Mahoney: NBA Jam, the new measure of basketball prestige

[Blackjack]

NBA Jam, the new measure of basketball prestige (http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/02/nba-jam-the-new-measure-of-basketball-prestige.php)
By Rob Mahoney

NBA players are evaluated in a variety of ways: the traditional box score, advanced metrics, All-Star appearances, All-NBA team honors, MVPs, championships, etc. But the latest measure of not only sheer basketball ability, but player charisma and popularity, is inclusion in the revamped NBA Jam game set for release later this year.

There hasn't been an NBA Jam title in arcades or for home consoles in over 15 years, which makes this the first title in the Jam mold for NBA players of a gaming generation. So many of the league's young players grew up not only playing Jam, but a vast assortment of basketball games since. But the glaring difference between this series and newer titles that strive for realistic graphics and true in-game simulation is not only the cartoonish aesthetic of the former. Perhaps even more important, for the purposes of the players, at least, is Jam's exclusivity.

Rather than featuring every player in the league (and even unsigned free agents) like the 2k series or NBA Live, the original Jam only had a two-player tandem to represent each team. The new installment looks to continue in that tradition, though by allowing fans to vote on the three players they'd most like to see in the game through the game's official website (http://nba-jam.easports.com/home.action).

So it was only a matter of time before the NBA Jam generation, weaned on video games and the internet, caught wind of the online voting. Kevin Love wasn't shy at all about expressing his desire to be in the game...or the lengths he's going to to make sure that happens. From ESPN's Jon Robinson's piece on NBA gaming (http://sports.espn.go.com/videogames/news/story?id=4938189) (via First Cuts (http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/firstcuts/entry/view/56954/kevin_love_admits_to_stuffing_the_nba_jam_ballot_b ox)):


"I went online and kept refreshing my computer and voting myself into 'Jam,' I'm not going to lie," said Kevin Love. "'NBA Jam' was my favorite game growing up, so I was on there all day voting for myself. I used to play as Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton or Karl Malone and John Stockton. I never even imagined that I could be in 'Jam.' I just want to get that team fire, get that blue ball ... it's going to be cool."


But it's not just Love. Robinson also has quotes from an excited Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James, two superstars who hardly have to worry about making the cut. NBA players have a chance on a nightly basis to make their mark in NBA history, but this goes beyond that. The original Jam was a flat-out phenomenon, and a chance to be in the reboot offers not only a solidified place in basketball lore, but cements a player's status in pop culture as well.

[Blackjack]

Alright, they're asking the fans to vote for three players from each respective team, but, as we all know, NBA Jam is all about 2-on-2.

So with that in mind, who you got ...

Tony or Manu? :stirpot:

[slick'81]

as long as it has 2-2 online play fckn bad ass

[HarlemHeat37]

I'm going with Bonner-Bogans-Finley...Pop can't be wrong, he has 4 rings..

[Blackjack]

I'm going with Bonner-Bogans-Finley...Pop can't be wrong, he has 4 rings..

You mean he has 4RF?:lol

[DMX7]

I remember NBA JAM. I loved those games.

[Blackjack]

I used to kill people with Mitch Richmond and Wayman Tisdale. :smokin

[DesignatedT]

this shits only coming out for wii---- gayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

damnit i was looking forward to this.

[slick'81]

I used to kill people with Mitch Richmond and Wayman Tisdale. :smokin


that is old school i used to run with sa of course and kemp and gp with seattle

[Blackjack]

George Clinton was a pimp in that game.:lol

[Dro210]

Nice..... NBA Jam was the best shit man, so classic.

Pippen with the corner 3 all day. Horace Grant with the sick dunk on the halftime show. Elliott and Robinson...

Can't wait for this... looks like it's coming to Wii first, but thankfully it's gonna be brought out later for 360 (and PS3)

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

I used to kill people with Mitch Richmond and Wayman Tisdale. :smokin

Heh heh... bet Mitch got hot a lot, eh? :)


that is old school i used to run with sa of course and kemp and gp with seattle

They were fun to play with!

I was mostly a Robinson and Elliott guy. :D

Screw the new game, just put a box with the original NBA Jam in a place near me and I'd be happy. When they update classics from the '80s and 90's the new version usually loses the playability of the original. NBA Jam was incredibly playable.

[Obstructed_View]

Mike Izulino FTMFW...

[Blackjack]

Heh heh... bet Mitch got hot a lot, eh? :)

No doubt, Mitch could catch fire, but don't sleep on Tisdale (BOOM-SHAKALAKA!).:lol

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

No doubt, Mitch could catch fire, but don't sleep on Tisdale (BOOM-SHAKALAKA!).:lol

Elliott also loved to catch fire, and DRob had some wicked nastah dunks. :D

[Blackjack]

I played with the Spurs, for obvious reasons, but I always like to stray when it comes to games like that and experience the other side (Jordan on your team didn't suck :D).

But Richmond and Tisdale were somewhat an obscure choice, which is something I'm usually drawn to, and their performance on the game lead you to believe there might have been a Kings fan with some pull who helped to create the game.:lol

[DesignatedT]

i used to roll with the cavs. mark price and brad daugherty. some 7 footer. price was unstoppable from long range.

