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 my basketball gaming has increasingly involved hitting the streets to virtually hoop.
One of the most valuable life lessons I’ve learned is the importance of remaining open-minded, trying new things, and being willing to step outside your comfort zone. As someone who was a picky eater growing up, it’s been a delight to give new cuisine a chance, and discover that I have a taste for foods I was once intimidated by. Meeting new friends has introduced me to hobbies, interests, and experiences that I might not have tried otherwise. As for basketball gaming, I’ve been able to shed brand loyalty and established habits to find new retro kicks, and different ways of enjoying them.
Case in point: my recent appreciation for virtually balling in the streets! There’s plenty of irony here. First of all, playful jabs at JaoSming and his enthusiasm for Blacktop mode were running gags on old episodes of the NLSC Podcast, yet here I am enjoying the type of virtual streetball gameplay that he championed! Second, I’ve been highly critical of NBA Live’s focus on The Streets, particularly in NBA Live 19, so the last thing I expected was to get hooked on the Pro-Am Tour in NBA Live 18. I do still stand by many of my previous criticisms, but like a dish I swore I’d never eat, I’ve developed a taste for – with apologies to the Doobie Brothers – takin’ it to the streets.
I should clarify that I’ve never hated Blacktop or any other streetball-oriented mode in basketball video games, nor the real thing. I’ve traditionally been a bigger fan of the NBA’s style of play, and thus gameplay and modes based on it, but I’ve never thought that streetball had no place in gaming, or that people who preferred it were somehow wrong. I also played pick-up with friends and schoolmates growing up in addition to organised ball in the local junior league, so I’m not snobby about streetball. In video games though, I’ve preferred playing with NBA teams, fulfilling my GM fantasies with franchise play, and stepping into an NBA player’s Air Jordans in career modes.
I’m still interested in those modes of course, but I also have plenty of experience with them. They’re familiar and reliably fun, but not necessarily fresh. Considering that my retro gaming in 2024 has often been about The Road Not Taken, it makes sense that that includes taking the virtual basketball action to the streets. Again, I’ve done that in the most literal way with my NBA Live 18 kick, which has involved playing through The Streets Pro-Am Tour and the famous venues therein. However, I’ve also been compelled to play through 24/7 mode in NBA 2K6 and NBA 2K7, revisit and review Street Hoops, dust off NBA Street Homecourt, and yes, play the odd Blacktop game.
Obviously, there are familiar elements here, particularly with 24/7 and the Pro-Am Tour. I’ve been an avid MyCAREER gamer since NBA 2K13, so locking on an avatar that I’m levelling up is a style of play that I’m well-acquainted with. Of course, there are plenty of differences too, so many of the aspects I usually enjoy about basketball gaming aren’t present. The games aren’t always full court or 5-on-5, and aren’t played with regular rules. Depending on the mode and game, the players may not be wearing NBA uniforms. There’s no commentary, except perhaps a hype man on the sidelines. I’m not playing through the NBA schedule, or role-playing as an NBA player or GM.
Once again, I love all of that stuff in basketball video games, as it creates a really immersive experience. At the same time however, it’s been refreshing to play a different style of basketball, without all of the usual NBA branding and broadcast trappings. I’ve never been one to turn off the commentary even when it starts getting repetitive, but I’ve come to find the vibe and atmosphere of The Streets in NBA Live 18 just as appealing as authentic TV-style presentation. I wouldn’t say I prefer it, but there’s something so enjoyable about virtually hooping with nothing but the sounds of the players, and the crowd’s cheers, applause, and other reactions to spectacular plays.
It doesn’t feel right to describe it as balling without distractions, as that suggests that commentary, arena sounds, and everything else about NBA gameplay, is somehow unwelcome. That definitely isn’t the case, as it’s replicating a form of basketball that I’ve long enjoyed (my gripes with the modern NBA aside). There’s serenity when you take it to the streets, though; hooping without all the NBA hoopla, if you will. I don’t want to suggest that streetball and pick-up games are a purer form of the sport than the world’s premier professional basketball league, as that would be foolishly elitist. As with sim and arcade basketball video games, it’s just whatever I’m in the mood for!
Sometimes, I want to be reminded of films like White Men Can’t Jump, or the AND 1 Mixtape Tour. Since some of the gameplay is taking place indoors, it also brings to mind legendary scrimmages such as the one the Dream Team had in July 1992, which Michael Jordan described as the best game he’d ever played in. Indeed, I was moved to re-create that game in NBA 2K6 while dabbling with some minimalist modding! Loading screens in the Pro-Am Tour share stories of NBA players rocking up to The Drew and other famous pro-am leagues, and turning in amazing performances in very competitive games. I love the NBA, but it’s not the only place for great basketball.
To that point, taking it the streets in video games places us in iconic locations for hoops, from King/Drew Magnet High School in Los Angeles, to Cloverdale in Baltimore, to New York’s famous Holcombe Rucker Park. As I noted in my Street Hoops retrospective, venues that were once a huge part of the scene, such as the now-closed Run N’ Shoot in Atlanta, have also been immortalised in video games. It’s been a treat to see NBA arenas replicated with increasing authenticity over the years, but even going back to the sixth generation, some of these prominent pick-up, pro-am, and streetball locations have been impressively re-created in painstaking detail.
