From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #514 of the NLSC Podcast!
NBA 2K24 is prompting gamers to accept a new Terms of Service that includes updated clauses regarding class action lawsuits and digital purchases. We discuss how the move has further eroded goodwill, especially as the language comes across as threatening in the wake of recent legal action against Take-Two, and opting out is a deliberately challenging process. While noting NBA 2K’s fall from grace as the darling of basketball gaming, we also criticise the silence from influencers and much of the gaming media, as well as the apologist rhetoric that some gamers are spouting. In short, it’s not an issue that basketball gamers should allow to be swept under the rug!
Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:05:50 — 45.6MB)
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 a fear of losing and having a bad time in NBA 2K’s connected modes has poisoned the online scene.
It’s been a familiar sight since the introduction of The Neighborhood in NBA 2K18. Plenty of MyPLAYERs running around or just standing there idly, while others wait at the Got Next spots, hoping in vain to get the numbers to play a game. Meanwhile, in The Rec, MyPLAYERs enter the locker room, only to quickly exit before a game can begin. Naturally, you stand a much better chance of getting a game if you’re with friends, but the hub world concept is intended to encourage gamers to socialise and form impromptu squads for pick-up games. It hasn’t quite worked out that way!
To put it bluntly, there’s a fear of losing in MyCAREER’s connected modes. No one enjoys losing of course, but when the fear of taking an L is so great that you’d rather not even play, that’s a big problem! At the same time, there are legitimate concerns about the quality of the online experience. It isn’t just about not wanting to lose, but also having no desire to team up with selfish players and trolls who are going to make it incredibly difficult to win. Between some people taking things so seriously that they don’t want to risk a loss, and others not wanting to jump into a game knowing that it’s going to be a bad time, the online scene in NBA 2K remains shockingly substandard.
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.
As you might expect, this week’s NLSC Top 10 Plays contains a couple of highlights from the late, great Kobe Bryant. The Black Mamba isn’t the only one putting on a show on the virtual hardwood though, as Michael Jordan and even a created Scottie Pippen in NBA Live 19 provide a dazzling aerial display. There’s also an NBA Live 2000 highlight featuring one of the last roster updates for the game from the mid 2010s, and plenty of other spectacular moves from eight different games. 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 a presentation of some MyCAREER story awards, which I’m calling The Grindies.
Believe it or not, we now have ten years’ worth of NBA 2K games that have featured a story in MyCAREER! The approach has been divisive, receiving plenty of praise and scorn alike. Generally speaking, the production values are held in high regard, particularly beginning with “Livin’ Da Dream” in NBA 2K16. Conversely, the way in which some stories have intruded on the gameplay experience has made the story-driven approach unpopular with other MyCAREER gamers. Nevertheless, it remains one of the most popular modes in NBA 2K, if only for the connected online scene.
As someone who has been a devoted MyCAREER gamer since NBA 2K13, I have mixed feelings about the mode featuring a linear story. In some ways it’s enhanced the experience, but it’s absolutely detracted from it as well. I’ve been critical of many of the stories, yet I also find them fascinating. It’s an interesting concept to evaluate, and given the debate about whether or not video games are art and a medium capable of in-depth storytelling, there’s a lot to sink our teeth into. And so, I’m going to hand out The Grindies: awards spotlighting the best and worst aspects of the MyCAREER stories to date. Why “The Grindies”? Well, if you play MyCAREER, you’ll know!
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 my thoughts on a lack of true role-playing opportunities with your MyPLAYER in MyCAREER.
It’s been interesting to see the birth and subsequent evolution of career modes in basketball video games. Putting aside the story-driven campaign in Sony’s NBA series, or the single season experience in the PlayStation 2 version of NBA Live 09, the first true career mode came with NBA 2K10’s My Player. That name eventually morphed into MyPLAYER and was given to our avatars, while the mode itself was re-branded as MyCAREER. NBA 2K14 brought a more cinematic approach to the mode, and since then, MyCAREER has essentially become a basketball MMORPG.
While the core concept of MyCAREER remains the same – you’re an NBA rookie with an opportunity to play through a career in the league – these changes have obviously impacted the on-court and off-court experience. Ironically, as the mode has become more and more RPG-based, there’s actually been less opportunity to role-play with your MyPLAYER! Where we were once left to use our imaginations and project a personality onto our avatars, we’re saddled with a character that’s following a script. Whether it’s by limiting our choices, or putting the story on rails via cutscenes, there are undoubtedly times when our MyPLAYER doesn’t feel like it’s our player.
