Konami's Failed NBA Game

ESPN NBA 2Night 2002 was a flawed and mediocre NBA game. It had a decent franchise mode, but lackluster gameplay. The ESPN presentation was ahead of its time however, and this game's existance helped push EA and 2K to improve their NBA titles. But it was a commercial and critical faliure for Konami.
#retrospective #SOFTDRINKTV #game #review #sdtv

[@simiwade7773]

Never knew this game existed we had so many options in early 2000s in sports games

[@harrycartwright8286]

I actually played the hell outta this game very underrated

[@Fireslanga1]

Crazy time for gaming

[@buffbill]

@@Fireslanga1seriously i’m so glad we got to experience it

[@huntermeeks144]

Best time for sports games in my opinion

[@esaun999]

Stinks now a days where one company makes 1 sport game. No competition

[@gloamingoddish2878]

I've watched all your retro sports videos and man I will never get tired of how much love they put into the intros. I'm happy that I grew up in the era of sports games NFL Blitz on the N64 was my brother and I life blood.

[@SOFTDRINKTV]

For real. How do modern sports games not have anything close to these epic, cinematic intros?

[@KoolKeithProductions]

​@@SOFTDRINKTV SONG NAME AT 6:38 ???

[@shellztalk]

I use to actually like this game lol maybe because Tmac was on the cover

[@jaheimmoultrie7584]

@@SOFTDRINKTV i feel you.

[@redgr81]

love the forgotten sports games. great vids.

[@joshdeena5930]

I am loving the use of the game intros as the intros to the videos, really sets the scene

[@SFpurphaze]

I was 14 and a super heavy gamer and this game never came across my radar how the hell did i miss this one! Good shit fam another dope review

[@swagoneto7922]

Man I miss when sports games had these epic intros…Now all we get license agreements…

[@linchuankawa]

Konami made its last attempt with NBA Starting Five 2005, only available in Japan. I kept a copy of this game to this day. It's a massive upgrade in many areas, including some historical teams (my favourite 00-01 Lakers), very detailed player and arena likeness, they even featured signature jump-shots, on PS2. However, the gameplay was still bad, with disappointing animation and control feedback.

[@SOFTDRINKTV]

Oh wow I completely missed that. I see that it can be emulated, I might eventually do a video on it. Thanks for letting me know!

[@linchuankawa]

​@@SOFTDRINKTV I still picked NBA 2K5 as my favourite bball game in 2005, but I also kept SF2005 as part of my collection. I still sometimes play this game and marvel its beauty made possible on a PS2. The arena detail is especially accurate for the time, even 2K5 and Live 05 didn't pay that much attention to arena detail like SF2005.

[@SOFTDRINKTV]

Graphically it looks like an early PS3 game. Very impressive visually

[@AxlTheScourge]

NBA Courtside was a great series too very underrated

[@mymajc]

Wade courtside and loved it

[@linchuankawa]

Courtside 2002 had Kobe Bryant motion captured moves, including signature turnaround fadeaway.

[@AxlTheScourge]

@@linchuankawa loved the arcade mode and season that title music is fire

[@kingj521]

my dad use to be a tape librarian for the NBA from like 91 till 08 during the recession. and i remember this game quite fondly. the mechanics was janky as heck. but i really enjoyed the commentary.

[@ElementForLife78]

Yep I remember gameplay not great but commentary was 🔥🔥🔥

[@NWOWCW4Life1]

Love your documentaries for all these games and series. You do best with all your research and thoughts that you be doing so keep up the great work.

[@nonyabizz3533]

I love you

[@GabrielRodriguez-mc4me]

The point system in this game seems similar to the one Konami used for PES during this time period. PES was the one sports franchise Konami found success with. Any videos about its rise and fall in the future, perhaps?

[@SOFTDRINKTV]

For sure! It may be a while though, as I need to play a lot more of FIFA and PES to feel like I have an informed take

[@bjnt92281]

@@SOFTDRINKTV While doing that. Check out the MLS based that Konami also made around this time ESPN MLS Extratime 2002.

[@bobigghhb3]

How about a retrospective for NCAA Final Four 2002&2003 or one on 989 Sports Studios

[@XxXSpartan9664XxX]

Great vid as always. would love a Gretzky NHL 06 retrospective

[@jordanflores5687]

The intros to these games were always the best got you so hyped to play the game even got you hyped to drop the controller and go hoop something lacking from todays games variety and presentation

[@MrLaneSir]

I remember “In The Zone” back in the mid 1990s when PS1 N64 were the systems to play.

