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 how challenging it can be to accurately rate a fading star in basketball video games.
Since they became a visible part of basketball video games, player ratings have been a contentious issue. We’ve rarely been completely happy with the ratings in the official rosters, sometimes for very good reasons; particularly when it comes to the historical players! Developers have also shared stories about players arguing about their ratings when they come in for motion capture or face scans. On a lighter note, when Hassan Whiteside returned to the NBA for the 2015 season and began turning in some good performances for the Heat, he joked about doing it to get his NBA 2K ratings up.
As someone who used to maintain current roster updates for NBA Live on PC, there were certainly ratings in the default rosters that I disagreed with. At the same time, I also sympathised with the producers who were responsible for those official rosters, because it’s impossible to please everyone. We all have different views on how certain players should be rated – with bias often being a factor – as well as how player ratings should be handled across the board. All roster makers end up settling on a system of some kind, me included. Even so, some players have proved particularly challenging to rate over the years, and a fading star will generally be among the most difficult.
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 useful hacks we’ve been able to utilise in basketball video games.
Although “hacks” and “hacking” are terms that have come to be associated with acts that are malicious or unscrupulous uses of technology, they also refer to inelegant yet quick, creative, and effective solutions in programming. Indeed, Al Lowe – the creator of Leisure Suit Larry – described the method of using one background picture and four mostly transparent cells to create the bamboo maze in Leisure Suit Larry 3 as being his favourite hack. Ironically, this means that while many people disdain the term “life hacks”, it’s actually using “hack” in a similar context to software development!
To that point, modding involves hacks; not just the process of breaking into the game files and altering them, but cobbling together solutions utilising functionality that was intended for developer use, or in a way that was otherwise unintended. This list of the most useful hacks in basketball video games is a mixture of values we discovered we could change to mod or unlock content, and hidden or unadvertised functionality that we can make use of. To that end, we could certainly debate as to whether all of them strictly qualify as hacks, but there’s no doubt that they were useful! And so, without any further ado, here are five ways that we’ve been able to cleverly tinker with games.
From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #614 of the NLSC Podcast!
Who are the most dominant players when they’re controlled by the CPU in basketball video games? This week, we join the community in discussing some of the most unguardable players that we’ve encountered on the virtual hardwood over the years, at least when they’re in the hands of the AI. Whether it’s an issue with the engine, or their ratings are slightly overdone or completely inaccurate, these stars and role players alike have given us fits on the sticks. We also reflect on the frustration of not always being able to light it up with those same players ourselves, and mention a few players who haven’t been as dominant in video games they really should be.
Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:03:25 — 43.9MB)
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’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 how nostalgia is something special that we’re lucky to have, rather than being sad and pitiable.
Nostalgia has been getting a bad rap for quite a while now. Oh sure, there’s plenty of nostalgic communities and content online, as many of us love to reminisce. However, there has undoubtedly been a noticeable backlash to nostalgia as online demographics have shifted over the past decade or so. Beyond tired arguments about what was better – then or now – the discourse has been polluted by smug armchair psychoanalysis. If you’re nostalgic, or prefer to stick with something older, you must be hung up on the past, miserably chasing a moment in time that you’ll never get back.
Now, I can’t say that that doesn’t hold true for some people, though I’ll say it with far more sympathy and understanding than those who want to dump on the past to prop up the present! For many of us though, continuing to enjoy the classics – or at least looking back on them fondly – is neither depressing, nor preventing us from having new experiences. And so, the idea that nostalgia is a sad, delusional cry for help is infuriatingly condescending. Frankly, if we’ve made fond memories with our interests and passions that we can enthusiastically recall, then we’re extremely fortunate. If those things can still bring us joy, we’re even luckier. There’s nothing sad about that.
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 ideas for minimalist modding challenges.
Although modding has obviously been a big part of what we do here at the NLSC since we were founded – and therefore something we care about – at the end of the day it’s meant to be fun. If I may step on my soapbox for a moment, people chasing clout and turning the hobby into a source of income has unfortunately led to the loss of some of the charm and spirit that made our modding community so special. For that reason, I greatly appreciate the people who do still adhere to those old principles of making great mods freely available to everyone, and finding joy in creating them.
