“I grew up in Pakistan, and the NBA didn't exist there in the '90s,” he explains. “Now, of course, you can follow it through social media, but my first experience with basketball was nba jam…It was so fascinating and interesting that I fell in love with the NBA. ”
Another big aspect is that nba jamThe legend had a huge number of real NBA players hooked on it. Michael Jordan was famously barred from arcade rosters due to his personal licensing agreement, but he requested his own unique cabinet in which he appeared as his playable character. Famous All-Stars from the '90s owned cabinets, including Shawn Kemp and Larry Johnson. And Shaquille O'Neal would bring his SEGA Genesis on road trips, play with his teammates, and bet on games almost every night.
“Shaq played the game as a kind of wish fulfillment,” Ali says. “He always played as a three-point shooter and was a player who could do things you couldn't do in real life. I thought it was so funny. The kids at home wished they could be Shaq. But Shaq wished he could be Chris Mullin.”
And from a broader perspective, what Hall is looking for is: nba jam It will also be important for video games in general. Carly Kocurek, an arcade historian and assistant professor of digital humanities and media studies at the Illinois Institute of Technology, said the recognition from Springfield “reflects the importance of video games as part of the human experience, while traditional sports It will be a moment of recognition.
She added: “Although games are often seen as derivative and subordinate, they can also be a huge part of popular culture. nba jam This is important not just for gaming, but for sports, sports marketing, and how we think about business and licensing. ”
Although there were no new releases, nba jam Although it's the first game in over a decade, it looks like the series isn't over yet. A documentary is expected to be released later this year, and Turmel said he is often approached about ideas for reviving the series or creating a newer, modern version.
“The landscape of the arcade industry has changed a lot,” he says. “Everything is like a big showcase now, but I could also imagine big triple-monitor things, huge screens like what you see at Dave & Busters. I look forward to taking on a project like that someday. I am.”
And Kitzrow said he is in talks again with Hall of Fame executives and is exploring several possibilities.
“I think they understand that,” Kitzrow said. He currently lends his voice talent to NBA teams, in addition to other video game and television projects. “This was an important moment when two different billion-dollar industries came together. We were able to display old artwork, blue screen videos, all the homage T-shirts, and all the licensed video games that were released since then. . Just imagine its charm.”
In the meantime, Kitzrow will continue to spread the gospel. nba jam at national and international retro gaming conventions (he also officiated at weddings) nba jam Superfans from last fall). And whether or not Hall's call for this arcade classic actually comes true, he says he's happiest just hearing praise from the game's die-hard fans.
“They say, 'Thank you for the good memories,'” he says. “It's such a great feeling. It's such a great legacy.”
