New Secret Characters, Players, and Teams – Yup, we’ve got LOTS of them. In fact, I do believe we have the most teams and players that have ever been feature in an NBA JAM game. Take that Sega Genesis version! Just kiddin’, love my old school versions. Anyway, we circled back around and scooped up many of the current stars that didn’t make the cut last year, for whatever reasons, and have done a better job of evening things out for each team. We’ve also added a handful of NEW legends that were missing last year. Hopefully, you’ve already seen Dikembe Mutombo rocking the retro Nuggets jersey. He’s a MONSTER dunker and blocker by the way. And there are many more legendary Jammers in the hopper. Also, based on surveys and online telemetry data we’ve collected from players of last year’s version, we’ve noticed that there are many JAM Fans out there that are Gamers first and basketball fans second. A good chunk of the Secret players and teams we ran with last year are back and have been cleaned up, but there are a BUNCH more. We’ve added more “gamer-centric” teams and players this go around. I wish I could spill the beans on them to you guys right now but the “powers that be” have told me I have to wait. I will however, give you a hint. Let’s just say there is going to be a lot more fur flying on the court this go around. And for the “hardcore” gamers out there, you know who you are, we’ve got some of your favorite video game characters making an appearance in NBA JAM this year. Very cool stuff and we’ve even created some special dunks for some of them. Okay, I’ve probably said too much already, but just wanted to let you know that there are Players and Teams for every gamer out there, even non basketball fans.
New Player archetypes – This was a big one for us. Just as in real life, players have a role to play on the NBA JAM court based on their inherent abilities and weaknesses. Checking out your player and team stats is critical when playing competitively because you want make sure you can match up against the players your opponent is putting on the floor. From a competitive gameplay perspective, NBA JAM has always been a 2 vs. 2 fighting game. If you don’t know how to play your characters you’re just asking for a spanking. Basically, based on their real stats, we’ve assigned every player (Current Star, Legend, and Secret player) an Archetype. Those archetypes are as follows.
Point Guard
Examples: Jason Kidd, Rajon Rondo
Strengths – Speed, Passing, Mid-range shooting, Ball handling, Steals
Weaknesses – Blocks, Shoves, and Dunks
Shooting Guard
Examples: Steve Nash, Ray Allen
Strengths – Outside Shooting, Passing
Weaknesses – Dunks, Blocks, Shoves
Big Man
Examples: Dwight Howard, Shaquille O’Neil
Strengths – Blocks, Dunks, Rebounds
Weaknesses – Speed, Ball handling, Outside Shooting
Forward
Examples: Chris Bosh, Zach Randolph
Strengths – Mid-range Shooting, Shoves, Rebounds
Weaknesses – Steals, Pass, Speed
All-Rounder
Examples: Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki
Strengths – Balanced
Weaknesses – Balanced
Most are pretty self explanatory, but there are big differences in each archetype and it’s integral that you are familiar with each archetype’s strengths and weaknesses if you want to be able to roll with every team. There is also a juicy XP BONUS in NBA JAM: On Fire Edition for players that hit the “Random Team” button before entering a game. This feature was implemented to encourage people to play with ALL the teams on the roster because anyone can win with The Heat but it takes a true Jammer to pull off a W with some of the other franchises that are well…. in the process of “rebuilding.”
And lastly, we’ve been getting lots of questions about “REAL AI” and how it makes NBA JAM better. Well, I could tell you myself, but I thought it would be even better for you guys to hear it from the man that is directly responsible for it, our Lead AI Engineer, Mr. Fraser Lott. Fraze is knee deep in a tuning pass right now, but some day very soon, he will be right HERE dropping some REAL AI knowledge, exclusively on our website. Be sure to keep an eye out for it.
Source - See what's cooking in JAMLAND (NBA Jam: On Fire Edition Blog)
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