From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #518 of the NLSC Podcast!
While we have our concerns about future releases, we’re arguably in a golden age for retro gaming! To that end, we note the further improvements to PCSX2 and Windows 11’s ability to run NBA Action 98 without issues, and recap our recent sessions with ESPN NBA Basketball (aka NBA 2K4) and NBA 2K18 for PlayStation 3. The latter was a game we played by request, and it surprised us with its quality! Revisiting a game from the end of a generation also leads us to reflect on whether NBA 2K24 will be the final prior gen release. We also react to the news of massive layoffs at EA, and join the community in speculating what it might mean – if anything – for the future of the NBA Live series.
Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:05:30 — 45.3MB)
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 #514 of the NLSC Podcast!
NBA 2K24 is prompting gamers to accept a new Terms of Service that includes updated clauses regarding class action lawsuits and digital purchases. We discuss how the move has further eroded goodwill, especially as the language comes across as threatening in the wake of recent legal action against Take-Two, and opting out is a deliberately challenging process. While noting NBA 2K’s fall from grace as the darling of basketball gaming, we also criticise the silence from influencers and much of the gaming media, as well as the apologist rhetoric that some gamers are spouting. In short, it’s not an issue that basketball gamers should allow to be swept under the rug!
Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:05:50 — 45.6MB)
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 #506 of the NLSC Podcast!
A class action lawsuit is accusing Take-Two of theft, specifically in regards to NBA 2K’s predatory practices. In particular, it notes the loss of VC balance when the servers are shut down after 27 months. While we aren’t lawyers, we certainly do have some thoughts on the situation, as does the community! We also discuss the use of Cronus Zen controllers, and other methods of cheating in NBA 2K online. After all, as much as a technical fix is in order, there are other contributing factors that must be addressed. Meanwhile, comments on our YouTube channel have proven that people have some interesting interpretations of EA Sports’ famous slogan.
Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:19:15 — 54.8MB)
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!
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 reasons that NBA 2K now has a virtual monopoly over the virtual hardwood.
We’re fortunate that the NBA hasn’t followed the NFL’s example of offering video game developers and publishers exclusive rights to their license. In theory, we could still see an array of licensed NBA video games from a variety of companies, since there’s nothing legally preventing them from throwing their hat into the ring. Of course, in terms of feasibility and practicality, it’s not so simple. NBA 2K has set a high bar that sim basketball games are expected to clear and raise, meaning the NBA license alone won’t allow alternative titles to compete.
Since no one else is taking a chance on competing with NBA 2K, they have a virtual monopoly when it comes to basketball video games. Sure, there have been a handful of NBA Live games over the past decade – though none since 2018 – as well as two NBA Playgrounds titles. We’ve also seen some indie hoops games that don’t use the NBA license, including the outstanding Basketball Classics. However, NBA 2K is the only Big Name™ in basketball gaming, and the lack of alternatives and competition is essentially a monopoly. How did we get to this point? Here are five reasons that NBA 2K was able to establish a monopoly, with a little help from its one-time competitors.
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 NBA Jam 2010 by EA Sports, with a video retrospective.
Since April 2023 marks the 30th Anniversary of NBA Jam, I was intending to post this feature last week, rather than my look back at the golden presentation of NBA Live 96 PC. However, due to a couple of things getting in the way, it took a bit longer to produce. Of course, I was already well overdue to profile NBA Jam 2010 here in Wayback Wednesday! It’s a game that’s surrounded by some controversy owing to its connections to NBA Elite 11, which is tremendously unfortunate as EA’s NBA Jam was a fantastic reboot of the series. Let’s take a look back…way back…
As you can probably guess, this mini-celebration of the 30th Anniversary of NBA Jam will be going into overtime, as next week – barring any unforseen circumstances – I’ll be profiling NBA Jam: On Fire Edition! In the meantime, I hope that you enjoyed this video retrospective. Don’t forget to subscribe to the NLSC YouTube channel for more great basketball gaming content!
From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #464 of the NLSC Podcast!
After some messing around, we were able to connect to play a co-op session of NBA Full Court Press. Although it isn’t one of the all-time classics, it’s nevertheless an intriguing game to revisit today. We’ve also got some further progress reports on modding projects, including the revival of the All-Time Teams roster for NBA Live 96. With the 30th Anniversary of NBA Jam upon us this year, we’re itching for a new release, and we’re not alone in that regard! We discuss our ideas for a hypothetical new NBA Jam, as well as the community’s responses of what they’d like to see. Finally, we make some plans for our basketball gaming rotations through the rest of February.
Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:10:14 — 48.6MB)
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 NBA 2K’s Eco-Motion Engine.
Over the years, we’ve become more aware of – and concerned with – the technology under the hood of video games. The announcement that a game will be running on a specific engine may excite gamers, or disappoint them. Sometimes, we assume too much here. After all, the same engines have powered good games and bad games alike. Time, resources, and design choices that harness the power of the engine, are paramount. In-house solutions can also offer an advantage over widely-used engines such as Unreal, since they’re custom-built for a title or series.
Perhaps the most famous basketball game engine is Eco-Motion. It debuted in the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One version of NBA 2K14, facilitating a landmark release in basketball gaming. Many basketball gamers remember it fondly, and are wistful that it was replaced by tech that many say hasn’t felt nearly as good. What was it all about? 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 history of Shaq and his Superman logo tattoo in basketball video games.
Not only is Shaquille O’Neal one of the greatest players in the history of basketball, but he’s one of the most prominent faces in basketball video games. By virtue of a 19-year NBA career and the inclusion of historical content, Shaq has appeared in at least one video game every year going back to 1993; a streak that rivals his “teammates in the NBA Finals” record! Of course, when it comes to depicting the Diesel in video games, accuracy demands that he’s sporting his ink. On that note, as you’re probably aware, Shaq has a prominent tattoo of the Superman logo on his left arm.
