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NLSC Podcast #481: When To Bench A Basketball Game

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #481 of the NLSC Podcast!

How long does the allure of the latest basketball game last? How often does it hold our attention until the next game comes out? This week, we’re joining the community in discussing when and why we’ve chosen to move on from the current release in recent years. We also follow up on last week’s look back at NBA Live 15 by revisiting the even more controversial NBA Live 14. Suffice to say, we were once again surprised by some of the details that we noticed! Naturally we draw a few comparisons to NBA 2K14, which we also continue to enjoy with Year 6 of MyCAREER, and a Legends season in MyGM.

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!

Monday Tip-Off: We Can Wait Until It’s Ready

Monday Tip-Off: We Can Wait Until It's Ready

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 features that are implemented before they’re truly ready, and how we can and should be willing to wait until then.

Here’s some trivia for you: the first can openers were invented several decades after tin cans themselves were devised as a way of preserving food. Obviously there were ways of opening tin cans before that – knives, primarily – but the point is that tin cans were in use for a long time before a specific tool to easily open them was invented. Mad as it may seem, the two technologies – sealing food in a can for preservation, and then opening the can when required – were not developed simultaneously. Sometimes, that’s just the way it goes.

What does this have to do with basketball gaming? Well, as we’ve often seen, game development can be very similar. NBA 2K21 Next Gen introduced brand new contact dunks, but contact blocks had to wait until NBA 2K22. User control settings for shot timing were added in NBA 2K23, but because they were a late addition, there wasn’t a “normal” setting. Whether it’s a new mechanic lacking an appropriate countermeasure, or a feature that isn’t fully fleshed out, it feels like NBA 2K has a habit of giving us a can while neglecting to provide a can opener. In short, and all metaphors aside, we should wait on new features and mechanics if it means they’re properly implemented.

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Monday Tip-Off: Virtual Hardwood Photography

Monday Tip-Off: Virtual Hardwood Photography

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 taking great screenshots of basketball video games; or, if you prefer, virtual hardwood photography.

When it comes my original content related to basketball video games, I’ve been drawn to writing over more visual mediums. This goes back to what I was passionate about (and generally good at) in school. I enjoyed creative writing far more than arts and crafts, which I wasn’t particularly skilled at. I’ve enjoyed dabbling with some video content over the years, and that will continue, especially as I can combine it with writing through video essays and the like. However, outside of modding, my content has largely consisted of articles.

With that being said, feature articles have a visual aspect to them as well. Besides neatly formatting the text, images are essential as they provide aesthetically-pleasing breaks, and further illustrate the topic being discussed. To that point, I not only take pride in my writing and self-editing to the best of my ability, but also including relevant and appealing screenshots. If I’ve prepared a topic then I’ll go out of my way to get relevant screenshots, but the screenshots and gameplay videos that I’ve captured for posterity have also provided me with a handy media library spanning my entire collection of games. Either way, I take pride in my virtual hardwood photography.

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The Friday Five: 5 Concepts That Must Never Return

The Friday Five: 5 Concepts That Must Never Return

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 concepts that must never return in future basketball games.

One of the benefits of revisiting older basketball games is rediscovering features that have since disappeared, and would make a welcome return in new releases. Over the years, we’ve seen a number of features and mechanics brought back due to popular demand, which has always been a cause for celebration. To that end, I’m sure we all have further suggestions for aspects we’d like to see again. Of course, there’s no guarantee that all of those concepts will return at some point. Some of them just aren’t feasible, while others are outdated ideas and no longer relevant to modern design.

And then, you have the concepts that must never return in a future basketball game. These are the bewildering ideas and design choices that didn’t just fail to make their games better, but in many cases made them actively worse. Even if those concepts didn’t entirely ruin a game, they unquestionably impacted the fun, or displayed a complete lack of goodwill. Some of the concepts that I’m discussing here do seem unlikely to return, but we can never be completely sure of that, as some games have revisited undesirable ideas that we hoped were gone for good. You may disagree with one of the below examples, but for the most part, I think we’ll all be on the same page.

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NLSC Podcast #474: Talking ESL & More With KingJMASE

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #474 of the NLSC Podcast!

This week, we’re joined by one of our favourite streamers and content creators in the basketball gaming community, KingJMASE! Mase shares the story of founding the Elite Street League for NBA 2K, and the inspiration behind his commentary style. We also discuss the challenges of content creation, including time management and tempering expectations, as well as the importance of authenticity and originality. Mase also recalls his history with basketball games and basketball, and recounts one of his most impressive performances on the virtual hardwood. Finally, we wrap up a fun conversation by putting him in the hot seat to answer five rapid fire questions about real and virtual hoops alike.

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!

NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week: April 15th, 2023

NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week

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 can tell from the thumbnail, a modded-in Super Mario appears in this week’s NLSC Top 10 plays; only appropriate, given that the new film is out! johnz1’s NBA Jam: Legends On Fire Edition is another mod that’s on display, with Michael Jordan throwing down a signature slam. There’s a highlight from our NCAA Basketball 10 Tournament – also hosted by Dee – and of course, another dazzling array of devastating dunks to enjoy. A total of nine different games are featured this week, and it’s always fun to see such variety in the countdown. 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.

Monday Tip-Off: Finishing The Drive for Five

Monday Tip-Off: Finishing The Drive for Five

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 recap of my Drive for Five in Year 5 of my NBA 2K14 MyCAREER.

At this point, my NBA 2K14 MyCAREER is well beyond being just a kick. It’s become one of my all-time favourite basketball gaming experiences, and a staple of my rotation on the virtual hardwood. Even though I enjoyed NBA 2K23 far more than NBA 2K21 and NBA 2K22, it couldn’t replace NBA 2K14 for PlayStation 4 as the star of my lineup. And honestly, why should it? While I do consider NBA 2K23 to be the strongest release in the last few years, if I’m enjoying an older title even more, there’s no reason to put it aside just because it isn’t the latest game.

Year 5 proved to be another captivating journey. As I’ve said before, I’ve greatly enjoyed how each season in this NBA 2K14 MyCAREER has ended up telling its own story, even if they’ve ultimately culminated with a similar ending. To that point, though every season has ended with my player celebrating a championship, the road to that destination veered off into different routes that were all fun to travel. While the numbers may suggest otherwise, the Drive for Five actually stands as one of the most challenging seasons so far in my NBA 2K14 MyCAREER. It demonstrates the value of playing through multiple seasons, and experiencing an ongoing alternate reality.

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The Friday Five: 5 Ways NBA 2K Modding Is Better

The Friday Five: 5 Ways NBA 2K Modding Is Better

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 the NBA 2K modding scene is better than what we had with NBA Live back in the day.

So, last week I discussed five ways that NBA Live modding was better than the NBA 2K modding scene. It’s always difficult to write an article like that without sounding like a grumpy old man yelling out clouds, and lamenting bygone days that were far from perfect if we’re being completely honest. As I acknowledged, there were issues in the NBA Live modding community, too. Some of them remain problems with NBA 2K modding, but there are others that we no longer have to deal with. It certainly isn’t all doom and gloom when it comes to tinkering with NBA 2K.

While the different approach to design and file structure has presented us with some new challenges, there are aspects of NBA 2K on PC that make modding much easier. As a community, we’ve also been able to build upon what we established, and take advantage of new technology to help each other out. I stand by what I wrote last week, because there are aspects of NBA Live modding that would be great to have when creating work for NBA 2K. However, there are exciting possibilities with NBA 2K modding, and it’s why I’m interested in getting more involved with it. Here are five ways that the hobby has improved since we started modding NBA 2K on PC.

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Monday Tip-Off: The Point of No Return for MyCAREER

Monday Tip-Off: The Point of No Return for MyCAREER

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 how MyCAREER has reached a point of no return as far as its current approach and design is concerned.

Although I’ll readily defend the past against notions that everything new is better, and point out that many old ideas can be repurposed as modern solutions, it’s absolutely possible to regress. We shouldn’t want to see that in anything, including the basketball video games that we enjoy. One of the biggest knocks on NBA Live during the eighth generation was that it felt behind the times. Even if you enjoyed the experience on the sticks, barebones modes and a lack of additional content made it feel as though the series had regressed to a point that it should’ve been well past.

It’s an issue that contributed to NBA Live’s inability to win back the crowd, and thus a further descent into dormancy and irrelevance. With that being said, while this is a pitfall that NBA 2K has avoided, Visual Concepts’ series has arguably suffered the opposite problem. There are certain ideas and approaches in NBA 2K that have now evolved so far beyond their more humble beginnings that going back to a simpler time is seemingly impossible. You might argue that this isn’t actually a problem; that a new standard or baseline has been established. Not everyone is satisfied with the current approach to MyCAREER however, and unfortunately, it’s at the point of no return.

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Monday Tip-Off: Nothing But Net

Monday Tip-Off: Nothing But Net

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 few thoughts on the importance of the net in basketball video games.

Yes, that’s right. An entire article about virtual basketball equipment: the net. Of course, the net is a vital part of basketball. Practically speaking, it serves two main purposes. It indicates that the ball has indeed passed through the hoop, and also slows its descent so that it’s easier to catch. As anyone who’s ever played on an outdoor rim without a net can attest, you’ll certainly notice a difference when it’s not around to fulfil these functions! And of course, there’s the swish – the act and sound of hitting nothing but net – representing supreme accuracy when shooting.

