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 things that NBA Live 10 needed to have.
Although a couple of the eighth generation NBA Live releases garnered a moderately positive reception, or at least inspired a dedicated following, it’s generally agreed that NBA Live 10 was the last very good game in the series. There are several long-time basketball gamers who have gone so far as to deem it to be the best NBA Live. While I’ve developed a much greater appreciation for NBA Live 10 after revisiting it back in 2021, I wouldn’t go that far. It ranks up there for me, but I believe NBA Live 06 PC is better in terms of depth, polish, and overall quality relative to the time it was released.
Nevertheless, NBA Live 10 was a high point during a rough period for NBA Live, and not just because it cleared a low bar. It was outsold by NBA 2K10 and wasn’t as highly-regarded, but it was still well-received and seemingly a sign that the series was on the right track. That momentum regrettably went to waste, but at least we got one undeniably good NBA Live release on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360! Looking back though, it’s clear that NBA Live 10 lacked some things that it absolutely needed to have. Here are five that not only could’ve made it the best NBA Live, but may have also avoided all the disasters that led to the series’ downfall and dormancy as of 2026.
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 and acknowledgement of a few of the little things that used to make basketball gaming special.
For many years, NBA 2K games included the code “payrespect“. By punching this code into the Cheats menu, it unlocked the iconic red, white, and blue ABA ball. It was a toggle option, so once the cheat was entered and unlocked, you could switch between the regular NBA and ABA basketballs as desired. Obviously, it paired well with the ABA throwback jerseys, as well as ABA alumni such as Julius Erving and George Gervin. Making it an unlockable option was the right approach too, as the code was neither permanent nor had to be entered every time you played.
I realise that this probably doesn’t sound like a very exciting feature these days. If we’re talking about historical content and deep modes and features, modern games have plenty of that! Not many NBA 2K gamers are clamouring for the return of those old school cheat codes or an unlockable ABA ball. However, it’s not just about being able to change up the basketball that’s being used on the virtual hardwood or blacktop. It’s about all the little things that we’ve had and lost in basketball video games, be it NBA 2K or NBA Live. The fact that they weren’t necessarily popular features that everyone misses is part of what made those little things so special in the first place.
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 In the Zone mechanic in the Xbox 360 version of NBA Live 07.
As you may know, NBA The Run will feature a mechanic called In the Zone. For more on that, be sure to tune in to the latest episode of the NLSC Podcast, where Dee provides his in-depth impressions of the upcoming game! Unsurprisingly, it’s not the first time that a basketball video game has used that well-travelled term for being locked in and performing at a high level. It was the name of Konami’s sim-arcade hybrid games, and it’s the title of an extremely catchy track from Midway’s NBA Hangtime. And of course, In the Zone was a mechanic in NBA Live 07 for Xbox 360.
Although NBA Live 07’s mechanic sprang to my mind when I first heard that NBA The Run would be using the name for its power-up, at this point, I think it’s safe to lay claim to the moniker. Not only is it a common term, but the Xbox 360 version of NBA Live 07 was a terrible release that few gamers would care to revisit, so its take on being In the Zone is largely forgotten. With that being said, Wayback Wednesday is as much about digging into the forgotten history of the virtual hardwood as it is celebrating our most nostalgic memories, so 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 reasons one might choose to revisit bad basketball video games.
Naturally, most of us are about as keen to play bad video games as we are to watch a movie or TV show that we dislike! If we’re disappointed by the latest release, we’ll cast it aside quickly, and feel little incentive to give it another look. Even if you’re a keen retro basketball gamer who can enjoy more primitive titles, you’re still going to seek out quality. Games that were great in their day and still hold up are the ones we want to revisit, while bad games get left in the past. Sure, we might bring them up in conversation, but we’re usually not inclined to actually play them all that often.
The key word there is “usually”, because there are some reasons to revisit bad games of all genres. We can certainly draw comparisons to other entertainment media here. Works that are lacking in artistic merit and overall quality can still be enjoyable, and undoubtedly inspire curiosity. Lacklustre video games may be tougher to similarly enjoy in a “so bad it’s good” way, but they can definitely still pique our interest with unique features, unusual design choices, and gameplay that has its moments. The classics are the obvious choice if you want to have a good time on the sticks, but here are five reasons why you might want to dust off bad basketball video games as well.
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 roster editing in NBA Live 18.
Roster editing is a feature that’s very easy to take for granted. It’s been a staple of basketball video games since the mid 90s, and even earlier titles such as TV Sports Basketball allowed us to modify the names and ratings of its generic players. With that being said, we couldn’t always count on games to provide us with roster editing functionality. A number of games in the 90s and even early 2000s also bungled the basics of roster customisation, making it needlessly difficult to trade players or alter a team’s rotation.
During its heyday, NBA Live was the gold standard in many aspects of sim basketball games, including roster editing. To that end, many of the best NBA Live games also feature deep and robust roster customisation functionality. In fact, the quality of NBA Live’s roster editing features remained fairly consistent even as the series faltered on the virtual hardwood. By the eighth generation however, the customisation options had become as disappointing as the gameplay. Fortunately, NBA Live 18 saw a big turnaround in both areas. 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 bad omens in basketball gaming.
