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 reminiscing about playing with the Baby Bulls teams in basketball video games.
My nostalgia for the NBA and basketball video games doesn’t end with the 90s; far from it! Many of my favourite titles were released in the 2000s through to the early 2010s, and I’ve remained an avid NBA and basketball junkie long after Michael Jordan called it a career. Of course, playing with His Airness on the virtual hardwood required some modding back in the day, owing to his absence from the official roster. When it came to running with Bulls teams in the years that followed, I (usually) didn’t have to worry about them missing a prominent player.
Mind you, while all the names might’ve been accounted for, the talent was certainly lacking. I’ve previously reflected on the challenges that came with assuming control of my favourite team in the early 2000s; an extraordinarily tough time to be a Bulls fan after experiencing the glory days of MJ! I mentioned in passing that they became far more appealing to play with as the decade wore on, and their rebuilding efforts began to yield better results. Those teams came to be known as the Baby Bulls due to their youth, and while they didn’t reach the top of the mountain once more, I did enjoy putting them on the virtual hardwood. Let’s take a look back…way back…
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 Own the Paint in NBA Live 08.
Post play is an aspect of offense that not all basketball video games have been able to satisfactorily represent. Early hoops titles in particular were limited in this area, owing to a lack of animations and physicality. It wasn’t until games could feature a variety of moves, and the ability to properly back down and otherwise interact with defenders in the post, that we could really enjoy feeding big men down low. Even then, movement and controls could be clunky, which made posting up far less enjoyable (and viable) than simply driving the lane or taking jumpshots.
NBA Live 08 sought to improve upon post play with Own the Paint. While the name may sound gimmicky now – and certainly drew a few sceptical eye-rolls back in 2007 as well – it was a genuine and admirable effort to expand upon player control in post-up scenarios. I first experienced Own the Paint at the NBA Live 08 Community Event, and was immediately impressed by the new moves that we could pull off. Even after playing NBA 2K games with better post play mechanics, I still appreciate Own the Paint. Let’s take a look back…way back…
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 going back to the N64 version of NBA Live 99, and seeing if it can be suitably updated for the 1999 season.
While I do have fond and nostalgic memories of the Nintendo 64, it’s fair to say that the console hasn’t aged as well as other platforms. The 3D era was in its infancy, so on top of graphics that tend to be unappealing nowadays, many games display the teething problems of expanding into a new plane while designing game worlds and gameplay. Some of the best releases do still hold up, though very few of them tend to be sports games. The N64’s controller is a major culprit here, as it wasn’t ideal for several cross-platform genres.
Nevertheless, I was excited to get NBA Live 99 for N64 for Christmas in 1998. Due to the lockout of course, the game had to launch with final 1998 season rosters. This ultimately wouldn’t be a problem on PC, thanks to mods and official patches. As we were a long way from consoles supporting downloadable updates, those platforms were left out in the cold. We had to make do with the default rosters, or try our best to update them ourselves. With that being said, is it possible to make a sufficiently detailed roster update for NBA Live 99 on N64? Let’s take a look back…way back…
From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #477 of the NLSC Podcast!
When we connected on Parsec to play NBA Inside Drive 2003, we weren’t anticipating having one of the most exciting games we’ve ever experienced on the virtual hardwood. One epic comeback later, and it was definitely a contest to remember! To that point, we’re recapping our showdown between the Toronto Raptors and Philadelphia 76ers for posterity, and to emphasise the fun that can be had when you don’t give up on a game after falling behind. We also compare it to some famous comeback victories in real NBA history, to which it bears some uncanny similarities. In this week’s mailbag, we join the community in discussing basketball video game series that would make a welcome return.
Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:02:12 — 43.1MB)
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!
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 loading screens in basketball video games.
While catching up on some Zero Punctuation and Extra Punctuation videos, the one in which Yahtzee is reminiscing about loading screens really spoke to me. And so, once again, I’m shamelessly jumping on a topic that was brought up by a far, far more well-known content creator! It’s a topic that I undoubtedly relate to, though. In the video, Yahtzee notes the nostalgia at play here, acknowledging that faster loading times are obviously an improvement. However, for gamers of our generation, they’re not just a reminder of youthful excitement, but also examples of creative design.
In particular, Yahtzee notes the use of mini-games and interactive elements on loading screens. This got me thinking about how basketball games have tried to keep us entertained while they load, notably the approach that NBA Live took during the seventh generation. Needless to say, lengthy loading times are not something I want to see return, and they can be an annoyance while retro gaming. There’s nevertheless nostalgia there however, and it’s interesting that some ideas were dropped before loading times were shortened. Let’s take a look back…way back…
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: On Fire Edition, with a video retrospective.
