Tag Archives: NBA Jam

From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #629 of the NLSC Podcast!

Last week, Play By Play Studios held a closed beta for NBA The Run, their upcoming arcade streetball game set for release in June 2026. Derek had the opportunity to take part in the closed beta, and so this week, he’s sharing his detailed hands-on impressions of the game, breaking down the key positives and negatives while also making some recommendations for how it could improve. We also read out the community’s thoughts on what they’ve seen of NBA The Run so far. While there’s definitely excitement for the game, not everyone has been impressed by the latest gameplay footage. We also once again touch on the importance of not letting hype get in the way of constructive feedback.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:01:30 — 42.6MB)

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!

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 attainability of the NBA license for video game developers and publishers.

As Dee and I discussed on last week’s NLSC Podcast, we have some concerns when it comes to NBA The Run. While we’re happy to see another basketball video game in the space – one that has the NBA license, no less – we’re not so thrilled about it being an exclusively online PvP title. The snippets of gameplay that we’ve seen so far have also left us feeling sceptical. Irrespective of how successful NBA The Run turns out to be – and again, we absolutely want to see alternatives to NBA 2K – it may not be the game for us. That’s just the way it goes, sometimes.

However, in a way, NBA The Run has already enjoyed a measure of success. What began as an unlicensed streetball game comprised solely of fictional characters now has the NBA license. More to the point, the NBA reached out to Play By Play Studios to discuss a partnership. Obviously that was great news for the game that started life as The Run: Got Next, but it also bodes well for other developers, and ultimately us as gamers. It demonstrates that the NBA isn’t interested in an exclusive deal with 2K or any other developer, and that they’re willing to work with smaller studios. In short, if you’re developing a basketball video game, the NBA license appears to be attainable.

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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 taking a look back at Fast Break, a PC basketball game developed by Accolade

Over the years, thousands of classic video games have been made available to buy digitally. Game preservation is important, and it’s fantastic that GOG (and to some extent, Steam) are keeping retro favourites alive. Of course, securing the rights to certain games is tricky when the studios that made them cease operations, or they’re bought out by other companies. When it comes to sports games, licensing makes it even more difficult. These two factors are why we don’t see too many old basketball games being re-released on digital platforms; especially those that are NBA-licensed.

However, there is one “ancient” basketball game that – as of writing – is available to purchase on GOG and Steam: Fast Break. Developed and published by Accolade for MS-DOS and Commodore 64 in 1988, and Amiga, Apple IIGS, and Mac in 1989, it’s a contemporary of Electronic Arts’ Lakers vs. Celtics and Jordan vs. Bird. The rights to Fast Break and other Accolade titles ended up with Ziggurat Interactive, who re-released it in 2021. So, what is Fast Break like, and how does it compare to other pioneering basketball video games? Let’s take a look back…way back…

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #622 of the NLSC Podcast!

There’s a lot of fun to be had taking on the CPU solo or co-operatively in basketball video games, especially with the range of modes at our disposal. However, head-to-head play is also a blast, and we have countless memories of epic battles with friends, family, and online opponents. This week, we join the community in recalling the best players that we’ve ever faced on the virtual hardwood, and some of the lessons that we took from those showdowns. We also recap a fun game of NBA Live 2000 PC that demonstrated just how superbly it holds up more than 25 years later, and touch on some of the downsides of skill-based mechanics when it comes to realism and lucky plays.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 54:12 — 37.6MB)

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!

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 fate of NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 was predictable.

In late February, 2K announced that online support for NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 will end on August 20th, 2026. While server shutdowns are always unfortunate, it should be noted that by then, NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 will have been supported for close to eight years; far longer than the 27 months that 2K guarantees for all of its titles. The game’s popularity has also been waning for years, with the Steam version currently averaging less than 20 players per day. As is the case with all games as their userbase dwindles, at a certain point it’s basically impossible to justify ongoing support.