I don’t believe in omens as a mystical force in the universe. However, I do believe that there are warning signs that we should take notice of, which I’ll colloquially refer to as bad omens. As far as basketball gaming is concerned, there are definitely some bad omens when it comes to an upcoming release, or the future of a series. They’re not exactly mysterious and hard to spot, but it obviously gets easier with experience. We can recognise patterns, acknowledge precedent, and employ some common sense. At the same time, it’s easy to ignore bad omens.
After all, many of us try to remain optimistic about our hobby. We don’t want to jump the gun and assume the worst, especially if our predictions and pessimism have been proven wrong in the past. Things that have seemed like bad omens have turned out to be meaningless, or in rare cases, good news. Still, it pays to err on the side of caution, and there are warning signs that we should probably brace ourselves for bad news; or at the very least, temper our expectations. Once again, experience can usually guide us, as the red flags are much easier to spot after you’ve been through a few preview seasons. To that end, when one of these five events occurs, it tends to be a bad omen.
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 revisiting NBA Live 19 with an updated retrospective, in light of the game re-entering my rotation last year.
Last year, after I made a post that mentioned NBA Live 18 on the NLSC’s socials, I received a response asserting that NBA Live 19 was “ten times better”. As someone who never really warmed up to the game, that was certainly an intriguing claim! I was sceptical, but I wasn’t about to stubbornly dismiss it out of hand. After all, a second look at NBA Live 18 made me realise that I enjoyed it even more than I remembered. Furthermore, a dedicated contingent of gamers continued to play NBA Live 19 for many years after its release, suggesting that there was a fun experience on offer.
And so, I decided to give NBA Live 19 another try. Considering that it became my basketball game of choice from August last year right through to its server shutdown back in January, it’s safe to say that I have a far more positive view of it now! There are still aspects that I don’t like, or believe could and should have been better, but at the very least I’ve developed more of an appreciation for it. Is it ten times better than NBA Live 18? Well, I wouldn’t go that far, but it’s a respectable release that should’ve been a stepping stone to an even better game. Let’s take a look back…way back…
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 the door has seemingly closed on NBA Live.
Although NBA Live has remained dormant since 2019, I’ve still had plenty of reasons to write about it. Older releases have re-entered my rotation, and I’ve developed more of an appreciation for them. There are some that I’d like to dust off more often, and even mod. I’ve talked about the opportunities the series has had, and some of the ones that it’s squandered. I’ve lamented how both the series and its long-time fans deserved better. Above all, I’ve continued to champion the need for alternatives, and noted how despite numerous setbacks, somehow the door has remained open for NBA Live.
However, with the shutdown of NBA Live 19’s servers and no new release on the horizon, it feels as though the door has finally closed. I could be wrong here, and it’s certainly not the outcome that I wanted. I still believe in the importance of having at least two viable sim options on the market, and I’ll continue to advocate for that. Even if a return for NBA Live is as highly unlikely as it seems, there’s arguably still a better chance of that happening than another developer stepping up to try to compete with NBA 2K. For now though, with online support for NBA Live 19 ending and NBA Live Mobile being the last vestige of the series, the door has seemingly slammed shut.
From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #610 of the NLSC Podcast!
With the NBA Live 19 servers shutting down next January, a recent kick has inspired us to take another look back at the final release in the NBA Live series…at least for now. From new perspectives on the last official patch and the gameplay experience, to thoughts on Ultimate Team, The Streets World Tour, Legends ratings, and depth, we reflect on our overall impressions of the game after giving it another chance. We also touch on developing a greater appreciation for other games upon revisiting them with fresh eyes, Ultimate Team lineups, where NBA Live 19 ranks in the series, and what should be done differently if NBA Live ever returns with a new console/PC release.
Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 52:06 — 36.1MB)
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 the dichotomy of shooting mechanics in modern basketball video games.
Over the decades, developers of basketball video games have strived to make their controls and gameplay mechanics deeper and more skill-based. This has of course resulted in hits and misses throughout the years, as some ideas have proven to be better – and more fun – than others. The successful ideas have become staples of the genre, persisting even as other elements of the games are revamped. To that end, just as modern basketball games aren’t about to eschew right stick dribbling controls, it’s difficult to see them shying away from shooting mechanics based on Green Releases.
Once again, there’s a reason that both of those concepts have prevailed as staples of NBA 2K, as well as the last two NBA Live games. Modern dribbling controls offer precision that wasn’t possible by simply tapping a crossover or spin move button, while today’s shooting mechanics avoid the somewhat contrived ambiguity of RNG; well, for the most part, anyway. At the same time, this skill-based approach definitely isn’t perfect either. There’s undoubtedly merit in rewarding gamers for precise timing with a 100% chance of success, but it can be punishingly challenging, not to mention unbalanced and unrealistic. And so, there’s a dichotomy to these shooting mechanics.