Since I profiled the 2010 reboot in last week’s Wayback Wednesday, it only makes sense to cap off a month (and a bit) of 30th Anniversary celebrations with a look back at its sequel, NBA Jam: On Fire Edition! As I’ve said before, On Fire Edition has become my favourite NBA Jam game, and my pick for the best release in the series. That’s an opinion that I reiterate in the video, as I point out the enhancements to gameplay and modes that made the game so special. An NBA Jam: On Fire Edition retrospective has been long overdue, so let’s take a look back…way back…
I hope you enjoyed this retrospective, and all of the NBA Jam content in Wayback Wednesday over the past month! Even though we haven’t seen a new game since 2011, it remains an iconic series packed full of nostalgia, and the best releases are still fun to play today. Once again, I’ll plug our interview with Tim Kitzrow from 2019, and as always, encourage you to subscribe to the NLSC YouTube channel for more basketball gaming content.
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 presentation in NBA Live 96 PC.
While the Super Nintendo version of NBA Live 95 was the first game in the NBA Live series that I ever played – and one of my first basketball video games, period – NBA Live 96 PC was the first hoops title that I actually owned. I remember the day I got it. It had been featured in an ad that showcased EA Sports’ 1996 season lineup, presented as the “EA Sports Countdown”. My basketball fandom was now in full swing, and I wanted to be able to hit the virtual hardwood without relying on a weekly video store rental, where my Season save files were constantly at risk of deletion.
It may have taken a boot disk to run it properly on a rapidly aging 486, and at one point I needed to use a scratch repair kit on the CD to get it working again (it’s never failed me since). However, from playing to modding, I’ve spent countless hours with NBA Live 96 PC, solidifying it as one of my all-time favourite games. Obviously I’m partial to it because of the sentimentality of it being one of the first basketball games that I owned, but I still appreciate the game itself: the on-court experience, the season it’s set in, and of course, that golden presentation. Let’s take a look back…way back…
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 PS1 version of NBA Jam Tournament Edition.
Although it’s been surpassed by NBA Jam: On Fire Edition as both my personal favourite and my pick for the best game in the NBA Jam series, I still hold NBA Jam Tournament Edition in extremely high regard. It’s a title that I’ve covered several times here on the NLSC, from reflections while watching a game I’d recorded and an in-depth retrospective, to discussing weird ratings and an error that I somehow overlooked for more than twenty years. In short, NBA Jam TE is a release that I’ll eagerly revisit for both content creation purposes, and my own enjoyment.
As I’ve mentioned in previous features, I grew up playing the PC and Super Nintendo versions of NBA Jam Tournament Edition. Since I’ve been expanding my collection of basketball video games in recent years, I’ve sought out the PlayStation version of NBA Jam TE as well. It was the only version that I didn’t own for the platforms at my disposal, but late last year, I finally managed to snag a copy at a reasonable price. I noted that since I now had it as part of my collection, I’d be comparing NBA Jam Tournament Edition PS1 to the releases I grew up with, in a future Wayback Wednesday feature. The time has come, so let’s take a look back…way back…
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 somersault dunks in NBA Jam Tournament Edition.
One of the joys of hitting the virtual hardwood is discovering all the moves that you can pull off, and the variety of animations on offer. It’s something that we can take for granted now that hoops titles boast thousands of animations and an array of signature styles. Back when games were far more limited in what they could feasibly include, it was a thrill to discover new moves that we didn’t expect to see. Dunks were of course the premiere highlight, and we all have slams that we’re partial to in our favourite basketball video games.
There are many spectacular slams that I enjoy seeing thrown down by the players I’m controlling, but when it comes to NBA Jam Tournament Edition, I’m particularly fond of the somersault dunks. As a 90s kid who loved basketball and video games, they represented the pinnacle of highlights in a title that was all about over-the-top high-flying dunks. Even when I go back and play NBA Jam TE today, I’m excited whenever I see a player going into a somersault as they leap into the air. I’m sure I’m not alone in appreciating the soaring somersault dunks of NBA Jam TE, so let’s take a look back…way back…
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 “No Portrait Available” placeholders that are a staple of old basketball video games.
Beyond obvious examples such as dated graphics, fewer modes, and less bonus content, there are some hallmarks that immediately identify basketball video games as old school. They are the approaches and design choices that modern games eschew, either because they’re no longer necessary, or newer technology facilitates preferable solutions. These days, you’d never see a Free Agents Pool that’s limited to the same number of players as a regular team. No active players will be represented by Roster Players, since the entire league is covered by the current licensing agreement.
That brings us to another staple of old games that we no longer see: a generic portrait for players who are missing a proper one. If you’ve been playing basketball games for a long time, these players with no available portrait will be part of the nostalgia that you feel for old favourites, whether it’s the approach in general or some more specific examples. Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look back…way back…
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 attempting to roll back the rosters in the SNES version of NBA Live 95 so that they’re accurate as of Opening Night 1993.