To that end, I can’t fault 2K for deciding to pull the plug on Playgrounds 2 come August. I’m actually surprised that it took this long, and not just because of their 27-month guaranteed support policy. Enthusiasm for NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 began to evaporate around 2020, when it became clear that it wouldn’t receive any further updates in terms of content or significant patches. As a result, it ultimately failed to achieve any enduring popularity, making the continued online support unusually generous. Of course, NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 being something of a flop that reduced the chances of any more Playgrounds games was sadly a rather predictable fate.

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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 unexpected benefits of basketball video games.

Like most devotees of the virtual hardwood, I got into basketball games because they combine two things that I enjoy; obviously, video games and basketball! To that end, the main benefit of basketball games has been countless hours of fun playing a virtual representation of my favourite sport. When I was a kid getting into hoops back in the 90s, basketball games helped to educate me about the NBA, and become familiar with some lesser-known players. They’ve allowed me to re-create iconic moments, indulge fantasies, play out What If scenarios, and basically just have more fun with basketball.

You can’t really ask for more than that out of one of your favourite hobbies! However, there have been some other, more unexpected benefits of basketball games. I couldn’t have ever imagined those benefits when I was excitedly installing NBA Live 96 and NBA Jam Tournament Edition on the family PC and renting NBA Live 95 for Super Nintendo from the video store all those years ago. While basketball games would’ve remained an enjoyable pastime for me even without these unexpected benefits, they certainly make me grateful that I took and maintained an interest in them! Indeed, I’m sure that basketball games have given many of us more than just fun on the sticks.

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In case you thought johnz1 was kidding about updating NBA Jam: 2020s On Fire Edition throughout the 2020s or until he grows weary of NBA Jam: On Fire Edition – unlikely as the latter seems – V5.1 of the mod is now available! As with the previous release, it works with both the RPCS3 emulator and jailbroken PlayStation 3s. Please note that the mod is only available for PS3, and no Xbox 360 version is available or planned.

Although NBA Jam: 2020s On Fire Edition is intended to be a “best of the 2020s” total conversion rather than a current season roster, V5.1 does include some updates for the 2026 season. Specifically, the 2026 Hawks, Celtics, and Raptors have been added, and James Harden has been moved to the Cavaliers. A handful of players have been removed to make way for new additions, the roster order has been changed for a few teams, and new artwork has been added including remastered player faces and other enhancements. Please note that the new release is essentially treated as a brand new game, so save files for previous versions of the mod unfortunately won’t work with V5.1.

Full release notes for NBA Jam: 2020s On Fire Edition V5.1 can be found below. Download the mod here in the release topic, where you’ll also find additional information, previews, and updates. Shout out as always to johnz1 for pioneering NBA Jam: On Fire Edition modding, and keeping this and his other amazing projects going!

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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 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.

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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 reflecting on it being 30 years since I bought the PC version of NBA Jam Tournament Edition, aka NBA Jam TE.

These days, I have a sizeable collection of basketball video games – I’m overdue to take a new photo with the additions that I’ve made since 2022 – but it all had to start somewhere! As it happens, I purchased my very first basketball video game 30 years ago yesterday. That game was of course NBA Jam Tournament Edition, or NBA Jam TE as it’s also commonly known. A minor technical issue prevented me from playing it on January 27th 1996, but a day later that was all sorted, so today marks 30 years since I hit the virtual hardwood in NBA Jam Tournament Edition for the first time.

Needless to say, as one of the earliest titles that turned my interest in basketball and basketball gaming into full-blown fandom – some might say obsession – NBA Jam Tournament Edition is an all-time nostalgic favourite. It certainly helps that just like the original NBA Jam, it still holds up superbly three decades later. Of course, even if I wasn’t able to enjoy it today, it’d still be a special part of my history with the virtual hardwood and real hoops alike. As such, I’ll never pass up the opportunity to reflect on it, especially on a milestone anniversary! Let’s take a look back…way back…

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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 taking a look back at NBA Jam 99.

After Acclaim snatched the NBA Jam moniker away from Midway, they attempted to continue the series with NBA Jam Extreme. Although losing the iconic brand was naturally a blow, Midway nevertheless released their own superb follow-up to NBA Jam Tournament Edition in NBA Hangtime. To that point, while Acclaim had the name, Midway boasted the superior game. With that in mind, it’s perhaps no surprise that Acclaim sought to change up the formula with NBA Jam 99, moving away from an arcade style and adopting more of a sim or sim-arcade hybrid approach.

