Monday Tip-Off: Keeping An Open Mind

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 the importance of keeping an open mind when it comes to basketball video games.

Obviously, the ability to keep an open mind is a useful gift in general. We don’t need to go into any deeper socio-political issues here – we are a basketball gaming site and community at the end of the day – but there’s wisdom in open-mindedness. After all, having an open mind doesn’t mean believing everything you hear, or allowing your views to be easily changed. Indeed, when we’re open to new information, dissenting opinions, and examining and even challenging our own views, it may well strengthen our stance. If being better-informed changes our mind, there’s nobility in that, too.

As basketball gamers, we tend to have fairly strong preferences and beliefs. We have our mode of choice, and our preferred style of gameplay, from controls to mechanics. We know the games we like, and the games we don’t. If we encounter an opposing point of view when discussing basketball gaming on social media or in forums and Discord servers, we may be moved to vehemently disagree; often in a way that insults or belittles the other person and their perspective. Sadly, that’s online discourse in a nutshell, but for whatever my words are worth, I would like to encourage my fellow basketball gamers to keep an open mind. I can attest to it being a rewarding approach.

You see, as a much younger fan of the virtual hardwood, I didn’t have such an open mind about the hobby. I grew up a huge fan of NBA Live and NBA Jam, so for me, they were the yardstick for basketball gaming. That’s understandable, of course. Our favourite things and preferred brands are what we measure the competition by, and back in the 90s, those were rightfully the big names in hoops titles. However, I was quick to write off any game that did anything differently, particularly sim titles that took a different approach to NBA Live. In my defense, NBA Live in its heyday did have ideas that other games were foolish not to use, but it was still close-minded.

I’d like to say that close-mindedness is an immature quality that we grow out of, but sadly, some people never do. In fact, it’s all too easy to be less open-minded the older we get! With that being said, I do believe – and this is purely my take, not necessarily backed up by any scientific evidence – maturity does help us open our minds, at least about some things. For things like video games, the mature perspective is that no, not everything you like is perfect, and everything you don’t like doesn’t suck. NBA Live’s struggles and cancelled releases forced me to approach NBA 2K with a more open mind than I had in the past, but this mindset also applies to retro basketball gaming.

Becoming a collector, covering games for Wayback Wednesday, and connecting with Dee to play a variety of titles beyond NBA Live and NBA 2K, has certainly helped here. It’s given me a reason to look beyond the old favourites that I’m familiar with, and take the time to appreciate a different approach to what I’m accustomed to. I still have my preferences and opinions on what’s best as far as gameplay mechanics and mode design throughout the years, but I’m nowhere near as rigid in my thinking as I once was. This has afforded me the joy of discovering a number of games that are somewhat overlooked or underrated, and a few have become a part of my rotation.

I’ve also gained a new perspective on games that I have previously played, be it NBA Live, NBA 2K, or another series. It’s why I’ve seen fit to revisit games for Wayback Wednesday, because playing them without expectations – and with acceptance of their flaws – has helped me to notice their strong points, as well as some of their interesting design choices. I’ve also noticed flaws in a few of my favourites, but for the most part, I’ve discovered that some of the games I’d written off – including seventh generation NBA Live releases – were better than I thought. That’s not to say that they didn’t have problems, but a second look with an open mind led to a much clearer perspective.

It’s also led me to notice that there’s a distinct lack of open-mindedness within the basketball gaming community. There’s reluctance – indeed, often outright refusal – to re-evaluate our stance on games, or accept a differing point of view on a game that we passionately like or dislike. I’ve noticed this when sharing my articles on social media. Unsurprisingly, games that have historically inspired rather strong opinions – be they positive, negative, or divisive – continue to draw a passionate response. As such, I’ll see the same old comments deriding and dismissing a game out of hand. Sometimes my commentary will be addressed directly, but it’s too often ignored completely.

