Topic: NBA JAM

^ I disagree. Knowing that there are humans as your opponents makes it much more interesting and competitive. If you win you get the added satisfaction of knowing that you just bested another human irl.

Yes it is more amusing to beat a human opponent, but how would online work though since you can't control the other player on your team? Would you be paired up with another stranger that is bad at the game, or would you be stuck with a bot? Also imagine the game at half speed. It wouldn't be as fun to play. The high speed dunking thrills of NBA Jam would be lost.

Either be stuck with a bot, another human, or another local couch player.

Also, a lower framerate simply means it wouldn't be running as silky smoothly - not slower. They actually were programming the game to run at 30 frames per second before someone said that the original ran at 60, after which they upped it. A lower framerate is a small price to play for online, IMHO. It's not like it's as intense as an FPS, anyway. You've got 4 players and a ball. Most FPS's and racers support more players and have lots more stuff going on.

I dont know why everyone is making such a big deal about Online play the original NBA Jam didnt have it and it was a great game. So why does the Wii one need it to be a great game. If you want someone to play you just call a buddy over and go at.

If only buddies were available as much as they were back in the early 90s...

Also, times have changed. Online play is pretty much expected for any major release that has multiplayer. Besides, if we could have had online play back on the SNES/Genesis, we would have gobbled it up like there was no tomorrow.

I'd be fine without online if it wasn't full price. I own the original for my SNES, and the only major thing they added was remix tour, which I'm not crazy about. The game is pretty featureless, and online would've helped justify the fifty dollar price tag.

Wow have we become so shallow of a society to expect every game to have an Online mode?? Wow thats like saying you expect every major release movie to be in 3D. Maybe I am just old fashioned but when selecting a game online play is one of the least important features of the game personally I could care less about the online play but like I said maybe thats just me.

@pixelman: Almost every Wii game brand new is $50 dollars. The only way I could see them lowering the price is if it was a Wiiware game. Honestly though the 360 and the PS3 version are probably going to run $60 dollars since thats where most 360 and PS3 games run at so you are getting it cheaper on the Wii for not having the Online mode. So should Mario Kart Wii be $60 instead of $50 cause it has online mode?

Me me me meeeeee.

Spoiler alert: It's really good.

@Tasuki: Yeah, no. Quite a few good games have been released for 40 bucks on Wii. (a few were Excitebots, Boom Blox, Arc Rise Fantasia, and more recently Sid Meier's Pirates!) If they're gonna charge full price at least give us the full damn game.

Also, EA themselves have made online a standard in their games. Hell, even their new MySims SkyHeroes game has 6 player online multiplayer for the Wii.

Well now I know whose review NOT to read!

If you call wanting online play with good reason shallow, then frankly it's just as shallow to put down the importance of online multiplay because you personally don't want it. It's also fairly shallow to say that old games didn't have online modes so new games shouldn't either. Using your own analogy, you're condemning 3D releases of films just because they're new and you don't like 3D films. Very deep judgement there.

Yes, it is just you. I've read many times on the internet about people skipping the Wii version for the PS3 and 360 versions so they have access to online play. Clearly online play is far more integral to multiplayer-centric games (and therefore not a "shallow" aspect of the game) than fancy stereoscopic effects are in cinema.

And what pix said is true - EA and its peers are the ones who have turned online play into a standard feature in gaming today. For EA themselves to leave it out of a single version of one of their own products boggles the mind.

But complaining doesn't achieve anything. For me, single player alone isn't enough and I won't be able to enjoy the local multiplayer portion at all. As we've been discussing, if you're going to drop $50 on it you have to really consider if it's worth that value for you. Sounds like you enjoy the game; good for you and I hope you have some great NBA Jam sessions with your buddies on the Wii.

First off I dont mind the online ability and what I am saying is it shallow to base the purchase of a game on weather or not it has online mode or not. Then you guys are all complaining that the Wii version costs $50 with no online mode but you are willing to pay $60 for the 360/PS3 versions cause it has online mode. Did I miss something here?????? The Wii version is $10 less with no online play. Now if the Wii version was $60 just like the 360/PS3 with no online mode then yeah you have something to complain about.

You all crack me up if you are soooo into online play like you say you are than why did you get the system with limited online play. If I was hardcore into online play like you all are I would have bought a 360 or a PS3, but whatever.

