Menu
Home | Tag: Legends

Tag Archives: Legends

Wayback Wednesday: Throwback Stints in NBA Live 06 Xbox 360

Wayback Wednesday: Throwback Stints in NBA Live 06 Xbox 360

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 throwback stints, as portrayed by the Xbox 360 version of NBA Live 06.

Tinkering with the rosters to set up fun scenarios and minimalist modding projects has become a staple of my retro basketball gaming. I enjoy the challenge of seeing what can be done with the assets I have at my disposal, and it’s gratifying whenever I’m able to cobble together something that I can at least get a game or two out of. Some attempts are more successful than others as far as creating playable scenarios, but if nothing else, I’ll get some interesting screenshots out of my endeavours. That’s what happened while I was on my extended retro kick with NBA Live 06 for Xbox 360.

While exploring the idea of a makeshift classic teams roster – something that fell apart thanks to a roster editing glitch that can happen way too easily – I ended up placing a number of players on their former teams, and taking some screenshots. I wasn’t sure what I’d do with those screens, but I didn’t want my efforts to go to waste, and figured that they’d come in handy for an article somewhere down the line. I may find further use for them yet, but for now, here are some throwback stints that I set up in the Xbox 360 version of NBA Live 06. Let’s take a look back…way back…

Read More »

Monday Tip-Off: Inspiration, Impatience, & Fresh Starts

Monday Tip-Off: Inspiration, Impatience, & Fresh Starts

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 some thoughts on how a combination of new inspiration, impatience, and the appeal of fresh starts, can derail modding projects.

Last year, I was quite relieved when I finally released my fixed official roster for NBA 2K10; a roster that added missing Legends, corrected ratings and tendencies for the original Legends, and made a few other enhancements. Not only was I pleased with the results – as egotistical as that may sound – but it was gratifying to finish a modding project that I’d started, particularly one that can inject more fun into retro basketball gaming, and possibly even serve as a base for future projects. It came out later than I’d hoped, but it did mean that I was able to take more care with it.

Of course, it’s not the only modding project that I’ve envisioned or attempted in recent years. I’ve shared some of the roster mod ideas that have come to mind in Friday Five articles, and of course previewed an NBA 2K11 current roster project that ultimately fell through. It’s not something I’m particularly proud of, as I was once very dedicated to maintaining current roster updates for NBA Live, on top of other mods over the years. Unfortunately, as I’ve looked to get back into the hobby, I’ve found that being struck by inspiration for another project has a tendency to cause impatience with the current one, and a strong yearning for the excitement that comes with fresh starts.

Read More »

Wayback Wednesday: Minimalist Modding & Retro Gaming

Wayback Wednesday: Minimalist Modding & Retro Gaming

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 at how minimalist modding can improve the retro basketball gaming experience.

It’s no secret that just as mods can enhance the most recent basketball video games, they can also breathe new life into old favourites. This obviously goes beyond the virtual hardwood. I remember discovering custom WADS for Doom II way back in 1998 that changed Doomguy and the enemies into characters from The Simpsons and South Park. I wasn’t really playing Doom II anymore, but learning about those mods and seeing what they were capable of encouraged me to dust it off so that I could try them out. It’s a great example of mods making an old game fresh and new again.

Of course, even without custom maps, those were still larger projects, akin to a current or retro season roster for an older basketball game. Those are fantastic and I absolutely support them; especially given my renewed interest in retro basketball gaming after a few years of feeling underwhelmed by the latest NBA 2K! However, minimalist modding can also freshen up older games and make them even more fun to revisit. Indeed, whenever I get hooked on an old game, I can’t help thinking about ways to change things up with some minimalist modding in order to expand upon the retro basketball gaming experience. Let’s look at a fun way to go back…way back…

Read More »

Wayback Wednesday: Investigating NBA Live 2002 Codes

Wayback Wednesday: Investigating NBA Live 2002 Codes

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 investigating some alleged cheat codes for NBA Live 2002 that are listed on various websites.

Here’s a statement that will blow your mind: you can’t believe everything that you read on the internet. I’ll give you a moment to recover from the utter shock of that revelation! In all seriousness, it’s hardly a secret that the internet is as convenient a means of spreading misinformation as it is researching verifiable facts and figures. I’m not going to delve into the Big Issues here, because that’s beyond our scope as a site dedicated to basketball gaming, and I’m not looking to court controversy. Of course, there’s plenty of hoaxes and misinformation when it comes to video games.

