Monday Tip-Off: Losing Updates & Content…Again
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 by lamenting another rash decision that led to me losing updates and content…again.
When it comes to uninstalling and reinstalling games after their servers have been shut down, you’d think that I’d have learned my lesson by now. In fact, back in 2020, I wrote an entire article reflecting on making that mistake! Of course, to err is human as the saying goes, and I’m only human at the end of the day. Still, that doesn’t stop me from kicking myself, especially when it comes to preventable mistakes; in this case, not uninstalling and reinstalling a game when I didn’t need to. I’d say live and learn, but again, clearly I didn’t.
The game in question this time is NBA Live 16. I uninstalled and reinstalled it a little while back, and although there was a reason for it, it wasn’t entirely necessary. I chose to do it though, and in the process, I lost updates and content that I’ll never get back since the servers were shut down on October 19th, 2020; just a few months after I wrote about losing content and updates when reinstalling games that no longer had online support! And so, in addition to lamenting my losses and chastising my rash decision, this is another public service announcement to be careful with your installed games. If you’re a retro gamer, content creator, or both, please learn from my blunder!
So, why did I uninstall and reinstall NBA Live 16 when I didn’t need to? Well, it’s because of my PlayStation 4. My console is an original model PS4, purchased at launch way back in 2013. I’d like to think that I’ve taken good care of it, but it has developed a couple of issues over the years. It’s prone to overheating even after a thorough dusting, but other than that, it generally works fine…except for one thing. It has a habit of ejecting discs of its own accord, or at least trying to eject a disc when the drive is empty. Obviously the disc popping out in the middle of play is a problem, which is why I’ve been playing my NBA 2K14 MyCAREER on my PlayStation 5.
However, since my PS4 does still work and has all of the eighth generation NBA Live games installed on it already, I’ll put it to use from time to time, if only to grab some screenshots or footage for features. That’s what I was doing with NBA Live 16, when the unwanted ejection issue kept interrupting the proceedings. This does appear to be an issue with the OG PS4, and while there are a few suggested workarounds, I haven’t had much luck with them. And so, I decided that I’d forego using a disc for NBA Live 16, as I also own it digitally. For whatever reason – to save time, probably – I opted to reinstall the game from the disc some time before the servers went offline in 2020.
I figured that attempting to install the digital version would leave the files intact, and change the validation method from the disc to my PSN account. This is basically what I did with NBA 2K23 on PS5 when it became available to add to my digital library via PlayStation Plus. Since then, I no longer have to insert the NBA 2K23 disc (as long as I have an active subscription, anyway). I figured that it’d be the same with the digital version of NBA Live 16. No such luck; it had to be a separate installation. That would’ve been fine, but since I was running low on hard drive space, I uninstalled the disc version. No matter though, as my NBA Live 16 data would still be there…right?
Wrong! When I fired up the digital version of NBA Live 16, I still had my save files including my Rising Star player and all of his progress, and a Dynasty file that I’d saved while taking some screenshots. Unfortunately, I’d lost all of the roster updates, including the final update that added moves from the 2016 Draft, such as the Derrick Rose trade. Since NBA Live 16 doesn’t have any roster editing, there’s no way to manually update the game from the default rosters that I’m now stuck with. On one hand, I’d prefer Rose to still be in Chicago if I were to ever start a Bulls Dynasty in NBA Live 16. On the other hand, it’s annoying to have lost those updates and content.
Honestly, the loss that bugs me the most is the face scan for my Rising Star player. It wasn’t the best scan – my NBA Live 18 and 19 scans turned out much better – but it was still preferable to the limited customisation with the default faces. The Summer Circuit and LIVE Run obviously aren’t available now that online support has ended, but Rising Star is still playable, and I might’ve been keener to revisit it with a player that had my face (slightly discoloured by shadow as it may have been). I’d hoped that that data would’ve been retained in my save file, though given my experiences with reinstalling NBA 2K titles, I should’ve known that the face scan would be wiped.
