14 DAY TRIAL // Publisher Electronic Arts has officially confirmed that the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 home console versions of its upcoming NBA Jam will be launched on November 17 in a disk based package with the same 50 dollars price tag which is attached to the Nintendo Wii version of the same game.
The game will offer High Definition graphics for the first time in the series and will, eventually, also allow gamers to engage in online matches against friends and unknowns.
The problem is that the initial launch of NBA Jam will allow players to participate in the Remix Tour and Classic Campaign game modes but the online multiplayer element will be severely handicapped.
The only available mode will be a classic 2 versus 2 match with the more advanced content only being introduced to NBA Jam through a free update at some point during the month of December.
Trey Smith, who is the creative director working on NBA Jam, stated, “We have listened to our NBA JAM fans and appreciate their desire to play this game online, so we are going to deliver the online feature set they expect and deserve.”
He added, “Fans will be able to play Classic JAM online right out of the box, and can expect to enjoy features like Team-up, Remix Online, Jam Party, Online Progression, and even more secret players and teams, in December.”
The most interesting of those is the Online Progression concept, which allows players to build a customized character as they tackle a series of online based challenges.
NBA Jam has been fast tracked for the Xbox 360 and for the PlayStation 3 after EA Sports announced that NBA Elite 11, its main basketball title of the company, has been pushed back to 2011 because of quality issues that were noticed around the time when the demo was launched.
Some analysts are speculating that if NBA Jam does well on all platforms NBA Elite 11 might even be canceled.