Electronic Arts and Midway have shelved their competing arcade-style basketball franchises, as ESPN reports that both NBA Street and NBA Ballers have been benched.
Regarding NBA Street, EA Sports boss Peter Moore explains to ESPN that the division is reevaluating its mixture of licensed and original IP, adding that "we need to develop some new things." But don't go expecting anything particularly edgy to come out of this moment of clarity. "If Wii Sports has taught us anything," adds Moore, "it's that people will sit there and play big head tennis all day long. We need to be able to tap into that audience."
As for Midway, the company likely counts Ballers among the underperforming projects Interim CEO Matt Booty recently vowed to keep at arm's length. According to ESPN, the financially strapped publisher is currently digging under cushions in the office couch in order to "buy its way out of the licensing deal" it has with the NBA.
[Thanks, Sean]
Reader Comments (27)
Posted: Oct 23rd 2008 2:26PM Vidikron said
Well, it worked for NBA Jam.
But, seriously, does this mean we're going to see the "extreme" sports franchises traded in for lame "big head" versions? I don't care much about these two, but I'm still hoping for real SSX sequel (i.e. not that Wii crap).
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But, seriously, does this mean we're going to see the "extreme" sports franchises traded in for lame "big head" versions? I don't care much about these two, but I'm still hoping for real SSX sequel (i.e. not that Wii crap).
Posted: Oct 23rd 2008 3:32PM jorojoserojas said
Hey Vidi, not to start an argument or anything, but I wouldn't call SSX Blur on the Wii crap. It was fast, fun, and it was difficult to pull off a lot of tricks until you really practiced.
It wasn't the best game ever or anything, but it stood out well on it's own merit.
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It wasn't the best game ever or anything, but it stood out well on it's own merit.
Posted: Oct 23rd 2008 1:59PM (Unverified) said
NBA JAM > all of these pretend "hardcore" games.
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Posted: Oct 23rd 2008 2:09PM Odog4ever said
"If Wii Sports has taught us anything, it's that people will sit there and play big head tennis all day long.."
I want to meet these "tennis" players. The people that I know with a Wii played the shit out of Wii Sports for a couple of weeks and then promptly let the console collect a thick coat of dust. And they MAYBE bought one or two games for it which they also don't play anymore.
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I want to meet these "tennis" players. The people that I know with a Wii played the shit out of Wii Sports for a couple of weeks and then promptly let the console collect a thick coat of dust. And they MAYBE bought one or two games for it which they also don't play anymore.
Posted: Oct 23rd 2008 2:41PM TRTX said
Funny, your anecdotal evidence sounds like the cliched Wii owner that people make up.
All the people who I know that have a Wii still play Wii Sports at parties (great drinking game), and have things such as Guitar Hero, Force Unleashed, Metroid, Mario, and Mario Kart.
So I guess my ancedotal evidence cancels yours out.
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All the people who I know that have a Wii still play Wii Sports at parties (great drinking game), and have things such as Guitar Hero, Force Unleashed, Metroid, Mario, and Mario Kart.
So I guess my ancedotal evidence cancels yours out.
Posted: Oct 23rd 2008 3:43PM Odog4ever said
The sales figures (which you can't argue are made up) show that over the ENTIRE Wii install bases people don't buy additional games and if they do it's usually first party titles, so unless EA gets their game developed and published by Nintendo and calls it Wii Basketball they've got an up hill battle.
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Posted: Oct 23rd 2008 3:44PM PedoJokerBear said
anything can be a great drinking game, ever played donkey punch?
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Posted: Oct 23rd 2008 2:32PM GohanEgret said
This is the truth right here. A shame that the series will likely be retooled into some mini-game laced product under a different name.
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Posted: Oct 23rd 2008 2:46PM MC Double Def DP said
the last NBA Street was beast. Nothing better than Shaq slamming the basket, then doing a back flip and slamming it again! boomshakalaka!
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Posted: Oct 23rd 2008 3:24PM hey buddy said
"If Wii Sports has taught us anything, it's that people will sit there and play big head tennis all day long.."
I know he's smarter than to mistake the 'big heads' as the reason people play Wii Sports... People play/played Wii Sports because of the controller, not the heads. Wii Sports is a unique case that had unique timing, and was the defacto demo for what the Wii could do. "Tapping into that crowd" again is proving hard to do even for Nintendo, who did the first "tapping."
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I know he's smarter than to mistake the 'big heads' as the reason people play Wii Sports... People play/played Wii Sports because of the controller, not the heads. Wii Sports is a unique case that had unique timing, and was the defacto demo for what the Wii could do. "Tapping into that crowd" again is proving hard to do even for Nintendo, who did the first "tapping."
Posted: Oct 23rd 2008 3:39PM JulesWinfield said
Bullshit! I LOVE NBA Street! I prefer that over any other basketball game. Homecourt was the best basketball game I've ever played. Thst shit was sick!!!
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Posted: Oct 23rd 2008 3:43PM PedoJokerBear said
the nba street franchise was good wtf, of course homecoming couldve been better but the street vibe it had was dope as hell.
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Posted: Oct 23rd 2008 10:20PM The Albatross said
NBA Street was one of the best EA products to come out in years and years, but it ran it's course. There was nothing that they could really do with the game after Volume 3, which was the best of all of them. Perfect balance in gameplay, still exciting, still enough new stuff.
After that, they ran out of ideas.
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After that, they ran out of ideas.
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