Wayback Wednesday: Coming Around To Courtside Comedy Cutscenes

This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! From retrospectives of basketball games and their interesting features, to republished articles and looking at NBA history through the lens of the virtual hardwood, Wednesdays at the NLSC are for going back in time. This week, I’m reflecting on how my attitude towards the Courtside Comedy cutscenes in NBA Live 2003 has changed over the years.

When I wrote about NBA Live 2003’s Courtside Comedy cutscenes almost ten years ago, my perspective was definitely still influenced by the disappointment I felt back in 2002. Although I noted that they were undoubtedly nostalgic in a weird kind of way, I reiterated that the tone wasn’t ideal for a sim game. Indeed, I still feel that way! As such, I believe that dropping the silly hi-jinks in NBA Live 2004 was the right move. After all, while video games are meant to be fun and not everything has to be super serious, atmosphere is important, and unwanted silliness can easily ruin the vibe.

However, as the years have gone by, I’ve developed more of an appreciation for the Courtside Comedy cutscenes. That’s not to say that I wish they’d continued to appear in future NBA Live games – again, I do stand by my criticism of them – but they were a bold experiment that, for better or worse, were undeniably memorable. Besides, it’s not as though they were universally disliked! On top of respecting differing opinions on the Courtside Comedy cutscenes, I’ll admit to enjoying them on some level myself. Why the change of heart? Let’s take a look back…way back…

Named after a home video that spotlighted the lighter side of the NBA, the Courtside Comedy cutscenes injected some silliness into NBA Live 2003. Not every cutscene in NBA Live 2003 involves wacky antics, of course. In fact, there are some really cool reactions to game-winning shots and other scenes that contribute to the atmosphere in a way that appeals to me. The infamy of the comedic scenes makes them stand out in our minds, but it must be said that NBA Live 2003 could still be serious when the situation called for it. Mind you, we ended up seeing the wackier stuff more often, which gave NBA Live 2003 the reputation of being the game with the silly cutscenes.

Those cutscenes included players on the bench messing around with the cameraman or sneakily taking the coach’s seat, a player making his teammate flinch with a fake pass at their head during the pre-game shootaround, and the starting centre stealing the ball and hiding it from the referee prior to tip-off. Nothing uproariously funny, sure, but light-hearted scenes that you might see play out from time to time in real life. There are also scenes that aren’t necessarily funny situations in and of themselves – such as a player complaining about a call or chewing out a teammate for not paying attention during a timeout – but can be hilarious depending on the players involved.

Between the position-based casting in Courtside Comedy cutscenes, and the way that they’re randomly selected, they can depict some truly absurd scenarios. You might see Kwame Brown getting on Michael Jordan’s case for daydreaming during a timeout. A player will still complain to the referee in disbelief after committing an intentional foul. Scrubs may stop to sign autographs for eager fans while heading into the tunnel at halftime, much to the annoyance of their coach. Players famously known for their professionalism and no-nonsense attitude will prank the cameraman or rib their coach. The unintentional humour is arguably more enjoyable than the deliberate silliness!

To that end, the Courtside Comedy cutscenes have always been divisive, though it’s not always a clear-cut case of “love them or hate them”. Even those of us who didn’t think they were an ideal fit for a sim title could still appreciate them to some extent. It could even be argued that they are realistic in that we do see funny moments wherein NBA players goof off during games. In that respect, perhaps the biggest problem with the Courtside Comedy cutscenes was the frequency and context. Comedy is all about timing, and even great gags can still be run into the ground. Much like commentary that doesn’t match the action, nonsensically random scenes are immersion-breaking.

In short, while I understand why some people have always enjoyed the Courtside Comedy cutscenes – and I won’t pretend that I never found them amusing – there are valid criticisms. Once again, I stand by my opinion that they weren’t the right tone for a sim game. At the very least, they could’ve been implemented better. With that being said, my attitude towards them has definitely softened over the years. It’s interesting, because usually it’s a case of nostalgia smoothing over the rough edges and allowing us to enjoy something despite its flaws. In this case however, I’ve kind of warmed up to something that I’ve historically been critical of, often in a snarky manner to boot.

That brings us back to the question I posed above: why the change of heart? There’s something to be said about giving games a second look with fresh eyes and different expectations. When NBA Live 2003 was released, I was hoping to see the NBA Live series improve after a couple of rougher releases, and strive for more authenticity. It was my basketball game of choice, and the exciting new release that I had high hopes for. I wanted to indulge my basketball fandom with an immersive sim experience. It’s not that I didn’t appreciate a wackier approach to virtual hoops, but that’s what NBA Jam was for. The Courtside Comedy made it difficult to vibe with NBA Live 2003.

Since then, there have been games that provided the sim experience that I sought. Indeed, my enjoyment of NBA Live 2004 quickly dulled the sting of disappointment I’d felt with NBA Live 2003. I’d gotten what I wanted as far as NBA Live adopting a more serious tone, so what sense did it make to remain upset about a game I thought got it wrong? As more years have passed and I’ve played some great games that have become all-time favourites, those Courtside Comedy cutscenes have mattered less to my basketball gaming activities. Again, that doesn’t mean that I completely disagree with my previous stance, but it’s no longer something that I’m actively bothered by.

