Tag Archives: Sim Nation

From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #557 of the NLSC Podcast!

What does “sim” really entail when it comes to basketball video games? There are definitely some myths and misunderstandings, which we’re certainly eager to clear up! This includes how realism affects the virtual hardwood, and how recent games have performed in their approach to the sim style. Talking real hoops leads into us joining the community in recalling the go-to moves that we like to use when we play basketball, whether it’s in an organised league or pick-up. We also recap a co-op session of NBA 2K17 featuring the Ultimate Classic Teams Roster and a couple of quintessential video game teams, and provide a PSA regarding NBA 2K23 and its impending server shutdown.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:00:18 — 41.8MB)

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 a rebuttal to the idea that basketball gamers who are sim heads are somehow casuals.

Since we’re all on the internet here, I’m going to assume that we’re all familiar with Harvey Dent’s line in The Dark Knight about either dying a hero, or living long enough to become the villain. It’s up there with Alfred musing that some men just want to watch the world burn; another line that the internet loves, especially wannabe nihilist edgelords. In any case, Dent’s observation can be applied to the real world as well. From people who tarnished their reputation, to simply finding yourself on the wrong side of the argument as time goes by, it’s possible to end up as the bad guy.

Of course, when it’s a matter of fandom infighting, “bad guy” is a relative term. We’re more likely to throw around a word like “casuals” to dismiss the opinions of people we disagree with, ostensibly because they just don’t get it. For a long time, gamers who played basketball games, but didn’t know or care much about the real sport, were the ones who were branded with the “casuals” label. While I don’t agree with the gatekeeping nature of that, it made sense in so much as sim games in particular were designed with hardcore hoop heads in mind. These days, sim heads are being called “casuals” by those who advocate for cheese and “stick skills” over realistic gameplay.

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #490 of the NLSC Podcast!

As we await the first previews of NBA 2K24, a war of words has broken out between members of Sim Nation, comp players, and the cheesers. To that end, we discuss how toxic the discourse has become, and read out some of the community’s thoughts on the matter. As always, we catch up on what we’ve been playing this past week, from MyNBA in NBA 2K23 and MyGM in NBA 2K14, to Ultimate Team in NBA Live 18 and Fantasy Teams in NBA Live 10. We’ve also got some small updates on a couple of modding projects. Inspired by Julius Erving’s recent comments, we also share our thoughts on personal bias and agendas in Top 10 lists and other rankings, noting the similarities between discussions of NBA history and classic basketball video games.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:12:08 — 49.9MB)

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!

From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #483 of the NLSC Podcast!

We’re taking a look back at Sony’s NBA 07 for PlayStation 3 this week, after successfully connecting to play a H2H game using PS Rewired. Although it was a bit of an oddball title in many ways, it had some strong points that highlight the importance of having alternatives to NBA 2K and NBA Live. Our experience with PS Rewired also prompts us to reflect on the different ways that we’re able to connect to play basketball video games these days. We also touch on the recent Twitter debate between members of Sim Nation and the Left-Right Cheesers; you can probably guess whose side we’re on! Meanwhile, in honour of a crazy alley-oop from our NBA 07 session, this week’s mailbag is all about bad mechanics.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 56:23 — 39.1MB)

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! Start your week here at the NLSC with a feature that’s dedicated to opinions, commentary, and other fun stuff related to NBA Live, NBA 2K, and other basketball video games. This week, I’m tipping things off with a few thoughts on whether or not basketball gamers are still in favour of sim gameplay and game modes.

For many years, we basketball gamers would talk about how we wanted to see the five-on-five games become more realistic. As technology improved, we saw a steady and pleasing increase in the level of simulation basketball, with NBA 2K in particular achieving some fantastic results in developing sim gameplay. Sim gameplay is what we always emphasised in our Wishlists, and the cause was likewise championed by Da_Czar, the President of Sim Nation who now puts his knowledge and enthusiasm for realistic virtual basketball to use as a developer on the NBA 2K team.

However, despite the influence of Da_Czar, as well as other sim-oriented developers such as Scott O’Gallagher and Gameplay Director Mike Wang, NBA 2K has been drifting towards a more casual style. The change is definitely not due to a lack of knowledge, dedication, talent, or resources, as we’ve seen what NBA 2K is capable of in terms of being an outstanding basketball sim. NBA Live, despite having its roots in a sim style, has also been focusing more on the streetball side of things in The One. These changes in style are obviously being done to appease the core demographic. As such, it’s not just about whether or not the games are sim, but if we gamers are, too.

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