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 outlines five changes that would fix some of the stories in MyCAREER.
As I’ve mentioned on several occasions, I have a love-hate relationship with the story-driven approach to MyCAREER. I can appreciate the production values and some of them have been enjoyable tales, but others have been poorly-written and intruded on the gameplay experience. I’ve made snarky jokes about them, but I also find them fascinating to analyse. Perhaps it’s because it feels like the concept of a MyCAREER story has so much promise, but the execution has too often hindered my enjoyment, or just been somewhat disappointing.
While I don’t believe in dismissing criticism with “let’s see you do better”, I do think that critique can be bolstered by identifying potential improvements. In other words, the fact that I’ve never written and produced a MyCAREER story doesn’t disqualify me from having an opinion on them, but I should be able to suggest ways in which the stories could improve rather than just dismissively calling them bad. On top of that, it’s an interesting exercise to consider just how much we’d need to change in order to provide – in my opinion, at least – a much better experience. With that being said, I’m going to give it a shot! Here are five changes that I’d make to MyCAREER stories.
From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #506 of the NLSC Podcast!
A class action lawsuit is accusing Take-Two of theft, specifically in regards to NBA 2K’s predatory practices. In particular, it notes the loss of VC balance when the servers are shut down after 27 months. While we aren’t lawyers, we certainly do have some thoughts on the situation, as does the community! We also discuss the use of Cronus Zen controllers, and other methods of cheating in NBA 2K online. After all, as much as a technical fix is in order, there are other contributing factors that must be addressed. Meanwhile, comments on our YouTube channel have proven that people have some interesting interpretations of EA Sports’ famous slogan.
Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:19:15 — 54.8MB)
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!
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 some famous jersey numbers that were worn by players who weren’t so famous, and the video games where you’ll find them.
There was a commemorative magazine published not long after the Chicago Bulls won their fifth NBA championship. As an avid fan, I read it cover to cover until it was no longer pristine. On top of recapping the championship season, the magazine delved into the history of the Bulls. I was fascinated to learn that although Michael Jordan became the last and most famous Bull to wear number 23, he was the seventh player in club history to don it. You have to remember that in 1997, such information wasn’t readily available and accessible in less than a minute!
That tidbit of Bulls and MJ trivia has stuck with me. The longer I’ve been a basketball fan, and the more players that I’ve seen come and go, the more I’ve seen other stars end up sharing their number with far less distinguished NBA alumni. Like so much other historical trivia, these examples frequently present themselves whenever I’m revisiting an old video game, and see players in the rosters that I haven’t thought about in years. While they may not have reached the same level of fame and success as the stars who donned those jerseys, there’s still that connection to their famous peers and their iconic numbers. 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 the five best shout outs that basketball games have made to previous entries in their series.
Who doesn’t appreciate a good callback? Whether it’s an Easter egg/fleeting reference or something more prominent, continuity never goes astray. This applies to video games as much as books, films, and television shows, especially as the medium has strived to improve its storytelling across various genres. Whether it’s a cameo like Harold’s appearance in Fallout 3, a peek at an era from a previous game as in the Monkey Island series, or the Elder Scrolls’ running gag about stolen sweetrolls, they’re an enjoyable part of video game lore and exploration.
Needless to say, basketball video games and other annual sports titles are a little different. By their very concept, they have numerous sequels and there are several similarities between games, right down to the players as long as they’re active or on a classic team. In other words, the ubiquitous aspects of the genre don’t count as shout outs to previous games. However, various basketball video games have found ways to celebrate their lineage, or feature a unique nod to their predecessors. These shout outs to previous games may be minor and we wouldn’t necessarily miss them if they weren’t there, but oftentimes they’re the fun details that make a game feel special.
From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #503 of the NLSC Podcast!
We’re all about good vibes and enhancing everyone’s basketball gaming, from recommendations about an Android emulator that allows you to play mobile games on your PC, to advocating for freely available mods! Fortunately, we do still have people releasing some great projects free of charge, including wiscard_rush who has just completed a great 2009 season roster for NBA Live 10 PS3. This leads us to join the community in speculating on why we’re not seeing anywhere near as many mods for NBA 2K24 as we have for previous games. We also ask the community which console they’d choose if they could only have one for life, and what they consider to be the turning points for NBA Live and NBA 2K.
Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:17:51 — 53.8MB)
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 presentation design choices in basketball video games that are rather frustrating.
