The Friday Five: 5 Ways to Improve MyNBA Eras

(Posting because I was out of town last weekend, and forgot to update the thread when I got back)

October 3rd, 2014: My To Do List for NBA 2K15

In just a few days, we’ll finally be able to get our hands on NBA 2K15. Well, those of us outside of North America will actually have to wait an extra couple of days, but in any event, the game is almost here! I don’t think I’m going out on a limb when I say that most people are really looking forward to this year’s release, and are very eager to try out all of the great things that we’ve seen, heard, and read about. From gameplay to game modes, you can be sure that we’ll be scrutinising – and hopefully, enjoying – everything on offer in NBA 2K15.

But, where to begin? I personally have a bit of a routine and a few points of interest that I plan on checking out as soon as I get my hands on the game, which I thought I’d talk a little about in this week’s Friday Five. So, without any further ado, here’s my NBA 2K15 To Do list!

(And now, this week's article.)

October 10th, 2014: 5 Early Impressions of NBA 2K15

So, I finally have my hands on NBA 2K15, albeit a little later than expected. My copy for PlayStation 4 is still in the mail, and the PC version didn’t unlock until earlier today, which was a day later than originally advertised for Aussie gamers. Nevertheless, I do have it now, and I was able to spend some time playing it today. As such, I thought that I’d offer up some of my early impressions.

As I mentioned in last week’s Friday Five, I had a “To Do” list in mind for when NBA 2K15 arrived. I’ve more or less ticked off everything on that list, though I’ll naturally be diving deeper into each of those areas in the coming days and weeks. For now though, here are my thoughts on NBA 2K15, after the first few hours of playing the game

October 17th, 2014: Top 5 Frustrating Moments in Basketball Video Games

If you’re reading this article, it’s probably because you love basketball video games. If you don’t, then the NLSC probably isn’t the website for you, because that’s pretty much what we’re all about. However, no matter how much you love getting into some virtual hoops, there will be times when you find yourself getting really frustrated with basketball video games.

These are the moments where you have to fight the urge to toss the controller across the room. These are the moments where you shut down the game and don’t touch it again until the next day. These are the moments where you switch to a first person shooter or a button mashing beat ‘em up to blow off some steam. These are the Top 5 Frustrating Moments in Basketball Video Games.

October 24th, 2014: My To Do List for NBA Live 15

Putting aside the EA Access trial on Xbox One, NBA Live 15 is finally out next week: October 28th in North America, and October 30th here in Australia. Just as I compiled a To Do list for NBA 2K15 shortly before it was released, I also have a few things in mind to do as soon as I get my hands on this year’s instalment of NBA Live. So – just in case you were still wondering where I’m going with this – that’s what I’m talking about in this week’s Friday Five.

I expect that there’ll be some overlap with my list for NBA 2K15, as the key points of interest are fairly similar, and I have something of a routine that I follow when I’m playing a new basketball game for the first time. So, without any further ado, here is my To Do List for NBA Live 15!

October 31st, 2014: 5 Early Impressions of NBA Live 15

NBA Live 15 is available now – on shelves and in digital format – and in the short time that it’s been out, gamers have been sharing their views on this year’s release from EA Sports. On the whole, the reception seems to be more positive than last year, with a lot of gamers feeling that while there’s still much work to be done, NBA Live 15 represents a noteworthy step up from NBA Live 14.

Personally, I’m inclined to agree with that sentiment. I certainly have my criticisms, and would like to see continued improvement in all areas of the game, but I’ve also enjoyed my time with it so far, and have seen quite a few things that I do like. I’ll be sharing plenty of detailed thoughts on NBA Live 15 in the coming weeks, but for this week’s Friday Five, I thought that I’d discuss some of my initial impressions of this year’s game. So, without any further ado, here are my thoughts on NBA Live 15 after the first few days of playing it.

