The first trailer for NBA Jam has been released and includes a good amount of gameplay and catchphrase audio direct from the game. NBA Jam has been announced as a Wii exclusive with no release date yet official but it is expected to arrive in Q3 putting it between October and the end of the year. There are plans to bring it to XBL and PSN that will not happen until sometime in 2011. Continue on for the debut trailer and leave your thoughts in the comments!

When it was finally confirmed last week that the NHL 2K series would be halted on the 360/PS3 it was stated that NHL 2K11 would in fact be released on the Wii. At the time it made sense considering the lesser development costs and having no competition on the casual heavy console. Now though it looks like that competition has arrived as a Walmart blog posting has revealed that EA Sports will be bringing NHL 11 to the Wii.

EA is going to be bringing their NHL game to the Wii system this year for the 1^st time. They showed us a video last week and it really looks like it could be something special.

This is a significant blow to the potential of NHL 2K11 on the Wii and the future of the series on other consoles (which already appeared very bleak). The advantage that 2K11 has is the base of players that purchased last year. It will be a battle to keep those players though, let alone grow sales, when faced with another hockey offering on the market. EA NHL has become the hockey game of choice on the HD consoles with reach going far beyond just fans of the sport. That mainstream appeal will give it an edge on a console where purchases are made primarily off titles and reputations. Team sports games generally have not translated that well or sold well on the Wii. That being said the companies continue to try and tap into the large user base that the console offers.

EA Sports has released the first official screenshots for NBA Jam. Two of them are brand new while the other is the first one that leaked out early last month. The screens show the graphical style that includes real face images pasted on to the 2D bodies. NBA Jam currently does not have a release date but is expected out in fall of this year for the Wii. Click the thumbnails below to expand and view full size. (via Kotaku)

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With a single screenshot and some initial details EA Sports NBA Jam has started to come into focus. Now thanks to GoNintendo a scan of the Nintendo Power article has been posted that displays NBA Jam from the gameplay angle and reveals the release time frame. Interestingly despite the earlier details this particular screen shows 2vs2 action. Click the image above to see it full size.

Given the strong push already and that voting is being taken each week on the players to include for three teams NBA Jam looked like it could possibly be released in May or June during the playoffs. However the game is not going to be out until the fall which exposes two big questions to consider.

Why are rosters being voted on when many of the players will be on different teams next season? That makes it seem as though this is more of a marketing move than actually how the players will be determined. Also of concern is that it becomes yet another game set to arrive in the fall where the slate is already packed with other sports titles. Being exclusive to the Wii may offer it some breathing room but still it will be hard to expect gamers to shell out $50 more during a period where there are so many other quality options.

This will be especially disappointing news for those holding out hope that NBA Jam would be arriving on the 360/PS3 whether as a standard title or downloadable. It now appears that possibility at the very least is a long ways off.

Earlier this week the resurrection of NBA Jam was confirmed and the first screenshot was discovered. Now details from the Nintendo Power preview have made their way out via Neogaf and that earlier screenshot has been confirmed as legitimate.

2 Modes, 1 is called Classic Campaign, plays pretty much identical to previous NBA Jams, 3v3, no rules other than shot clock and goaltending. The other is called Remix Tour, which is different, changing the core mechanics, rule tweaks, and camera tweaks etc. The devs didnt want to go into detail on the Remix Tour mode yet.

Theres tons of new dunks, a new spin move that can evade the shove move.

The faces are actual photograph captures, each character has multiple faces, 3 faces while running the court, 2 dunk faces, and a positive and negative face. (Looks hilarious. Basically its 3d bodies with 2d heads)

Option of motion controls or holding the wiimote sideways. Didnt see any mention of the Classic Controller

Fire
Shattering Backboard
Cheats
Flashing Shoes
Flashing ball
Big Head Mode
Legends
Playable Mascots
Secret Characters

These first details sound intriguing but the switch to 3v3 instead of 2v2 seems like a risk given how well the previous formula worked. Most people seem to be really excited by the return of NBA Jam until they find out its Wii exclusive. What do you think of the first info on the game?

While information on the just announced EA Sports NBA Jam remains scarce and a release date appears to be a ways off what could be the first screenshot from the game has emerged. Originally discovered by Nintendo Everything the image below as since been replaced with the cover for the upcoming Nintendo Power, which will have a blowout of info in the upcoming edition. That could mean it was just a placeholder as at first glance it doesn’t look like a legitimate screen. Or it could be that it wasn’t supposed to have been seen yet. So take it for what its worth as it may or may not be real (update: I’ve now been told that it is a real screen).

Today EA Sports has made it official that they have purchased the rights to NBA Jam and are developing a new take on the classic game. The revamped NBA Jam is stated to be Wii exclusive with no release date set although there has been some talk (and certainly hope) it will eventually find its way to the 360 and PS3 also.

