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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: Choose Your Own Adventure

Monday Tip-Off: Choose Your Own Adventure

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 my thoughts on how basketball video game modes can sometimes limit your ability to choose your own adventure.

When I discussed playing through a second season in NBA 2K14’s MyCAREER and my enthusiasm for embarking on a third campaign, I mentioned that I would have some decisions to eventually make. Right now, I’m enjoying being a member of the virtual Philadelphia 76ers in the 2016 season, coming off back-to-back titles and a triumphant rise to superstardom. However, I can never rule out the possibility of playing for another team, with the Chicago Bulls being a prime candidate. If nothing else, I’d appreciate seeing some new uniforms from game to game!

However, moving on in NBA 2K14’s MyCAREER isn’t as easy as it is in later games. Glancing at my rookie contract, it may be a while before I’m able to pursue any other career opportunities outside of the City of Brotherly Love. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as it’s based on reality. At the same time, it gets in the way of that “choose your own adventure” aspect of role-playing in basketball video games. It’s not the only mode that’s placed restrictions on how it can be played, and how much freedom you have to seek out desirable scenarios. This can be frustrating, yet also an interesting and challenging part of the single player career and franchise experiences alike.

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NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week: April 16th, 2022

NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week

Get ready for more fantastic highlights from the basketball gaming community in the NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week, curated by Dee4Three! New and old games alike are featured in this celebration of spectacular moments on the virtual hardwood. To submit your clips, post them in this topic, or hit up Dee on Twitter.

I’ll be honest: although it would be seasonally apt, there aren’t any Easter eggs spotlighted in this week’s NLSC Top 10 Plays. However, you will see ridiculous lobs, crazy circus shots, and some of the best dunks that you’ll find on the virtual hardwood! The 1995 season mod for NBA 2K19 is also on display, along with NBA Fastbreak ’98 (aka NBA Action 98), the forerunner to NBA 2K. A total of nine different games are featured in this week’s countdown, once again demonstrating that revisiting old favourites produces great highlights, and a lot of fun.

What was your favourite highlight this week? Sound off in the comments below, and once again, get in on the fun by sending us your best plays! Remember, as long as it’s a basketball game, it’s eligible for the countdown. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to us on YouTube for more basketball gaming videos.

The Friday Five: 5 Presentation Options NBA 2K Should Have

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 presentation options that I’d like to see added to NBA 2K.

Since the early days of the genre, sim basketball games have made it a point to have presentation that resembles a real broadcast. From getting real commentators to call the action on the virtual hardwood, to studio shows and stats overlays, there’s been a constant push to include as much authenticity as the current technology will allow. Some of those presentation elements can be adjusted in the game options, such as the frequency of instant replays, muting the commentary, or toggling fun features such as slow motion dunks in the oldest NBA Live titles.

Indeed, NBA Live has had some great presentation features and options that NBA 2K should implement, but for whatever reason, has yet to do so. On top of that, there are several other ideas that would enhance presentation and provide customisation options that neither NBA Live nor NBA 2K has featured to date, and have rarely appeared (if at all) in other NBA titles in years gone by. These features may not be vital, but could nevertheless have an impact on our basketball gaming experience through adding more immersion, quality of life customisation, or just plain fun. Whatever the case, adopting these presentation options would be beneficial in future NBA 2K releases.

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Wayback Wednesday: Glitched NBA Live 97 SNES Cartridge

Wayback Wednesday: Glitched NBA Live 97 SNES Cartridge

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 my glitched NBA Live 97 SNES cartridge, which features an extremely unusual roster bug.

It’s been a while since I produced a video for Wayback Wednesday, and this is a prime topic to dive back into that medium. Simply put, to do it justice, you need to see the game in action. That game is the SNES version of NBA Live 97, specifically my original copy that somehow developed one of the weirdest roster glitches I’ve ever seen. My replacement copy of NBA Live 97 SNES is working just fine, but it appears that there’s no way to fix the original glitched cartridge. It may not be so bad if you’re a big Christian Laettner fan, but even then you’d probably want the game to work properly, with the correct 1997 season rosters. Let’s take a look back…way back…

A truly bizarre glitch! If I can ever get that cartridge working properly again, I’ll be sure to produce a follow-up feature. In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this look at an incredibly strange error! I do like to branch out from my written retrospectives and other Wayback Wednesday articles from time to time, and again, this felt like an ideal topic to cover with a video. There’ll be more Wayback Wednesday video features in the future, and we’re also posting many other videos from the weekly Top 10 Plays to gameplay highlights, so be sure to subscribe to us on YouTube if you haven’t already. Also keep it locked to the NLSC every Wednesday for weekly Wayback content!

Monday Tip-Off: Fantasy Concepts In Sim Games

Monday Tip-Off: Fantasy Concepts In Sim Games

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 my thoughts on sim basketball games adopting fantasy concepts.