Needless to say, just as there’s no way to retrieve those lost roster updates, there’s no way to perform another face scan without a working companion app, and servers to send that data through to NBA Live 16. Indeed, after all these years, minimal legacy support, new phones, and several Android updates, I’m not sure that face scanning with NBA Live 19’s companion app still works, either. Having already lost my scan for NBA Live 16, I’m not about to mess around with it to find out! A face scan isn’t necessary to enjoy career modes – a couple of my favourite MyCAREER games are proof of that – but it would’ve been a novelty, and more interesting in screenshots.
And of course, it bugs me that it was my fault and easily preventable. I could’ve just weathered the ejection issue while grabbing the screenshots I needed. Alternatively, I could’ve uninstalled another game that I’ve already lost updates and content in, to see if my data could be copied over to the digital version of NBA Live 16. I probably could’ve just installed NBA Live 16 on my PS5, since the screenshots I needed didn’t require the roster and content updates. I was too impatient though, and paid the price. Of course, that data really should remain behind when you uninstall games rather than being deleted along with them, but design flaws aside, I knew the risks of reinstalling.
Fortunately, I was able to avoid this issue on PC when my old desktop crashed last year. For years now, I’ve ensured that I back up the sync.bin and other data files for NBA 2K on PC, just in case I have to reinstall the games or restore them for any other reason. Once I’d reinstalled those games through Steam, it was simply a matter of copying those files from my backup drive to the appropriate folders. Sadly, there doesn’t appear to be any way to do this with the console releases of those games. You can usually back up your saved games and even some custom rosters, but the official content and roster updates are gone forever if you reinstall after a server shutdown.
While I do take responsibility for my carelessness – especially since I’ve made this mistake before, and should know better – it exemplifies how games have become increasingly disposable. Sure, roster and content updates for NBA Live and NBA 2K on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 are also long gone, with no chance to get them now that the servers have been shut off for years. However, if you did download those updates while they were still available and haven’t deleted or overwritten them, you can preserve them to this day. Indeed, I’ve even been able to transfer my save files to a new Xbox 360, and keep all the DNA updates for NBA Live 09 and NBA Live 10.
It may sound like I’m attempting to pass the buck after screwing up – and I suppose I sort of am – but preserving data for newer games should be just as easy. For decades, software and games on PC have often prompted us to keep or remove our files when uninstalling, in case we want to reinstall later. Once again, with care it’s been possible to preserve our data on 360 and PS3. The PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 also allow us to back up our files to the cloud, or on a USB device. Considering that the updates and content that I’ve lost were still available offline until I uninstalled those games, they really shouldn’t have to come from a server when you reinstall them nowadays.
Of course, accounting for the convenience of retro gamers isn’t a priority when you’re trying to sell a new game every year. It’d be nice if the games were more flexible in their file management, or if companies like EA and Take-Two would reactivate the servers for old games a couple of times a year so that we could grab long-lost updates and content. There’s admittedly not much in it for them apart from earning goodwill, though I’d suggest that they could both stand to do that! I understand that games can’t have online support indefinitely – though it’d be great if they were supported for a bit longer – but it’s a real shame that some truly classic releases are treated as disposable.
Still, that’s the way it’s been with video games for a while now, particularly annual sports games that push through roster, content, and even tuning updates through an in-game delivery system. To that end, at least the title updates – the ones downloaded outside of the games – still come through after the servers are shut down. I knew the risks with reinstalling eighth generation NBA Live and NBA 2K games following the end of online support, and I did it anyway. At least it’s not as frustrating as losing the Dream Team in NBA 2K17 – on console and PC – thanks to it being activated via an in-game Locker Code rather than DLC. Now that was a truly annoying design choice!
On the bright side, NBA Live 16 is still worth revisiting without the roster and content updates that I’ve lost. As I said, it actually works out better if I ever want to go back and play a Dynasty set in 2016, as it has reversed the Derrick Rose trade. Most of the screenshots and footage I’ll ever need for features are also viable with original rosters, and Rising Star remains playable without a face scan. Nevertheless, I’m still kicking myself for repeating an earlier blunder. And so fellow basketball gamers, I’ll warn you once again: hold onto your save files, back up sync.bin and other user data on PC, and above all, don’t uninstall games after their servers are shut down, if you can avoid it!
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