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NLSC Podcast #442: The Final Countdown to NBA 2K23

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #442 of the NLSC Podcast!

It’s the final countdown to NBA 2K23! Snippets of news are coming through on a daily basis leading up to the release, though the details aren’t always substantial. We’ve got thoughts to share on the MyCAREER trailer, GOAT Boat developer blog, J. Cole cover, guest announcers, and soundtrack reveal (such as it was). We also reflect on an incredible steal of a retro collecting pickup, and respond to a Tweet that perfectly demonstrates Next Gen snobbery. In this week’s mailbag, our listeners tell us about the role players and benchwarmers that became Virtual Hardwood Legends for them, and we share a few more examples of our own unlikely stars throughout many years of basketball gaming.

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!

GOAT Boat Sets Sail in NBA 2K23 Current Gen

GOAT Boat Sets Sail in NBA 2K23 Current Gen

Following on from the MyCAREER trailer, the latest developer blog provides our first look at The Neighborhood in the Current Gen version of NBA 2K23. Once again, this year’s open world in the PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch version of the game will have a nautical setting, as the GOAT Boat replaces the Cancha Del Mar.

The layout of this year’s virtual luxury liner has been revamped, and more courts have been added. There are also no-wait gameplay options, new Seasonal excursions, and an updated quest system with NPCs in The Neighborhood.

As always, I’ve summarised the key information below, but check out the GOAT Boat blog for the full scoop on The Neighborhood in NBA 2K23 Current Gen. What are your thoughts? Share them in the comments below, and join in the discussion here in the NBA 2K23 section of the NLSC Forum!

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NBA 2K23 Pre-Order Guide

NBA 2K23 Pre-Order Guide

It won’t be long now before NBA 2K23 is in our hands. In case you weren’t aware, the game is set to launch on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch on September 9th. That means there’s still time to pre-order NBA 2K23 if you haven’t done so already.

Obviously, pre-ordering the game will grant you a variety of bonuses, depending on the version that you opt for. As previously announced, there are five editions of NBA 2K23: Standard, Digital Deluxe, Michael Jordan, Championship, and WNBA, the last of which is exclusive to GameStop in the United States and Canada. Each has its own cover art, price point, and again, pre-order bonuses. Today, I’m providing a guide as to which version of NBA 2K23 to pre-order, if indeed you have the need and desire to pre-purchase a copy of this year’s game.

To that point, this isn’t intended to instruct anyone to pre-order NBA 2K23, or shill for the expensive special editions. In fact, I’ll also be laying out why you don’t need to pre-order NBA 2K23 at all, and why the Standard Edition may be sufficient if you are intent on pre-ordering. Depending on the mode you play, whether you’re a collector and/or content creator, and your general enthusiasm for the series and forthcoming game, the value of reserving a copy and receiving the individual pre-order bonuses will vary. You should always aim to be a savvy consumer, and it’s my aim to help my fellow basketball gamers to make an informed decision in that regard.

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NLSC Podcast #441: NBA 2K23 MyTEAM, The W, & Other Wins

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #441 of the NLSC Podcast!

The latest developer blogs delivered some more great news about NBA 2K23, this time concerning MyTEAM and The W. As release day looms, we’re allowing ourselves to feel optimistic. We also revisited NBA Live 2001 this week, while dusting off an old retro season mod. It produced a dramatic win, but we were reminded that the game can be very hit and miss! A session with NBA Inside Drive 2003 yielded a fun Easter egg, though a reply to a Tweet about it prompts us to defend retro basketball gaming once again. There are also a couple of recent retro pickups to reflect upon, updates on our NBA 2K19 MyLEAGUE and NBA 2K14 MyCAREER games to share, and a mailbag question about using players out of position.

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!

The Friday Five: 5 Ways PC Basketball Gaming Has Declined

The Friday Five: 5 Ways PC Basketball Gaming Has Declined

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 basketball gaming on PC has declined over the years.

