Tag Archives: Old Head

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 toxic positivity regarding basketball and basketball gaming, from the perspective of a Grumpy Elder Millennial.

I’m turning forty this year, which to be honest, is something that I’m still trying to get my head around. It doesn’t seem ten years ago that turning thirty was the milestone heralding an existential crisis! While I’m being honest though, I’ve been leaning into being a Grumpy Old Man for a few years now. Not that seriously of course, but I’ve become extremely comfortable rolling my eyes and grumbling about kids and their opinions on basketball, modern games and their microtransactions, and the state of online discourse. And let me tell you about these TikTok trends and weird haircuts…

Oops, too grumpy! Let’s dial it back a bit. The point is that I’ve recognised that despite constant misuse of the term “Millennial” to describe younger generations than mine, I’m not part of the youth of today. I’m not too old to play video games in my spare time – I’ll leave that opinion to the Baby Boomers, thank you very much – but I’ve definitely aged out of the key demographic that they’re aimed at. Whereas I once greatly anticipated the new, I’m now more inclined to indulge my nostalgia. At the same time, I’d rather not be so out of touch and close-minded that I stay stuck in the past. However, there’s one thing that I’ll stubbornly push back on: toxic positivity.

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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 some reflections on being at the upper end of the basketball gaming demographic.

For all the criticism that The Simpsons receives for staying on the air as long as it has, it continues to be referenced in memes. Such is its impact on pop culture, and online discourse. There are two references to The Simpsons that are frequently trotted out to comment on age, and not surprisingly, they both involve that lovable curmudgeon, Abraham Simpson. In a flashback where a young Homer mocks Abe for being out of touch, Abe very ominously warns that when it comes to no longer being “with it“, it’ll also happen to Homer one day. Abe is also the infamous old man yelling at a cloud.

Now that I’m around Homer’s canonical age, I have to admit that I’m starting to feel what he felt in that episode. At the same time, I also relate to what Abe was talking about. Even though we Millennials are still copping flak from older generations, to Gen Z, we’re “old heads“, too. We grew up admiring different players, and the video games we played didn’t have microtransactions. Our expectations are therefore quite different, and it’s apparent that many features are not aimed at us. As I said, I’m far closer to Homer in age than I am to Abe, but as I find myself at the upper end of the basketball gaming demographic, Grampa’s warning thus feels increasingly apt.

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Welcome to this week’s edition of The Friday Five! The Friday Five is a feature that I post every Friday in which I give my thoughts on a topic that’s related to NBA Live, NBA 2K, and other basketball video games, as well as the real NBA, and other areas of interest to our community. The feature is presented as either a list of five items, or in the form of a Top 5 countdown. This week’s Five is a look at five issues within the basketball gaming community that NBA 2K21 has spotlighted.

NBA 2K21 Current Gen has been out for about a month, and following its release, gamers have had a lot to say about it. The game has had a mixed reception to say the least, and some of the new concepts haven’t resonated as positively as the developers no doubt hoped they would. A big patch came through on September 14th, which does seem to have allayed some concerns with the game. No release is ever perfect though, and not all issues can be caught before the game is in our hands, especially when the COVID-19 pandemic is presenting developers with several obstacles.

Gamers have been noting the issues with NBA 2K21 and sharing feedback with the developers accordingly, but I’ve noticed something else in the wake of the game being released. It seems as though NBA 2K21 has also spotlighted some issues within the community itself, both in the way we approach the games and how we interact with each other. These community issues aren’t necessarily new, and in some cases they’re the result of toxicity that’s compounded over the years. At the same time, I do feel as though certain aspects of NBA 2K21 have shone a light on some of these community issues, and I honestly feel that we could (and should) be doing better in these areas.

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Episode #300 of the NLSC Podcast is out now! Join Dee4Three and myself as we mark the 300th episode of the NLSC Podcast with a conversation about some recent controversies in the community, the thought-terminating cliches that bother us, Basketball Classics, and the joy of collecting basketball video games, new and old.

As we celebrate 300 episodes, we reflect on one of our favourite shows: our interview with Tim Kitzrow back in Episode #280. Recalling his passion for NBA Jam, we’re reminded of how it’s too easy to be dismissive of what came before as pure nostalgia – on the real and virtual hardwood alike – and resort to cliched buzzwords to shut down criticism of newer things. That leads us to note the fantastic fusion of the old and new with Basketball Classics, as we share some more impressions of the game. After touching on the recent hack of NBA 2K accounts and issues with ad links in our modding community, we finally get to our featured discussion topic: collecting basketball video games. We talk about our collections, the process of tracking down older titles, the problems that digital content and releases present for collectors, and the fun of playing our old favourites and checking out games we missed out on the first time around.

Tune in below!

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 2:01:43 — 83.7MB)

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What are your thoughts on the recent controversies? Do you consider yourself a collector of basketball video games? Sound off in the comments section below, or join in the discussion here in the Forum! Additionally, feel free to hit us up with any feedback on the episode, as well as suggestions for topics that you’d like to hear us discuss in future episodes. For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki.

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 an open letter to younger basketball gamers and fans from an admitted old head of 34.

Hey there, younger fans of basketball and basketball gaming! Do people still say hey for hello? I’m trying to avoid a “How do you do, fellow kids?” type of scenario here. Because let’s face it, there is a generational gap between some of us, and I’d rather not condescend to you, or look foolish with some ill-fitting slang. I’ll just stick with hey. Anyway, I’m Andrew, and to a lot of people who are into basketball and basketball video games, I would definitely qualify as an old head. At least, that’s the term I’m seeing used in a lot of online conversations to describe someone like me.

I’ll admit that at the age of 34, I still feel too young to be classified as an old head. It’s probably a fitting term, though. My all-time favourite band and television show are both only slightly younger than I am. My nostalgia is rooted in entertainment and events from well over a decade ago, and my opinions on sports, movies, television, and gaming no doubt reflect that. I’m at that odd stage where I still feel a bit rebellious towards the generations older than me, while at the same time starting to feel like a grumpy old man. Before I completely devolve into yelling at clouds however, I’d like to try bridging the gap between an old head like me and the younger generation.

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