NLSC Your source for basketball video 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 some reflections on my recent habit of creating and playing with makeshift classic teams – and other minimalist rosters – while retro gaming.

There are multiple ways in which I can indulge my NBA nostalgia. I can simply revisit an old game and play with rosters that are now a time capsule. For over a decade now, the NBA 2K series has provided a plethora of historical content, from classic teams to All-Time squads to the Decade All-Stars. There are also mods that I can download, or I could always create my own retro rosters in one of my favourite games. In short, if I feel like taking a trip down memory lane on the virtual hardwood, it can be done with impressive accuracy.

As such, I will absolutely do all those things! However, cobbling together makeshift classic teams has become a consistent part of my basketball gaming over the past year or so. I’ve also tinkered with the rosters of old games I’m dusting off by rolling them back to the previous season, or creating minimalist Legends squads. It may sound highly unnecessary when there are games that already provide that content, not to mention strange that I’m not opting for more accuracy with a full retro mod. However, I’ve had a blast incorporating some minimalist modding into my retro gaming. There’s an undeniable appeal to assembling something new with only the content on hand.

Read More »

Looyh has updated the Player Editor plugin for both the NBA 2K24 and NBA 2K23 Hook tools. In addition to existing features such as the ability to edit hairstyles, unlock shoe brands, and so on, the new versions of the Player Editor add compatibility with another of Looyh’s plugins, namely MyLEAGUE Plus.

You can download V1.1 of the Player Editor for NBA 2K24 here, and V1.8 of the NBA 2K23 plugin here. Once again, a big thanks to Looyh for all of his hard work, and for making these essential modding tools freely available to the community!

Additionally, thanks as always to everyone who continues to contribute to our Downloads database! If you need help uploading files, be sure to check out this video tutorial. For more information about downloads, the modding community, and Mod Releases bulletins, please see this FAQ in our Wiki.

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.

May the 4th be with you, basketball gamers! With this week’s NLSC Top 10 Plays falling on a day that’s obviously very special to Star Wars fans – no matter what side of The Force you’re on – the countdown not only features players defying gravity, but also a couple of familiar faces from a galaxy far, far away. As always, it’s not just about spectacular virtual hardwood moments but also entertaining variety, as eight different titles are on display from NBA Live 2001 all the way through to NBA 2K24. Let’s get to the action!

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.

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 real players whose careers produced stories that are similar to a MyPLAYER.

Although interest has shifted towards its connected experiences, MyCAREER is a mode that has allowed us to step into the shoes of an NBA player. Mind you, while MyCAREER has tried to replicate the NBA experience from earning minutes and endorsement deals to becoming a star and mulling your options in free agency, it takes a flexible approach to realism. Most of us end up posting some truly ridiculous numbers on route to being enshrined in the virtual Hall of Fame, and the adoption of a story-driven approach has led to some weird, overly-dramatic, and unlikely tales.

With that being said, as the old saying goes, truth is often stranger than fiction. As it turns out, there have been some players whose careers bear striking similarities to our MyCAREER journeys. No, no one has ever quit basketball to become a DJ and then made it to the league following a streetball tournament – though Rony Seikaly did become a DJ after retiring – but there are players whose road to the NBA and rookie seasons can be compared to a MyPLAYER. That’s not to say that their stories are exactly the same, but there are some fun parallels between real players and our NBA 2K avatars. Indeed, some stories may not be as unrealistic as they originally seemed!

Read More »

The latest MyTEAM controversy brings to mind a scene from a seventh season episode of The Simpsons – the rather lengthily titled “Raging Abe Simpson and His Grumbling Grandson in ‘The Curse of the Flying Hellfish'” – that like many iconic moments from the show, has found second life as a reaction meme. In the scene, Mr. Burns disdainfully questions whether Abe “Grampa” Simpson can go more than five seconds without humiliating himself. Right on cue, Abe’s braces snap, and his suit trousers fall down for a classic comical print boxer shorts gag. He can only ask “How long was that?” as Monty turns to leave, his point proven.