All genres of games are subject to what TV Tropes creatively dubs an “Urban Legend of Zelda“. Indeed, the Zelda series itself has one of the all-time famous video game hoaxes, namely the claim that the Triforce was obtainable in Ocarina of Time. Hoops titles have their own urban legends, from claims of certain players being hidden in NBA Jam when they weren’t, to supposedly unlockable modes that in reality would be too big of a selling point to tuck away as an obscure secret. And of course, like other genres, there have been fake cheat codes. I’ve discovered some questionable codes for NBA Live 2002 that bear investigating, so let’s take a look back…way back…

Read More »

Fixed Final Official NBA 2K10 Roster Released

Fixed Final Official NBA 2K10 Roster Released

After hinting at it in Episode #497 of the NLSC Podcast, I’ve finally released my fixed version of the final official roster for NBA 2K10 PC! It’s taken longer than I would’ve liked thanks to juggling other projects and our regularly scheduled content, but at long last, V1.0 of the roster is done!

The roster adds missing Legends to the All-Decade teams, including Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and John Stockton. All players have proper faces, sourced from old roster projects. On top of that, I’ve gone through all of the original Legends and fixed their ratings and tendencies, a majority of which were copy-and-paste, or in the case of the tendencies, flat out missing/not properly assigned. All of the lineups and rotations for the All-Decade teams have been updated to accommodate the new Legends. I’ve also cleared all of the injuries, and fixed a couple of ratings for the current players. Full release notes can be found below.

Download the fixed final official NBA 2K10 roster here! You can also find a release/support topic here in the Forum. This project is intended to enhance NBA 2K10 for retro gamers who like to dust off old favourites, as well as potentially facilitate some new retro modding projects by serving as a base. All I ask is that you give credit for the roster, as well as leave the credits for the included faces intact. I hope that you enjoy this fixed roster for one of the earliest NBA 2K releases on PC!

Read More »

NLSC Podcast #498: Mods vs. MyNBA Eras, & Overdue Call-Outs

NLSC Podcast Logo

From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #498 of the NLSC Podcast!

After revisiting NBA in the Zone 2 over Parsec last week, we recap a fun showdown as we took on the Nuggets with the SuperSonics, while reflecting on the sim-arcade hybrid approach and comparing the game to NBA Live 97. We also played NBA 2K13 using the 1993 season roster from URB, which leads us to compare the attention to detail in retro mods to the lack thereof in MyNBA Eras. Speaking of inaccuracies, the WNBA Players Association called out NBA 2K24’s terrible player likenesses, a move that we wholeheartedly support. We also imagine the ideal gameplay for NBA 2K and NBA Live by combining our favourite mechanics from previous games in both series, and give a heads up on a great PC gaming deal.

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: The Original All-Time Teams in NBA 2K

Wayback Wednesday: The Original All-Time Teams in NBA 2K

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 original All-Time Teams that were featured in early NBA 2K titles.

The concept of All-Time Teams is naturally a staple of sports discussion. Which franchise could field the best lineup with all the players that have ever worn their uniform? Who can boast the best all-time starting lineup? Who would prevail in a showdown of stars, if they could all be together on the team in their prime? Such What Ifs are impossible to conclusively prove in reality, but they’re a great idea for fantasy matchups in video games. Even in the early days of NBA Live modding, the community was creating Legends and All-Time Teams rosters.

Those projects have remained popular over the years, so it’s no surprise that with all of the other historical content in NBA 2K, All-Time squads were eventually added for each franchise. As I noted when I covered those teams in a previous article, while the concept was nothing new, it saved us a lot of time by ensuring that certain players and assets would be in the game by default. However, I neglected to mention that NBA 2K18 wasn’t the first game in the series to feature All-Time Teams, as a few such squads were unlockable in earlier releases. Let’s take a look back…way back…

Read More »

NLSC Podcast #496: NBA 2K17, NBA Live 06, & Community Favourites

NLSC Podcast Logo

From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #496 of the NLSC Podcast!

