''NBA Showdown'' is a

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

for the

Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in No ...

game console. The game is a sequel to '' Bulls vs. Blazers'' video game. The same title was re-released for the

Mega Drive The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Sys ...

/ Genesis as ''NBA Showdown '94''. It is the fifth and final game in the

NBA Playoffs The NBA playoffs is the annual Playoffs, postseason Tournament#Knockout tournaments, tournament of the National Basketball Association (NBA) held to determine the league champion. Since 1949, the four-round, best-of-seven tournament is held afte ...

series of games, before the series was re-branded as ''NBA Live''.

Play mode

The game could be played in various ways: players could play against each other, or against the computer. Games against the computer were divided into two levels, "exhibition" or "playoffs". Players could pick from any of the NBA teams for the first time, including non-playoff teams. Games could be configured for 2, 5, 8, or 12 minute quarters.

History

* It was one of the first basketball games (at least in terms of technically EA Sports series of NBA Live games) to feature every NBA team in the league. '' Tecmo NBA Basketball'', which was released in 1992, was the first game to do so. * It was the first basketball game to feature in-game 3rd party advertisements for companies like Starter and Topps stadium. * It was the first game to deviate from the traditional Eastern Conference finals team vs Western Conference finals team naming convention. Sequentially this title should have been called ''Bulls versus Suns'' following the 1993 Finals. There were controversies as to whether star players like

Charles Barkley Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player who is a television analyst on NBA on TNT, TNT and CBS Sports. Nicknamed "Sir Charles", "the Bread Truck", and "the Round Mound of Rebound", ...

opting out of the players licensing had a profound effect on EA changing to a more generic name like ''NBA Showdown''. * It was the first basketball game in which

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they imitated real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" (EASN) ...

, the entity, within EA officially took over the game. *It was the last basketball game produced at EA's San Mateo studio before production moved to Vancouver for the

NBA Live ''NBA Live'' is a series of basketball video games that was published by EA Sports. The series, which debuted in 1994, is the successor to the previous ''NBA Playoffs'' and ''NBA Showdown (video game), NBA Showdown'' series. Beginning in the la ...

series. * It was the first EA Sports game to have the tenths of a second rule in the last minute. * The Super NES version was the last NBA game to feature

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player, who is currently a minority owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Ass ...

before the release of

NBA Live 2000 ''NBA Live 2000'' is the 2000 installment of the ''NBA Live'' video game series. The cover features Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs. The game was developed by EA Sports and released in 1999. Don Poier is the play-by-play announcer with Reggie ...

years after.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nba Showdown 94 1993 video games Electronic Arts games Multiplayer and single-player video games NBA video games Sega Genesis games Super Nintendo Entertainment System games Video games developed in the United States Video games set in 1993 Video games set in 1994