Whether nylon, polyester, or the steel chains often used on the blacktop, this is what the net brings to basketball. As such, any virtual representation of basketball needs to do its nets justice. In the grand scheme of things, there are more important aspects that determine whether or not a basketball video game is fun and overall well-made. Still, like inaccuracies on a jersey or a quirky transitional animation, it’s something that knowledgeable hoops gamers will recognise. If there are issues with the nets, such as shape, length, physics, and so on, you can be sure that they’ll be noticed! It may seem nitpicky, but not when you consider their importance and the satisfaction they bring.

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NLSC Podcast #462: NBA Live 09 PS2 & Algorithm Blues

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #462 of the NLSC Podcast!

As promised on last week’s show, this week we’re discussing some of the problems with the influencer movement, as well as our frustrations with algorithms. Before we get into that though, we’re taking a deep dive into NBA Live 09 for PlayStation 2. For all its faults, this rather overlooked game (at least in our community) did have some strong points! We also recap our recent sessions with NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 and NBA 2K19, and provide some updates on a couple of our modding projects for NBA 2K. In this week’s mailbag, we asked the community how many hours per week they spend on the virtual hardwood; or, for that matter, modding games.

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!

NBA 2K22 Tools Re-Uploaded

NBA 2K22 Cover Art

One of the reasons that we’re always encouraging our community to make use of our upload facilities whenever possible is that we want to preserve mods and resources alike. Files often end up disappearing for a variety of reasons, so it’s always a relief when something can be salvaged. To that end, TGsoGood has re-uploaded Looyh’s NBA 2K22 Tools, a comprehensive and essential modding utility. If you need it, it’s available at the link below!

Looyh
NBA 2K22 Tools

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.

Wayback Wednesday: When The Lights Are Brightest in NBA 2K20

Wayback Wednesday: When The Lights Are Brightest in NBA 2K20

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 MyCAREER story in NBA 2K20, titled “When The Lights Are Brightest”.

Following NBA 2K18’s ridiculous MyCAREER tale starring a prospect who quit basketball to be a DJ, finally makes it to the NBA following a streetball tournament, and is flanked by his annoying best friend/roommate B-Fresh, NBA 2K19 featured a much better written story. “The Way Back” not only boasted impressive production values from a cinematic standpoint, but also attempted to spice up the journey with mini-games and other interactive elements. It wasn’t perfect, but it stood out as one of the better MyCAREER stories, and a tough act to follow.

To that end, Visual Concepts collaborated with Maverick Carter and LeBron James on the story for NBA 2K20’s MyCAREER, “When The Lights Are Brightest”. Indeed, Carter, LeBron, and their production company, Springhill Entertainment, are credited on the cover as executive producers for MyCAREER. The story has been shelved for good following the shutdown of the NBA 2K20 servers, since MyCAREER is no longer playable. With that being said, what was the story, was it any good, and are we missing out since we’re now unable to revisit it? Let’s take a look back…way back…

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NLSC Podcast #461: NBA 2K24 Gameplay Wishlist

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #461 of the NLSC Podcast!

Wishlist season is upon us once again, so we’re talking about the gameplay improvements that both we and the community want to see in NBA 2K24. It would appear that many of us are on the same page as far as what we want to see this year! Meanwhile, a Parsec session saw us resume our Road Trip in NBA Jam: On Fire Edition, and have some fun with Hoops for NES. A recent YouTube comment regarding NBA Live 99 also inspires us to discuss the importance of context when evaluating graphics in classic basketball video games. In this week’s mailbag, we’re quizzing the community on the top three-point shooters in NBA Live 06.

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!

Monday Tip-Off: The Haunting Atmosphere of Empty Servers

Monday Tip-Off: The Haunting Atmosphere of Empty Servers

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 on how haunting it feels to traverse empty servers in The City and The Neighborhood.

Last year, I bid vale to the NBA 2K20 servers and its online features. In that article, I mostly focused on the increasing amount of content that we lose when servers are shut down. That’s an important topic, and obviously it’s happened again in the wake of the NBA 2K21 servers being switched off. Although 27 months amounts to supporting an annual title through two and a half seasons, it always seems to go by so quickly. If you do have any unfinished business in MyCAREER or MyTEAM, you may spend the last days of December scrambling to complete it before it’s too late.

I’ve absolutely been in that boat myself. Furthermore, as a content creator, I’ve made it a point to get as many screenshots and clips as possible for potential future articles and video features. This means having at least one more session where I go through as much of the online content and connected modes as I can, adding to my media library. Indeed, after my New Year’s Eve plans fell through at the last minute, I spent the evening of December 31st 2022 taking one last look at MyTEAM and MyCAREER in NBA 2K21. With The City and The Neighborhood in MyCAREER in particular, it was impossible not to notice the haunting atmosphere that comes with empty servers.

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