[@xbracket3735]

SOFTDRINK hittin us with some more fire content 🔥

[@johnathanprice4961]

SDTV Back Again With A Banger🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@auviesinclair7516]

Yo softdrink! Love watching all of your videos. They’re always very insightful and nostalgic. You ever play the mlb slugfest games? Those were my favorite back in the day (specifically MLB Slugfest Loaded) and I would love to see you do a retrospective video or something on that someday. 🔥

[@musicrazy124]

Bro you are on fire w these videos keep ‘em coming!!!

[@joseph23ification]

Great video on a forgotten NBA video game! Can you also make a retrospective on 989 sports NCAA GameBreaker 2004? There the last college football video game to compete with the more famous EA NCAA Football series.

[@BallCDO]

I used too play NCAA Game breaker too death

[@myquest666420]

989 sports made some reeeeally good games.

[@natacchione3368]

Need more NHL vids to cure my nostalgia

[@damenbaxter8890]

So I’ve been watching your videos sense Drewski aka NTE shouted you out in one of his vids and man I got say you have improved so much with your commentary bro for real good job and keep it up you’ve got a good thing going here 👍🏻

[@ChloeHotline]

I swear every video I find out about a game i didn’t know about existed good work!

[@joelitofrito]

1997-2008 was my peak of playing and collecting sports games. And man I just wish we had more variety like in the early 00s. NBA Basketball 2000 from FoxSports I played til the disc burned out lol. But man it was just a little different than 2K or Live which made the time so great.

[@jackhewitson1884]

The 2000s were the golden age for sports video games.😃 So many great titles to choose from. One hidden gem I tried out was All Star Baseball 2004 which was one of Acclaims best video games ever made😊

[@frankwhite1895]

Loved All Star Baseball!!

[@myquest666420]

All star baseball was EXCELLENT! Loved those games so much!

[@retrozaid1600]

Fun fact-The song used in the opening (Virtual Mind) originates from Dance Maniax 2nd Mix!

[@chrisshepherd698]

Born in 84 so I grew up on these great games my childhood was great

[@b2k551]

I was born In 89 and I grew up on these games as well

[@tragiksituation]

Yea this game flew way under the radar I remember NBA Live 2002 and NBA 2K2 back in 2001 lmao ironically I had that McGrady jersey back then

[@tayreed3961]

Great video only thing I didn't like is you comparing it to live 05 and 2k5. You should have compared it to those games of the same year

[@taym510Oak]

Never heard of this game I missed this one for some reason and back then I was trying out a lot of basketball games 🤔 anyway that is why I love your channel 👍🏿

[@avrysportsshow]

Another great video! With the costs of how expensive it is and the resources needed to make properly licensed NBA or NHL games in 2023 will we really get anyone challenging EA for the NHL throne or 2K for the NBA throne?

[@rareview362]

Could you tell me the name of the song you have playing in the background? At 7:15.

[@nayR58]

(kinda a random question) But I remember you mentioned that NHL 22 was a step in the right direction, do you think NHL 23 is showing signs that the next games could be good again?

[@deathwalkrecordings1318]

Love ya man. Appreciate you eternally! You deserve all of the success in the world. ❤️

[@waltsoph3]

Wow! I didn't even know Konami made this game. 😲 I mostly remember them for the sports games on the NES such as Double Dribble for Basketball at that time. ( which I loved how they did the cinematic slam dunks for its time. ) Still considering when this game was made I definitely have to agree that it looks very visually impressive for its time. Thanks again for the video SOFTDRINKTV.

[@richbyrd836]

Hey man, love your videos but eventually youre gonna run out of old sports games and was wondering if you thought about doing retrospectives on extreme sports games.

[@ArmondWakeUp]

Dope video. Do not remember this at all. Ironically Konami is responsible for one of my favorite basketball games ever (Give & Go for SNES), wish that would’ve received a proper remaster/update.

[@Twigg4075]

I really liked NBA Starting Five. I remember buying that from Walmart for $10 way back when. I really liked it and convinced my buddy to pick it up. We both ran our own franchises that we would constantly update each other on. I remember the game play being very solid and fun.