To that point, it’s quite obvious that those people haven’t even bothered to read the article, or indeed, listen to the podcast episode or watch the video in question. They see the game they dislike being mentioned, they once again declare how it sucks, and they refuse to engage any further with content that may argue otherwise, or point out some of the good ideas amidst the flaws. It’s the way it goes, and certainly people are free to do that, but I’ll admit that it’s frustrating as someone who both puts a great deal of thought into their content, and enjoys revisiting and re-evaluating basketball video games. I’m not so much bothered by their viewpoint as I am their close-mindedness.

Now, that doesn’t mean that everyone must agree with me, and that anyone who doesn’t isn’t open-minded. That would be a very close-minded thing for me to say! However, the fact that those comments aren’t even responding to anything that I’ve written usually means that a) they didn’t bother to read it, suggesting that b) they have no interest in a different stance or examining their own, because c) they’re not open to it. Granted, no one is obligated to do this, but again, it’s hardly a sign of an open mind if you can’t so much as even entertain the idea of someone seeing a game differently, or liking what you don’t. Also, our opinions should stand up to scrutiny and challenge.

Incidentally, this mindset is another reason why I dislike the argument that everyone hates the latest game, and then claims to love it later. Putting aside the fact that not everyone shares the same opinion and that some games – especially divisive ones – drew strong positive and negative opinions alike, people do re-evaluate their stance. Maybe a game is more enjoyable when given a second chance. If the next game in a series is notably worse, then the previously-maligned predecessor may suddenly look better! This is something that people forget, or choose to ignore, when they dismiss valid criticism of a new game by alleging some hypocrisy regarding a previous title.

When I hear someone dismiss praise for an older game as nostalgia or everyone flip-flopping on it, to me it says they’re not willing to consider other opinions, or examine their own. Again, you’re free to set your opinions in stone if you wish, but it’s a close-minded approach. Besides, it’s not as though revisiting a game will always change your mind about it. There have been quite a few basketball games that I’ve written off, and when I’ve dusted them off again with an open mind, I’ve come to the exact same conclusions. It’s a case-by-case matter, so it’s fallacious to suggest that all games that are criticised are equally praised later, thus criticism of the latest game is invalid.

Of course, it works both ways. Because we come to appreciate games in hindsight, it’s definitely possible that a new game will be seen in a better light once we’re over some of the initial disappointment. That’s a more compelling argument, and it’s also keeping an open mind. Obviously there are other fallacies at play here, including taking what turn out to be the complaints of a vocal minority as the opinions of the majority, but it all comes back to keeping an open mind when confronted with new information. That includes a long-standing view that differs from your own, or a take that’s arisen more recently owing to a fresh look back, and the perspective that comes with hindsight.

Something that I’ve learned through producing Wayback Wednesday features for almost a decade now is that we don’t always remember video games as clearly as we think we do. We remember the fun because of the nostalgia it creates, and we also recall extreme frustration and disappointment. There are undoubtedly things that do stick in our minds, but when you revisit an old game, you’ll often be surprised at what you’ve forgotten, or what you may have missed all those years ago. Sometimes, our first impressions don’t last, especially if they’re clouded by our expectations or we’re laser-focused on a particular issue to the point of overlooking some of the positives.

This is obviously extremely low-stakes stuff in the grand scheme of things. Being stubborn in your opinions about basketball video games is hardly as impactful as our takes on issues that affect society and the world at large. Once again though, that’s beyond our scope, but a lack of open-mindedness does affect our community, too. It makes us less friendly towards each other, less thoughtful about a hobby that we’re passionate about, and less informed when we’re supposedly subject matter experts. If nothing else, when someone is talking about a game we don’t like or aren’t interested in, is it really necessary to post a snarky or otherwise negative comment every time?

Keeping an open mind has been so rewarding for my basketball gaming. It’s led me to discover some new favourites, and also to break out of a rut. I’d also like to believe that it’s allowed me to better evaluate the titles that I revisit for Wayback Wednesday. Of course, it also opens up the possibility of being proven wrong or contradicting an earlier opinion, which can be a blow to the ego and uncomfortable to admit. However, the ability and willingness to scrutinise our opinions is admirable, whether we have a change of heart or it strengthens our stance. If nothing else, I’ve found that a stubborn, closed mind simply isn’t open to having nearly as much fun on the virtual hardwood.

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