The concept of “sim” in basketball and sports gaming raises many questions. Just how much realism should a game strive for? For that matter, what is “sim”? Obviously it implies realism, but just how closely should it resemble reality? Does it mean accurate down to the last detail, or can it take some liberties for the sake of accessibility and enjoyment? It’s a balancing act that sim games have been attempting for decades now. From a gamer’s perspective, we can sometimes tailor the experience through the use of gameplay sliders, but they aren’t available in all modes.

Of course, when it comes to fantasy concepts in sim games, the issue goes beyond the action between the lines. Franchise modes are based on real aspects of the NBA, but they invite us to create our own reality with fictional results and player movement. When we place ourselves into the games to play out a career and participate in the connected online modes, it’s indulging a fantasy. Realism also goes out the window with the card collecting modes, where we can assemble fantasy lineups with players from different decades. Even the All-Time and All-Decade teams count as fantasy concepts in sim games! The question is: can we, or indeed should we, draw a line?

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NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week: April 9th, 2022

NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week

Get ready for more fantastic highlights from the basketball gaming community in the NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week, curated by Dee4Three! New and old games alike are featured in this celebration of spectacular moments on the virtual hardwood. To submit your clips, post them in this topic, or hit up Dee on Twitter.

Seven different virtual hardwood favourites are featured in this week’s NLSC Top 10 Plays, spanning NBA Showdown all the way up to NBA 2K22! You’ll find highlights from the conclusion of our College Hoops 2K8 Tournament, another fun moment from my NBA 2K14 MyCAREER, and eight other great plays including rim-rattling dunks, ambitious lobs, fancy moves, and cold-blooded daggers in the clutch. Check out what the basketball gaming community has been playing this week! I’m confident that it’ll get you in the mood to play, and start sending in some highlights of your own.

What was your favourite highlight this week? Sound off in the comments below, and once again, get in on the fun by sending us your best plays! Remember, as long as it’s a basketball game, it’s eligible for the countdown. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to us on YouTube for more basketball gaming videos.

The Friday Five: 5 Side Effects of Unlicensed Players You May Not Know

The Friday Five: 5 Side Effects of Unlicensed Players You May Not Know

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 side effects of players going unlicensed, some of which you may not be aware of.

The vast array of historical content in NBA 2K is more than we could’ve dreamed of in the late 90s and early 2000s. Even the Legends and All-Decade teams that came along in NBA Live 2000 were obviously a big deal in their day. While there are issues with accuracy and detail, having retro content in the games is better than not having it at all. With that being said, players that remain unlicensed are definitely conspicuous by their absence. I’m sure that you’re aware of the key names, with Charles Barkley, Reggie Miller, and Rasheed Wallace, being among the most frequently mentioned.

Their absence has an obvious effect on the historical content that has been included, and what can’t be included. The 2000 Portland Trail Blazers and 2004 Detroit Pistons don’t look complete without Sheed in the lineup. We didn’t get any challenges based on the 1993 NBA Finals in The Jordan Challenge, as they’d be pointless without Sir Charles. As it stands, the ’85 76ers were an oddball retro team, as Chuck was a rookie on that squad. There are other teams that won’t be officially included because Miller, Barkley, and other players are unlicensed. That’s widely known and understood, but there are other side effects of 2K being unable to come to terms with certain players.

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Wayback Wednesday: Oldest NBA Rookies & Their Video Game Debuts

Wayback Wednesday: Oldest NBA Rookies & Their Video Game Debuts

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 oldest rookies in NBA history, and their subsequent video game debuts.

One of the interesting oddities about early iterations of MyCAREER is that you were able to set your age. This meant that if you wanted to role-play as an established pro that was finally making their way to the NBA, then you could effectively make that part of your bio. These days, your MyPLAYER avatar has a fixed age that fits their back story, that generally being a young player coming out of college. It makes sense, but considering that there have been many rookies that are new to the league but not to professional basketball, it’s a shame that such an option is no longer available.

Of course, we still see real examples of latecomers to the NBA in the official rosters, and there have been some noteworthy stories over the years. I’ll admit that since I’ve entered my 30s, I have a greater appreciation for the NBA’s oldest rookies, especially in an era where there seems to be a Logan’s Run approach to veteran players. In fact, referring to them as the “oldest rookies” feels rather strange now that I’m older than they were at the time! Between these rookies being the oldest debutants and some of the games that they were featured in, this is definitely one for the “old heads”. 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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NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week: April 2nd, 2022

NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week

Get ready for more fantastic highlights from the basketball gaming community in the NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week, curated by Dee4Three! New and old games alike are featured in this celebration of spectacular moments on the virtual hardwood. To submit your clips, post them in this topic, or hit up Dee on Twitter.

This week’s NLSC Top 10 Plays come courtesy of nine different games, spanning several platforms and generations. Not surprisingly, our College Hoops 2K8 Tournament has produced more Top 10-worthy highlights, as it heads towards an epic conclusion. Perhaps more surprising is another appearance of the NBA Elite 11 Demo, but I’m sure that you’ll agree it’s a spectacular moment! NBA 2K22 and NBA 2K14 continue to produce some dazzling dunks, while NBA ShootOut 2004 makes its first appearance in the countdown with a slam of its own. In short, the community made some fond memories across a variety of titles this week, and that’s always awesome to see.