[Blackjack]

^ ^ I dig.:tu

I was a big Price fan.

[hsxvvd]

Drazen and Coleman were always my favorite on the Arcade version, Robinson and Ellis on my gameboy.

Hersey Hawkins and Jeff Hornacek were also good for lighting it up from 3.

[taps]

i waited til nba jam TE came out on the snes and used hillary clinton and Bird. i could spend literally the whole game on fire and half-court chucks had a pretty good percentage with those two

[DieMrBond]

I played with the Spurs, for obvious reasons, but I always like to stray when it comes to games like that and experience the other side (Jordan on your team didn't suck :D).

But Richmond and Tisdale were somewhat an obscure choice, which is something I'm usually drawn to, and their performance on the game lead you to believe there might have been a Kings fan with some pull who helped to create the game.:lol

I thought Jordan wasn't cleared for NBA Jam (because of MJ's Flight School - shitty game), and it was Pippen and Ron Harper i think? Unless he was unlockable and I didnt know that :)

I was always SA, because well... the same reason most other people on this board would be. I think the other good team was Charlotte from memory, with Alonzo and Larry Johnson?

Isn't this new version going to be in the Wii? I don't see how that will work...

[DBMethos]

Air Dog > you

[DAF86]

Alright, they're asking the fans to vote for three players from each respective team, but, as we all know, NBA Jam is all about 2-on-2.

So with that in mind, who you got ...

Tony or Manu? :stirpot:

Both, small-ball FTW!

[igruex]

IIRC Houston was the best team, Olajuwon-Drexler. The only important player missing was MJ, I've always wondered why.. I've spent a fortune playing a whole season...

[sananspursfan21]

hahaha! that game is what got me started with basketball. my favorite combo was the cavs with mark price and brad daugherty. i liked the spurs too but they had d-rob and rodman.

[sananspursfan21]

[quote=DieMrBond;4111670]I thought Jordan wasn't cleared for NBA Jam (because of MJ's Flight School - shitty game), and it was Pippen and Ron Harper i think? Unless he was unlockable and I didnt know that...quote]


jordan was only on one game(other than flight school), and i forget the name of it. it was a realistic game in 92. it was like an older version of 2k. i loved using john paxson in that game. just set up shop behind the arc and never missed.

jordan never signed away his rights for the game to use. if you notice in some games, on the bulls, there's a guy called player99. that was supposed to be jordan

[DesignatedT]

hahaha! that game is what got me started with basketball. my favorite combo was the cavs with mark price and brad daugherty. i liked the spurs too but they had d-rob and rodman.

haha yep. price and daugherty were the shit.

[ElNono]

http://1.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvsfrtyGMJ1qznsg8o1_400.png

BOOM SHAKA LAKA!

[sananspursfan21]

http://wireninja.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/nba-jam.jpg


wait, where's the highly visible pixels? where's fire around the ball? why isn't the net singed? it's not the same!!! :cry

[ElNono]

http://www.gamed.nl/messages/131079.jpg

[nkdlunch]

Kemp was my man.

Dude would jump 30ft in the air for every dunk.

[Blackjack]

I thought Jordan wasn't cleared for NBA Jam (because of MJ's Flight School - shitty game), and it was Pippen and Ron Harper i think? Unless he was unlockable and I didnt know that :)

You're absolutely right.:tu

I was trying to make a point about taking the opportunity to play with the greats when given the opportunity, and/or people I wouldn't usually root for, but it's been so long that it slipped my mind (2012 will be 20yrs.:wow).

I'm not one-hundred percent sure, but I seem to remember there was a code to unlock Jordan ... only he wasn't "Jordan"; looked and played like him, just sans the name (that might have been another game, though). Regardless, I had all the cheat codes back then (unlimited fire, halfcourt dunks, ridiculous characters --George "P-Funk" Clinton being my fave --, etc.). Good times . . .


I was always SA, because well... the same reason most other people on this board would be. I think the other good team was Charlotte from memory, with Alonzo and Larry Johnson?

That was actually my team to start and one I stuck with for a while, until I discovered Sacramento; LJ is one of a very small group of players (he, Barkley, Jordan and Wilkins) that ever had me buy a jersey that wasn't Spurs. He drew me in at UNLV and I was rockin' those Cons of his as soon as he got in the league.:lol

Wiki's got the original roster here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_Jam#Featured_teams_and_players).

[Obstructed_View]

I thought Jordan wasn't cleared for NBA Jam (because of MJ's Flight School - shitty game), and it was Pippen and Ron Harper i think? Unless he was unlockable and I didnt know that...quote]

jordan was only on one game(other than flight school), and i forget the name of it. it was a realistic game in 92. it was like an older version of 2k. i loved using john paxson in that game. just set up shop behind the arc and never missed.

jordan never signed away his rights for the game to use. if you notice in some games, on the bulls, there's a guy called player99. that was supposed to be jordan

There must have been more than one, because there was Jordan vs. Bird which probably came out before you were born.

[Blackjack]

Jordan vs. Bird . . . Damn, I'd almost forgotten that (wasn't there a dunk contest?).

