The Holy Grail of sports video games might finally be leaked. During a Reddit AMA over the weekend, NBA Jam creator Mark Turmell said he still has the old EPROMs that include Michael Jordan for the original NBA Jam arcade game that launched in 1993. When a Redditor asked Turmell is he’d be willing to release said EPROMs to the public via the internet, he responded with, “I could! Will try to dig up.”
Oh. My. God.
The Missing Link
When the initial NBA Jam premiered in ’93, Jordan was the biggest name in sports across the globe. The Bulls initial threepeat team dominated headlines and everyone wanted a piece of Air Jordan. But therein lied the problem for Turmell and his team at Midway Games. Due to Jordan’s deal with Nike, he decided to pull out of the NBPA’s group license just a few weeks before NBA Jam’s launch. On top of his Nike deal, Jordan also had an ongoing partnership with Electronic Arts, a different video game production company that likely would’ve objected to Midway using Jordan’s likeness.
So Turmell pulled Michael from the game, which still premiered with great success and quickly became one of the most popular arcade games in history. Every kid (and hoops-loving adult, for that matter) had in-home versions of the game at the top of their wish list. Who doesn’t want to play a video game where NBA stars can do multiple flips before dunking or drain halfcourt shots with a flaming basketball?
Gary Payton, one of Jordan’s NBA rivals, also did not appear in the first edition of NBA Jam but wanted to get in on the action after realizing the game’s popularity. Payton and fellow Seattle-based superstar Ken Griffey Jr. requested that Midway make a custom updated version with their likenesses included. Oh, and they wanted MJ included in that version too. So Turmell made special EPROMs with Payton, Griffey and Jordan and privately distributed copies to those three individuals.
Fast forward nearly 25 years, and Turmell sounds like he’s ready to let the rest of the world in on the biggest secret in virtual hoops lore. Just one thing: he has to find it first.
“I have a cabinet stored away with sets of [old EPROMs]. Have to see how they’re labeled when I get in there.” – Mark Turmell
Why now? Who knows. It’s almost as if this was a simple “ask and you shall receive” situation. But there’s no way diehard gamers haven’t been hounding Turmell about the lost Jordan edition of NBA Jam for the last two decades. Maybe enough time has passed that he finally isn’t worried about possible legal consequences. He hinted at that after saying he’d try to dig it up, saying, “Can’t imagine getting into any trouble at this point!”
Since NBA 2K11, Jordan has been included in 2K Sports’ classic teams rosters. But given the immense popularity of the NBA 2K series, it’s unlikely 2K Sports would put up any fuss over Turmell finally releasing Jordan’s character in NBA Jam. It’s not like that would put any dent in sales. At this point, it would just be a really cool thing for older video game nerds who’ve been wanting and wishing for this moment.
The Grail is out there. Indiana Jones-err, I mean Mark Turmell-is hunting it down.
He’s heating up…