It pains me to speak ill of basketball gaming on PC. In NBA Live’s Golden Age, there was no question that the PC version was the definitive release. Even when the PC was receiving a port of the PlayStation 2/Xbox release in the mid 2000s, it held a distinct advantage in the form of the modding community. Many of my fondest basketball gaming memories involve playing on PC, and I’ve always enjoyed games on both PC and console. What I’m getting at is that I’m in no way against PC gaming – basketball or otherwise – so I’m not trashing it as a platform for video games.

That’s why the realisation that PC basketball gaming has declined is a dismal thought. It isn’t dead by any means, but it could be in much better shape. Aside from modding capabilities, it’s been a long time since the PC version of any basketball game was unquestionably superior to its console brethren. Modding has also been affected by changes to PC releases. From a collecting standpoint, there are some tremendous disadvantages compared to picking up copies on PlayStation or Xbox. We also have more reason to be concerned about future releases on PC, from quality to their very existence. Here are five ways that PC basketball gaming has unfortunately declined.

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Wayback Wednesday: The Quest For Long-Lost Updates

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 of the updates that have become long-lost, and the quest to track them down.

With the internet’s ability to connect the world and make information and content readily accessible, there’s a particular interest in using it for preservation. It’s why there’s debate over dumping ROMs of games, particularly those that were never released and could otherwise easily become lost media. We’ve felt the sting of lost content in our modding community. So many great mods from the early days are long-lost now, and even more recent releases have disappeared because they were uploaded to file hosts that won’t guarantee availability in perpetuity.

And then, there are the long-lost official updates for various games. We actually have some old official patches in our Downloads section, as well as official roster updates, but it’s not a complete archive. Files that can be downloaded disappear from personal archives as well as the web, and in-game content updates likewise vanish and become long-lost when servers are shut down. This leaves us on a quest to find those long-lost updates, but all too often, it’s unfortunately been a fruitless search. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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Wayback Wednesday: Playing An Older Game Second

Wayback Wednesday: Playing An Older Game Second

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 phenomenon of playing an older basketball game after its direct sequel, or one of its later successors.

Basketball video games have been around for decades now, with NBA Basketball – the very first NBA-licensed title – coming out in 1980. Furthermore, there’s been at least one annual release every year for at least a quarter of a century and counting. Every single game, good or bad, has been somebody’s first title and introduction to basketball gaming. In short, most people who are playing basketball games in 2022 haven’t been doing so since the beginning. That goes for me, too. Many gamers have hit the virtual hardwood long before I ever did in the mid 90s.

When you get into an established series, there’s a curiosity about what came before. This doesn’t just apply to video games, of course. If you catch an episode of a TV show that’s a few seasons in, or perhaps see a movie that’s part of a series or cinematic universe, you may be inclined to go back to the beginning. In basketball itself, there’s a desire to learn the history of the sport, the NBA, and other leagues…or at least, there used to be. The nature of video games makes going back to an older title after playing a newer game rather interesting, and it’s a phenomenon that I’ve experienced as both a younger and older basketball gamer. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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The Friday Five: 5 Things That I Carelessly Lost

The Friday Five: 5 Things That I Carelessly Lost

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 – namely saves or other data and content – that I carelessly lost in various games.

You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. It’s an old adage that’s been lamented in the music of Joni Mitchell and the band Cinderella alike. The sentiment usually refers to more important things in life than video games, but since that’s what we cover around these parts, I’ll appropriate it for this occasion. After all, while I think we can and should acknowledge that other losses are far more significant in the grand scheme of things, it’s still a bummer when we lose save files, data, and other content in video games. Life goes on, but it sucks to have all that progress go up in smoke.

It’s bad enough when it occurs due to a glitch in a game, but at least you can turn your anger and frustration outwards towards the developers and publisher. When you’ve carelessly done something that’s resulted in your progress being lost, it’s tougher to shift the blame onto somebody else! Even if there’s something clunky in the game that’s partly to blame, you’re stuck with the knowledge that it could’ve been avoided if you were just the teeniest bit more careful. The times when I’ve been careless with my save files are undoubtedly among my biggest regrets as far as basketball gaming is concerned. Here are five things that I’ve lost due to a lack of care and foresight.