Mind you, as special as it is to have those legendary real venues in basketball video games, the fictional ones can be just as exciting. While some of them are obviously modelled on real places, modes like Street, Blacktop, and 24/7 in NBA 2K, 1-on-1 in NBA Live, and practice modes in both series, have provided artists the opportunity to really get creative. Urban and beachfront parks, aircraft hangars, all manner of gyms, and even farmyards and suburban driveways, have been places where we can virtually hoop over the years. I just wish that NBA Live 10 had an offline version of adidas LIVE Run, so that we could still use The Hangar for more than just shooting around!
After all, one of my favourite aspects of The Streets in NBA Live 18 has been that the Pro-Am Tour is a single player mode, which notably still functions in the wake of the servers being shut down. That brings us to the elephant in the room: Park in NBA 2K. I’m not actually anti-Park, the same way I’m not anti-online play. In fact, while I was jumping online as part of my MyCAREER gaming, I would sometimes venture into the Park (or Playground, or MyPARK, or whatever it’s happened to be called). It’s not the concept that I dislike, but rather the meta-gaming, the cheesy exploits, and the grind (or cost) that’s conducive to a competitive avatar. Hate that, love the streetball!
Also, while I don’t approve of the overall effect that the open world approach has had on MyCAREER, I can appreciate the creativity in the designs of the various iterations of The Neighborhood and The City. Is it absolutely necessary for a basketball video game to have a cruise ship setting? Definitely not, but it’s a fun environment to hoop in! There’s a reason that classic parks have returned as events in NBA 2K25. Park gamers took to Sunset Beach, Rivet City, or Old Town, for aesthetic preference as much as anything else. Again, there are drawbacks to forcing an MMORPG-style open world into a basketball video game, but I can’t deny the beauty of the scenery.
It’s about the on-court action at the end of the day of course, and that has been a big draw for me this year. Yes, I love playing with authentic NBA rules and formats, and working my way through full 82-game seasons on 12-minute quarters. That’s always going to be a major part of my basketball gaming. However, I’ve enjoyed the ability to play shorter, quicker games, by taking it to the streets. Sometimes I’m not in the mood for a full-length game, or don’t have time, or just want to fill half an hour or so. The Pro-Am Tour, 24/7, or a few games of Street/Blacktop, have been perfect for that. I’ve been able to dedicate a number of sessions to completing the Pro-Am Tour and 24/7.
And, once again, it’s been a change of pace. Going back to my picky eater analogy, just as it’s been fulfilling to be able to suggest different restaurants to friends, or not be intimidated and unsure when they pick a particular cuisine, I’ve enjoyed finding something new that I can sink my teeth into in basketball video games. I don’t regret not doing so earlier. I had to get to this point, where I desired a change and a wider array of choices whenever I game. As I noted when I compared my gaming habits to Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken”, outside of modes that are no longer available due to server shutdowns, my ability to circle back leaves me with little to lament.
Besides, this is the kind of variety that I loved growing up. In the school holidays, my cousin Clinton and I would go from game to game, from activity to activity, however we saw fit. We’d watch an NBA game or highlight tape, go outside to shoot around on my backyard hoop, and then come back inside again. Once we got into pro wrestling, it was also on the menu. We’d bounce from one of our NBA Live seasons to a few games of NBA Jam Tournament Edition, and mix it up with a wrestling game, Grand Theft Auto, Ocarina of Time, or whatever took our fancy. In many ways, these are not new habits I’m developing. I’m just rediscovering old ones, following a lengthy rut.
At the same time, it’s also getting to experience something that’s new and fresh to me. It’s a little like finally checking out a TV series that everyone’s been raving about and insisting that you watch; incidentally, for me that was Game of Thrones, four seasons in. No, you don’t get to claim OG fan status, or brag about being ahead of the curve, but that’s not important to me. It’s just about trying something new, and enjoying it! Of course, just as I had to admit to everyone that talked up Game of Thrones that it was amazing – to that point in time, anyway – I have to give JaoSming credit and eat some humble pie over my jabs. Playing in the streets can be just as fun as franchise!
Well, I may not actually go that far personally, but you know what? I’m just as likely to play both nowadays! As for games such as Street Hoops and its spiritual sequel AND 1 Streetball, they’re admittedly not the strongest releases, but I do enjoy them enough to fire them up every now and again, and chip away at their campaign modes. The different atmosphere and style of play is incentive enough to work with some of the clunky mechanics and controls. I mean, my Simpsons fandom is enough to make me nostalgic for Bart vs. the Space Mutants, so I’m not opposed to making the best of a bad situation! Also, AND 1 Streetball and Street Hoops aren’t nearly that broken!
Of course, as with NBA-oriented modes and gameplay, I’ll be mostly taking it to the streets in stronger titles that I enjoy far more on the sticks. It’s been an unexpected but certainly welcome part of my retro basketball gaming in 2024, and I have no doubt that it’ll continue. It’s been fascinating to see how developers have brought streetball, pick-up, and pro-am to the virtual hardwood and blacktop, and the creative concepts they’ve experimented with, such as gameplay modifiers in 24/7, and the trick-based controls in Black Ops Entertainment’s games. As long as there’s no pay-to-enjoy, I’m as eager to hoop in The Streets as I am The League, in NBA Live 18 or otherwise.
The post Monday Tip-Off: Takin’ It To The Streets appeared first on NLSC.