Featuring gameplay that is true to the original, NBA JAM will have players spinning with ankle breaking moves to the basket and on the way to high-flying, backboard-smashing dunks. In addition to the classic experience, EA SPORTS NBA JAM will also introduce new game modes, characters and gameplay depth.

The website has launched and on it you can currently vote for what three players will make the roster for each team. At the moment polls are open for Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Clippers, and Oklahoma City Thunder. Given that the countdown clock is providing a week for voting for the three teams the game appears to be at the very least three months away from releasing.

After a few weeks of speculation and discovery of a possible NFL Trainer game now there is another entry to consider for the new game to be announced by EA this month. ESPN reports the game in question will be an updated version of NBA Jam for the Wii. This is especially surprising given that NBA Jam was made by Midway before passing to Acclaim meaning EA would have purchased the rights to the franchise.

Just as with the NFL Trainer game this probably won’t elicit much excitement given that it is tied to the Wii and expectations for what the mystery game could be had grown somewhat unrealistic. There is demand out there for an NBA Arcade game now that both Street and Ballers have been shut down. Given the success of downloadable arcade titles for the PS3 and 360 the next in the line of expansion would seem to naturally be NBA. However as of yet there have been no indications that one is in the works.

Certainly though NBA Jam has a place in the hearts of many gamers but being limited to the Wii means it won’t be reaching many of them. What do you think about an updated version of NBA Jam as the new EA Sports game? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

This is the first year that 2K Sports will be offering the NBA 2K franchise on the Nintendo Wii. Originally scheduled to release on 6th alongside the other versions it was delayed until the 19th.  Now though the game has been pushed again, this time back to November 9th. It remains a possibility that the release date moves back from that however all retailers currently have the 11/9 as the expected date. No reasoning behind the delays has been given but there has been some speculation that it has encountered difficulty passing Nintendo’s strict certification process.

Outside of PES and FIFA the team sports have yet to translate very well to the Wii and its integrated motion controls. Previous attempts at converting NBA Live have failed and was abandoned this year which is where 2K stepped in. It’ll be interesting to see if they can take a scaled back version of 2K10 and make it an enjoyable experience on the system.

How many times have we seen this story? The story of a former champ who thinks he has one last title shot in him. A former champ who just doesn’t know when to quit. Rocky, Roberto Duran, Oscar De La Hoya, they’ve all been victims to this sad story. Now after 15 years Nintendo is bringing the former Video Game Champ, Little Mac, out of retirement and back into the ring. And you know what? Little Mac still has some fight left in him.

When I had first read Punch-Out!! was going to be released on the Wii, I knew that it was a “must buy”, if only for the nostalgia the game would bring. I wanted to relive those memories from Mike Tyson’s Punch-out on the NES. And when I popped the game in, to my delight, it did. If you are too young to remember, Punch-Out!! follows Little Mac’s career toward the WVBA championship. And of course Doc Louis is there to help you with advice on how to beat other fighters. This version for the Wii features many of the fighters from the original NES game. Even though the fighter’s boxing styles have been tweaked a bit, they still require the same strategies to defeat them. You still punch King Hippo in the mouth, and then punch him in the stomach to knock him out.

There are three different ways to control Little Mac: holding the Wii remote sideways like a controller, using the remote and nunchuk for motion controls, and you can throw the Wii Balance Board in the mix to duck and dodge punches. Holding the remote sideways seems to work best. If you’ve played before, you know that in order to defeat opponents you have to have good timing. It’s almost too hard to accomplish this with the motion controls, and forget about using the Wii Balance Board. You have to give yourself more time to dodge punches than you normally would using the remote. This can throw your timing completely off.

The graphics in the game are vibrant and cartoonish. I think Nintendo did a great job at capturing the original fighters, and expanding on them. After having played the original NES game for years (I still do), I think the graphics and sound is what stands out most. Nintendo took many of the same fighters, songs, and sounds from the original game and gave them a 2009 face lift.

Punch-Out!! also offers a two-player mode, although it is limited. Each player takes Little Mac, and the screen is split in two so each person views the game from behind their fighter. Once a player lands enough punches, he turns into a bigger Little Mac, and the contest becomes lopsided. It’s nice to play once or twice, but gets very boring.

Overall, Punch-Out!! is a fun arcade style boxing game. Nintendo does a great job of capturing the original NES classic, and sticks to the roots of the game. Any fan of Mike Tyson’s Punch-out will appreciate this game. I felt like I was 8 years old again in my bedroom playing Nintendo.

Thanks to Fred for doing the write-up! He can be found everyday running the forums. – PP