Tag Archives: NCAA Basketball

This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! In this feature, we dig into the archives, look back at the history of basketball gaming, and indulge in some nostalgia. Check in every Wednesday for retrospectives and other features on older versions of NBA Live, NBA 2K, and old school basketball video games in general. You’ll also find old NLSC editorials re-published with added commentary, and other flashback content. This week, I’m taking a look back at old school Season modes.

Modern basketball games have their issues which are important to discuss, but one thing we can’t say is that they don’t offer a variety of experiences. Even though NBA Live’s modes are still in need of fleshing out, by including Franchise, Ultimate Team, and The One with its connected experiences, we’re presented with a few choices. One of NBA 2K’s strengths for many years has been its deep modes, with MyLEAGUE, MyGM, MyTEAM, and MyCAREER’s online and offline modes keeping us hooked year after year. We’re provided several different ways of playing virtual basketball.

As much as the controls, graphics, physics, and any other aspect of modern titles, it’s the modes that make old basketball video games look primitive. The most in-depth experience on offer was generally the single Season mode, with minimal GM options and no independent action by the CPU teams. Nevertheless, we made the most of those old school Season modes, until they evolved into the multi-faceted, multi-season experiences that they would eventually become. They’re an important step in the evolution of basketball gaming, so let’s take a look back…way back…

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Episode #267 of the NLSC Podcast is out now! Unfortunately illness and jetlag got in the way of us recording an episode last week, but Kenny and I are back this week to catch up on the latest news and talk about what we’ve been doing on the virtual hardwood.

On this week’s show…

• Patch 1.15 has come through for NBA Live 19. We discuss the latest changes, recap some of the other additions and fixes in recent patches, and give our thoughts on where the game is at after a couple of months.
• EA Sports recently announced that NBA Live Mobile is the most downloaded basketball game this year. We reflect on how it’s helped the brand, even if it’s not something we’re into ourselves.
• NBA 2K19 has also received another update recently, namely Patch 1.06. Unfortunately we still haven’t seen the functionality we want to see patched back in for 2K Pro-Am, but there have been some other noteworthy and welcome changes.
• The in-universe value of Virtual Currency in NBA 2K19’s Neighborhood is truly astonishing this year. We note some of the oddities and issues with the exchange rate.
• Could a new college football game be paving the way for other college sports titles, including basketball? Can a sports game without licensing succeed in 2018?
• Our Week in Basketball Gaming included setting records in MyCAREER, playing with WNBA players and taking control of courts in NBA Live 19, and trying to unlock a team that’s close to our hearts in Basketball Classics.
• We wrap up Episode #267 of the NLSC Podcast with this week’s NBA talk. Topics include surprising results in the East and West, standout rookies, and more thoughts on Carmelo Anthony.

Click Play to listen to the show!

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:56:42 — 80.2MB)

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Have some thoughts on the latest episode? Got a mailbag question or topic suggestion for the next show? Sound off in the comments section below, or join in the discussion here in the Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki.

Welcome to this week’s edition of The Friday Five! The Friday Five is a feature that I post every Friday in which I give my thoughts on a topic that’s related to NBA Live, NBA 2K, and other basketball video games, as well as the real NBA, and other areas of interest to our community. The feature is presented as either a list of five items, or in the form of a Top 5 countdown. This week’s Five is a list of five basketball games that I wish I owned.

Over the years, I’ve built up a fairly big collection of basketball games. Some I’ve purchased new upon their release and I still have my original copies, some I’ve traded in and picked up again second-hand years later, and some I’ve added to my collection many years after they first came out. I like having full series wherever possible, and it’s been fun to check out basketball games that I never got around to playing when they were new. It’s also helped in creating content for the NLSC, particularly the Wayback Wednesday features, so I’ve enjoyed adding to my collection in recent years whenever I’ve been able to find a bargain on eBay.

My collection of basketball games isn’t complete, of course. Some titles are difficult to track down or cost more than I’m currently willing and able to spend, while others are only available on platforms that I don’t own, or were never released in the PAL region. As such, there are a handful of basketball games that I don’t currently own and very likely never will, but for one reason or another, wish that I did. The basketball games that I’m talking about today are, in no particular order, the top five titles that I’d love to add to my collection, if it were at all feasible.

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Welcome to this week’s edition of The Friday Five! The Friday Five is a feature that I post every Friday in which I give my thoughts on a topic that’s related to NBA Live, NBA 2K, and other basketball video games, as well as the real NBA, and other areas of interest to our community. The feature is presented as either a list of five items, or in the form of a Top 5 countdown.

As I’ve said many times before, when you go back and compare an old basketball video game to more recent releases, it’s obvious how far the genre has come. At the same time, you’ll often be surprised at some of the features and functionality that can be found in vintage basketball games, especially when they’re no longer present in newer titles. Advances in gaming technology have made a lot of our Wishlist items come true, but it’s impressive to see what developers were able to accomplish while working with more primitive tech.

On the other hand, it’s also interesting to see how some really good ideas fell by the wayside. In some cases, it took many years for those features to make it back into one of the basketball games, whereas other features are still absent in today’s releases. For this week’s Friday Five, I’m taking a look at five features that may not necessarily be the pinnacle of technology in basketball gaming, but they’re nevertheless ideas that were ahead of their time. Let’s tip things off with number five.

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