As the detail on player models improved, virtual Shaq likewise began sporting his Superman tattoo; or did he? As RayRay_953 pointed out in the Forum, there’s an interesting history with Shaq’s ink and its appearance in basketball video games over the years. Certain games have achieved a degree of accuracy with the tattoo, while others have taken some creative liberties with the design. I’ve scoured the games in my collection to bring you an overview of how different titles depicted Shaq with his Superman tattoo throughout the years. Let’s take a look back…way back…
From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #435 of the NLSC Podcast!
Barring a very surprising announcement, NBA Live won’t be back in 2022. However, EA Sports has a golden opportunity to make a triumphant return with NBA Live 24 in 2023. The question is, how do they sell it to basketball gamers, and meet their expectations? We posed the question to the community, and received many enthusiastic answers as to what would encourage gamers to switch back to NBA Live, or double dip with NBA Live and NBA 2K. An old story about Julius Erving and the Utah Jazz also prompts us to consider interesting scenarios for a “What If” roster mod, and we recap a fun co-op session of NBA Inside Drive 2003 over Parsec.
Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:54:40 — 79.1MB)
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!
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.
Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:43:36 — 71.5MB)
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 being On Fire in the NBA Jam series, and analysing why it’s such a great video game powerup.
“He’s On Fire!” The iconic call from the legendary Tim Kitzrow echoes in the minds of all basketball gamers who’ve played NBA Jam. In fact, thanks to the game having such an impact on basketball and pop culture, people who have never played a single NBA Jam title are undoubtedly still aware of it! Being On Fire in an NBA Jam game is to arcade basketball gaming what Mario’s super mushrooms are to platformers. It’s not just a core aspect of the series’ identity, but something that its imitators have tried to replicate and put their own spin on, to varying degrees of success.
I’ve discussed the NBA Jam series several times in Wayback Wednesday features. This includes retrospectives of the original game, Tournament Edition (twice, in fact), and the overlooked 2003 release from Acclaim. I’ve investigated its unusual ratings, and reflected on other notable facts about various games in the NBA Jam lineage. However, apart from obligatory mentions when covering gameplay mechanics in my retrospectives, I’ve yet to dedicate an entire feature to being On Fire in NBA Jam. If I can talk about Kevin Edwards having the wrong portrait, I should definitely cover the game’s iconic powerup in-depth! To that end, let’s take a look back…way back…
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 reasons that I rank NBA Jam: On Fire Edition as the best release in the NBA Jam series.
We really need another NBA Jam game. I know there were gamers that skipped the NBA Jam games by EA Sports, either because they were burned by previous non-Midway Jam titles, they didn’t trust or want to support EA, or a mixture of both. I understand having that stance, but frankly, you missed out on a couple of really good NBA Jam games! They were faithful to the originals, while also bringing something new to the table. It’s because of this that NBA Jam: On Fire Edition remains my pick for the best NBA Jam game to date.
I know that’s a big claim to make, especially when the original NBA Jam still holds up today. Tournament Edition was a fantastic follow-up to that, and though Midway lost the Jam moniker, NBA Hangtime was a worthy sequel to TE. NBA Showtime: NBA on NBC and NBA Hoopz were also fine games in Midway’s branch of the lineage; Acclaim’s titles, not so much. In short, there is some stiff competition for NBA Jam: On Fire Edition, yet I do believe that it stands above the rest. While EA were struggling with NBA Live by the early 2010s, they made great use of the NBA Jam license, creating the definitive Jam experience with NBA Jam: On Fire Edition.
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 cover players that won NBA titles in the same season their game came out.
Last week, I listed five players who graced video game covers in the same year that they made the NBA Finals. More specifically, I was referring to players who made the Finals, but were ultimately the runners-up. Obviously, cover players who won titles while being the face of a game technically qualify as examples for last week’s list as well. However, I did want to draw a distinction between the cover players who “only” made it to the Finals that same year, and those who actually won titles. While both are accomplishments and interesting trivia, the latter is naturally rather more special.
To that end, the number of cover players that won titles in the same year is smaller than the already select group of names who made the Finals while being the face of NBA Live, NBA 2K, or another title. As I noted last week, publishers like EA and 2K are no doubt more interested in a player’s popularity and marketability than whether they’ll be in the Finals, or NBA Champions. I have no doubt that they’re happy when it does occur, but given that it’s a gamble even if they ink a deal with a player from a contender, it’s a bonus boost to the brand at the end of the day. NBA Champion cover players are something that a handful of titles can boast however, including these five.
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 fall of NBA Live 13, and its lasting impact on the NBA Live series.
When I covered NBA Elite 11 and NBA Live 13 for our 25th Anniversary of NBA Live content, it wasn’t the easiest article to write. Not only was it delving into major low points for the series in the midst of celebrating a milestone, but it’s talking about games that didn’t come out and most of us have never played, apart from the NBA Elite 11 demo. Of course, the full version of NBA Elite 11 has since leaked online, which has given gamers the opportunity to play it via emulation. There are some mixed opinions, but the general consensus is that it’s on par with the demo.
To that end, there’s a reasonably clear picture of NBA Elite 11: a full preview season, a widely-panned demo, leaked copies in the wild that people got their hands on, and a ripped version that finally gave more gamers a hands-on look. Conversely, NBA Live 13 remains more of a mystery. The previews were mostly vague about details before they stopped, and not much else has been revealed about the cancelled game except that it wasn’t close to being good enough. Still, despite being canned, NBA Live 13 had a lasting impact on the series and community. Let’s take a look back…way back…
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