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Monday Tip-Off: How NBA 2K23 Would Win Me Over

Monday Tip-Off: How NBA 2K23 Would Win Me Over

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 an outline of how NBA 2K23 would win me over.

Let’s be clear about this. In the grand scheme of things, NBA 2K23 doesn’t need to win me over. I’m just one person, and I’m not one of their big name influencers. The game won’t need my stamp of approval in order to sell at least ten million copies. Furthermore, given that I am a collector and still a content creator, I’ll be contributing to those sales figures anyway. In that respect, you could argue that it makes me part of the problem, but hey, like I said, I’m just one person. In short, I acknowledge that whether or not NBA 2K23 wins me over, it will be a success by almost every metric.

That goes without saying, but that’s not the issue here. This isn’t about what NBA 2K23 must do to be successful, but what it would take to get someone who has greatly preferred to play NBA 2K14 over NBA 2K21 and NBA 2K22 to get hooked on a new game once again. It’s an uphill battle, because some of the changes I’d love to see will never happen, due to business reasons. I’m obviously also very enthusiastic about this retro kick with NBA 2K14. However, I do aim to approach every new game with an open mind, and a willingness to keep playing if I’m enjoying myself. To that end, with the right changes and improvements, I could definitely be won over by NBA 2K23.

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NLSC Podcast #434: NBA 2K23 Jordan Challenge & PC News

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #434 of the NLSC Podcast!

How much would you pay for a sealed copy of Lakers vs. Celtics? Here’s a hint: it’ll set you back more than the Championship Edition of NBA 2K23! Speaking of which, in the wake of the NBA 2K23 preview season tipping off, we discuss the cover reveals, pre-order bonuses, and the return of the Jordan Challenge. With the news that the PC version will be Current Gen once again, we consider the possible reasons for the decision, and the future of the series on the platform. We also talk about some interesting NBA Live rumours, and the underrated NBA Inside Drive series. In this week’s mailbag, the community reacts to the news about NBA 2K23 PC, and suggests new games for the Jordan Challenge.

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 2K23 PC Will Be Current Gen

NBA 2K23 PC Will Be Current Gen

Bad news for anyone hoping that NBA 2K23 PC would be making the jump to next Next Gen: IGN has confirmed that the PC version will once again be a PlayStation 4/Xbox One port.

This isn’t surprising, but it is disappointing given that this will be the third consecutive year that the PC has missed out on a Next Gen port. While NBA 2K21 PC remaining a Current Gen port wasn’t unexpected given that it was released two months before the Next Gen consoles launched, there were hopes that the PC would be getting the PlayStation 5/Xbox Series X version of NBA 2K22. The precedent here was NBA 2K15 PC, which made the Next Gen jump the year after the PS4 and X1 launched.

Unfortunately, that precedent hasn’t been repeated with the ninth generation. NBA 2K isn’t alone here, as the PC version of WWE 2K22 was likewise a PS4/X1 port. Madden 22 PC was also ported from the Current/Prior Gen version. Although these are different series and Madden is obviously from another developer/publisher entirely, many gamers suggested that this was a red flag for NBA 2K on PC as well. Sadly, that prediction turned out to be correct.

If there is a silver lining to the announcement, it’s that there’ll likely once again be high compatibility with existing mods and modding tools. However, it naturally also means that NBA 2K23 PC will miss out on any enhancements to gameplay and modes that are exclusive to Next Gen. Your mileage will vary as to whether that’s a worthwhile trade-off.

In any case, we will be covering both the Current Gen/PC and Next Gen versions of NBA 2K23 when they’re released on September 9th. For now though, feel free to vent in the comments below, or here in the NLSC Forum!

NLSC Podcast #429: It’s Lit, Fellow Kids!

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #429 of the NLSC Podcast!

