after all these years!

In the meantime, download Sigil Jam TE here! A big thanks once again to Daex for running with the idea and developing an excellent modding tool that’s not only powerful, but also has character in its design. For those who are unaware, Daex is also doing some fantastic work with other tools that are aiding modders tinker with NBA 2K14 and NBA 2K27, so shout out to him for those efforts as well (and for making those utilities freely available). As always, we appreciate everyone who continues to uphold the values that our community was founded upon while making valuable contributions to the modding scene.

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 reasons to play with NBA Legends that are from before your time.

Generally speaking, I’m indulging my nostalgia when I play with Legends and other historical content in basketball video games. I’m an Elder Millennial, so it probably won’t be a shock when I say that the players and teams that I feel the most nostalgic for are from the 90s and 2000s. Even though I’m a keen retro gamer that can readily revisit some early classics, there are benefits to reconnecting with fond memories through more modern titles. The combination of rosters from yesteryear and more advanced graphics and mechanics can provide the best of both worlds.

There’s been a shift in my approach to playing with historical content on the virtual hardwood, though. I’m still revisiting the eras that I watched and am nostalgic for, but over the past year or so, I’ve developed a greater interest in playing with the Legends from before my time. That change has certainly been inspired in some part by Dee’s Legends seasons with his brothers that include players from multiple eras. Some of our Parsec sessions have also involved playing with greats from earlier decades. The more that I’ve hit the virtual hardwood with Legends from before my time, the more I’ve enjoyed doing so. I’d absolutely recommend it, and here are five reasons why.

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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 reminiscing about the grand plan that I had for NBA Live 2003 and its Franchise mode.

Between the preview season not being what it once was and the ninth generation NBA 2K releases not resonating with me, it’s been a long time since I was truly hyped for a new basketball video game. As I mentioned in Episode #648 of the NLSC Podcast, I actually don’t have NBA 2K27 yet, as I’m waiting to pick it up on sale as a semi-protest over my dissatisfaction in recent years. Being a collector and content creator, I’ll definitely obtain it at some point, but that approach is a far cry from the days when I was eager to get my hands on the latest release as soon as possible.

As I was brimming with anticipation for the new game in years gone by, I naturally began to formulate plans of what I wanted to dive into once I had it. During the eighth generation, it was starting over again in MyCAREER, building up my MyPLAYER into a star that would also be effective to play with online. During the heyday of NBA Live, it was assuming control of a team – the Chicago Bulls usually being my first choice – and beginning a Franchise or Dynasty game. That was certainly my grand plan for NBA Live 2003, but things went awry. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #649 of the NLSC Podcast!

What kind of adult plays video games? Well, as it turns out, a large majority of adults nowadays! This week, we’re tackling the topic of gaming in adult life, and the stigma that still surrounds the hobby in 2026. We discuss our experiences and attitude towards gaming as adults compared to when we were younger, and react to a couple of articles: one that outlines the benefits of gaming and shares some illuminating statistics, and one that has a very condescending and narrow-minded view of adult gamers. Our listeners also weigh in with their opinions on the matter, and contrary to some prevailing stereotypes, it would seem that we all have a healthy approach to gaming!

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:08:04 — 47.1MB)

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 players who stood in for Michael Jordan, or indeed became His Airness, in basketball video games.

Today marks 25 years since Michael Jordan relinquished his ownership stake in the Washington Wizards, and signed a two-year deal to play for them. As I noted when I reflected on the milestone in this week’s Wayback Wednesday, on top of being a huge event in the real NBA, MJ’s comeback with the Wizards was also significant on the virtual hardwood. His Airness was notably absent from most video games following his withdrawal from the NBPA’s licensing agreement in the early 90s, but during his Wizards stint, he was able to be included in all 2002 and 2003 season titles.

As such, there was no need to add MJ to the roster by creating him or overwriting an unneeded player, or otherwise filling in for his absence; once a common practice in basketball gaming. While this was certainly a welcome change and something that we would’ve preferred to be the case during his second run with the Chicago Bulls, there’s also a lot of nostalgia in those rituals! To that end, there are a handful of players that commonly became Michael Jordan, be it by taking his place in the lineup, standing in for him using a bit of imagination, or being turned into His Airness through modding. And so, one way or another, these five players fulfilled the need to “Be Like Mike“.

