One of the most popular video games of the 1990s has been ruined for old fans as the creator has admitted that it was rigged to favor one particular circumstance.
Mark Turmell, who was the lead programmer and designer of NBA Jam, had an interview a few years ago in which he revealed he put a code into the game that would ensure any last-second shots from the Chicago Bulls against the Detroit Pistons would be missed.
The Bulls were perhaps the most-used team among players as they were the most popular team in the 90s. While Michael Jordan wasn’t a playable character, the six-time champs were a popular choice.
Turmell, though, was a Pistons fan and hated Chicago. Fortunately, he could not decide the outcomes of real-life games. But he did have a say in NBA Jam and found a way to get back at the Bulls for ending the Bad Boy era.
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NBA stories via Google! Follow Us
“Making this game in Chicago during the height of the Michael Jordan era, there was a big rivalry: the Pistons and the Bulls. But the one way that I could get back at the Bulls once they got over the hump was to affect their skills against the Pistons in NBA Jam,” he explained to Ars Technica. “And so I put in special code that if the Bulls were taking last-second shots against the Pistons, they would miss those shots.”
The dev noted that the game was introduced at the 1993 NBA All-Star Game, when said era was well and truly dead. Turns out the Pistons would miss the playoffs that season for the first time since the 1982 campaign.
The Bulls and Pistons were embroiled in a bitter rivalry between 1988 and 1991. Some of the players on those teams still don’t like each other.