Many of our all-time favourite basketball video games are still in the rotation, and this week we connected on Parsec to revisit two of them: NBA 2K17 and NBA Live 06 PC! We reflect on the strong points of each game and why they hold up so well years later, as well as the satisfying feeling of playing them with mods that we created! We’re also interested in the community’s all-time favourite hoops titles, so in this week’s mailbag, our listeners tell us which ones they still hold close to their hearts. We’ve also got some tips regarding affordable cards in NBA 2K24 MyTEAM – while advocating for No Money Spent, of course – and a couple of customary cheap plugs.

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: The Misuse of Legends in NBA Live

Wayback Wednesday: The Misuse of Legends in NBA Live

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 how Legends have been misused in NBA Live over the years.

If you remember hitting the virtual hardwood before NBA Live 2000 was released, then you’ll recall what a big deal it was when Legends were announced for the game. Sure, we had modding, and even on console Create-a-Player could be used to make some serviceable retro players, but now they were going to be right there in the game by default! They’d have proper faces, and their names would be called by the PA Announcer and commentators. And of course, Michael Jordan would at long last appear in an NBA Live game. It was huge news, and a landmark feature.

Considering that EA Sports had found themselves in hot water after trying to sneak some Legends into the 16-bit version of NBA Live 96, it seemed like something that would never happen. That made the official inclusion of Legends even more special, and it’s why I won’t take historical content for granted. However, it’s fair to say that over the years, NBA Live didn’t do as much with the Legends as they possibly could have, leaving the door open for NBA 2K to blow us away with retro content and features. Even before that though, NBA Live was dropping the ball with throwback players. Let’s take a look back…way back…

Read More »

NBA Live 18 Ultimate Team & NBA 2K24 MyTEAM Reel

NBA Live 18 Ultimate Team & NBA 2K24 MyTEAM Highlights

As Dee and I have discussed on the NLSC Podcast, we both enjoy dabbling with the card collecting modes in NBA Live and NBA 2K. To that end, we’ve both recently uploaded highlight reels from NBA Live 18 Ultimate Team and NBA 2K24 MyTEAM.

In my NBA Live 18 Ultimate Team reel, the 90s All-Stars are back in action! The Glove connects with The Reignman, The Dream shakes and bakes in the post, Clyde glides before finishing with force, Shaq attacks the rim without mercy, Tim Bug breaks ankles with the UTEP Two-Step, Penny shines and drops dimes, Nique is a Human Highlight Film, and Pip does a little bit of everything! My aim was to capture the spirit of the NBA in the 90s, which had us all saying “I love this game”!

Dee’s NBA 2K24 MyTEAM reel also showcases some memorable historical players, as well as current stars. Darryl Dawkins is dominating in the paint, while Robert Pack reminds us that you don’t need to be seven feet tall to leave the basket shaking! Rick Barry and Jack Sikma also get buckets, while Steph Curry is dialled in from long distance. Cover player Kobe Bryant also dazzles and shows off the Mamba Mentality as Dee completes all three 76ers Challenges in Domination.

Check out both highlight reels below! We’ll be sharing further impressions of NBA 2K24, including thoughts on MyTEAM, in the next NLSC Podcast. Stay tuned for that, and be sure to subscribe to the NLSC YouTube channel for more basketball gaming content!

Read More »

The Friday Five: 5 Underrated Aspects of Retro Content in Old Games

The Friday Five: 5 Underrated Aspects of Retro Content in Old 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 is a list of five aspects of retro content in older basketball video games that is underrated.

Retro content has been a staple feature in basketball games for decades now. It’s one of the best additions in sim and arcade titles alike, as it’s a blast to play with the stars of yesteryear in addition to the current generation of players. The amount of retro content has steadily increased since it was introduced, progressing from historical All-Star teams to retro NBA teams and All-Time legends squads. With the addition of MyNBA Eras in NBA 2K23 (and its return in NBA 2K24), it’s fair to suggest that these days we have more retro content than ever before.

With that being said, retro content has indeed been around for a long time, and an admirable effort was made with it in many old games. In fact, while the quantity of retro content in basketball games has never been higher than it is in NBA 2K23, we can certainly point to ways that older favourites boasted better quality. If nothing else, there are some aspects of the retro content in older basketball games that are quite impressive, and not just for their era. In fact, I’d go so far as to call them underrated, or certainly underappreciated, especially as they made the most of the resources that were available to them at the time. Let’s take a look at five examples of these aspects!

Read More »

Wayback Wednesday: NBA 2K6 Retrospective (Xbox 360)

Wayback Wednesday: NBA 2K6 Retrospective (Xbox 360)

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 Xbox 360 version of NBA 2K6.