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A new version of Sigil 2K27 – a multi-function modding tool for NBA 2K27 PC – is now available! Daex has been diligently updating the tool over the past few weeks, with V1.2.3 making various fixes to the roster editing functionality, and adding new features including an Asset Loader, the ability to remove portraits, and other useful modding functions.

Check it out at the link below! Shout to Daex, who has been doing some amazing work developing tools for the community, and making them freely available for one and all. As you may have heard on this week’s NLSC Podcast, he’s also whipped up a modding tool for NBA Jam Tournament Edition PC, which you’ll no doubt be learning more about very soon. In the meantime, the latest version of Sigil 2K27 should be helpful in developing some great roster projects for this year’s game, so once again, be sure to give it a look!

Daex
Sigil 2K27 (Updated to V1.2.3)

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.

From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #648 of the NLSC Podcast!

NBA 2K27 has been out for a few weeks now – almost a month if you include Early Access – and in that time, Derek has spent almost 90 hours playing the game. As such, this week he’s providing his in-depth review of NBA 2K27, breaking down the key positives and negatives of gameplay, modes, content, and features, and giving it a score out of ten. We also discuss the game’s current Metacritic scores, comparing the critical and user reviews to the ones for NBA 2K26 and NBA 2K17. In this week’s Community Question, our fellow gamers share their thoughts on NBA 2K27 so far, along with their scores. We wrap things up with some further advice from Derek for getting the most out of this year’s release.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 53:25 — 37.0MB)

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 ways that I’d like to mod the PC version of NBA Jam Tournament Edition, aka NBA Jam TE.

NBA Jam TE for PC was the very first basketball video game that I bought, 30 years ago this past January. As such, it’s one of my all-time favourite hoops titles, and it’s not just a case of nostalgia goggles! Much like the original NBA Jam, it still holds up superbly. Unfortunately, it’s a game that I’ve never been able to mod. Whereas the Super Nintendo and arcade versions have seen several ROM hacks, there have never been any tools for the PC release. Mind you, that hasn’t stopped me from trying (and failing) to mod it, and pondering the possibilities if I ever find a way to do so.

I won’t say that I’ve made a breakthrough in that regard, or even that I’m a step closer to making it happen, because that’s not the case. However, after all these years, I have discovered how to change players’ names. To that end, I feel that if I keep combing through the files and experimenting with some changes, I may finally be able to mod NBA Jam TE PC, if only in a limited way. Even if I only succeed at renaming Ron Harper to Michael Jordan and changing his ratings, I’d be delighted! With that being said, I do have some more ambitious ideas that I’d love to try. Should it ever become possible to mod NBA Jam TE for PC, here are five ways I’m keen to tinker with it.

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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 about whether playing games from the past and enjoying historical rosters is the future of my basketball gaming.

More than a week after NBA 2K27’s release, I still don’t have the game. Thinking back, the last time that I didn’t get a new game at launch would’ve been NBA Live 2002 back in 2001, and that’s only because it was a Christmas present along with my PlayStation 2. To that end, it’s been 25 years since I’ve waited this long post-launch to pick up the latest basketball video game. Even when I had to wait longer for a game to come out here in Australia, I was still getting it on what was Day 1 for us, or within a week or so at the very least.

Funnily enough, I’ve rather enjoyed connecting with Dee to play NBA 2K27 over Parsec. In fact, I’m optimistic that I might like it more than its recent predecessors based on my experiences so far. It’s possible that by taking a break from playing the latest NBA 2K, it finally feels fresh enough to dive back in. At the same time, leaning into my predisposition for retro gaming has also made me extremely comfortable with playing old favourites and developing an appreciation for classics that I overlooked. Indeed, the longer that I delay picking up NBA 2K27, the more that I wonder if I’ve reached a point where the future of my basketball gaming actually lies in the past.

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As you may have seen, wiscard_rush recently released a ROM hack for Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside for Nintendo 64 that takes the game back to the 1996 season. He’s now released an NBA Courtside roster editor, allowing the community to work on their own ROM hacks for the game.