Therefore, in the spirit of having fun with modding, I’d like to propose an idea to our community: minimalist modding challenges! As I’ve previously discussed, minimalist modding can take many forms. While huge, comprehensive projects that are accurate down to the last detail will always be impressive, we can really spice up games with small mods that nevertheless make a significant change or improvement. With that in mind, I think it could be a fun challenge for modders to attempt minimalist modding projects based on prompts and parameters that test the limits of their creativity, and result in some cool mods to play with. Here are five suggestions that come to mind.
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 we misremember basketball video games.
Just how well do you think you remember all of the basketball video games you’ve ever played? I’d like to think that I have a pretty good memory – especially when it comes to my passions – but I’m hardly infallible in my recollections! Sure, I’ve made a lot of memories with basketball video games, and remember quite a few things off the top of my head. If it’s been a while since I played a game though, chances are some of the specifics will have slipped my mind. There’s a reason I have to do research for my features, because when I don’t, mistakes and omissions are inevitable!
To that point, there have definitely been times when I’ve trusted my memory when I shouldn’t have. I’d suggest that we’re all guilty of that from time to time. Indeed, based on comments about basketball video games that I’ve seen in various online spaces, it’s safe to say that a lot of people misremember them in some way. It’s usually an honest and understandable mistake, and it may only be a minor detail. Nevertheless, we’re all bound to misremember a thing or two about a game when it’s been a long time since we last played it. With that in mind – no pun intended – here are five ways that we commonly misremember basketball video games whenever we’re discussing them.
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 how I miss original tracks and hoops-themed remixes in basketball video games.
When Dee and I were discussing the best and worst music in basketball video games, we noted our fondness for original tracks and remixes with new lyrics referencing hoops and the virtual hardwood. It’s a staple of soundtracks that we’ve unfortunately lost over the years. That’s not to say that basketball video games haven’t licensed some great tracks and indeed introduced us to new songs and artists. Commercial songs also make basketball titles feel culturally relevant when they’re released, and can eventually contribute to their nostalgic appeal as well.
Still, there was something special about the original tracks and remixes that were once more common in basketball video games. Look, you should never want to be that curmudgeon ranting about the music of today, and wondering why hits from twenty years ago aren’t being featured in anything that’s aiming for a younger demographic. Besides, it isn’t as though basketball video games from the past ten years or so haven’t included some classic songs! However, between songs that are a poor fit, songs that need to be heavily censored to appear in a family-friendly game, and the creativity we once heard, I do miss those original tracks and remixes in modern basketball games.
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…
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 where a number of NBA Legends ideally should have retired.
With the 2026 NBA season underway, some of the biggest names in the league are continuing lengthy careers. LeBron James is embarking on a record-setting 23rd NBA campaign, which indeed may not be his last. Stephen Curry is in his 17th year, while former teammate Kevin Durant is in his 18th (though it would’ve been his 19th if not for missing the entire 2020 season). Of course, only Curry is still with the team that he began his NBA career with. As such, he’s the most likely of the three to retire with his original club, and having never left to boot.
Mind you, while it sometimes seems that superstars move around more often than they used to, even decades ago future Hall of Famers were wrapping up their storied careers on different teams. That’s how we’ve come to see so many familiar faces in strange places! To that end, while we focus on the accomplishments of those Legends and where they were in their prime more so than we do their weird final stints, we may still wish that they retired in the “right” place. Thanks to basketball video games, we can see what that would’ve looked like. Let’s take a look back…way back…
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 mods that I’ve wanted to make for NBA Live 96 PC over the years.
As I’ve said before, NBA Live 96 PC is one of my all-time favourite basketball video games. Indeed, it’s one of the very first basketball video games that I owned, and the title that led me to discover the NLSC and modding way back in 1997. As such, even though other titles have surpassed NBA Live 96 in my personal rankings, I have great affection and nostalgia for it. Those fond memories come rushing back whenever I fire it up for a retro gaming session, or pick up the tools to tinker with it once again. In short, it’s brought me a great deal of joy over the years, and continues to do so.
Of course, when it comes to making NBA Live 96 mods, I do have a few regrets. That includes criticism of my efforts to update the game for the 1998 season all those years ago, but some of my biggest regrets with NBA Live 96 are the mods that I didn’t get to make. In some cases I made some preliminary preparations for a project, or even managed some early progress on a mod, only for it to fall through. Obviously, I could still probably attempt some of these projects as I’m all for creating fun mods for my own sessions with NBA Live 96, but it’s hard to justify that much work for such an old game. Nevertheless, here are five NBA Live 96 mods I’ve always wanted to make.