I agree that having online play would make this game 100x better, but it is a great game either way, and it wasn't very difficult to get it at way below retail (Kmart anyone?).

I actually just got done finishing the classic campaign tonight. I played with the Miami Heat and on Medium difficulty. Lebron is a MONSTER in this game, and Wade compliments him very well as he is similar but with more speed and less power. I was able to blow teams out by quite a bit at the end, but I wasn't all that good at the beginning, which is why I didn't play on Hard. I've gotten most of the single game extras, and the only one I haven't gotten is 10 tip ins. It is VERY hard to get that many tips in a single game! I usually only get 1 every other game or so.
I can't wait to play this game with some friends. I haven't gotten around to it as of yet, but hope to soon, as it would be awesome to play 2 on 2 multiplayer!

@Tasuki: Do you realize that a full-price Wii game is 49.99, and a full-price PS360 game is 59.99? Online multiplayer has nothing whatsoever to do with that. These prices were standards set long before NBA Jam hit the Wii. HD gamers are paying a premium price for HD graphics. Most multiplatform releases nowadays have online multiplayer, regardless of which console they're released on -- and that goes double for EA's games; Madden 11, Grand Slam Tennis (coming soon to the Move), and Tiger Woods all have online MP and are 49.99 on Wii and 59.99 on HD systems. So as you can see, we do have grounds to be ticked off.

I'm still enjoying the game quite a bit, but I'm sorely missing the online multiplayer component. I've got my bro to play with occasionally, but it's well-nigh impossible for me to get a 4 player match going.

I love how you don't read my posts.

@HolyMackerel: Sorry bud didnt mean to miss you there, and I do agree with your last statement there. You are right in the end it is your $50 and you are the one whos going to in the end be playing that game so it only makes sense if its worth that value to you. For me yes even though it doesnt have the online features or what not. For you it might not be cause its missing certain feature that you liked or what not, but just because it doesnt have a feature doesnt mean that Version X is better than Version Y in my eyes both are equal.

Also I agree with you that complaining doesnt do anything business are going to do whatever they want to do and thats just the way it is. PERIOD. End of story, thank you for playing. So why waste the time complaining and such.

Also it is a know fact that publishers and the like consider Xbox and PS3 the hardcore Online Multiplayer consoles. Truth be told I dont know why that is it just is, but with the industry thinking that, as I said before if I was that hardcore of an online gamer like it seems you are, than I would have bought the Xbox 360 or PS3 instead of a Wii. I dont know the whole story of why you got a Wii instead maybe it was a gift from someone who knows but I am not going to go off on that subject.

The fact is everyone knows that the industry looks down on the Wiis online capability so why does it come as a shock when said game has online features for the 360 or PS3. Thats like buying a Mini van and acting shock that it doesnt come equipped with a racing engine like a race car does, but there I go off on a tangent again lol.

Another reason for the online play of the 360 and PS3 version is again industry standards. Since EA dropped the ball (no pun intended) with NBA Elite for the Holiday shopping season which was going to be PS3 and 360 EA wanted to get something out for the NBA fans on the PS3 and the 360 rather than miss that oppertunity because of delaying NBA Elite. Now if they didnt make NBA Jam on the PS3 and the 360 with HD and the ONline feature do you think people would want to pay $60 dollars for the exact same thing as Wii owners got for $50? My answer would be no and if that was the case than we would have people complaining on how the PS3 and 360 versions are costing $10 more for the same thing.

Anyway sorry for the length reply I guess thats to make up for missing yours. Basically in a nutshell we know how the industry treats the Wii vs the other two systems and nothing we say is going to change that so why bother complaining and putting down the Wii game. In truth I know EA screws over the Wii thats why I buy the FIFA games on the 360 rather than Wii. Did I complain about how Wii owners get screwed over no I saved up and got me a 360 so I can play games like FIFA and GTA and Batman Arkham Asylum. And just to let you all know I have had my Wii since the NA launch day and I just got my 360 2 years ago, but who knows maybe thats just me truth be told I am not loyal to any company if I was I would be stupid since each offers something that the other doesnt, Anyway that just my thoughs and I apologize for the long reply.

Why would you play a 360 game online?

Half of the people on Xbox Live are 12 year olds that call people for no reason and isn't like the entire other half are not annoying either, why would you want to deal with that crap. I'll take Wii's more limited online and stupid friend codes over that any day.