Once again, it’s very exciting to see these developments with retro basketball gaming and modding. Emulation is seemingly opening up new modding opportunities all the time, and while our community is turning its attention to NBA 2K27, we do have people who enjoy playing and tinkering with old favourites; myself included. Getting a roster editor for Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside after all these years is also interesting as it allows us to view player ratings, which are infamously hidden for all original players.

Check out the tool at the link below, and shout out to wiscard_rush for all of his efforts developing mods, ROM hacks, and utilities! We definitely appreciate the hard work, and the willingness to freely share it for everyone to enjoy.

wiscard_rush
Kobe Bryant’s Courtside Roster Editor

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 reflecting on some retro modding, namely tinkering with rosters in the Xbox 360 version of NBA 2K6.

When I get hooked on a game – really hooked – it takes a while to get it out of my system. In fact, even then there’s a good chance that it’ll hang around in my rotation, if nothing else becoming a fallback option when I’m not sure what to play. If there’s any way that I can spice up those sessions with some modding – particularly minimalist modding – then that becomes part of my fascination with a game. Whether it’s putting together makeshift retro squads in NBA Live 10’s Fantasy Teams mode, or creating something more substantial, it prolongs my interest in a classic title.

That brings us to the Xbox 360 version of NBA 2K6. It’s a game that I’ve come to love long after it was released, as I noted when I covered it for Wayback Wednesday with a comprehensive retrospective. It’s been in and out of my rotation over the last couple of years, which eventually led me to tinker with its rosters. At first, it was just a way of getting more out of the game by setting up some fun scenarios, but I soon found myself dabbling with projects that I wanted to release publicly. It’s been a fun exercise so far, so let’s see how I’ve been going back…way back…to mod!

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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 fun discoveries that I’ve made while manipulating cutscenes in basketball video games.

Compared to mechanics, controls, and other design choices and technical aspects, cutscenes aren’t vital to great gameplay on the virtual hardwood. Nevertheless, they’re still an important part of the presentation. If you go back and look at some of our early Wishlists for NBA Live, you’ll see that gamers wanted future titles to add on-court cutscenes for championship celebrations and so forth. Even with the more primitive graphics of the era, such cutscenes would be far more immersive than generic videos or a slightly fancier “A Winner Is You” type of screen upon winning a title.

That wish would ultimately be granted, and for the past couple of decades or so, basketball video games have featured a host of cutscenes from the starting lineup introductions and trophy presentations to cinematic career mode stories and other flavour content. Unsurprisingly, we’ve discovered ways of manipulating many of the cutscenes for greater immersion, content creation, or just our own amusement. I’ve certainly enjoyed dabbling with various titles’ cutscenes for those purposes, and all of the fun and interesting discoveries regarding how they’re assembled, odd bugs and restrictions, and workarounds to get the results that I want. Here are five examples!

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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 reflections (and a few untold stories) as I mark 25 years of running the NLSC.

On August 25th 2001, Tim officially announced that I’d be succeeding him as the NLSC’s webmaster. It was already August 26th here in Australia, so that’s the date of my first post on the site. Whichever date you want to use, this time of year marks my anniversary of taking the reins here at the NLSC. It’s mind-blowing to think that at this point, I’ve been running the site for more than half of my life! To that point, it’s truly surreal to be able to say that as of this week, I’ve been doing this for a quarter of a century now.

As the years have gone by, I’ve made it a point to mark my anniversary in some way, whether via a social media post or a feature here on the site. Just to be clear right out of the gate: this isn’t a retirement announcement! As I’ve said before, it’s tough to say how long I’ll do this, or to even consider the end of my involvement with the site and what will happen thereafter. It’s very much a “we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it” situation, because as long as I’m willing and able to channel my enthusiasm for basketball gaming into content creation, I’m going to keep having fun doing so. That’s why as I celebrate 25 years at the helm of the NLSC, I believe I still have work to do.

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For those who are interested in tinkering with NBA Bounce, wiscard_rush has uploaded a new version of his modding tool for the PC version. The new release adds support for mesh editing, with a new tab that allows you to view, export, and replace the 3D models. Download it at the link below, and check out the tool’s Github page for more information!

wiscard_rush
NBA BOUNCE Modding Tool (Updated to V3.0.0)

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.