Basketball Classics News

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This is the story of two new video game developers who reached out to their heroes from 30 years ago, living 6000 miles away.

We are Namo Gamo, an indie development duo, and this is how our first game came to be. Basketball Classics has been a dream of ours for decades and we're excited to share it with you!

Thanks!

Dave & Josh
Namo Gamo


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Much of the story and photos come from Lou Raguse and his excellent article on "the Fathers of Tecmo Super Bowl"
https://www.louraguse.com/the-fathers-of-tecmo-super-bowl/

motion graphics cred: @duncan_lutz

Hey all!

This is an exciting week for us here at Namo Gamo! It's been great to see the response from everyone regarding our transition out of early access to full release. Thank you all!

I wanted to get a quick update out tonight to address some issues we've seen in your livestreams – yes, we watch them ;)

Changes:

• The #1 reason I wanted to rush this out is to fix the issue of the CPU committing way too many over and back violations. I've drastically reduced them.
  
• I've updated the warmup to fix and clarify several things:
  
  1. During the task where you practice blocking, the PG now stays put at the top of the key where he was intended to stay
     
  2. The coach is a little more clear now about the fact that you have to press the Switch Player button to complete the Switch Player task and continue with the tutorial
     
  3. The task where you practice stealing is now much more responsive
     

Plenty more to come. Working on several AI updates and some fun additions to the depth of the gameplay. Just wanted to get this specific patch out for these glaring issues.

As always, let us know what you want to see in the short term. We listen and do our best to accommodate!

Thanks so much!

Josh and Dave
Namo Gamo

Hi!

Here we are, version 1.0. Hard to believe it! What can we say but THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

It’s been a crazy ride so far. Lots of hard work, lots of anxiety, lots of excitement and anticipation. It’s been difficult at times but it’s been incredibly rewarding to see our game being played, streamed, and reviewed. We couldn’t have made it to this point without the support of our awesome community of players who’ve had nicer things to say than we ever expected.

Thanks to Andrew Begley, Arcane, Razor, and Dee4Three of NLSC for fostering such a vibrant community of likeminded basketball game enthusiasts that were willing to take a chance on a new sports title and play the heck out of it. You guys are awesome!

Thanks to Tom, Mort, DPS, LJC, Slapshot Sean, and GreenMajik of Retro Sports Gamer for your livestreams, your support, and the awesome Basketball Classics tournaments you’ve run that were not only a blast to watch but helped us in feature development and bug hunting! You guys are the best!

Big thanks to Ian Ferguson and Pat the NES Punk of Completely Unnecessary for your coverage and support! You made our stressful, expensive trip to PRGE an awesome, exciting one that these 2 nerds will remember forever.

And an enormous thanks to all of you! Our fans and supporters. We’re thrilled that there are other people out there who understand and agree with our vision for a gaming experience like this.

I guess I should get to some release notes… We’ve called this v1.0 as we’re feeling like it fully delivers on the core experience we wanted to put out in 2016 when we first started discussing Basketball Classics. The changelist could get pretty long but I’ll sum it up as:

- Steam achievements. Gotta get them all! 88 achievements for just about anything you can think of. Some are easy, some you’re gonna have to sweat for. Let’s see what you’ve got!
- Tweaks, testing, tweaks, testing, clarifying things players don’t understand, tweaking formulas until things just feel right. Shot formulas, steal formulas, block formulas, play calling formulas, when things should happen and when they shouldn’t… it’s all a balancing game that hopefully adds up to more than the sum of its parts. Thanks for all your input and help in this area specifically.
- AI improvements: defenders are more aware now of the threats their opponents pose, they’ll now be smarter about when to try stealing or when to guard a shooter more closely (dangerous shooter near the arc -> close in on him to reduce his chances of the long bomb, etc.)

So, for those of you wondering “Is this the end of development on Basketball Classics?”, the answer is a strong NOPE! We’ve been thinking about this game since 1991 and we can’t imagine ever not working on it. Coming soon: tournament mode, roster updates, heck maybe even a player creator ;)

Let us know what you want to see in v1.1!

Thanks!
Dave and Josh
Namo Gamo
@namo_gamo twitter/instagram

Hello friends, fans, and newcomers!

We're back fresh from the Portland Retro Gaming Expo where we had a blast meeting so many awesome people, making new contacts, snagging vintage gaming memorabilia, and just generally kicking it with tons of like-minded gamers and collectors! We were showing our latest build of the game there and people were having a ton of fun with it. After a couple more coats of shoes, and ships, and sealing wax, we've decided it's ready to release into the wild. So here we are!



We are very excited to announce these brand new updates to Basketball Classics! Check out this lineup:

1) Story Mode PLUS – So you’ve unlocked the Legends and beaten the Phantom 5. Do you have it in you to take on a second quest? Begin Story Mode+ and you’ll continue your travels through time as you unlock a new team of elite ballers: the Superstars.

2) Here Comes a New Challenger - Once you’ve unlocked the Superstars, you’ll have a target on your back. Several new teams are going to try to take you on. Win and you’ll not only unlock them in the “Story” roster, you’ll also unlock new arenas to choose from in any of your future matches.



3) Halftime Shows - We’ve hired several new performers for your entertainment. Get hyped with musicians, jugglers, and one of those big foam hands; many of them rocking the colors of the winning team.

4) Street Court - Our favorite arena has finally made it into the lineup, complete with a fresh, animated audience. We love the contrast created with this court and hope it enhances your experience.



5) Bug fixes and Minor Adjustments – We've finally added a longtime fan request: over and back violations. Make that ref blow his whistle to your heart's content! Along with that, we've included several other minor changes and additions that add to your enjoyment of the game such as slightly increased player sizes, further AI tweaks, and a change to how the sparkle trails on the ball work. That one may sound insignificant, or even downright strange, but hear me out. In the past, the sparkle trail on the ball was only shown when the player released the shot with near-perfect release timing AND if the shot was gonna go in. Now, you'll get the unicorn glitter for every perfect release regardless of shot success, so it won't ruin the anticipation of "is it gonna land or not!?"



Version 0.9 is significant. We expect this to be the last major release while in Early Access.

Next stop, full release!

Hey all!

A ton of big moves going on with Basketball Classics that we are excited to announce.

Roster additions:
3 new seasons have been added to the roster. That means another 240 new players spanning 48 teams, complete with new uniforms and individualized attributes.

We hope you enjoy exploring the new 1995, 2011, and 2019 rosters. Time to hone your skills with one of your new favorite teams in Season Mode!



Kicks:
No, we haven’t added karate into the game. We are talking about those beloved members of the locker - Sneakers. High tops. Cross trainers. Shoes.

Watch out for signature footwear on some of the best players in the game. Certain teams have even coordinated their styles. This is just one more way to make our players as diverse visually, as they are in ability.



We are fast approaching full release on Steam. It has been a pleasure to hear from you and we take your comments seriously. Let us know what you think!