Of course, while that differentiated it from previous NBA Jam titles and Midway’s new arcade hoops games, it also placed NBA Jam 99 in direct competition with the NBA Live series. However, Acclaim didn’t completely abandon the series’ roots with NBA Jam 99, as it included an arcade mode. While true sim-arcade hybrid basketball games have their place and I’ve come to appreciate them, NBA Jam 99 wasn’t a good take on the concept. Indeed, it was proof that Midway deserved the name that they coined far more than Acclaim did. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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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)

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 fantastic mod continues to get even better, as johnz1 has released V4.0 of NBA Jam: 2020s On Fire Edition for the PlayStation 3 version of NBA Jam: On Fire Edition! As previously noted, this isn’t a current season update for NBA Jam: On Fire Edition, but is instead meant to be a “best of the 2020s” roster.

With that being said, V4.0 of the mod does include some updates for the 2026 season. Specifically, the Orlando Magic have their new logo, court, and uniforms, some of the Class of 2025 rookies have been added including Cooper Flagg and VJ Edgecombe, several headshots have been updated, and a couple of teams’ squads are now based on the mid 2020s.

Full release notes for NBA Jam: 2020s On Fire Edition V4.0 can be found below. The mod works best and is certainly easier to install on the RPCS3 emulator, but it can also be installed on a jailbroken PS3 if you have the knowhow. As with previous releases, V4.0 is essentially treated as a new game, so unfortunately any save files from older versions of the mod can’t be carried over without causing problems.

Download V4.0 of NBA Jam: 2020s On Fire Edition here! For more information and previews, check out the release topic here. johnz1 continues to do some amazing work breathing new life into an outstanding game, so hats off to him once again for the latest release, and a big thanks for making it available to everyone free of charge.

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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 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.

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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 reasons why both NBA Playgrounds and NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 fell short of the best NBA Jam titles.

When Saber Interactive announced NBA Playgrounds back in 2017, we were excited and intrigued. EA Sports had allowed the NBA Jam series to fall dormant once again following the masterpiece that was NBA Jam: On Fire Edition, so NBA Playgrounds appeared poised to be a worthy spiritual successor. Both it and NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 reportedly sold quite well, though critical reception was mixed. I did have some fun with both NBA Playgrounds games, but I was definitely somewhat underwhelmed by them. To that point, I’m on record as calling them a poor man’s NBA Jam.

That was once impossible to say without receiving pushback, and accusations of being an NBA Jam fanboy blinded by nostalgia. However, there’s no denying that NBA Jam pioneered the genre of arcade basketball games, setting the bar with success that speaks for itself. There are a few lacklustre releases in its lineage – primarily the ones developed by Acclaim – but the best NBA Jam titles remain the gold standard. NBA Playgrounds had good intentions, but in terms of becoming the NBA Jam of a new generation, both the original and the sequel came up short. Here are five reasons why NBA Playgrounds ultimately failed to equal or surpass the best NBA Jam games.

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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 taking a look back at basketball gaming on the Nintendo Entertainment system, aka the NES.

Saturday will mark forty years since Nintendo launched the NES in select test markets in the United States, some two years after the Famicom debuted in Japan. Over the next few years, it launched in Europe, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and other regions, going on to sell 61.9 million units worldwide. Support for the NES was officially discontinued thirty years ago in North America, Europe, and Australia, but actually continued in Japan until 2003. Since then, its library has been re-released digitally and via the NES Classic Edition, and of course, unofficially emulated.

Coming in the wake of the infamous Video Game Crash of 1983, the NES ended up bringing us some iconic games and franchises: Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Metroid, just to name the biggest first party properties. There were many other classics from the likes of Capcom, Konami, and other developers that became titans of gaming. However, the NES isn’t usually remembered for having a great selection of basketball titles. With that being said, there are some decent ones that, if nothing else, paved the way for better games to come. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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