[@bingbong-oi5eu]

Love seeing these videos the nostalgia is real😊

[@Jared011Green]

forgot about this game. great content

[@kevinstone6668]

Do you think you will do a video on the NHL hockey and MLS game Konami did?

[@KyreeseAlford1999]

Hot Take: I would rather play the Konami NBA basketball video games on PS1 than on the PS2 because of it's addicting gameplay, they're so much fun to enjoy, you can play them on arcade or simulation settings, you can play the three point contest, dunk contest and all star game in them and they feature past NBA stars and legends of the 90s and 2000s era of the NBA. And personally, I think that the NBA will never be the same ever again because the 90s and 2000s NBA is my favorite decades in my honest opinion and I miss that era so much. I hoping that you’ll do video on those games by Konami in the future whenever you get the opportunity!

[@thefroznone6521]

During this time period I was playing NBA Live, NBA Inside Drive, and NBA 2K. Loved all three of these series. Never even knew Konami made basketball games

[@rwashington55]

Now you’re dropping HEAT

[@keijijohnson9754]

Never expected Konami to have jumped in on the Basketball competition bandwagon all those years ago but it’s also very nice to see a lot of gameplay with my hometown team the Grizzlies in this video too. Really takes me back seeing that old logo of theirs.😌

[@BaileyTheUncool]

What's crazy is they had NBA In The Zone on the N64. I think this game was them trying to rebrand it

[@jeffsan4996]

4:30 Sprewell out for the season with a broken finger 😂😂😂

[@afroandrew816]

That what kinda sucks when you think about it,some people create the best ideas but don’t quite have the resources or have just a few small flaws in there finish product .While others with just steal the idea and correct those small flaws needed to be a major success and reap all the benefits the original creator should have gotten.

[@CAGAT25]

Hey man, Can you do a retrospective in nba 2k19? Its a game many people remembered fondly and I remember enjoying it as myteam wasn't that greedy and I had success even with not spending money though i do understand if people find it predatory. My career's story was fun and unique too as an undrafted player. I got to a 95 overall lol but yeaj i do find it kinda hard to upgrade. Gameplay and offline was nice so theres that. I wonder whats your thoughts on it

[@jayscott4990]

I miss this era. We had so may different choices! We really need competition to come back. Especially with Madden!

[@ryanwoolridge9525]

What did 2k2’s Franchise Mode look like. What is it similar to this one??

[@pattymotime2go]

Yo you literally do all the games I just brought I’ve been doing this buying binge on old video games due to the lack of competition now days

[@JL050]

That intro video is so 2000

[@lylebob]

Used to love this any basketball game I could play.. look at the graphics for that time. This live and courtside on n64 were my favorites

[@trav8028]

Never knew about this & I only knew about the other Konami basketball games like “ NBA In the Zone” “ Double Dribble” & “ NBA Give N Go”

[@mighthookya2637]

That intro song is insane lol

[@curtsaylor12adrionna12]

Love these videos

[@raphdjohnvisions]

As many random old titles I shop for, I had no idea this existed lol

[@thebasketballhistorian3291]

Wild that there were FOUR simulation-style NBA games back then. Now there's just 2K. My guess: it's harder to make the models and textures for 500 players on current gen hardware so no other studio bothers to risk producing an NBA game since everyone's gonna buy 2K.

[@caoimhinyt9765]

I dream that there will come a time for gaming that there are more studios that will make NBA games again just like before. Not just the NBA, but also a lot more games so we can try all of them. Flop or not at least we have a lot of choices. But, I know today it costs a lot to make video games. So it's also kinda hard for it to happen. I hope gaming gets bigger and bigger every year.

[@dutchdolo]

Background Music name please??

[@FG_Plays16]

I love these videos from sdtv I’m educated now

[@mike91mdk45]

"Scatter, come on, connect, i must protect!" 😂 wth

[@TheFreakstyle29]

Would you be willing to make a retrospect on NBA Live 2000 for PC? That game was awesome it had MJ and there was a "Park" like mode, I always had fun playing it!

[@MikeLoveThyself]

I played all these games when i was kid back when we could rent games at blockbuster and hollywood video ill always miss and remeber my childhood

[@NoleNoleNoleJole]

great videos

[@SaudiSymbol]

The intro alone 😅😅😂😂

[@sylvesteryoung2514]

What happened to the players that are drafted in 2001? My Grizzlies obtained Pau Gasol from the Atlanta Hawks by trade as the third pick that year.

