Instant Alert: 25 years later, it sounds like the classic game series 'NBA Jam' is coming back

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25 years later, it sounds like the classic game series 'NBA Jam' is coming back

by Ben Gilbert on Jan 22, 2018, 11:01 AM

Classic game series "NBA Jam" may be coming back.
The game's announcer spoke to ESPN about the project in a recent interview.
It's not clear if the game is coming this year — it hasn't even been officially announced — or where it's headed.

25 years after the original "NBA Jam" set arcades on fire, the classic, over-the-top basketball series is making a triumphant return — maybe.

A "remake" is said to be in the works at Microsoft, according to the game's original announcer Tim Kitzrow.

"I can't speak anything to the specifics, but I can tell you there is movement in the works to get it done for the 25th year," Kitzrow told ESPN in a recent interview. "I'm hoping that we get a remake that does justice to the original."

That's confusing for a few reasons. Primary among them: Microsoft doesn't own the rights to "NBA Jam."

Longtime "NBA Jam" fans may remember a previous remake of the game — 2011's "NBA Jam: On Fire Edition" — that EA put out. This game:

NBA Jam On Fire Edition

It makes sense that EA put out that game: EA owns the rights to "NBA Jam," which it acquired after Acclaim folded in 2004. The original arcade game was made by Midway, a Chicago-based game company. Microsoft isn't involved in the series — at least not that we know of.

It's possible that EA is working with Microsoft on an "NBA Jam" remake for the Xbox One, but it's more likely that such a game would come to the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch as well. Notoriously, the game was missing from the Super NES Classic Edition console — a notable exception from the Super Nintendo's classic game library.

Thus far, though, no such "NBA Jam" remake project has been officially announced. With the game's anniversary this year, and a set of new game consoles primed for high-flying slam dunks, the timing is certainly ripe. As the game's creator Mark Turmell told ESPN: "There's so much more that can be done. It's really sort of an untapped category."

Microsoft and EA didn't respond to requests for comment as of publishing.

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