Topic: NBA Jam to Be Fully Featured on 360, PS3

[NWR_Neal]

NBA Jam is now a multi-platform title.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/blog/24203

NBA Jam is no longer a Wii-exclusive in any way, shape, or form. The version that is hitting Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, which was originally supposed to be a downloadable version that came free with the now-delayed NBA Elite 11, will have as much of the content of the Wii version as the developers can pack into it.

"I'll tell you, we're doing everything in our power to get as much on there as possible. I mean, we had online up. It was a really basic online feature set. We're trying to blow that out. And then you get Remix. We're trying to throw it all in there," said Creative Director Trey Smith on Toronto FAN 590's Got Game.

The decision to make this retail release of NBA Jam on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 caught Smith's team at EA Canada off guard. The team is currently "shuffling to get everything together," according to Smith.

"And its really up to you [which version you buy]," Smith said. "If you want to hang out with your friends and use gesture controls, you got it on the Wii. If you want to go online and you want that HD experience, you go on the PS3/360."

[Enner]

Sigh, I guess this was to be expected.


Also, shame on EA to suddenly spring it on the developer to have the whole game on two other systems. Aren't they working hard enough, EA?!

[broodwars]

I suspect that weak sales of other Wii projects had a lot to do with this move, as well as the poor outlook of NBA Elite.  Honestly, I can't blame them for taking this game multiplatform, but EA shouldn't have made people think the game was going to be a Wii exclusive.  I'll definitely be getting the PS3 version, though: all the features of the Wii version + online play and updated rosters?  Definitely.

[Mop it up]

Wii owners are used to graphical down ports of games, that comes with the territory. But I have to admit, it takes a lot of gall to unveil a Wii exclusive game, then announce it's coming to the other systems as a free download with purchase of another game containing a feature that should have been in the Wii version, and now is being released as a stand-alone game with more content.

Only EA.

I'm usually not one to care about business practices and buy any game I think I will enjoy regardless of how it got to a system I own, but this is getting ridiculous. I don't want to support this, it is borderline insulting. If I buy this game (which was unlikely anyway, not a basketball fan), it's going to be used.

[Tenser]

Why would anyone pay $50 for the Wii version sans online when they can pay $50 or maybe even less for a PS360 version with online?

[broodwars]

Why would anyone pay $50 for the Wii version sans online when they can pay $50 or maybe even less for a PS360 version with online?

That's the problem EA's had for a few months now: why would anyone buy the Wii version?  If you're a multiplatform owner (which most people interested in this game probably are), the PS3/360 versions are better deals and better games for not that much longer of a wait and likely not that much (if any) of a price increase.

[Captain N the Game Master]

Remember in NBA Jam Tournament Edition on SNES, when you picked the rookies and the announcer was saying, "Tonight's match-up..."? He would just scream! It was hilarious! Tonight's match-up, Hornets versus AHHHH! 
I'm looking forward to this game.

[NWR_Neal]

Despite my series of posts about the decreasing value of NBA Jam on Wii, I still plan on picking it up this week. Online isn't that important to me, and I don't follow the NBA, so updated rosters means nothing to me.

After breaking out NBA Jam on SNES/Genesis this summer and having a total blast with all of my friends, I'm very excited to play Remix Tour on my own, and play hardcore vs. play with my friends.

[KDR_11k]

"And its really up to you [which version you buy]," Smith said. "If you want to hang out with your friends and use gesture controls, you got it on the Wii. If you want to go online and you want that HD experience, you go on the PS3/360."

Are developers brain damaged or something? Nobody WANTS gesture controls on games designed for buttons! We tolerate them but there is absolutely no reason to add them at all costs yet developers keep doing just that! Do you have to prove an IQ below 65 to work as a game developer for Wii games these days? How fucking dense do developers have to be to not realize this after four fucking years of reviewers bludgeoning them with bad scores over it?

[TJ Spyke]

The game was designed with gesture controls as the main option, it was only recently that the publisher forced the developer to also make 360/PS3 versions.

[BlackNMild2k1]

 Doesn't mean that gesture controls have to be the only option either and it wasn't that recent that they get NBAJam HD in the pipeline. The game was ready to ship this month afterall. They hopefully have all sorts of control options available for the Wii version though, surely gesture controls isn't the only way to play.

[BeautifulShy]

There is multiple control styles for the game. I believe I posted them in the main topic.

[Ian Sane]

Are developers brain damaged or something? Nobody WANTS gesture controls on games designed for buttons! We tolerate them but there is absolutely no reason to add them at all costs yet developers keep doing just that! Do you have to prove an IQ below 65 to work as a game developer for Wii games these days? How fucking dense do developers have to be to not realize this after four fucking years of reviewers bludgeoning them with bad scores over it?

I think devs assume that PS360 owners don't want waggle (which is probably DEAD ON) but that Wii owners being casuals and non-gamers and kids and grandmas do.  I think that's crap but I think that's what they think.
 
Hell Nintendo shoves waggle into every game and usually doesn't provide us with an option so what do expect third parties to think?  Nintendo really did the hard sell on normal controls being super complicated and confusing and motion controls being so intuitive and easy to use.  If you think the Wii userbaes is all casuals would you not assume that waggle is the control scheme to use since according to Nintendo casuals can't understand those complicated buttons?
 
PS3 version used.  Easy choice.  It does have local multiplayer, right?  If that was Wii-only it would tip things in that version's favour for me.

[KDR_11k]

I think devs assume that PS360 owners don't want waggle (which is probably DEAD ON) but that Wii owners being casuals and non-gamers and kids and grandmas do.  I think that's crap but I think that's what they think.