[Phenomanul]

Jordan vs. Bird . . . Damn, I'd almost forgotten that (wasn't there a dunk contest?).

The dunk contest was crazy hard.

[Blackjack]

The dunk contest was crazy hard.

Yeah. I remembered it being that way, I just couldn't recall if it was the same game.

Damn, this shit takes me back . . .

I had a Nintendo rotation consisting of: Double Dribble, Goal, Blades of Steel, Mario, Contra (up,up,down,down,L,R,L,R,B,A,Select.Start:lol) Punch Out and a few others. And it's crazy to think how ridiculous I viewed those games to be after upgrading from Frogger and the Atari.:lol

Good times . . .

[hsxvvd]

http://www.games-n-console-land.co.uk/images/DAVID%20ROBINSONS%20SUPREME%20COURT.jpg

Come on be honest? How many spurs fans bought this game and never played it? It was a shocker, but you just had to have it.

[Seventyniner]

NBA Showtime is a lot of fun in the arcade (Diversions on San Pedro FTW); it's a 1999 version of NBA Jam with 5-6 selectable players per team. The Spurs have Duncan, Robinson, Elliott, Porter, Kerr, and AJ. Also, the players' heads were almost the size of their bodies.

[mexicanjunior]

Loved NBA Jam...used to use Larry Johnson-Alonzo Mourning when I wasn't using Robinson-Elliott...

Check out my tribute to that game...

LudDwiBvwuo

[Dro210]

The dunk contest was crazy hard.

Hell yea... So hard, or at least it seemed like it back then.

The other old games that have Jordan are Bulls vs. Lakers and maybe Bulls vs. Blazers... and there was the Dream Team game too, pretty sure that had Jordan in it.

Damn, I love those games, they were so badass in their day. Definitely ahead of their time.

Then I think NBA Live came out in '95? Robert Horry on the cover. Jordan wasn't in that.

[Dro210]

As far as NBA Jam goes. I remember wanting it so bad, and getting it for like a 1st grade graduation gift. It was the best day of my life at that time. lol

Spurs, of course... Bulls were probably my most used tho. Pippen was too good, and anytime he missed, Horace Grant would "GRABS THE REBOUND!"

I got like 3rd overall in the city in this Blockbuster NBA Jam tournament using Golden State. Mullins and Tim Hardaway. Haha, 7 years old. You went to the Blockbuster and played a game against the CPU, and it was based on who could score the most points without using any codes.

Drexler and Porter for Portland could light it up too.

[Obstructed_View]

http://www.games-n-console-land.co.uk/images/DAVID%20ROBINSONS%20SUPREME%20COURT.jpg

Come on be honest? How many spurs fans bought this game and never played it? It was a shocker, but you just had to have it.

Not only did I buy it, I pre-ordered it from a game shop on Babcock. The day it came out, I got it home, played it for about ten minutes, then took it back (they used to take games back). It SUUUUUUCKED.

[Obstructed_View]

NBAL09 for the Wii is the best basketball game I've played. I traded for centers and I'm currently 38-0 in my season. Amazing how good you can be when you can block shots. Crap, even in a video game discussion I end up going crazy.

[iminol]

http://www.games-n-console-land.co.uk/images/DAVID%20ROBINSONS%20SUPREME%20COURT.jpg

Come on be honest? How many spurs fans bought this game and never played it? It was a shocker, but you just had to have it.

is there PC emulator on web? anybody?i'd like to try it :)

EDIT: ok, i got it. http://www.games4win.com/games/david-robinsons-supreme-court/

[sananspursfan21]

There must have been more than one, because there was Jordan vs. Bird which probably came out before you were born.


excuse me for forgetting one. i'm older than 15 douche bag

[Obstructed_View]

excuse me for forgetting one. i'm older than 15 douche bag

Well then you need to go back to math class since Jordan vs. Bird came out in 1988, fuckstick.

[J_Paco]

Jordan was also in Lakers Vs. Celtics, Bulls Vs. Lakers and Bulls Vs. Blazers. That's where my love of the Admiral began with his ''signature'' windmill dunk....


...those were the days....

[sananspursfan21]

....fuckstick.


i don't really remember what that word is... i'm sure you just got done sticking one in your mouth so maybe you can refresh my memory

by the way, your comebacks are so clever

[Obstructed_View]

i don't really remember what that word is... i'm sure you just got done sticking one in your mouth so maybe you can refresh my memory

by the way, your comebacks are so clever

Just replying in kind. I made a completely innocent comment about an old video game and why you probably overlooked it and you managed to somehow take it as an insult and turn it into a fight.

[sananspursfan21]

Just replying in kind. I made a completely innocent comment about an old video game and why you probably overlooked it and you managed to somehow take it as an insult and turn it into a fight.


okay, now we're getting somewhere. you always seem to respond in sarcasm. pardon my rudeness. i won't take your responses as insults anymore

[Samr]

Rik Smits and Reggie Miller. Smits was money from the straight-on 3-pointer.

[senorglory]

"Arch Rivals," anyone? "Bill Laimbeer's Combat Basketball?"