NBA Courtside 2 Featuring Kobe Bryant (N64)

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Retrology
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NBA Courtside 2 Featuring Kobe Bryant (N64)

Postby Retrology » October 29th, 2016, 7:07 pm

Basketball season is here again, so I prepared myself by 1) watching the 2015-16 Cavaliers 2) purchasing NBA Courtside 2 for the N64.

First of all, I enjoy the first Courtside, but this game is a lot better. The Arcade Mode is the only reason you should have this game. It's not that the rest of the modes are bad, but rather you really only need to play the arcade mode to have a load of fun.

It's like NBA Jam, with huge gravity defying dunks and 5-10-15 point icons to help you score 200 points a game!!! It's not quite as good as NBA Jam on the Wii, but it's pretty close. The announcers are so bad they're funny ("That must've looked like a good shot...to *him*" "Maybe he needs glasses" on horrible shot takes)

Conclusion, NBA Courtside 2 on the N64 is a hell of a lot of fun.

CharlieR
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Re: NBA Courtside 2 Featuring Kobe Bryant (N64)

Postby CharlieR » November 15th, 2016, 8:19 am

Being a huge basketball fan, I play this game every once in a while. The announcers are great, and the character faces shown during the starting lineups are surprisingly realistic.

Arcade mode is the only one worth playing as far as a regulation basketball game, but there is also a three point contest, where you can choose anyone. It's always cool to put a 7 footer in the three point contest. I love basketball games from this era, including the NBA live games on ps1.

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Retro STrife
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Re: NBA Courtside 2 Featuring Kobe Bryant (N64)

Postby Retro STrife » January 29th, 2020, 11:02 am

I've had NBA Courtside 2 kicking around for years, but I had never played it. I knew it for it's reputation .. one of the best basketball games out there when it released in 1999. That same month the first NBA 2K was released for the Dreamcast, and ever since then NBA 2K has always been my go-to series for simulation-style basketball.

But the tragedy this past weekend hit pretty hard, and getting around to finally playing NBA Courtside 2 seemed right. I'll say this, for 1999 standards, the game still holds up pretty well. I only played one game in simulation mode, but I was impressed and had a fun time teaming up with Kobe and Shaq. I suck at defense, can't stop anyone.. and I haven't decided yet if that's my fault or the game's fault. Now I hope to try the arcade mode next. From my game last night:

Kobe 1.jpg
Kobe 1.jpg (13.98 KiB) Viewed 1698 times
Kobe 2.jpg
Kobe 2.jpg (18.6 KiB) Viewed 1698 times

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Retro STrife
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Re: NBA Courtside 2 Featuring Kobe Bryant (N64)

Postby Retro STrife » January 29th, 2020, 11:18 am

By the way, as you might expect, prices have really shot up with this game. It was a common game going for $5 to $7 (loose) a week ago. Now you'll pay at least $20 to $25 for a loose cartridge, and I've even seen a couple crazier ebay listings ending up towards $50. Prices might even still be rising. In terms of money $20 isn't a huge jump, but that is a huge 500% jump in terms of percentage. Pretty insane.. that must be one of the highest percentage jumps in a one week span that we've ever seen in the price of a retro game. While deaths can impact prices with music/movies/memorabilia/etc., it's almost unheard of to see a death impacting video games prices, at least to this degree. Anyway I point that out because I found it interesting from a historical perspective, but also because it speaks volumes about what people are feeling from this tragedy.

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Retrology
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Re: NBA Courtside 2 Featuring Kobe Bryant (N64)

Postby Retrology » January 29th, 2020, 2:14 pm

Yeah I played this the day he tragically died as well. First game he scored 92 points, as was tradition. Just so surreal to be playing it considering Kobe's no longer with us. He was supposed to be a symbol of immortality, someone who'd live until he was old and gray, so him not even getting to that age was crushing.

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Retrology
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Re: NBA Courtside 2 Featuring Kobe Bryant (N64)

Postby Retrology » January 29th, 2020, 2:20 pm

Part of me also feels disgusted that they're using his death to rack up prices of this game. Seems like a gross example of exploitation if you ask me, but also a smart business move in the shadiest way possible I suppose.

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Retro STrife
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Re: NBA Courtside 2 Featuring Kobe Bryant (N64)

Postby Retro STrife » January 29th, 2020, 4:00 pm

Retrology wrote:Part of me also feels disgusted that they're using his death to rack up prices of this game. Seems like a gross example of exploitation if you ask me, but also a smart business move in the shadiest way possible I suppose.


