WeвЂ™re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go upвЂ¦itвЂ™s Monday Tip-Off! Start your week here at the NLSC with a feature thatвЂ™s dedicated to opinions, commentary, and other fun stuff related to NBA Live, NBA 2K, and other basketball video games. If you were an NBA fan living in Australia, Europe, or Asia in the early 2000s, thereвЂ™s a chance that you made at least a few purchases from PonTel. They also have a large library of classic NBA games, which was of particular interest to me when I discovered them. So, what is PonTel? TheyвЂ™re a licensed distributor of complete games for US sports leagues, namely the NBA, NFL, and MLB, as well as college basketball and football.

Of course, they donвЂ™t really need to, given the access to sports in the US and Canada. After all, their products are not available in those countries, as they arenвЂ™t licensed to distribute there. With that being said, if you live in the United States or Canada, youвЂ™re probably not familiar with PonTel. However, I trust that most of us are basketballs fans with a keen interest in the NBA, so I believe that youвЂ™ll find it relevant. IвЂ™m shifting focus away from the virtual hardwood here, and while I have done that before in Wayback Wednesday, on this occasion itвЂ™s tough to relate it back to video games. This week, IвЂ™m reminiscing about buying NBA tapes and DVDs from PonTel. YouвЂ™ll also find old NLSC editorials re-published with added commentary, and other flashback content. Check in every Wednesday for retrospectives and other features on older versions of NBA Live, NBA 2K, and old school basketball video games in general. This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! In this feature, we dig into the archives, look back at the history of basketball gaming, and indulge in some nostalgia. With that being said, these are the five biggest downsides of retro basketball gaming, in my view. As much as I love retro basketball gaming, IвЂ™d be lying if I said that IвЂ™m always pleasantly surprised when I fire up a game I greatly enjoyed when it was first released, or that absolutely any old title can re-enter my rotation.

Even if the core experience does hold up, there are other drawbacks that arise from servers being shutdown, leading to functionality and content being lost. Indeed, because theyвЂ™re aiming to replicate reality, sim games in particular can age very poorly. Retro gaming isnвЂ™t for everyone, and basketball titles are no different. If youвЂ™re not enjoying the latest NBA 2K and youвЂ™re not beholden to online play and live service content, by all means revisit an older game and see if you still enjoy it! We also need to can the misguided notion that they canвЂ™t be any good because new is always better. There should be no stigma about going back to an old favourite. IвЂ™m all for normalising retro basketball gaming in addition to enjoying new releases. Since I took a look at the best parts of retro basketball gaming last week, itвЂ™s only fair that I follow up with the downsides.

This weekвЂ™s Five examines the five worst parts of retro basketball gaming. The feature is presented as either a list of five items, or in the form of a Top 5 countdown. Welcome to this weekвЂ™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 thatвЂ™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.

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