It’s become the go-to reaction GIF or video when a person or company seemingly can’t stop making a fool out of themselves. The “dig up, stupid” scene is another popular Simpsons meme for these situations, particularly when someone makes a remark that only exacerbates a PR blunder. As a company that has all too frequently demonstrated a failure to communicate, Take-Two has turned this into an art form. While their greedy approach sadly hasn’t burst the bubble on their recurrent revenue practices as yet, it has eroded goodwill and resulted in some degree of backlash. With the latest MyTEAM controversy, they’ve dropped their pants, Abe Simpson-style.

Read More »

Today’s NBA Live 2005 mod releases feature a retro jersey pack from Murat and company. As I noted when I posted a bulletin about the NBA Live 06 pack, it’s part of a work-in-progress retro roster project for NBA Live 2005, so be sure to stay tuned for more details on that. In the meantime, pick up the pack at the link below!

Murat, b_baller86 et al
1984-2005 Retro Jerseys Pack

Thanks to everyone who continues to contribute to our Downloads database! If you need help uploading files, be sure to check out this video tutorial. For more information about downloads, the modding community, and Mod Releases bulletins, please see this FAQ in our Wiki.

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 revisiting NBA Live 2002, and creating some makeshift 90s teams.

Minimalist modding has become a staple of my retro gaming. It’s a way to indulge nostalgia in multiple ways: the mechanics and aesthetics of my chosen game, the teams that I assemble, and the process of modding. I do also enjoy simply playing with the default rosters, or a roster update set in the same season as the game, for a more authentic step back in time. However, the creativity of minimalist modding so often steers me towards discovering what I can do with the content that’s available in any game that I’ve chosen to revisit.

In games such as NBA 2K6 and NBA Live 10, it’s difficult to go back to the 90s with any makeshift classic teams, at least without creating a bunch of players. After all, by that point, most the stars and role players who were active in the 90s had retired. Not all of the big names had signed on to be Legends around the time of NBA 2K6, and NBA Live 10 doesn’t have any historical teams or players at all. However, since NBA Live 2002 came out closer to the 90s and includes several stars from that decade, is it possible to cobble together some retro teams? Let’s take a look back…way back…

Read More »

From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #526 of the NLSC Podcast!

Who are the worst and most annoying commentators to be stuck listening to in basketball video games? This week, we join the community in picking our least favourite voices of the virtual hardwood, whether it’s due to the opinions that they share, their delivery in the booth, or simply the sound of their voice. Of course, it probably won’t come as a huge surprise that we’re generally not fans of them in real life, either! We also recap a fun session with Basketball Classics that concluded in exciting fashion, and quiz the community on the top-rated point guards in NBA 2K9. Not to sound like a clickbait article, but the answers – and at least one noteworthy omission – may shock you!

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 53:45 — 37.3MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

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!

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 by revisiting an article I wrote in 2019, in order to discuss just how much I disagree with Past Me.

Normally, I reserve revisiting and republishing articles for Wayback Wednesday, though it’s one of my more rarely-used topics. However, this is more of a sequel column; a follow-up to opinions I expressed going on five years ago, that I strongly disagree with now. That’s not a bad thing, of course. It’s a positive trait to be able to remain open-minded, changing your stance when new evidence is presented and not just continuing to believe something because it’s been your view for so long. Ideally, we should be able to look back at what we’ve said and who we were, and see growth.

While browsing our archives, I was reminded of a Monday Tip-Off that I wrote back in 2019: “The Difficulty of Going Back“. As that title suggests, Past Me was opining that it was becoming increasingly challenging to return to older releases, and bring them back into my basketball gaming rotation. Considering how passionately I’ve advocated for retro basketball gaming since then, it should be obvious how much my opinion has changed! Of course, just as there are reasons I’ve become more receptive to going back to older hoops titles once again, there were reasons why Past Me felt it was growing difficult; even with a long history of retro gaming. Allow me to explain.

Read More »

We’ve got some new NBA Live 06 mod releases to share today, as Murat has uploaded a pack of retro jerseys spanning 1984 to 2005. The pack is actually part of a work-in-progress retro roster project for NBA Live 06, so definitely stay tuned for more details on that. In the meantime, pick up the pack at the link below!

