Nintendo Confirms NBA Street V3 Partnership

January 5, 2005, 9:59 am EST
Total comments: 25

Mario, Luigi, and Peach will indeed be dunking over Kobe and LeBron.

MARIO, LUIGI, PRINCESS PEACH TAKE ON THE NBA'S BEST

Nintendo All-Stars Take to the Street in EA's NBA STREET V3

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – January 5, 2005 – Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) and Nintendo announced today a partnership that brings the Nintendo All-Stars – Mario™, Luigi and Princess Peach – to the Nintendo GameCube™ version of NBA STREET V3, scheduled to launch in February under the EA SPORTS BIG™ brand. The game is being produced by Electronic Arts Canada, the studio that also is home to the industry-leading NBA LIVE and NCAA® March Madness® hoops video game franchises.

Featuring today's biggest NBA stars, a collection of the league's all-time greats, a Hall of Fame cast of past STREET characters, and now, for the first time ever, Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach, NBA STREET V3 is non-stop, action-packed fun. Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach are available to play as the Nintendo All-Stars team, while they are also available to compete individually in NBA STREET V3's new slam dunk contest.

"We're very excited to be able to incorporate the Nintendo All-Stars, as well as their own authentic Nintendo court, into NBA STREET V3," said V3 executive producer Wil Mozell. "There's nothing quite like seeing Mario, Luigi and Peach taking the over-the-top gameplay of NBA STREET V3 to the extreme as they square off against some of today's top NBA stars and all-time greats."

"Nintendo's characters have always proved they can compete on the world stage," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "Now they'll show that they can compete on the streets as well."

The highly-anticipated third chapter in the multi-platinum-selling series expands on the fast-paced and larger-than-life game play that has made the franchise a hit. The all-new Trick Stick and interactive Gamebreaker control elevates the game to new heights with unmistakable style and attitude. NBA STREET V3 is also packed with highly detailed authentic street courts, deep player customization options, and new Court Creator.

Talkback

vuduJanuary 05, 2005

There's a pretty sweet minute-long video over at gamesarefun.com. I recommend checking it out.

First in-game footage of Nintendo All-Stars in NBA Street V3

Bartman3010January 05, 2005

I'm sold =D

CHENJanuary 05, 2005

The video is awesome.

joshnickersonJanuary 05, 2005

Damn it! Now I've got to get it, if only to see Luigi "pwn" some NBA players.

Bartman3010January 05, 2005

Watching this gameplay trailer over 50 times, Mario really isnt as cheery as he is in his own games =P

Although its similar to his attitude in Sunshine, where he wasnt giggly like in the party games.

kirby_killer_dededeJanuary 05, 2005

I still think they're all too happy...not Luigi, but his not-happy look's been established before. Mario and Peach are still to happy for a street game...

But other than that, yes, the video is freaking awesome. I don't know if it's just me, but I don't think I've ever seen Mario and the gang look so good...ever.

I'm already sold though. :-P

MarioJanuary 05, 2005

This is the best thing that ever happened.

SgtShiversBenJanuary 05, 2005

Yeah, after watching the game, I may just have to get it...when it goes to 20$. It is great watching Mario or Luigi throwing the balls at the people. Plus it was just great watching them trounce all over them and do a three person dunk. It looks great. Even Tony the Tiger great.

KnowsNothingJanuary 05, 2005

Their heads are too big.

kirby_killer_dededeJanuary 05, 2005

I agree...AGREEMENT TO THE MAX.

D-Mac DoubleJanuary 05, 2005

"Peach-Basket Peach!" That's very clever.

I do think the character models could've been a whole lot better though.
To fit better in a street setting (If that's even possible) I would've preferred for the models to be more reminiscent of the ones in Smash Bros Melee, where their colors weren't as vibrant, and textures were more detailed.

Oh well. I'm still buying this.

ShuJanuary 05, 2005

So? Does this mean Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo are going to be back in th shoes of Mario and Luigi?