So that might be a good reason why people are annoyed by this.

That is one reason I dont play console games online. Usually I get some fouled mouth drunk sounding idiot going against me. But I guess if you know people or have RL friends in different parts of the world than it can be good. For me though all my friends own PS3s and I own an Xbox so ummm.... yeah no online play for me with RL friends. I do play SSFIV on occasions online when I get tired of playing the computer but I usually mute the other people. So I cant here there tantrums when I beat them.

Um, they're certainly not equal to us Wii owners who like playing online.

Also it is a know fact that publishers and the like consider Xbox and PS3 the hardcore Online Multiplayer consoles. Truth be told I dont know why that is it just is, but with the industry thinking that, as I said before if I was that hardcore of an online gamer like it seems you are, than I would have bought the Xbox 360 or PS3 instead of a Wii. I dont know the whole story of why you got a Wii instead maybe it was a gift from someone who knows but I am not going to go off on that subject.

Oh, I don't know. Maybe some of us like playing Nintendo games. Because we're like, you know, registered users on a site dedicated to all things Nintendo. Wild guess there.

The fact is everyone knows that the industry looks down on the Wiis online capability so why does it come as a shock when said game has online features for the 360 or PS3.

Personally it didn't come as a shock to me, it just pissed me off for the reasons I posted above... twice. I cba to list them again.

Thats like buying a Mini van and acting shock that it doesnt come equipped with a racing engine like a race car does, but there I go off on a tangent again lol.

And again, the Wii supports online play very well (Monster Hunter 3, Mario Kart, Excitebots, and so so so so so many others), so I have no earthly idea where this analogy came from. Yeah sure, friend codes are a pain, but EA completely got around them with Grand Slam Tennis and even implemented a buddy system. Monster Hunter did this too.

Another reason for the online play of the 360 and PS3 version is again industry standards. Since EA dropped the ball (no pun intended) with NBA Elite for the Holiday shopping season which was going to be PS3 and 360 EA wanted to get something out for the NBA fans on the PS3 and the 360 rather than miss that oppertunity because of delaying NBA Elite. Now if they didnt make NBA Jam on the PS3 and the 360 with HD and the ONline feature do you think people would want to pay $60 dollars for the exact same thing as Wii owners got for $50? My answer would be no and if that was the case than we would have people complaining on how the PS3 and 360 versions are costing $10 more for the same thing.

Come on, the news that the HD versions would have online has been out since the beginning of August. The Wii is fully capable of running online multiplayer for NBA Jam, so at the very least they were being lazy. They simply should've put in some extra manpower to get online into the Wii version. I'm guessing at the beginning, they were like, "Oh yeah, we'll get these two guys to try to get online working. It's going to be a Wii exclusive so it's no big deal if it doesn't have online."

And while you're on the subject of "standards"...

The one (sports genre) exception I've seen is the recently released NHL Slapshot, which also doesn't have online and is also a Wii exclusive. It's a bad trend and EA needs to get that message.

Basically in a nutshell we know how the industry treats the Wii vs the other two systems and nothing we say is going to change that so why bother complaining and putting down the Wii game. In truth I know EA screws over the Wii thats why I buy the FIFA games on the 360 rather than Wii. Did I complain about how Wii owners get screwed over no I saved up and got me a 360 so I can play games like FIFA and GTA and Batman Arkham Asylum.

Not everyone can afford two consoles, nor do they necessarily want to fork out the cash just to play a small handful of games that they might be interested in playing. Just sayin'.

And RE: to your last post: The Wii doesn't have that problem.

Not to defend the lack of online play in the Wii version, but can't you just choose not to use voice chat on X-Box Live? Are they actually stupid enough to broadcast the voice chat to all players, even those who don't want it or don't have the microphone equivalent hooked up?

Unfortunately, the simple truths are that casual players rarely play online and the Wii has an inferior online system. In Wii titles that are partially marketed towards casual players like this one, the company may think that the profit isn't there to put full resources towards a Wii online mode. It's the same reason the Wii version of Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga didn't get online play while the other versions did.

By the way, could someone please tell me why friend codes are always cited as the biggest problem to Wii's online system instead of the lack of online lobbies. So it's a little more inconvenient to register your friends. That's nothing compared to not being able to have control over which games you join against non-friends and (worst of all) not being able to immediately tell if enough players currently want to play a certain game type (or the game at all).