Murat, b_baller86 et al
1984-2005 Retro Jerseys Pack

Thanks to everyone who continues to contribute to our Downloads database! If you need help uploading files, be sure to check out this video tutorial. For more information about downloads, the modding community, and Mod Releases bulletins, please see this FAQ in our Wiki.

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.

Two things that we love to see in the NLSC Top 10 Plays are new titles making their first appearance, and re-creations of real life highlights. This week’s countdown delivers on both fronts, as you’ll see the debut of Michael Jordan in Flight, and a play that resembles a furious finish that we’ve just witnessed in the 2024 NBA Playoffs! On top of that, there’s the usual assortment of spectacular dunks, jaw-dropping ankle breakers, and other plays that make real and virtual basketball alike so entertaining. Let’s get to the action!

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.

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 weighs in on five contentious basketball gaming debates.

When you’ve been around a while, both in terms of a gaming community and life in general, a couple of things usually happen. You may well lean into that curmudgeonly aspect of aging, becoming the proverbial old man yelling at clouds. At the same time, you also realise that certain things aren’t as important anymore, if indeed they ever were. Leaving high school is a liberating experience, as problems that once seemed all-important and dramatic now feel like petty non-issues (because they often were!). The flipside of this is dealing with all of the new challenges that come with adulthood.

Of course, being an adult doesn’t necessarily mean avoiding petty drama, especially in hobby and fan communities. As the saying goes, growing older is mandatory, but growing up isn’t. Fanbases have strong opinions that make them prone to contentious debates, and the basketball gaming community is no different. As with any other gaming community or group of fans, there are popular and unpopular opinions, issues that are divisive, and a selfish desire to be right and get what we want. We’re not all going to get along one hundred percent of the time, but there are some basketball gaming topics that are often contentious. Here’s my take on five of those matters!

Read More »

The 2024 Playoffs are underway, so it’s great to see new mod releases for NBA 2K24 PC in the form of bratnajbolji’s court pack containing updates for all of the teams in the postseason. Pick it up at the link below!

bratnajbolji
Playoffs Courts Pack 2024

Thanks to everyone who continues to contribute to our Downloads database! If you need help uploading files, be sure to check out this video tutorial. For more information about downloads, the modding community, and Mod Releases bulletins, please see this FAQ in our Wiki.

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 some of my failed franchise and season mode games, and reflecting on whether they’re actually failures.

Over the years in Wayback Wednesday, I’ve reminisced about several of my most memorable franchise, season, and career mode games. While they all represent fun times on the virtual hardwood for me, they haven’t been equally successfully as far as completion is concerned. Games where I’ve played through an entire season on twelve minute quarters stand out as the times I’ve really been hooked on the experience, but they’re arguably the exception rather than the rule. There are far more titles that I’ve never finished a single season in, than ones where I’ve had multi-year games.

Of course, as I’ve noted before, completion is what you make it when it comes to the annual sim titles. Unless you stick with a single game for more than a year, it’s tough to get the full multi-year experience in franchise and career modes; especially when you opt for full length seasons on twelve minute quarters without simulating! Even in the games where I didn’t finish the season, I still had a ton of fun. With that being said, there are also franchise and season mode games that I abandoned very quickly. To that end, this week I’m reflecting on some “failed” games, and pondering the concept of “failure” in that context. Let’s take a look back…way back…

Read More »

From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #525 of the NLSC Podcast!

Which basketball video games have been the easiest and hardest to put up stats in over the years? This week, we join the community in discussing the titles that stick out in our minds, as well as the statistics that either eluded us or seemingly piled up way too easily. Additionally, following a session with Virtua NBA – an arcade release that a few people in our community have taken an interest in lately – we give our thoughts on what is certainly an intriguing game. We also provide an update on our journey in the original NBA Jam, pick our ideal hoops games for an annual tournament, and reflect on how it feels to shelve a beloved favourite that’s unfortunately grown stale.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:05:25 — 45.3MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

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!