The Friday Five: 5 Underappreciated Improvements

[Andrew]

The Friday Five: 5 Ways We Misremember Basketball Games

Just how well do you think you remember all of the basketball video games you've ever played? I'd like to think that I have a pretty good memory - especially when it comes to my passions - but I'm hardly infallible in my recollections! Sure, I've made a lot of memories with basketball video games, and remember quite a few things off the top of my head. If it's been a while since I played a game though, chances are some of the specifics will have slipped my mind. There's a reason I have to do research for my features, because when I don't, mistakes and omissions are inevitable!

To that point, there have definitely been times when I've trusted my memory when I shouldn't have. I'd suggest that we're all guilty of that from time to time. Indeed, based on comments about basketball video games that I've seen in various online spaces, it's safe to say that a lot of people misremember them in some way. It's usually an honest and understandable mistake, and it may only be a minor detail. Nevertheless, we're all bound to misremember a thing or two about a game when it's been a long time since we last played it. With that in mind - no pun intended - here are five ways that we commonly misremember basketball video games whenever we're discussing them.

[Andrew]

The Friday Five: 5 Lost Saves I'm Tempted to Reboot

Decades of basketball gaming has resulted in far too many of my saves being lost. Sometimes it's due to unfortunate technical issues, but all too often, I've made the mistake of believing that I was done with a particular game and carelessly discarded those files. As I've come to realise - especially with my preference for retro basketball gaming in recent years - I'm actually quite likely to revisit old favourites and make them a part of my rotation once again! To that point, it's a shame that I can't resume those lost Season, Franchise, and Dynasty saves when I dust off classic titles.

Of course, while the original saves may be lost, the ideas live on! With that in mind, while recovering those lost saves is highly unlikely unless I discover some backups somewhere - and trust me, I've already looked - I can always re-create them. Now that I've made my return to franchise gaming and reignited my passion for playing through seasons, I'm open to making that something I do with any old favourites that I end up getting hooked on. Sure, it wouldn't be a true continuation of those lost saves, and it'd be tough to truly re-create the magic of the original experiences. I do think it'd be a lot of fun, though! With that being said, I'm quite tempted to reboot these five lost saves.

[Andrew]

The Friday Five: 5 Comebacks That Would've Been Fun To Play With (Part 5)

Seeing as how this is the fifth Friday Five article looking at comebacks that would've been fun to play with in video games, I've already covered some of the most notable examples. From prominent players whose attempts to make it back to the league came up short, to Legends who were close to donning another uniform before opting to stay retired, to vague interest that ultimately didn't amount to anything, there have been some fascinating stories of comebacks that could've been fun to see in real life, and a blast to play with on the virtual hardwood as well.

For Part 5, I'm doing something a little different. These are still comebacks that were at the very least rumoured or hinted at - I'm not just making up fictional examples - and they'd make for fun scenarios in video games. However, they're not as serious as the previous stories. When it comes to these potential comebacks, it's more a case of them being fanciful thoughts by the players in question, or there's not much evidence that a return was ever truly close to being a reality. Indeed, in one case, it's extremely clear that it wasn't actually happening! Nevertheless, it's still entertaining to look back and wonder What If, and perhaps even customise rosters to set up these scenarios.

[Andrew]

The Friday Five: 5 Awesome Basketball Video Game Boxes

For those of us in countries that celebrate the holiday, December 26th is Boxing Day. The day isn't about the sport of boxing - as Maxwell Q. Klinger humorously thought in an episode of M*A*S*H - but rather was originally about donating gifts to those in need. These days, it's more of an extension of Christmas celebrations, though here in Australia it also means Test cricket, a yacht race, and sales similar to Black Friday in the United States. With all of that being said, what kind of basketball gaming-related topic would be relevant for me to discuss today?

Why, basketball video game boxes, of course! Alright, that's a little cheesy, but cool video game boxes from the heyday of physical media can be as nostalgic as the games that they contained. Moreover, countless video game boxes - basketball or otherwise - have been opened on Christmas Day, or during Boxing Day gift exchanges. Please note that I'm not just talking about covers here. That's certainly a part of what makes basketball video game boxes awesome, but there's also the other box art including the previews on the back, as well as other fun design elements. I'm not saying these are necessarily the best basketball video game boxes, but they are some of my favourites.

[mp3]

Great article idea Andrew and iam not sure what parts of the world got Total nba but here's a picture of the case.

[Andrew]

Looks like it was the PAL regions that got it. Not sure why they renamed it from NBA ShootOut for us, but Total NBA is undoubtedly the most delightfully 90s name!

Wish I had the rubber ball case rather than the generic replacement one that my second-hand copy came in!

[mp3]

Unfortunately the name didn't live up to the game as nba live 97 was far greater imo

[Andrew]

Agreed. They're interesting to revisit, but NBA Live was undoubtedly king at that point in time.

[Andrew]

The Friday Five: 5 Minimalist Modding Challenges

Although modding has obviously been a big part of what we do here at the NLSC since we were founded - and therefore something we care about - at the end of the day it's meant to be fun. If I may step on my soapbox for a moment, people chasing clout and turning the hobby into a source of income has unfortunately led to the loss of some of the charm and spirit that made our modding community so special. For that reason, I greatly appreciate the people who do still adhere to those old principles of making great mods freely available to everyone, and finding joy in creating them.