What was your favourite highlight this week? Sound off in the comments below, and once again, get in on the fun by sending us your best plays! Remember, as long as it’s a basketball game, it’s eligible for the countdown. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to us on YouTube for more basketball gaming videos.

The Friday Five: 5 Coincidental Names in Basketball Games

The Friday Five: 5 Coincidental Names in Basketball Games

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 provides five examples of coincidental names in various basketball video games.

Something that I’m sure is readily apparent across my various articles is that I’m a fan of interesting trivia and obscure tidbits. Whether it’s the players that appeared in more video games than real NBA games, phantom stints captured on the virtual hardwood, rare features, or other unusual facts, I find them fascinating, and enjoy talking about them. Strange and humorous coincidences would definitely fall under that umbrella. To that end, today I’m talking about coincidental names that I’ve encountered in various basketball games over the years.

Generally speaking, the default rosters of an NBA game likely won’t have too many coincidental names. At least, nothing out of the ordinary, or anything that doesn’t reflect a real life coincidence, such as the time there were two players called Marcus Williams in the NBA. “Coincidence” is also a word that we use, shall we say, quite flexibly. Sometimes “coincidences” have flimsy connections, or are in fact deliberate and thus not coincidental at all. To that point, I’m taking some liberties with the term, as I suspect some of these coincidental names were intentional. They are fun though, so if you’ll indulge me, here are five coincidental names that I’ve encountered.

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Wayback Wednesday: Familiar Faces in Strange Places (Part 6)

Wayback Wednesday: Familiar Faces in Strange Places (Part 6)

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 ten more players who became familiar faces in strange places.

With decades of NBA history and basketball video games to draw upon, are you surprised that I’m up to the sixth instalment in this series? For the uninitiated, this series looks back at stars and other noteworthy players who are usually associated with a particular team, having spent most of their career or enjoying the most success there, only to move on to another team where they looked very out of place. They are the familiar faces who wind up in strange places. This is in contrast to the players that become familiar faces back in familiar places, which is a different series altogether.

As I always explain with both series of articles, I’m looking back at these strange and sometimes forgotten stints from the perspective of basketball video games. This is keeping in line with our content – we are a basketball gaming site and community, after all – and as I always say, I love the interactive almanac aspect of retro basketball gaming. Not all of these stints can still be seen in games due to roster updates (or a lack thereof), but at some point, they were represented on the virtual hardwood. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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Monday Tip-Off: And The Adventure Continues…in NBA 2K14

Monday Tip-Off: And The Adventure Continues...in NBA 2K14

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 how the adventure of my NBA 2K14 MyCAREER continues, and my future goals with the mode.

On the NLSC Podcast, Dee4Three observed that he hasn’t seen anyone warm up to a game as quickly and enthusiastically as I have with NBA 2K14. It’s a fair statement! There are other games that I’ve developed more of an appreciation for, but few of them have gone from “I accept it’s good, but it’s not for me” to “This is one of my all-time favourite games” the same way that NBA 2K14 has. I don’t know if it’s nostalgia for a era in the NBA I liked better, the fact that it’s one of the last games that came out when I was in my 20s, or my lukewarm reaction to NBA 2K22, but that’s how I feel.

Actually, that’s selling the game short. Those are definitely factors, of course, but the PlayStation 4/Xbox One version of NBA 2K14 was simply a tremendous game. I had my reasons for not playing it as much back in the day, but to that point, I’m making up for some lost time now. However, it’s surprising that I’m spending that time playing MyCAREER, given my burnout on the mode. I even titled my recap of getting into it last year as “One MyCAREER For The Road“, figuring that it would close the book on my interest in career mode play. Instead, I’ve found myself picking it up again. The adventure continues, and I honestly don’t feel ashamed or embarrassed about that.

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NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week: March 26th, 2022

NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week

Get ready for more fantastic highlights from the basketball gaming community in the NLSC Top 10 Plays of the Week, curated by Dee4Three! New and old games alike are featured in this celebration of spectacular moments on the virtual hardwood. To submit your clips, post them in this topic, or hit up Dee on Twitter.

The drama of our College Hoops 2K8 Tournament continues to produce many memorable moments, some of which are included in this week’s NLSC Top 10 Plays. NBA Jam Tournament Edition for PC also makes an appearance, courtesy of Larry Bird‘s cool, calm, and collected play in the clutch. Elsewhere, NBA 2K22 has been in many basketball gamers’ rotations this week, delivering some devastating dunks and showing off some impressive mods. Spectacular plays from NBA Street Vol. 2, NBA 2K17, and NBA Live 2001 round out another fun countdown of virtual hardwood highlights.

What was your favourite highlight this week? Sound off in the comments below, and once again, get in on the fun by sending us your best plays! Remember, as long as it’s a basketball game, it’s eligible for the countdown. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to us on YouTube for more basketball gaming videos.