November 7th, 2014: 5 Thoughts After Week 1 of the 2015 NBA Season

A new NBA season is underway, and the 2015 campaign has already produced a handful of spectacular highlights, as well as some compelling storylines. I’m following the action with NBA League Pass Broadband this year, and having caught three of the Chicago Bulls’ first five games, along with some other games that piqued my interest, I’m definitely enjoying my subscription so far.

The regular season, as it is so often said, is a marathon, not a sprint. There are many twists and turns along the way, and what seems like a big deal in November may well be long forgotten by the time March and April are upon us. Nevertheless, I have a few thoughts on the first week of the 2015 season, which I thought I’d share in this week’s Friday Five. Without any further ado, let’s tip things off.

November 14th, 2014: 5 Things You Should Know About Making Roster Updates

If you’ve been around the community for a long time, you’re probably aware that I’m not as active as I once was as far as patching is concerned. While the temptation is always there to get creative and put something out for the community, I’m finding myself with less time and motivation to work on any patching projects. As far as the content I’m currently producing is concerned, I’m enjoying co-hosting the NLSC Podcast and writing this column every week; compared to patching, I find it a lot easier to make time for them in between my other NLSC duties (and of course, my real life commitments and responsibilities).

However, the temptation to patch is sometimes difficult to resist, and as you may have seen, I’ve just released a new set of bootup screen updates for NBA Live 2005 through NBA Live 08. I do like the idea of releasing an update or two every now and again, though that of course leads to the question, “Why not make new roster updates every once in a while?” Well, there are a few reasons why I’m not doing that. In the interest of giving everyone an honest answer, I thought that I’d offer an insight into the development of the NBA Live roster updates, and why I’ve had to step away from them. Here are 5 Things You Should Know About Making Roster Updates.

Agree on almost all of that. Well that and mild support, I guess. Sometimes I feel crap continuing my roster since almost nobody ever comments on it, probably because they don't know how many hours I've spent implementing things.

November 21st, 2014: 5 Ways You Can Help The NLSC

For those of you who may not be aware, the NLSC has been around for a little over eighteen years. While I’d like to think that those of us who have been a part of the site’s staff over the years have done our part to keep the NLSC alive and kicking for close to two decades now, we certainly wouldn’t be here if not for the support and contributions of our visitors and community regulars. As far as gaming communities are concerned, basketball games are unquestionably a niche interest, but we’re proud to provide facilities and a home for basketball gamers from around the world.

From time to time, members of the community reach out to me and ask how they can support or help the site. I certainly appreciate those offers, and welcome any constructive contributions that people are willing to make. There are times when we’ll look to add new members to the NLSC Team, but even if you’re not on staff, there are definitely ways that you can help us thrive and grow. In this week’s Friday Five, I’m outlining some of the ways that you can help lend a hand around the NLSC.

November 28th, 2014: 5 Things I Loved About My NBA Live 06 Dynasty

For this week’s Friday Five, I was originally going to talk about some of my favourite trades or signings that I’ve made in basketball video games. However, most of the ones that spring immediately to mind are from my Chicago Bulls Dynasty game in NBA Live 06. With that in mind, I decided to save the topic of memorable deals for another day, and instead reminisce about what made that Bulls Dynasty so enjoyable for me.

As I’ve mentioned before, NBA Live 06 is one of my all-time favourite basketball video games, so I guess it’s only natural that my Bulls Dynasty became one of my all-time favourite basketball video game experiences. But what was it that held my interest, and made it such a fun Dynasty to play through? Without any further ado, here are five things that I loved about my Chicago Bulls Dynasty in NBA Live 06.

December 5th, 2014: Weird Player Ratings in Basketball Video Games

From the moment that basketball video games began getting deeper and more sophisticated, properly representing a player’s abilities, skill level, and playing style through their ratings and other attributes became an important area of focus. Both EA and 2K invest a lot of time and effort – and in the case of EA’s partnership with Synergy Sports, money – in making sure that their official updates are detailed, and that player ratings are kept up to date and accurate throughout the entire league.

