Former Wii-exclusive NBA Jam going to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 hasn’t been a well-kept secret. It was outed by the German ratings board, then again our own. EA curiously announced its release date along with NBA Elite 11, which now suddenly makes perfect sense.
Apparently, NBA Elite 11 will include a download code for NBA Jam on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. A press release sent out by EA today mentions that the code will allow users to access three modes of NBA Jam: Play Now, Classic Campaign, and Online. That may sound like it’s a trial version and the full game will come later, but according to the PlayStation Blog, “the ONLY way you will be able to play NBA JAM for the PS3 is to buy NBA ELITE 11.” We can only assume, for now, that the same is true for the Xbox 360 version.
EA has been emphasizing the Wii version, which made it seem like a timed exclusive. Instead, it’s the only “complete” version, and the only one that players can pay for on its own. EA has been in the habit of including downloadable codes in its new games, but this pits that strategy directly against a downloadable game on another platform. The publisher might be testing the waters to see what kind of difference the alternative methods make.
