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Stiq Figures, May 14 - 20: He's heating up edition
Welcome to Stiq Figures, where the sales data is after the break and the posts don't matter. Every week, we take a look at, uh, something – meanwhile, the previous week's Japanese hardware sales figures are posted after the jump, and a discussion of said figures takes place in our comments. It may not be conventional, but it's a time-honored Joystiq tradition. There aren't many sports games like NBA Jam. Back when Michael Jordan was the king of the court, the 1993 Midway arcade classic was known for its tight controls, secret characters, zany dunks, and outrageous catch-phrases by announcer Tim Kitzrow. While Jordan wasn't in the game (he reached his own licensing agreement with the NBA in 1992, and Midway was unable to secure a deal with him), it was Scottie Pippen that brought his excellent three-point shots to the court alongside Chicago Bulls teammate Horace Grant.That is, Pippen's usually excellent three-point ability. NBA Jam creator Mark Turmell admitted in a 2008 interview with ESPN: The Gamer that Pippen's tendency to win close games was tuned down in certain circumstances. Specifically, when any Bulls player attempts a glorious last-second shot against Turmell's favorite team, the Detroit Pistons, a special piece of code in the game would average the shots out to be bricks.Turmell said, "There was the big competition back in the day between the Pistons and the Bulls, and since I was always a big Pistons fan, that was my opportunity to level the playing field." This is one case where any close loss against a friend can be reasonably blamed on the game.
How Mark Turmell went from creating NBA Jam to match-three at Zynga
It's been almost a year since NBA Jam creator Mark Turmell left Electronic Arts to join social gaming powerhouse Zynga. Now, the company is finally ready to reveal his first project, Bubble Safari. Zynga's first arcade title, Bubble Safari tasks a former space program monkey named Bubbles (not that Bubbles, presumably) with saving his jungle friends. Bubbles does so in the only logical way: A match-three bubble-popping puzzle game.Bubble Safari will launch tomorrow on both Facebook and Zynga.com, with a mobile version under consideration.It might seem strange for Turmell to move from the likes of Smash TV, NBA Jam and NFL Blitz to a puzzle game, but he sees them all as fundamentally arcade experiences. "Match-three games have been around for 20-plus years," he says, "even the original Bust-A-Move in the arcade was one of my favorite games – that was in the same era as NBA Jam."%Gallery-154879%
Zynga's Bubble Safari out tomorrow, created by NBA Jam's Mark Turmell
Zynga has announced Bubble Safari, its first project headed up by Mark Turmell, who joined the company last year after leaving EA. A match-three puzzle game, Bubble Safari has players bursting bubbles, earning power-ups, and saving woodland creatures from poachers (and generally reminiscing about Bust-A-Move).Bubble Safari is free-to-play and will be released tomorrow on Zynga.com and Facebook, Zynga tells Joystiq. Check out the first trailer above.%Gallery-154879%
Report: NBA Jam creator Mark Turmell leaves EA to join Zynga
Mark Turmell, EA Tiburon's senior creative director and the creator of NBA Jam, has allegedly left Electronic Arts for Zynga. Kotaku confirmed with EA that Turmell left the publisher, with a company spokesperson saying, "We appreciate Mark's contribution to Tiburon and EA Sports and wish him well in future endeavors." Turmell's departure adds some questions to the rumored return of NFL Blitz, allegedly being developed at EA Tiburon. Turmell co-created the original NFL Blitz while at Midway. If Turmell does end up at Zynga, he adds his name to a list that includes former EA COO John Schappert, developer Brian Reynolds and many, many other individuals and studios.
Rumor: EA Tiburon early in development on new NFL Blitz
Giant Bomb reports that an anonymous tipster recently sent word of a fairly thrilling project that's currently in the early stages of development at EA Sports: A reboot of the NFL Blitz franchise. The rights for EA to do so were apparently acquired when the publisher purchased the NBA Jam license from Midway -- we wonder if they were holding a two-for-one sale on over-the-top, lawless sports simulations? According to Giant Bomb's report, the game is in development at EA Tiburon, the current home of NFL Blitz co-creator Mark Turmell. The only other details that came from the anonymous tipster are that the game would get a multiplatform release, and probably won't arrive until 2012. It's not a lot to go on, but it's enough to fill our heads with beautiful visions of 30-yard first downs and late, late hits. We've contacted EA for a comment on Giant Bomb's report.
NBA Jam to set the Wii on fire in 2010
Great news, sports fans -- an EA Sports press release just brought some (anticipated) hoop-shaking news into our dreary Monday morning: NBA Jam is getting relaunched (or, rather, re-relaunched) later this year on the Wii by EA Canada. Details are slim, but the presser promises "new game modes, characters and gameplay depth," while simultaneously "[re-defining] the visuals for a sports game yet again." Not explicitly mentioned is whether the series' original progenitor, Mark Turmell, will be collaborating on the game. Considering he's currently stationed at EA Tiburon in Orlando, it's not beyond the realm of possibilities -- and if he is contributing, we feel confident that the title will be in gooBOOOOM-SHAKA-LAKA! Woah, sorry. We got a little overexcited there.
Rumor: EA Sports creating new NBA Jam
ESPN reports that Electronic Arts has acquired the rights for NBA Jam and has assigned EA Canada's Vancouver studio to a reboot of the franchise. The game's original creator, Mark Turmell, who currently works at EA Tiburon as a senior creative director, is allegedly collaborating on the project, which, according to ESPN, will "ship to retail exclusively for the Wii." With no other platforms mentioned in the report, the story sounds a bit off. However, 1UP, which has partnered with ESPN on the sports network's video game wing, has suggested XBLA and PSN versions of a new NBA Jam are also in the works, though that is not corroborated by the original report. We've contacted EA and Turmell for confirmation and details. EA Sports will allegedly announce the game later this month. Update: Joystiq has confirmed with Warner Bros. that it did not purchase the NBA Jam license when it acquired elements of Midway. EA's official statement: "We do not comment on speculation or rumor."
Smash TV creator talks potential sequel
Speaking to RetroGaming, Mark Turmell, co-creator of Smash TV, revealed that a sequel to the game might be forthcoming. According to Turmell, design for a sequel began some time ago, with the developers opting for a 3D game that maintained the top-down viewpoint of the original. Programming for the game had actually begun, but further progress was halted thanks to the Midway meltdown earlier this year. Turmell noted that Warner Bros. obtained the rights to Smash TV in its acquisition of Midway, adding that the company has "already identified that there's interest in some of that old Midway IP." When asked whether we'd still see a Smash TV sequel, Turmel said, "I'm sure you'll see a Smash TV that will rise again." Turmell admitted he wouldn't take part in such a project, saying, "It's a shame that I won't be involved with it this time around." [Via 1UP]