In years gone by however, and especially before regular official roster updates became a thing, it wasn’t uncommon to see some unusual ratings in the default rosters. Even games like NBA Jam, with its simplified and boosted player ratings, produced some noteworthy oddities. So, for this week’s Friday Five, I’m taking a look at some of the weirdest player ratings that I can recall in various basketball video games.

December 12th, 2014: 5 Historical BIG Moments I’d Like To See In NBA Live

BIG Moments have only been in two iterations of NBA Live to date, but I’m definitely hoping that the mode becomes a staple of the series, as it’s quickly become one of my favourite aspects of the game. I’m liking the improvements and additions that have been made in NBA Live 15, such as the hot spot challenges, scenarios where we’re invited to re-write history, and the wider variety of game situations. If there’s another element I’d like to see added to BIG Moments however, it would be historical challenges.

Now, this would be tricky to pull off, as it would require EA Sports to secure the likeness rights of various retired players. Additionally, the player that I’d most like to see represented in historical BIG Moments – Michael Jordan – is currently signed to an exclusive deal with Visual Concepts, which makes his inclusion in NBA Live impossible. However, let’s put all of that aside for a moment, and pretend that anything and everything is possible. With that in mind, here are the five historical BIG Moments that I’d like to see in NBA Live.

December 19th, 2014: 5 Buzzwords We Need To Retire (And Why)

In this week’s Friday Five, I’m taking a look at some buzzwords that have entered common usage within the basketball gaming community. My feeling is that these words do nothing for our credibility as gamers and consumers, and only serve to stifle our ability to properly evaluate basketball games. These words are ill-defined and overused, to the point where they fail to be constructive, or in some cases, accurate.

I’d like to clarify that I’m not writing this article in an attempt to suck up to any video game developers, or indiscriminately dismiss criticism of the games themselves. That doesn’t do us any favours as consumers. However, I also believe that as a community, we should pride ourselves on having expert knowledge of basketball games, as well as the ability to properly critique and provide constructive feedback on them. To that end, here are five buzzwords that I think we need to retire, or at the very least, restrict our usage of.

December 26th, 2014: 2014 Year In Review

Another year is almost over, and with next Friday being January 2nd, this week marks the final edition of The Friday Five for 2014. It’s certainly been a fun and interesting year here at the NLSC, so I wanted to use this week’s column to reflect on the past twelve months, throw out a couple of “Best Of”/”Editor’s Picks” lists, and look ahead to what’s in store for 2015.

Before I go on, a big thank you to everyone who checks out The Friday Five each week, spreads the word about it on social media, and comments on the articles themselves. I enjoy writing the Five and (hopefully) giving you all something interesting and entertaining to read every week, so I really do appreciate your support of the feature. With that said, let’s get started with the Year In Review of 2014!

January 2nd, 2015: 5 Things I’ve Learned Running a Video Game Website

As we tip off a new year here at the NLSC, I still find myself in a somewhat reflective mood. As I said in my 2014 Year in Review, and a couple of times in my New Year’s messages, last year was a very good one for the site, and I’m looking forward to making 2015 even better. While preparing to do so, I naturally think back on we’ve done before: what worked and how we can make it better, as well as what hasn’t worked and how we can avoid it. That in turn got me thinking about some of the lessons that I’ve learned while running the NLSC.

So, before I get back to discussing basketball video games, compiling Top 5s, or giving opinions about the NBA, I thought I’d talk a little about some of the things that running the NLSC has taught me. I’d like to think that anyone else who’s looking to start some sort of online endeavour, be it a video gaming website, a YouTube series, or even a modding project, will be able to gain some knowledge and perspective from my experiences. Without any further ado, here are five things I’ve learned from running a video game website.