As I’ve said before, as someone who grew up with NBA Live, it took me a while to truly get into the NBA 2K series. There was a sense of brand loyalty, but beyond that, I was accustomed to NBA Live’s approach to controls, gameplay mechanics, and modes. I remember trying out the PlayStation 2 version of NBA 2K6, and feeling somewhat underwhelmed. If nothing else, I disliked the Isomotion controls, which remained a barrier to getting into NBA 2K for years to come. I preferred to make the best of some rough NBA Live releases, rather than acclimate to a different game.

Obviously, I’ve had a change of heart! A handful of NBA 2K titles over the past decade now rank as some of my all-time favourite basketball video games. I’ve also been able to revisit older NBA 2K titles, and really enjoy them. One older 2K release that I’ve grown rather fond of is NBA 2K6 for Xbox 360. It seems only fitting, since I’ve also warmed up to the Xbox 360 version of NBA Live 06 after giving it another look. However, while NBA Live 06 for Xbox 360 may be slightly underrated at times, NBA 2K6 is definitely a stronger all-around game. Let’s take a look back…way back…

Read More »

NBA Live 18 Ultimate Team & NBA 2K19 Fantasy Draft Roster Highlights

NBA Live 18 Ultimate Team & NBA 2K19 Fantasy Roster Highlights

In case you missed it, Dee and I both uploaded a couple of new reels to the NLSC YouTube channel over the past week. Dee shared some highlights from a game of NBA 2K19 using an All-Time Fantasy Draft Roster, while mine are from a game in NBA Live 18 Ultimate Team.

Specifically, my reel focuses on Patrick Ewing, who celebrated his 61st birthday over the weekend. I decked out my squad with New York Knicks jerseys for the occasion, and surrounded Ewing with teammates spanning his career with the Knicks, Seattle SuperSonics, and Orlando Magic, as well as his appearances on the Dream Team and East All-Stars. As much fun as I’m having playing with a makeshift 90s All-Stars squad, I enjoyed changing it up to celebrate one NBA Legend in particular!

Once again, Dee’s reel showcases an All-Time Fantasy Draft Roster that he and his brother are playing with in NBA 2K19. The game features the Chicago Bulls taking on the Charlotte Hornets, with some familiar faces obviously in unfamiliar places! Amar’e Stoudamire, Damian Lillard, Julius Erving, Mark Price, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joe Johnson, Charles Barkley, and other stars produced a dazzling array of highlights.

Check out the highlights from my NBA Live 18 Ultimate Team game and Dee’s NBA 2K19 All-Time Fantasy Draft showdown below! Be sure to subscribe to the NLSC YouTube channel for more basketball gaming content, and as always, feel free to hit us up with any suggestions of games that you’d like to see us play.

Read More »

NLSC Podcast #488: NBA Live 09 & The Road to NBA 2K24

NLSC Podcast Logo

From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #488 of the NLSC Podcast!

In an exciting development, NBA Live 09 now works with the PlayStation 3 emulator! We recap a fun session with the game – which will now be part of our rotation – and compare it to NBA Live 10. In other news, 2K has revealed a roadmap for the NBA 2K24 preview season. This sets us thinking about what to expect come August 14th, as well as how to fairly evaluate the game when it’s released. With a slightly clearer picture of what ProPLAY might entail, we also join the community in discussing the historical players we’d love to see it used to capture animations from. Finally, in this week’s mailbag, we quiz the community on Overall Performance Ratings in NBA Action 98.

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!

NLSC Podcast #487: NBA 2K’s Origins, Legends, & First Titles

NLSC Podcast Logo

From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #487 of the NLSC Podcast!

We’re taking a look back at NBA Action 98 – the forerunner to NBA 2K on PC on Sega Saturn – after connecting to play a couple of games over Parsec. Naturally we compare it to NBA Live 98, as well as the PlayStation version, which was released as NBA Fastbreak ’98. We’ve also been drawn back to Ultimate Team in NBA Live 18, and reflect on the fun we’ve been having with our Legends squads. We also discuss a surprising teaser regarding MyCAREER in NBA 2K24, and our first virtual NBA Championships. In this week’s mailbag, we challenge the community to match Overall Ratings to the players in the default rosters of NBA 2K13.

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!