Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five offers up five warnings for basketball video game collectors.

As a 90s kid who got into more than a couple of collecting fads over the years, I’d have to say that basketball video games have been among the most satisfying things to collect. It certainly helps that I don’t have to rely on favourable odds and hope that what I want is in a pack I’m opening, but compared to trading cards and other such collectibles, video games have a practical use. Of course, there are some people who collect video games of all genres simply for the purpose of displaying and eventually selling them, but I collect basketball games to play them…and yes, to create content.

Mind you, whatever your reason for collecting video games – whatever the genre – it’s a hobby with fluctuating difficulty and expense. Furthermore, because there is money to be made, too many people are hoping to cash in on the enthusiasm – or indeed, the desperation – of collectors. I’ve strived to be as savvy and frugal as I possibly can be while building my basketball game collection, and I’ll always advise any would-be collectors and retro gamers to do the same. To that end, there are some warnings that I strongly suggest you heed. Retro gaming and collecting is a blast, but you do need to be careful about costs, and keep a few things in mind if you want to play those games.

1. Price Gouging is Very Common

I realise that this will seem like very obvious advice, but it’s worth repeating because of a prevailing notion that anything old is valuable. Granted, video games aren’t old enough to be “antique”, but they are still collectibles, and thus prone to this way of thinking. It depends on the game of course, but any aspiring collectors should know that many basketball titles aren’t exactly rare. Really old releases, regional exclusives and other limited-run titles, or indeed unreleased games, do tend to demand a higher price because there are fewer copies in circulation. When it comes to games that sold hundreds of thousands or even millions of units, they shouldn’t carry a hefty price tag.

This doesn’t stop stores and especially online sellers from trying to get as much as they can for a game. “eBay prices” are most definitely a thing, and while I understand it from the seller’s point of view, overcharging for a common basketball game while slapping a label of “rare” on it – just because it’s a couple of generations old – is trying to take advantage of collectors. Also, it’s one thing to charge a lot of money for an old game that’s complete-in-box and in mint condition, another entirely to charge close to the original retail price (or even more) for a disc-only copy. Always shop around, and don’t buy into the notion that a video game is rare and valuable just because it’s old.

2. Regular Editions Labelled as Special Editions

Beyond a unique cover and any physical collectibles, or a desire to complete a set, a special edition of a basketball game usually holds no more appeal to retro gamers than the standard release. Even if there are codes for digital bonuses that haven’t yet been redeemed, it’s a moot point if online support has now ended. However, there are times when a special edition of a basketball game has included bonus content by default, in which case it’s definitely something that collectors will seek. A great example of this is the Game of the Year edition of NBA 2K12, which includes the Legends Showcase DLC that was delisted long before the end of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 stores.

That definitely makes it worth picking up, and to that point, I was pleased to get my hands on the PS3 version (I’m still on the lookout for an Xbox 360 copy). Fortunately it didn’t set me back too much, but there are several copies on eBay that are trying to cash in on its rarity; especially if the poster and other physical collectibles are still included. That’s not entirely unfair as it is the rarer edition, but what is dirty are the listings that claim to be the Game of the Year edition, yet they’re clearly the standard release. Thankfully the photos on the listings reveal the truth, but it’s still a scummy attempt to mislead collectors. Always make sure that a listing is what it claims to be!

3. Digital Releases Are Temporary, So Be Quick

It’s impossible to rail against digital releases and streaming services without sounding like a grumpy, out-of-touch, technologically-inept dinosaur, but the fact of the matter is that they do have their drawbacks! It’s a whole other topic that deserves an article of its own, but between subscriptions and products being pulled from digital storefronts, the concept of media and game ownership is certainly different and decidedly anti-consumer in 2025. The way this impacts basketball game collectors most directly is that titles that once stayed in circulation for years and even decades on the second-hand market are now close to impossible to buy once digital storefronts delist them.

Ironically, it’s easier to find a copy of NBA Live 95 PC thirty years later than it is to purchase PC releases of NBA 2K that are less than ten years old! Sure, some sites – mostly grey market ones – do still sell keys, but there’s risk and often price gouging involved there. As such, it’s best to wait for a sale during a game’s lifecycle, and pick it up while it’s readily available. Obviously, it’s ideal if you can get a new NBA 2K on Steam during a sale where it’s dirt-cheap, but if a complete collection is what you’re striving for, then even paying $15-20 is better than missing out entirely. Again, this is something I greatly dislike about media ownership in 2025, but that’s how it is now.

4. Many Updates Are Now Missing

While modern distribution methods have their drawbacks, they also undoubtedly have a few advantages, including the way updates are pushed through. It can be annoying of course, but at least gamers don’t have to scour the internet for official patches as we once did. At the same time, if you’re a retro gamer who’d like to play NBA Live 99 PC with the official update that includes bug fixes and 1999 season rosters, it’s useful that you can still grab those files from our Downloads section, and install them right away. Similarly, the official rosters, data updates, and a couple of official patches for NBA 2K10 through NBA 2K14 on PC are easily preserved and installed years later.

Sadly, many other games are missing updates that have been lost to time, particularly updates that come through in-game. Official patches will still come through when you reinstall a game – or the final version will be provided when you reinstall digitally – but roster updates and tuning fixes will be lost. If nothing else, it means we’re stuck with some very thin default rosters in those games. That doesn’t necessarily render them unplayable, though the lack of real rookies in NBA 2K12’s default roster does mean that MyPLAYER isn’t a lot of fun if you don’t have the post-lockout update. Retro gaming is a blast and I’ll always champion it, but be warned that if you aren’t able to install the official updates, you may not get to enjoy a “complete” experience.

5. Retro PC Gaming Requires Some Technical Know-How

When I shared some advice for getting into basketball game collecting a couple of years ago, I noted that retro PC basketball gaming does present some challenges. I don’t say that to discourage anyone from playing basketball games on PC – new or old – but it’s not as easy as picking up or dusting off your old console, buying a working disc or cartridge, and popping it in. You may need to use DOSBox, or one of the wrappers that simulates old video cards, in order to get an old PC release working on a modern machine. You may need an optical drive or even a floppy disk drive, which are no longer standard hardware, but fortunately are still available as USB peripherals.

Again, this isn’t intended to discourage basketball game collectors from getting into classic PC releases. You just need to be aware that it might take some extra steps to get those games working, so if you’re not particularly technically savvy or you just don’t want the hassle, then retro gaming on console is probably the way to go. On another note, I’ve also found that some PC releases are scarcer or more expensive on the second-hand market, but as with any other platform, shop around and don’t be taken advantage of. And of course, I’d like to expand our resources to help out with retro gaming on PC and in general, so if you’re keen, by all means ask for advice!

Fellow basketball game collectors, what warnings and advice do you have for others who’d like to get into collecting and retro gaming? Have your say in the comments, and as always, feel free to take the discussion to the NLSC Forum! That’s all for this week, so thanks for checking in, have a great weekend, and please join me again next Friday for another Five.

The post The Friday Five: 5 Warnings for Basketball Game Collectors appeared first on NLSC.