EA Reviving NBA Jam on the Wii

[DoctorFinger]

Ah, nostalgia. Sometimes the things you loved as a kid fade to nothing in the light of adulthood. But every now and then something will be just as much fun at 30 as it was at 10. Now we're going to see which category the arcade classic NBA Jam falls into.

ESPN is reporting that a new, Wii-exclusive revival of NBA Jam is in development at EA Vancouver. EA has even hired original series creator Mark Turmell, as well as other members of the original team, to work on the game. The original was created by the now defunct Midway as an arcade game in 1993 when it became an overnight success. Numerous sequels and home versions followed, with the latest released for the PS3 and original Xbox in 2003.

So, assuming the new version follows the two-on-two roots of the original, which NBA duo will be the best?

Sources - ESPN (http://sports.espn.go.com/videogames/news/story?id=4795625); Gamespot (http://www.gamespot.com/news/6244868.html?part=rss&tag=gs_news&subj=6244868).

[Suave Peanut]

He's heating up...

HE'S ON FIRE!

BOOM-SHAKA-LAKA!!

[nixpayn]

Im scared that its on the wii.

NBA jam shouldnt have motion controls.

it better not have motion controls >.<

i'd be way more psyched if it was a PSN or XBL title, i played the shit out of the original. Bill Clinton and Hilary Clinton vs P Funk and .. that little dude.

[DoctorFinger]

Im scared that its on the wii.

NBA jam shouldnt have motion controls.

it better not have motion controls >.<What if the only thing you used the motion controls for were selecting a dunk? You move/pass/shoot with the pad and buttons, but flail about to do a spectacular dunk? That could work.

[Wilkz07]

I liked this game in the arcade back in the day - some pubs still have a TE version so I'll leave my gaming memories with the arcade version.

I find it funny that EA is bringing back this old game but shutting down 2009 madden servers... nice.

[TheFlyingOrc]

Im scared that its on the wii.

NBA jam shouldnt have motion controls.

it better not have motion controls >.<

i'd be way more psyched if it was a PSN or XBL title, i played the shit out of the original. Bill Clinton and Hilary Clinton vs P Funk and .. that little dude.

NBA Jam needs like 1/2 of a button to be played. This is awesome news.

[rein]

NBA JAM TE and Rock-N-Roll Racing are two titles I keep going back to via emualtion. I still play them both a few times a year. Not sure what I will think about motion control on NBA Jam but an excellent choice for a classic rivival.

[Suave Peanut]

Wait a minute... how exactly did EA end up with this IP? Didn't WB buy most of Midway?

[Tayaya]

RAZZLE DAZZLE!

As someone that still plays the arcade version of NBA Jam to this day on MAME, I'll probably take interest in this. However, I do remember the last attempt at making a new game in this series (NBA Jam Extreme I think it was called), and it wasn't pretty.

[hunterx280]

Oh man, I used to love NBA Jam! I'm not a huge fan of basketball (though I've come to appreciate the game) but the absurdity of this game makes it so much more fun!

[EternalGamer]

Anybody who saw what they did with "Madden Arcade" should be scared. I loved NBA Jam, but I'm skeptical about this. Plus being on the Wii will really hamper the possibility of online play.

I'd just love to see NBA Jam: TE on Xbox Live. No changes needed. I'll take it pixelated warts and all.

[MachEnergy]

How many times is this franchise going to be "revived"?

http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/0/1614/842615-nba_jam_xbox_us_large.jpg

The dunks in the XBOX version were soooooo amazing. I guess people aren't that into arcade gameplay any more. Personally, I prefer it over the NBA Street implementations. Hope they do it justice! "NBA on NBC" was the last great one, in my opinion.

[Gorvi]

I just couldn't see paying full price for a game like this these days. A $10-$15 PSN game? Sure. A full price game on any console? No way. Even if they put it out at $30 that's still too much.

[J Arcane]

Wait a minute... how exactly did EA end up with this IP? Didn't WB buy most of Midway?
Akklaim had ther publishing rights, and they firesaled all their IP when they went tits up, for practically nothing. The rights to Rise of the robots for instance, only went for like $5000.

Probably either EA or the creator picked it up for a song.

[Kelegacy]

I'd rather see them release this as a Live/PSN/WiiWare title. Or, I'd like to see them release it on the other consoles as well (since I own them). Grrr. NBA Jam was one of the best times I had on the SNES. We still were playing it in college about 10 years later. Great game.

[Widgetcraft]

The rights to Rise of the robots for instance, only went for like $5000.

Somebody overpaid.

[axion]

Nail in the coffin!

[Wraith]

Don't know how the remake will fare (I'm with nix on this one - no motion controls needed), but I'll hop on the nostalgia train. I played the SNES T.E. version a lot. Pretty sure I even had the guide book (http://www.amazon.com/Tournament-Official-Players-Strategy-Guides/dp/1566862329) for it. (Though I don't know what I used it for, other than the codes to unlock special players.)

[axion]

Really? I commonly used the dunk from anywhere code, pass it in and SLAM DUNK from across the court.

[Wraith]

Ah, I suppose there are other codes I forgot about. Just can't remember what's useful in the book that couldn't be summed up on a single sheet of paper. I guess it had player stats, team lineups and such, to fill out the rest of the pages.

[MagGnome]

NBA Jam is one of the few sports games I ever had any interest in. I might pick something like this up on XBLA, but I couldn't see myself spending $50 on it.

[MosBen]

There was something on the Dreamcast that wasn't called NBA Jam (I don't think), but that's pretty much what it was. That was pretty fun, back in the ol' college days.

As others have said, I don't think I'd pay full price, but I wouldn't even think about it at $20. It's just be there suddenly, on my Xbox booting up.

[rein]

NBA Showtime was the Dreamcast game if I am not mistaken.

[PathMaster]

Fun games...loved TE.

[OldJadedGamer]

They need to just make a T.E. arcade port update on PSN/XBLA with 4 player online and call it a day.

[Tayaya]

Really? I commonly used the dunk from anywhere code, pass it in and SLAM DUNK from across the court.

Oh man, I forgot all about that. Was that a Game Genie code or was it an actual in game legit cheat?

[Tayaya]

NBA Showtime was the Dreamcast game if I am not mistaken.

Yes, this is correct. Showtime was the true "sequel" of sorts to NBA Jam, boasting a much more modern (for the times) engine, and if I remember correctly was 3 on 3.

[axion]

Oh man, I forgot all about that. Was that a Game Genie code or was it an actual in game legit cheat?

Legit cheat done by changing those symbol things during prematch.

With Bill Clinton!

j4rSx5PeBAM

[nixpayn]

NBA JAM TE and Rock-N-Roll Racing are two titles I keep going back to via emualtion. I still play them both a few times a year. Not sure what I will think about motion control on NBA Jam but an excellent choice for a classic rivival.

Rock n Roll Racing was the shit!!!!

i used to play that for hours on end.

[nixpayn]

Really? I commonly used the dunk from anywhere code, pass it in and SLAM DUNK from across the court.

I was the master at entering those codes - slam dunk from anywhere, on fire all the time, super speed.. those were the best, and then of course you needed to enter the initials for the hidden characters..

[axion]

I was the master at entering those codes - slam dunk from anywhere, on fire all the time, super speed.. those were the best, and then of course you needed to enter the initials for the hidden characters..

Lol yeah, Clintons vs. Bulls

zlRI-KsGOrc