January 9th, 2015: 5 Reasons I Rarely Play Online

In years gone by, a few people have been upset that our Wishlists for NBA Live haven’t really paid much attention to online features. There are a couple of reasons for that: first of all, a lot of improvements to the online experience also fall under the category of gameplay fixes, and thus don’t bear repeating in another section of the Wishlist. Secondly, I have to admit that improvements related to online play don’t spring immediately to my mind, because I’m still mainly an offline player. As such, I encourage anyone who is primarily an online gamer to post their feedback, as it’s an area of the game that I’m prone to overlook.

Given the popularity of online play, the strong desire to see proper online leagues implemented, and the outcry when there was dissatisfaction over Crew Mode, I’m guessing the preference that I and many others still have for single player/offline play may be puzzling to a lot of online gamers. So, in this week’s Friday Five, I’m listing the five reasons that I rarely play online.

January 16th, 2015: 5 Ways Basketball Games Have Improved

Sports games with annual releases are an interesting beast. For developers, it’s a lot of pressure: a shorter development cycle than most video games, with a goal of putting out a release that doesn’t just seem like an expansion pack. For us gamers, especially those of us who do buy those games every year, we want to see significant progress, and not feel like we haven’t gotten value for our money. No release is perfect however, and disappointment often leads to a cynical belief that the games just aren’t showing any improvement.

The fact of the matter is, basketball video games have come a long way, and shown a great deal of improvement over the years. That’s not to say that EA Sports or Visual Concepts can rest on their laurels, or that either game is currently as close to perfection as we’d like, but the improvement over the years is certainly evident. So, in this week’s Friday Five, I’m taking a look at five ways that basketball games have improved.

January 23rd, 2015: 5 Ways Basketball Games Haven't Improved

Last week, I talked about the ways in which basketball video games have improved over the years. I still stand by that, and believe it to be true; beyond the advances in graphics and technology that have benefitted video games in general, basketball games have come a long way in replicating the sport. However, there are also still areas in which they leave something to be desired.

That’s what I’m taking a look at this week: five ways that basketball games haven’t improved, or at the very least, haven’t improved to the extent that we would like. They’re the nagging, lingering issues that I believe detract from games that we otherwise enjoy. Issues such as…

i Still think that the elite ft shooting method is the best of both worlds. The current method is just way too easy

I agree. For all the issues in Elite, that was actually a good idea and a concept I wouldn't mind EA revisiting. It didn't exactly work out for shooting jumpshots, but it works well for free throws.

I think if they combined the old 2k method with a right stick method that would give us the ability to miss on purpose in a certain area and make it more challenging. The old 2k method was using the pressure sensitive triggers to align left and right arrows to the center of the basket. Combine something similar to that with the right stick for power, this could give freethrows the challenge, control, and aiming for making or missing free throws.

I'm not sure I'd find that appealing, as it sounds a bit clunky.

Well then they can let us choose whether to miss long, left, right, or short with the left stick in conjunction with right stick shooting for accuracy. That way you would also have to have an accurate"miss" to hit the spot you want in order for it to bounce off the rim towards a teammate. They could also have freethrows decided by ratings with the button press instead of making it an option.

I thought that was a good option when they had the right stick shooting in NBA Live 07 and NBA Live 08; get the job done with the regular method, or leave it up to chance/ratings with the shoot button.

January 30th, 2015: 5 Reasons I’m Looking Forward to All-Star Weekend 2015

It’s been one of those weeks. Sometimes, I know exactly what I want to write about in the Friday Five. Other times, Friday rolls around and I’m scrambling for a topic as the deadline approaches. I mentioned my writer’s block to Arcane, and he suggested that I talk about what I’m looking forward to at the 2015 All-Star Weekend in New York. With the announcement of the All-Star starters and reserves, and the various All-Star Saturday Night participants, it does seem like a good time to talk about just that.

Truth be told, I am definitely looking forward to the 2015 All-Star Weekend. Some years are better than others, but I generally always enjoy the NBA’s midseason classic. I have a feeling that this could be one of the better All-Star Weekends, and not just because we’ve managed to avoid sleeves on the All-Star jerseys. Without any further ado, here are five reasons why I’m looking forward to All-Star Weekend 2015.