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 controversial concepts in basketball video games that were ultimately abandoned.
Basketball video games have come a long way, thanks to evolving technology and innovative ideas. Of course, not all ideas pan out, and some definitely aren’t in the best interests of consumers. It’s one thing when a change to a gameplay mechanic or mode doesn’t resonate with gamers, or result in the improvements that were intended. However, when the overall experience is harmed by a controversial approach that’s sorely lacking in goodwill – such as pushy recurrent revenue mechanics – it can easily overshadow a game’s better qualities.
In the best case scenario, such concepts will prove to be so controversial that they’ll be abandoned or at least heavily revamped in the following game, if not sooner via a patch. The annual basketball titles obviously have a built-in audience, and with NBA 2K essentially having a monopoly on the sim genre right now, there’s a lot of freedom to push their luck. Nevertheless, controversial concepts do invite significant backlash, so they will be abandoned if they threaten to damage a company’s reputation; or more accurately, their profits. That said, while they may not be motivated by altruism, it’s always welcome when companies walk back on controversial concepts like these five.
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 NBA Elite 11 demo and its impact on the NBA Live series with an in-depth video retrospective.
Fifteen years ago on Sunday, NBA Elite 11 was supposed to be released. However, following a disastrous hands-on preview that made it very clear that the game wasn’t anywhere close to being ready, it was delayed right before it was set to hit shelves. While much of its infamy comes from the video of Andrew Bynum getting stuck in the t-pose at halfcourt, there were so many other problems with the NBA Elite 11 demo, and the retail version. It’s no surprise that the game was ultimately cancelled, but just how badly did EA Sports mess up? Let’s take a look back…way back…
I hope you enjoyed this look back at EA Sports’ biggest basketball blunder! It’s been on my list of Wayback Wednesday ideas for a while now, and since we’ve reached the 15th anniversary of the whole debacle, the timing seemed right. Incidentally, if you have an Xbox 360 and would like to give the demo a try, it’s still available here in our Downloads section. If you’re after a legitimate copy of the full version…well, that can be an expensive endeavour! In any case, feel free to share your thoughts on the NBA Elite 11 demo, as well as the retail version if you’ve played it. Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel if you haven’t already, and stay tuned for more retrospectives!
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.
The top spot in this week’s NLSC Top 10 Plays belongs to a wild gamewinner from a title that I’ll be talking about in next week’s Wayback Wednesday. It’s also a timely entry, as tomorrow marks the fifteenth anniversary of its release date. But enough teasers! Beyond that incredible clutch play, this week’s countdown is filled with another spectacular array of highlights, including the usual assortment of awesome poster dunks and breathtaking moves. Seven different games are featured this week, from NBA Jam 2010 to NBA 2K26. 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 reflections on how I’ve lost enthusiasm for new basketball video games.
When the preview season for NBA 2K26 officially tipped off in early July, I was filled with dread. Frankly, I wasn’t looking forward to aggregating the news and discussing the upcoming game. Likewise, I wasn’t excited for September to arrive so that I could get my hands on it. The anticipation that I once felt for new games – even when I was hooked on the current one – simply wasn’t there. It helped temper my expectations, but as I discussed in Episode #596 of the NLSC Podcast, NBA 2K26 still failed to reach the low bar that I’d set for it.
Moreover, as I said on the show, NBA 2K26 proved to be a breaking point for me. I already felt disappointed and disillusioned with the ninth generation, but this was the final straw. Unfortunately, I’ve lost my enthusiasm for new games. Even though it’s a year away, I’m not excited about going through another preview season. I’m dreading having to play and talk about future NBA 2K releases. I can’t feel optimistic about the future of the series, or the chances that we’ll see the return of NBA Live; especially after EA Sports rescinded their proposal for a college game. Call it an extreme case of the New Game Blues if you like, but I’m not sure how I can get that enthusiasm back.
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 “realism” is rapidly becoming a dirty word among basketball gamers.
We all have our own ideas of what makes for a fun basketball video game. Beyond a preference between the sim and arcade styles, we each have a vision of what games in those subgenres should be like. Obviously, sim gamers have traditionally preferred a realistic approach to the virtual hardwood, though opinions will vary as to what that realism should entail. However, when the sim titles were primarily aimed at hardcore basketball fans, there was usually more unity in calls for the games to be as realistic as possible. The notion that realism didn’t matter was certainly an unpopular view.
It’s why Da_Czar’s catchphrase of “don’t play video games; play basketball!” became a creed that resonated with so many simheads, and why there was excitement when he joined the development team at Visual Concepts. After all, if Take-Two was going to hire anyone to help in the continued efforts to strive for realism in their NBA series, Da_Czar was an ideal choice! As NBA 2K’s popularity has grown however, there’s been a noticeable shift in attitude. More and more people are saying “who cares about real basketball, it’s just a game!” Sim gamers are suddenly the ones being labelled as “casuals”, and realism is being treated as a dirty word when talking about sim titles.
NLSC Your source for basketball video games.