Furthermore, with age (hopefully) comes wisdom and perspective. Back in 2002, the Courtside Comedy cutscenes – to me at least – were an inexcusable blunder. Looking back now, I can appreciate that the developers were trying something different, in the hopes of making the game more fun. Considering the style and pace of the gameplay – NBA Live 2003 is definitely as close as the series has come to being a full sim-arcade hybrid – you could even argue that they did in fact fit the game’s tone. It’s not what I wanted at the time, but I’ve actually had fun going back and playing it, both solo and with Dee. It’s not my first choice for retro gaming, but I can enjoy it for what it is.

That acceptance has carried over to the Courtside Comedy cutscenes, allowing them to become a novelty. As I said, it’s an interesting inversion of how nostalgia is usually what allows us to enjoy something that’s flawed or outdated. Admittedly, it helps that basketball gaming has developed some bigger issues in the decades since. A couple of silly cutscenes pale in comparison to greedy recurrent revenue mechanics, loot boxes, catering to online elitists, and other problems that have become the scourge of the virtual hardwood (and video games in general). It doesn’t mean that we can’t criticise tonally-inappropriate cutscenes, but those complaints feel rather quaint nowadays.

If nothing else, at least the Courtside Comedy cutscenes are something that we can potentially enjoy. When you figure out how the casting works, you can adjust the lineup – placing players out of position if need be – to set up whatever scenarios you can think of. Obviously that works for the more serious cutscenes as well, and I’ve been able to use that technique for my other features, such as when I reflected on where certain Legends should’ve retired. Sometimes you just feel like messing around with video games and having a laugh, though. It’s easy to forget that, especially with modern games focusing on grinding for completion and achieving some sort of status.

Getting back to my point about the wisdom of age, while maturity is certainly about being able to take things seriously, I think it also means knowing when to loosen up and not sweat the small stuff. Look, I generally loathe phrases such as “it’s not that serious” and “it’s not that deep”. They’ve become thought-terminating clichés, shutting down discussion and demonstrating an inability to entertain complex ideas. At the same time, some issues aren’t actually a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Were the Courtside Comedy cutscenes exactly what I wanted to see? No, they weren’t. Do they prevent me from enjoying NBA Live 2003 now? As it turns out, no, they don’t!

Yes, it helps that with the passage of time, it’s easier to accept NBA Live 2003 for what it is, from the exaggerated blocks to the up-tempo pace to its sillier cutscenes. Without the weight of expectations, I’ve enjoyed it as an alternative experience, and developed some retroactive fondness for it. Instead of grumbling “ugh, they ruined NBA Live”, I can be more open-minded and say “well, it was a unique approach and an interesting idea at least”. It defies the stereotype that we inevitably become more stubborn and close-minded as we get older. In a way, lightening up on the Courtside Comedy cutscenes represents the open-mindedness I strive for when revisiting games.

To that point, I’ve come to enjoy giving games second chances. Revisiting games and checking out titles I skipped over back in the day has been rewarding, and put things in perspective. I’ve developed more of an appreciation for creative ideas and unique features; even if they didn’t pan out as well as hoped. In a genre that’s often derided for being copy-and-paste year after year, it’s admirable when games take chances and try to be different. Granted, some ideas were divisive, ill-advised, or should’ve been implemented far better, but they at least had a spark of inspiration. NBA Live 2003’s Courtside Comedy cutscenes are definitely a prime example of that phenomenon.

There’s also the mere fact that we can remember those cutscenes and the hilariously weird scenarios they could create. In one of his old Extra Punctuation videos for The Escapist, “Yahtzee” Croshaw pointed out that bland video games are far worse than bad ones. To summarise, he noted that the point of art is to make us feel something, and even contempt or disgust is a feeling; one that can prompt a passionate response that’s cathartic to express. Love them or hate them, the Courtside Comedy cutscenes are memorable enough – divisive enough – to inspire a reaction. Even if I still have somewhat mixed feelings about them, I appreciate that they make me feel something.

It’s a twisted kind of nostalgia that’s been formed retroactively, but that’s OK. I can’t think of NBA Live 2003 without picturing those wacky moments, which speaks to how it had a unique style and vibe. It’s not necessarily to my taste – at least for the NBA Live series – but I respect that it took a chance. They just went a little overboard in trying to represent the lighter side of the NBA. It demonstrates the importance of having in-depth options. We can turn cutscenes on and off, but it might’ve benefitted the game to separate that toggle into regular and comedic scenes, or offer a silliness slider. Ultimately, the developers underestimated how seriously we took the games!

I’m not about to argue that the Courtside Comedy cutscenes in NBA Live 2003 were actually a good thing, and we’ve been completely wrong about them all these years. Some people have always liked them, and that’s totally fine, but those of us who took issue with them did have some fair points. After all this time though, I can’t get too worked up about them. I appreciate the attempt at giving the game character, and I’ve found them amusing at times as well; particularly when I’ve gone out of my way to manipulate the scenes for a specific result. No, I’ll never truly love Courtside Comedy cutscenes or believe they were the right idea, but in a way, I’ve come around to them.

The post Wayback Wednesday: Coming Around To Courtside Comedy Cutscenes appeared first on NLSC.