That's why I think they have to be either brain dead or thick as a reactor wall. It's pretty fucking clear that waggle (i.e. random movements mapped to button presses) isn't what anybody wants and games can sell well without that, plus there's much less you can screw up to make your game hated by everyone.

Assuming that's what "casual" gamers want is again stupidity. Do these people ever look outside the game release schedules of their competitors? It's pretty fucking clear that "hold the remote like this and THEN hit B" is nowhere near intuitive (see Spiderman SD discussion on RFN). Just adding some shake commands to a game that's otherwise traditional does not make it appeal to wider audiences and anybody who thinks it does should be fired. There is no excuse for it. I know they reach stupid conclusions like that but I'm still unable to believe a sentient human being could reach such a conclusion.

[Ian Sane]

Nintendo games almost always have waggle.  When you're some boardroom scrub who has never played a videogame in his life but for some reason is in charge of a videogame company you see the Wii being super successul and you see the list of games that sell on it and it's a bunch of Nintendo first party titles, ALL of which have motion control up the ass whether it makes sense to or not.  So you go from there.  You assume Super Mario Galaxy 2 is the bee's knees because it has waggle and never make the assumption that it probably succeeds DESPITE waggle.

Also remember that typical Joe WiiOwner doesn't have a classic controller.  Suddenly you've got a button shortage you don't have on the other consoles and the quick 'n' dirty solution is to go with gestures.

Of course NBA Jam probably only uses three buttons anyway.  The sheer PR disaster NBA Jam has been suggests that, yes, those calling the shots are morons.  But there usually is some sort of simplistic basis for the stupid decisions.

[ControlerFleX]

I almost feel bad saying this but I'm now even more excited for a PS3 release. This was a day one Wii purchase but now I get Trophies(yes I'm a whor3), HD(yes Reggie, I care) and the ease of online play.

[xcwarrior]

"And its really up to you [which version you buy]," Smith said. "If you want to hang out with your friends and use gesture controls, you got it on the Wii. If you want to go online and you want that HD experience, you go on the PS3/360."

This translates to: "If you want the POS version we slapped together in a month, buy the Wii version. If you want the version that we are actually putting time, effort and online to, buy the PS3/360."

EA, you are back on my **** list with Activision. Please try to avoid retaking the #1 spot.

[broodwars]

This translates to: "If you want the POS version we slapped together in a month, buy the Wii version. If you want the version that we are actually putting time, effort and online to, buy the PS3/360."

I think you're exagerrating a little bit there, and I wouldn't speculate on things you don't know for sure.  That said, if you bought the Wii version, I really don't know if you have grounds to complain about missing features in the version you bought.  It's not like you weren't warned repeatedly ahead of time that the Wii version wasn't going to have online.  News flash: the Wii doesn't particularly handle online very well, and probably isn't worth the effort to put in compared to how much it would likely be used.  Just be glad you got a version of NBA JAM you enjoy, and be happy that HD owners get a version that they can enjoy as well.  Everyone gets JAM.

[Mop it up]

Aren't you one of the people who said that people shouldn't accept watered-down versions of games?

The Wii handles online just as well as developers program it, and games like Mario Strikers Charged prove that it can handle a game like this just fine. Furthermore, like sales, whether or not a feature is used by a lot of people doesn't factor into what someone wants in a game.

[broodwars]

Aren't you one of the people who said that people shouldn't accept watered-down versions of games?

The Wii handles online just as well as developers program it, and games like Mario Strikers Charged prove that it can handle a game like this just fine. Furthermore, like sales, whether or not a feature is used by a lot of people doesn't factor into what someone wants in a game.

They shouldn't accept watered-down versions if it means losing features that matter to them.  IMO, if you don't like Online not being in NBA JAM Wii (and for the record, the Dev team never said it would be in there, just that they would have liked to put it in), don't buy the game.  Vote with your wallet, the way it should be in a Free Market Economy.  I'm just sick of reading all the complaints about the feature not being on Wii when we knew it wouldn't be.  Buy it or don't.  There's an online version out there if you want it, and an offline-focused one if you don't.
 
As for the Wii's Online capabilities, I didn't say it couldn't handle Online JAM, just that it probably wouldn't be worth the effort to EA to do it considering the likely relatively small pool of users who would actually use it.  There's a lot of time and effort that goes into making Online work on Wii that was probably better used elsewhere.

[Mop it up]

You said "the Wii doesn't particularly handle online very well," which, although it isn't as good as the other two systems, it still works fine for almost every game type. Also, the number of people who actually use online features in a game is speculative, I'd like to see statistics on that but I'm not sure if they exist.

We didn't know the feature wouldn't be in, but we knew it was a possibility it wouldn't. They said they were working on it, and the excuse for it not being there wasn't very valid (it wasn't a solid 60FPS). And they probably could have gotten it working if they didn't need to spend resources coding it for the other two systems on top of porting it to them. I think that's why this is a bigger issue than most of the other scaled down games the Wii got.

[broodwars]

Also, the number of people who actually use online features in a game is speculative, I'd like to see statistics on that but I'm not sure if they exist.

I think we'll see solid statistics on the matter once this generation is over, and I think that outside a handful of titles it's going to look fairly poor in contrast to the online population on the HD consoles.  Until then, those that know the numbers probably can't divulge them.  I think we can speculate fairly accurately, though, that Online isn't just being frequently left out of Wii titles due to lack of interest by the Devs.  If there was a solid online community that developers thought they could exploit, we'd see more Online Wii games.

[BeautifulShy]

Considering that Monster Hunter Tri is the most played Wii game I think there is a substantual community for online titles.

[Stratos]

Who's most played Wii game? Most online activity overall? Your personal most played title? I'm willing to bet Mario Kart has more online users than Tri.