Therefore, in the spirit of having fun with modding, I'd like to propose an idea to our community: minimalist modding challenges! As I've previously discussed, minimalist modding can take many forms. While huge, comprehensive projects that are accurate down to the last detail will always be impressive, we can really spice up games with small mods that nevertheless make a significant change or improvement. With that in mind, I think it could be a fun challenge for modders to attempt minimalist modding projects based on prompts and parameters that test the limits of their creativity, and result in some cool mods to play with. Here are five suggestions that come to mind.

[RayRay_953]

Good read! As someone making roster adjustments myself, there can be a great base to work with but it definitely can hit hard once you run into those challenges. There could be instances of a college/high school/country not being available for a player so you're forced to pick an alternative. You also won't be able to edit historical records for players or teams which can potentially provide statistical overlap during season mode simulations. This is prevalent in MyNBA when filling in players 2K doesn't have the rights to. Obviously the likenesses of players such as Charles Barkley and Reggie Miller aren't used in a modern 2K game but their historical records are! You can easily fill them into the rosters without a problem but it could be quite jarring once you realize there could be two different instances of that player's records in your simulation since the created players are different from the internal text strings!

[Andrew]

The Friday Five: 5 Interactive Areas Before The Neighborhood

I don't enjoy feeling cynical about basketball video games, or any of my hobbies and interests for that matter. Some might argue that cynicism and experience go hand-in-hand - there's a scene from the old Dilbert animated series that suggests as such - but I'd like to think that we're not doomed to become Debbie Downers about our favourite things! With that being said, it's impossible not to notice when game design is lacking in goodwill and incorporating greedy recurrent revenue mechanics, or is frustrating and problematic in some other way.

It's why I've always had my reservations about The Neighborhood (and subsequently The City) in MyCAREER. In some ways it's interesting and immersive to have an open world to explore, but as I've explained, it's not necessarily a good fit for the genre. More to the point, once you look beyond the creativity of the concept, you can see how it pushes advertising and recurrent revenue mechanics on gamers, while also padding out playtime. It's a shame that it's so cynically corporate, because there was a time when interactive areas in basketball games were a fun idea. To that end, here are five interactive areas that preceded The Neighborhood that were definitely cool to see.

[Andrew]

The Friday Five: 5 Useful Hacks in Basketball Games

Although "hacks" and "hacking" are terms that have come to be associated with acts that are malicious or unscrupulous uses of technology, they also refer to inelegant yet quick, creative, and effective solutions in programming. Indeed, Al Lowe - the creator of Leisure Suit Larry - described the method of using one background picture and four mostly transparent cells to create the bamboo maze in Leisure Suit Larry 3 as being his favourite hack. Ironically, this means that while many people disdain the term "life hacks", it's actually using "hack" in a similar context to software development!

To that point, modding involves hacks; not just the process of breaking into the game files and altering them, but cobbling together solutions utilising functionality that was intended for developer use, or in a way that was otherwise unintended. This list of the most useful hacks in basketball video games is a mixture of values we discovered we could change to mod or unlock content, and hidden or unadvertised functionality that we can make use of. To that end, we could certainly debate as to whether all of them strictly qualify as hacks, but there's no doubt that they were useful! And so, without any further ado, here are five ways that we've been able to cleverly tinker with games.

[Andrew]

The Friday Five: 5 Realistic Moments That Are Difficult to Represent

It's stating the obvious, but we want to see realism in sim basketball games. Or do we? For many years, gamers enjoyed seeing NBA Live and later NBA 2K becoming deeper and more realistic virtual basketball experiences, but there has been some backlash in recent years. A vocal contingent of gamers - especially those in the online scene - have expressed a desire to see NBA 2K implement mechanics that are more about reflexes and competitive stick skills than realism. The word "arcade" is often used here, though I'd suggest it's really more about a casual approach to sim.

Of course, it's not just competitive online gamers and more casual hoops gamers who have quibbles with realistic moments in sim titles. Even dedicated simheads that are keen on seeing as much realism as possible have come to realise that this also means results that aren't necessarily desirable. I speak from experience here! From outcomes that defy our expectations as gamers, to the concept of reality at times being stranger than fiction, it can be difficult for sim games to represent realistic moments in a way that's satisfying and enjoyable. It's a challenge for developers, and as these examples demonstrate, sometimes a few understandable breaks from reality may be in order.

[Andrew]

The Friday Five: 5 Underappreciated Improvements

Basketball video games have come a long way, in ways that are extremely obvious. Technological improvements have allowed them to look more realistic, include more modes, content, and features, and generally achieve more accuracy throughout the years. However, the little things do matter, and often go a long way in making games more enjoyable. Of course, sometimes the big improvements are underappreciated as well, particularly if we focus on their potential drawbacks rather than how they've benefitted the genre.

If nothing else, some milestone improvements are underappreciated because they've been a part of basketball video games for so long, leading us to simply expect to see them and thus take them for granted. As such, I'd like to spotlight five improvements that I believe are underappreciated these days. Sure, they've become standard features so they're not necessarily exciting anymore, and it's not as though we need to grovel in gratitude. Nevertheless, they still deserve recognition for improving the games and pushing them forward. As someone who has been playing basketball games since the 90s, I'd suggest that these five improvements are among the most underappreciated.