I don't know, I don't see it that way I guess. It's just supply and demand at work. It used to be $5, because it was a common sports title and old sports games aren't usually in high demand. But suddenly demand is huge, because Kobe fans want the game now, so people will pay 5x as much.

If retail stores or shady sellers were artificially creating the high prices, it might be an issue. But in this case, it's actually buyers that are causing the huge price increase. The alternative is for sellers to just keep the price at $5, out of respect for Kobe. But all that does is reward predatory buyers, who will scoop up all the supply. Suddenly, we have an opposite problem -- no supply of the game for people who actually want to play it.

That said, it does feel very sad that ebay listings of this game (and other Kobe merchandise) has jumped up in huge amounts since his passing. But that's always true when someone famous passes, so I try not to look at it that way.

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Matchstick
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Re: NBA Courtside 2 Featuring Kobe Bryant (N64)

Postby Matchstick » January 29th, 2020, 5:44 pm

Retro STrife wrote:While deaths can impact prices with music/movies/memorabilia/etc., it's almost unheard of to see a death impacting video games prices, at least to this degree. Anyway I point that out because I found it interesting from a historical perspective, but also because it speaks volumes about what people are feeling from this tragedy.

Michael Jackson's Moonwalker comes to mind. The game always seemed to be floating around in the "$10 or less" bins while I was frequenting the neighborhood game shops in my younger years. Actually saw it in a local shop, complete in the original case, for $10 about six months before MJ's passing. Woooof, did those prices ever spike. Not only that, but I saw more copies of the game show up in stores in the months after his death than I had ever seen in my entire life. People were definitely trying to unload them and cash in on the moment. While prices have come down a little bit since then, ten years or so ago, they were through the roof!

A lot of it has to do with how the celebrity passed. Kobe's death was tragic, as was Jackson's and Prince's. Bowie's, too, came as a surprise. Not all of them had a video game, of course, but there's always a bit of posthumous fanaticism that follows this sort of thing. Prices do tend to level out a bit after the moment passes, as well. For example, Ayrton Senna's death was tragic back in the day, but copies of Super Monaco GP II can currently be found at bargain-bin prices. It all just depends on the popularity of the celebrity and the manner of their death. Some are certainly more shocking than others.

If Michael Jordan dies of old age, I doubt that Jordan vs Bird, Chaos in the Windy City, or your old videotape of Space Jam will suddenly be a collector's item. Same goes for Mike Tyson and copies of Punch-Out!!, although that one has gotten pretty pricey in its own right as time's gone on. Still, that celebrity status definitely adds a bit of weight, and in the moment, people are prone to impulsive decisions and purchases. Just part of the coping process.

To everyone out there that's dropping $20 or so on this game so that they can relive some glory days with their buds, good for them. For those out there that are just looking to cash-in and profit off of others' periods of mourning, well... that's a whole other can of worms. But they're out there, of course.

I guess that's the best thing about eBay, particularly in situations like this. Yeah, prices may be inflated on certain items, but nobody's forcing you to buy them. That decision is yours and yours alone.

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Re: NBA Courtside 2 Featuring Kobe Bryant (N64)

Postby jon » January 29th, 2020, 9:25 pm

I’ll jump right into the arcade mode it sounds fabulous. It’s a little upsetting the regular mode doesn’t seem to be that good. The first Courtside was rather bland but not terrible. It’s funny but I have no interest in sports simulations anymore. I was so into them as a kid. Haven’t been digging sports games but I’ll pick it up

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Retro STrife
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Re: NBA Courtside 2 Featuring Kobe Bryant (N64)

Postby Retro STrife » January 30th, 2020, 10:37 am

Matchstick wrote:Michael Jackson's Moonwalker comes to mind. The game always seemed to be floating around in the "$10 or less" bins while I was frequenting the neighborhood game shops in my younger years. Actually saw it in a local shop, complete in the original case, for $10 about six months before MJ's passing. Woooof, did those prices ever spike. Not only that, but I saw more copies of the game show up in stores in the months after his death than I had ever seen in my entire life. People were definitely trying to unload them and cash in on the moment. While prices have come down a little bit since then, ten years or so ago, they were through the roof!


Yeah I was thinking of that one too. That's been one of the few deaths I can recall that was a similar level of mourning, and that happened to also have a retro video game tied to the person. According to Pricecharting.com, Moonwalker averaged $21 the month before MJ died in 2009, and jumped up to averaging $51 during the month after he died (though I'm sure it was even higher in the immediate weeks after).

https://www.pricecharting.com/game/sega ... moonwalker


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