[@eliabeck7373]

That intro song was uhhhh interesting lmao

[@Deepndakut757]

Never knew about this game, but I see its similarities in a game called "nba in the zone '98" on n64 also made by konami

[@razcarsey6635]

Yeah, I never knew about this game either, but I definitely see the 'In The Zone' lineage. In the Zone 1 for PS1 was a super basic arcade-style game, but In the Zone 2 was a really deep game with a lot of customizability. They also had full in-engine US and Canadian national anthems, which were hilarious.

[@CGPatsFan305]

you should review the nba in the zone series {konami other nba games}

[@natnatpogi]

softdrinktv can you do a video on the rise and fall of atari and how it changed video games

[@GrampsGaming91]

I collect old school b-ball games. This is one of only a few I don't have. Never see it anywhere when I visit used game stores.

[@vengeance1701]

Yep, I grew up during this golden era you speak of. Maybe next you can hit the Sega NFL series going back to Sports Talk?

[@chrisisslick]

That intro music was horrendous 😂. Who tf approved that?!

[@iancredible56]

I used to love playing NBA Starting Five on PS2!

[@idothisforfun1300]

There was a game called NBA inside drive that was only on XBOX, i absolutely LOVED that game. Can you do a video on it?

[@SOFTDRINKTV]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pnzahKWdbZyMqbc

[@fuckallthat]

I had all espn games from football to basketball they even had a hockey game

[@newufl]

You should do a video on "Fantasy Football" the madden movie on paramount where at the end the family is only hapoy when they throw away madden

[@zerolazer9530]

i'm not even that big of a soccer fan, but i do know that konami made 2 MLS games, ESPN MLS GameNight and ESPN MLS ExtraTime, personally i'd love to see them do a MLS specific game again

[@chrisguardiano6143]

Unfortunately MLS signed an exclusive deal with EA recently to only appear in their EA Sports FC games.

[@christophergerics]

WHAT IS THE INTRO SONG I NEED IT

[@Totalrecarlo]

Bro! That song! 🤣🤣🤣

[@aaronchase375]

Was a big fan of the Konami games. The best one was NBA Starting 5 2005 released in Japan. First game with classic teams and players. I imported that game as soon as I could.

[@Jerry8yomomma]

Played so many different nba games in the early 2000s glad I was able to play majority of them

[@pyrrhicvictory5844]

You should cover the Microsoft game - Inside Drive - with Paul Pierce on the cover

[@ChiChiWoo]

i highly recommend doing an nba live cover curse sometime soon

[@Papigordo426]

I loved the dunk animations in this game!!!

[@THA6reat1]

Do a review on (Konami game) called (run n gun arcade) basketball 🏀 One of the very best basketball games I've ever played and I'm still looking for that same type of game ...

[@newestport7338]

Series failed because Solid Snake wasn't a playable character. Simple as. The opportunity was staring them right in the face and Konami was like "nah we don't like to make money here"

[@SkipMonster10]

They made NBA in the Zone 99 and 2000 right?

[@kennybegeske8824]

Playstation 5 Needs To Make ESPN 2 Night Basketball games

[@thatdamngood901]

These intros to games back then was what got us hype go play as these players/teams in game. A lost art in today’s sports games where it’s just a shell of a game featuring a shitload of micro transactions

[@303Smilezzz]

Konami had a PS1 tall box basketball game. Forgot the title, but i remember it looking great on the back of the box, an playing just ok.

[@Reedinho]

Ah... memories

[@SaudiSymbol]

Nba shootout!! I forgot about tht jwn. And you are right 2k has no competition at all

[@rwashington55]

NBA inside drive next?

[@danderslynn7875]

NBA inside drive very nicely done

[@davidpeaston8443]

I used to like this game. I remember being at a Best Buy one day and stumbling across it. It was brand new and I'd never heard anything about it. And I think it was right at 20 bucks. It was actually decent. The controls were a little different but not so bad. Time to dust off the PS2.. and find a copy.

[@devious187]

The early-mid 2000s were the peak of sports games, so many legendary titles for every sport... there were bound to be some real losers as well as forgotten gems too, there were just so many they couldn't all be hits Although... some games were forgotten for a reason

[@Uncledolemite]

NBA In The Zone and In The Zone 2 were bangers tho

[@OnlyOneG1986]

Classics

[@user-zb1yy8hl8h]

Do Konami other basketball series. NBA In The Zone.