NBA Jam Returns on Wii

[tubaros]

Man people went crazy for this when it came out, remember it coming out loads of times on Megadrive iirc.

Nineties arcade champion NBA Jam is reported to be returning to life exclusively on Wii.

EA will make the game, revealed an ESPN report, under the watchful eye Mark Turnell - the former Midway man responsible for the original NBA Jam. No other details are given. EA UK has offered "no comment" on the matter.

If true, this puts an end to speculation sparked by EA Sports community manager Alan Quinto, whose December Tweet said the company was gearing for a new game announcement.

NBA Jam was released in North American arcades in 1993 and proved such a hit that machines needed their money stomachs emptied daily. Apparently the original arcade flock generated around $1bn in quarters.

Jam's draw was larger-than-life, two-on-two basketball, where there were next to no rules and gravity defying slam-dunks. Score consistently and players would literally be "on fire", gaining permanent turbo-boosts and more.

[iknowgungfu]

Was this the one where you could slam dunk and smash the glass behind the basket?

[tubaros]

Yeah, and with flames and stuff

[Monty]

Boomshakalaka, he's on fire!

Good times.

[iknowgungfu]

Excellent.

[tubaros]

Each character had special moves didnt it? Tenner says those will be activated by shaking the remote...

[seaempty]

Utah Jazz, Stockton and Malone. Unstopable combination!

Good times.

[bradigor]

A reason to turn on my Wii
Shame it won't be coming to XBLA though. Has me worried about the control scheme.

[Wade McGuiggan]

The SNES versions were great.  The last NBA Jam game I remember was that notoriously shit GBA effort that got 6% from Hyper (at least Superman N64 got 10%).

I can imagine a whole heap of licensing hassles that completely stuff our chances of ever seeing the original NBA Jam on any of the console download services (it certainly didn't make it into Midway Arcade Treasures).

God, I hope they nail this Wii effort.

[coxy]

It took me far too long to click onto this thread because I read the title and for some reason thought of Space Jam.

[tubaros]

EA officially hires NBA Jam creator

EA Sports has made official the hiring of NBA Jam creator Mark Turmell.

This announcement follows "source"-based reports made earlier this week that claimed EA was in the throws of revitalising NBA Jam for Wii.

Turmell's position at EA Sports was hardly a secret, however, and rather information publicly available via the man's LinkedIn profile.

While Turmell's appointment adds significant weight to an NBA Jam revival, his day-to-day duties will be done at EA Tiburon, the studio that makes Madden and NCAA Football games.

[/backslash]

Ahh SpaceJam, how I once loved thee - I remember winning a contest and ended up with the mammoth sized framed movie poster!

NBA Jam was an awesome game back in the day until they started releasing sequels and ruined it. I'd probably be happy enough with NBA Jam HD but instead since its a Wii title it'll look more like an N64 game

[tubaros]

Screenshots have finally been released for this. Not exactly the graphics Id imagined theyd be going with..







Liek WTF?

[iknowgungfu]

Looks like it has been done by the South Park animators.

[tubaros]

Ha!!! Ive just been out but while I was driving that exact thought came to me too - its like the saddam "hey guy" character!!

[/backslash]

Yup, it does seem like that Wonder if they're animated as badly too