Is it worse to be called a moron by Steve Kerr, or hear Grant Hill go full “How do you do, fellow kids?” and call something lit? Suffice to say, the past week has delivered some awkward moments in virtual commentary! Conversely, Twitter produced some surprisingly positive (but certainly welcome) interactions. Playing NBA Live 06 PC also reminded us of a unique animation, and our frustrations with canned moments in recent titles. In light of confirmation that Madden 23 will be another last gen port, we speculate on what to expect from NBA 2K23 PC. We also discuss unfortunate generated player tattoos, choosing a retro season mod to play with, and whether a squad of Christian Laettners is better than a team of Andrew Langs.

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!

Wayback Wednesday: Go-To Moves in NBA Live 08

Wayback Wednesday: Go-To Moves in NBA Live 08

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 Go-To Moves in NBA Live 08.

These days, unique signature animations and a variety of animation packages are staple features of sim basketball games. We’re a long way from the days of every player having the same shooting form, the same dribbling style, and in some rare games, a handful of signature moves for star players. That’s not to say that every player in the game has unique mo-capped animations, but the most distinctive styles are usually accounted for. Of course, there were some intermediate steps between everyone using the same animations, and the signature styles of today.

NBA Live began taking steps towards player differentiation by including a second jumpshot animation intended for big men, as well as slower and simpler dribbling moves for weaker ballhandlers. The next step was Freestyle Superstars. Both of these forms of player differentiation were based on qualifying ratings, which sometimes made it difficult to assign players appropriate attributes and still have the desired movesets and animations. After signature jumpshot styles were added in NBA Live 06 for Xbox 360 and expanded upon in NBA Live 07, NBA Live 08 introduced Go-To Moves. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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Wayback Wednesday: NBA 2K10 PC Disc Woes

Wayback Wednesday: NBA 2K10 PC Disc Woes

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 some strange issues I’ve had with my copies of NBA 2K10 PC.

My approach as a collector of basketball video games has been to acquire titles that I have an interest in playing, and of course covering here in Wayback Wednesday. A working copy is therefore far more important to me than “complete in box”. As you’d expect, it’s been much cheaper, too! As I’ve shown, my collection includes multiple versions of titles across the different platforms that I own. Sometimes I’ve doubled up on the same platform with alternate covers, repurchased games I once traded in, and have spare copies of a few games that I’ve stumbled across on sale at bargain prices.

And then, there’s NBA 2K10 PC. I picked up a second copy of the game, not on a whim because I’d seen it at a bargain price, but because mine had simply stopped working. Well, it kind of worked; sometimes, if I was patient and lucky enough. When I found a copy of NBA 2K10 going cheap on eBay, I snapped it up, and it appeared that all was well. And then, the same issues began occurring with that copy too. Of all the games in my collection, these disc woes are rather unique. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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Monday Tip-Off: My Basketball Video Game Collection (2022 Edition)

Monday Tip-Off: My Basketball Video Game Collection (2022 Edition)

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 look at my basketball video game collection, as of 2022.

Back in March, I tweeted out a photo of my entire physical basketball video game collection, with some follow-up screenshots of the digital releases I own. I’m proud of my collection and satisfied in how I’ve been able to amass it, so I was pleased with the reception. While collecting is something that I do for my own enjoyment – and create content for the NLSC, of course – I was naturally hoping that my fellow hoops gamers would be impressed and get a kick out of the photo. I wanted it to inspire nostalgia, intrigue, and yes, a slight touch of good-natured envy. I’d say mission accomplished!

Given the old maxim of a picture being worth a thousand words, I could just leave it at those Tweets. However, I would like to talk a little more about my basketball video game collection, and provide a comprehensive listing as it’s impossible to get every title to be clearly visible in one photo. There are also a few digital releases that I didn’t display in my follow-up screenshots, including a couple I neglected to mention since they’re standalone releases and not on a digital platform such as Steam, Xbox Live, or the PSN Store. Finally, it’s been almost seven years since I wrote about my basketball video game collection, and I’ve been able to make some exciting additions since then.

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