Last year, I tried my hand at updating the rosters in the Super Nintendo version of NBA Live 95 so that they were accurate as of the 1995 season. As you may be aware, the console versions of NBA Live 95 featured final 1994 season rosters, whereas the PC version was updated for the current year. Updating the rosters in NBA Live 95 for SNES is a cumbersome task. There are no external ROM hacking tools, rosters can only be customised in Season mode, and only starters can be traded. Ultimately, I was able to update 17 of the 27 teams with a 1995 season starting lineup.
Honestly, that was more success than I was expecting! Mind you, there were plenty of inaccuracies on the bench, with players that I was unable to trade. Reflecting on that experiment, I wondered how much accuracy I could achieve in the rosters – both the starting lineups and the benches – if I went the other way, rolling back the lineups in NBA Live 95 SNES to the beginning of the 1994 season. I don’t need much of an excuse to revisit any version of NBA Live 95, so let’s take a look back…way back…
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 paying tribute to some very useful software in our modding community: DB Commander.
There have been a number of important modding tools developed over the years. The early NBA Live editors tipped everything off, bringing modding to games that were definitely not designed with it in mind. They were followed by the NBA Live Toolkit, which made editing the new roster database files so much simpler. The EA Graphics Editor and other tools expanded modding (or patching, as it used to be called) beyond rosters, facilitating a plethora of custom faces, jerseys, courts, and more. When NBA 2K came to PC, REDitor II, RED MC, and other utilities made modding viable.
However, one of the most useful tools in NBA Live modding didn’t come from our community. That wasn’t unusual of course, as some of our most frequently-used modding tools were originally developed for other EA Sports PC releases. The one that I’m talking about today is a commercial solution, though many of us did stick with the shareware release. That program is DB Commander, developed by T&T Solutions. Let’s take a look back…way back…
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 Hoops for NES.
Early basketball video games can be difficult to revisit, or truly appreciate if you didn’t grow up with them. It wasn’t until the mid to late 90s that we started to see titles that resembled modern releases, and it wouldn’t be until the 2000s that some of the contemporary mechanics and features were implemented, and their approach codified. Beyond their primitive graphics, early titles can be oddly designed, and cumbersome to play. Depending on your history with the virtual hardwood, the further back you go, the more challenging it may be to have a satisfying retro gaming experience.
However, in evaluating these old basketball games – or indeed, any retro title – we need to keep in mind the technology and design standards of the era. What was once cutting edge has now been surpassed, and certain mechanics and control concepts weren’t yet standardised. Nevertheless, there are some games that stand out as true classics, even though they do show their age. Titles such as Double Dribble, Jordan vs. Bird, and Lakers vs. Celtics, are definitely in that category. Today, I’m profiling one of their contemporaries from the late 1980s: Hoops for NES. Let’s take a look back…way back…
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 Silly Rosters that Lutz made for NBA Live 95.
From the moment I discovered the NLSC – then the NBA Live Series Center – way back in August 1997, I was enthralled with the work that our founders were doing. As is the case with basically everyone who’s joined our community over the years, I was utterly amazed at what was possible with modding; even in those early games. After trying to update NBA Live 96’s rosters with only the in-game functions for a year or so before that, the possibilities now seemed endless. You’re telling me that my created Michael Jordan can have full bio data, and that I can overwrite players? Incredible!
The work that Lutz and Tim were doing with those original NLSC updates inspired me to try my hand at the hobby, which led to me creating my own site, and ultimately still being a part of the community over twenty years later. Those roster packs were more than just current season updates, and when I picked up NBA Live 95 PC a year or so later, I was finally able to mess around with Lutz’s rosters on top of dabbling with some work of my own. A project from that pack that I’ve mentioned a few times before but haven’t covered yet is the Silly Rosters. It’s a product of its era, and the early days of our modding community. Let’s take a look back…way back…
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 when webrings and Yahoo! GeoCities were major parts of the basketball gaming community.
Want to make me feel old? It’s getting much easier the closer that I edge to forty, but an effective method would be to ask “Andrew, what do you mean by webrings, or Yahoo! GeoCities?” Yes, it’s a sign that I’m getting older, and that I’ve been online for a long time, and how much the internet has changed, that there are people who will wonder what I’m talking about when I mention Yahoo! GeoCities and webrings! In an era where it’s all about algorithms and SEO, with a number of platforms for content creation and self-promotion, they’re antiquated concepts indeed.
Still, like many things from the early days of the basketball gaming community that don’t need to make a comeback, they’re nevertheless nostalgic for those of us who remember them. At the same time, I’m also grateful that better solutions have been developed, because it certainly was the Stone Age of the World Wide Web. So, what’s the deal with webrings and Yahoo! GeoCities? Let’s take a look back…way back…
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