MarioJanuary 05, 2005

Quote
Originally posted by: KnowsNothing
Their heads are too big.

Your head is too big.

Bill AurionJanuary 05, 2005

Quote
Originally posted by: Mario
Quote
Originally posted by: KnowsNothing
Their heads are too big.

Your head is too big.

I second that! (This is interesting, but not interesting enough to get me to like basketball)

BloodworthDaniel Bloodworth, Staff AlumnusJanuary 05, 2005

Hmm... I don't own any basketball games. This might be the one to get.

MarioJanuary 05, 2005

Excellent choice! NBA Street is my favourite basketball game ever, and this looks like a huge improvement from that, I can't wait to play it, should be lots of fun.

DjunknownJanuary 05, 2005

How interesting, since a couple (I'm not pointing any fingers here) of PGC'ers seem to have the "Death to EA" slogan. Let's minimize the hippocrisy here

This'll prove that overweight Italian plumbers 'got game' though.

Seriously, this small consolation should have its desired effect. But what do poor PS2 and Xbox get? *GASP* Online play!

*waits for the 'we-don't-need-no-stinkin'-online-play' chant*

31 FlavasJanuary 05, 2005

Clear this up for me. How does Sony's "online" work? Does Sony have some centrilized system like Live! or are the game developers responsible for providing the online portion (similar to cube)?

Infernal MonkeyJanuary 06, 2005

Yeah, I think the developers have to set up their own servers and stuff for PS2's onrine. NBA Street 3's gunna rock. It'll be interesting to see if EA Australia release this at the same price as their other GC games ($30-$40 cheaper than the PS2 and Xbox versions ) or the standard $100 because they'll know it might actually be popular.

Ian SaneJanuary 06, 2005

Sony's online setup is identical to Nintendo's. It's just that Sony actually made their own online games and promoted the feature so they built an online presence while Nintendo didn't.

I didn't think of the online feature that the other versions might have. That kind of takes away the advantage a bit. Soul Calibur II worked because the Cube version looked to be superior since it had the most popular of the exclusive characters. This is more of a tradeoff so it's not quite as significant. It's like how some Cube third party games have exclusive connectivity features. In theory that should make the Cube version stand out. But it never did because the PS2 and Xbox versions often had online support, which is superior, instead. The exclusive Cube feature looked like less of a feature and more of a half-assed compensation. In this case people might see the addition of Mario as that sort of compensation to try to sell an otherwise inferior version.

Though I'm not even sure if NBA Street V3 is online. I'm just assuming it is. One thing that will be an advantage here however is that people who only own a Cube will give this game a second look because of Mario. Though I don't think further training a stingy fanbase into only noticing Nintendo franchises is going to be good in the longterm.

PaLaDiNJanuary 06, 2005

Ian... how long have you been playing online games?

Just curious, is all.

Ian SaneJanuary 06, 2005

My online experience is pretty limited but that's to be expected when Nintendo themselves haven't gone online. I really want the option more than anything else. I'd like to be able to just play a few races of Mario Kart with my friends on a whim without having to drive to each other's house. But I'm not talking about whether or not Nintendo should go online or how good or bad online gaming is. What I'm saying is that the general public sees online support as a big deal even if few of them use it. So therefore Nintendo can have exclusive features in multiplatform third party games but it won't make much of a difference if it's in the place of online support and the general public sees the exclusive feature as inferior to online support.

It's like Nintendo is offering a free pop with a meal while Sony and MS are offering the same meal with a free beer.

Bartman3010January 06, 2005

Hang on a sec, is NBA Street V3 only for 2 players?

If so I'll have to re-evaluate my purchase...

couchmonkeyJanuary 06, 2005

My slogan is still "Death to EA"! Well, not quite. I think the company makes a few great games among the piles of mediocre ones, but its business tactics have gone too far. EA seems to be trying to buy out the entire Western half of the industry, and I see that as a very bad thing. I may look out for Player's Choice / used versions of this game, but I'd prefer not to give Electronic Arts more money to initiate hostile takeovers with.