I’m not the harshest critic when it comes to presentation and visuals. That’s not to say that I don’t have any standards, or that I don’t recognise inaccuracies and other issues when I see them. If I’m enjoying the on-court experience and am hooked on a mode however, that’ll factor more heavily into my overall opinion than a face that looks off, or a lack of bells and whistles in the presentation. As long as the game has that NBA vibe and TV-style presentation that mimics a real broadcast to some extent, that’s all I need. I certainly appreciate more detail, but it isn’t necessary for me to enjoy a game.
What I am bothered by are design choices with presentation that ruin the vibe, or interfere with the gameplay. There have definitely been basketball video games that have erred in this way over the years! In the best case scenario, it’s an annoyance that you can ultimately overlook, though it’s still quite apparent. In other cases however, those presentation design choices have a major impact on the gameplay, rendering a game virtually impossible to enjoy despite its positive attributes. If the presentation is lacking authentic TV branding or interviews with real player voices, I don’t mind that. These five frustrating presentation design choices, on the other hand, are problematic!
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 the original All-Time Teams that were featured in early NBA 2K titles.
The concept of All-Time Teams is naturally a staple of sports discussion. Which franchise could field the best lineup with all the players that have ever worn their uniform? Who can boast the best all-time starting lineup? Who would prevail in a showdown of stars, if they could all be together on the team in their prime? Such What Ifs are impossible to conclusively prove in reality, but they’re a great idea for fantasy matchups in video games. Even in the early days of NBA Live modding, the community was creating Legends and All-Time Teams rosters.
Those projects have remained popular over the years, so it’s no surprise that with all of the other historical content in NBA 2K, All-Time squads were eventually added for each franchise. As I noted when I covered those teams in a previous article, while the concept was nothing new, it saved us a lot of time by ensuring that certain players and assets would be in the game by default. However, I neglected to mention that NBA 2K18 wasn’t the first game in the series to feature All-Time Teams, as a few such squads were unlockable in earlier releases. 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 giving NBA Live 18 a second look.
It’s fair to say that NBA Live didn’t live up to expectations on the eighth generation. We were hoping for a fresh start after NBA Elite 11 torpedoed the series during the seventh generation, but instead there were numerous unsuccessful attempts to rebuild. However, there were some flashes of brilliance and genuinely good ideas, which only makes the shortcomings of those eighth gen NBA Live titles more frustrating. Now that several years have passed and the weight of new game expectations has been lifted, those positive aspects do stand out, and can be appreciated.
As such, when I revisit an eighth generation NBA Live, I’m sometimes left surprised by how much I enjoyed dusting it off. While these second looks haven’t changed my mind to the same extent as NBA Live 10 or the Next Gen version of NBA 2K14, I do come away thinking that some of them hold up better than I remembered. This was true after Dee and I revisited NBA Live 18 using Parsec and the Xbox App, and had a really fun game. Indeed, I ended up picking up where I left off in Ultimate Team, and it inspired me to reconsider my previous critique. Let’s take a look back…way back…
From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #493 of the NLSC Podcast!
Could you name your Top 25 all-time favourite basketball video games? We reflect on some of the titles that were ranked in last week’s Monday Tip-Off, and reiterate the distinction between personal favourites and “best” lists. With the release of NBA 2K24 looming, we also have some news on MyTEAM, MyCAREER, and The City to discuss. Have the promised changes to MyTEAM Points, pack odds, and Season progression, and the streamlined approach to the NBA career experience, affected our excitement and anticipation for this year’s game? Also, in this week’s mailbag, the community shares their reactions to NBA 2K24 gameplay footage, as well as some of the other details coming out of the recent community event.
Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:10:27 — 48.7MB)
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 candid thoughts on why so many basketball video game reviews suck.
As much as I value thoughtful critique over statements that are blunt and insulting for the sake of being provocative, I must be frank here: many of the reviews of basketball video games flat out suck. They aren’t helpful to enthusiastic hoops gamers who want to know if a title is a significant improvement over its predecessor, and whether it’s worth getting. Their lack of insightful commentary provides no useful feedback to the developers, and seldom holds the publisher accountable for business practices that are predatory and even hostile towards the core audience.
It’s extremely frustrating for me. As someone who has been playing basketball video games for over 25 years, and – at the risk of sounding egotistical – knows a thing or two about them, I’m unimpressed by such poor evaluations of them as products. On top of that, my philosophy is to stand with my fellow gamers rather than shill for a company. I believe it’s vital to be honest with ourselves and each other, and to keep the community informed. Also, while there’s really no such thing as an “unbiased review” as opinions are always subjective, personal bias can impact fairness and accuracy. It’s these recurring issues that result in laughable and subpar reviews.
NLSC Your source for basketball video games.