Get ready for more fantastic highlights from the basketball gaming community in the NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week, curated by Dee! 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, send Dee a message, or hit him up on X.
With another NBA season right around the corner, the community’s enthusiasm for getting on the sticks is heating up even more! This week’s NLSC Top 10 Plays features some wild alley-oops, including a tribute to an iconic LeBron James highlight, and Alex English scoring in a rather unexpected way. Meanwhile, Wizards MJ is proving that he’s still got it in NBA 2K11. Six different games are featured in the countdown, with a few entries also spotlighting the work of the modding community. Let’s get to the action!
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.
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 importance of playing with your own roster mods.
There have definitely been people over the years who are more interested in creating mods for basketball video games than hitting the virtual hardwood. Far be it from me to tell anyone else how to enjoy their leisure time, but that has always struck me as a little odd. Obviously there’s tremendous creative satisfaction in modding, but to me, mods are meant to enhance the gameplay experience. There are limitations to what we can achieve through modding of course, which is why I’d ultimately prefer a fun game that we can’t really mod to one that’s modder-friendly, but a poor on-court experience.
With that being said, the best and most popular games in our community throughout the years are the ones that were highly moddable, while also being great out of the box. As such, current roster updates, retro roster mods, and total conversions have all made some fantastic games even better. Because they take time to make however, if you’re creating one of those big projects, you may not always get to enjoy the fruits of your labour. I can certainly attest to this! It is important that we spend some time playing with our own roster mods, though. After all, not only should we be able to have fun with what we created, but it’s essential to becoming a better roster maker.
Paxson-for-3 has been doing some outstanding work with retro mods for NBA 2K11 this year. To that end, he’s recently released his latest retro season roster for NBA 2K11 PC, this time taking the game back to the 1992 season. The mod is based on the 1992 roster that was originally released way back in 2011, and contains various fixes and enhancements.
More specifically, the lineups in Paxson-for-3’s mod are accurate as of the season’s opening night, November 1st 1991. All teams are wearing their appropriate 1992 season jerseys, while individual players all have accurate jersey numbers along with the rest of their bio data. The Free Agents pool has also been updated with players who were unsigned at the time, providing opportunities to make some fictional moves in an Association game if you wish.
You can pick up the 1992 season roster for NBA 2K11 here in the Forum! You’ll also find some previews of the project, and it’s the best place to get in touch with Paxson-for-3 if you have any feedback. Shout out once again to Paxson-for-3 and everyone else who continues to release these awesome mods for old favourites! If you haven’t already, be sure to check out his 1997, 1998, and 2000 season rosters for NBA 2K11 as well.
From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #599 of the NLSC Podcast!
Music is a vital part of the atmosphere in basketball video games, and as such, it’s often connected to our nostalgia for them. This week, we join the community in reflecting on basketball video game music, from some of our all-time favourite soundtracks in NBA Live and NBA 2K to the tunes that just didn’t seem to be a good fit for the virtual hardwood. After all, while we may like certain songs in other contexts, they’re not always ideal for getting us pumped up to virtually ball! We also discuss the joy of discovering new music through gaming, and the appeal of remixed songs with new lyrics that reference basketball, or tracks that were produced specifically for a game.
Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 58:21 — 40.4MB)
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 underrated game modes.
I feel as though I say this whenever I cover a topic where the words “underrated” or “overrated” are used, but it bears repeating that they are relative and subjective terms. Many things can be both underrated and overrated depending on one’s point of view, and one person’s opinion needn’t necessarily represent the consensus. Even if there is a consensus, you could argue that once something is widely seen as underrated or overrated, it ceases to be either since opinion has levelled out (or indeed flipped). It’s fair to say that “underappreciated” and “overhyped” may be more suitable terms.
That’s certainly how I’m using the term “underrated” when I talk about game modes. I see them as underrated because they often aren’t recalled with the same fondness or nostalgia despite their quality. As such, I believe they’re worthy of more appreciation for how fun they were, as well as their creativity and technological achievements. The fact that these games modes were either exclusive to one title or otherwise short-lived definitely contributes to them being underrated; or underappreciated, or overlooked, or whatever synonym you prefer. Bottom line, they deserve more praise, and in that spirit, let’s talk about five underrated game modes in both sim and arcade hoops titles.
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