Last month, when Majesco announced its Kinect motion control fusion of basketball dribbling skills and rhythm gameplay using a real basketball as a peripheral, I joked about how the game, NBA Baller Beats, should come bundled with a nerf ball on a string for safety reasons. Instead, Majesco has partnered with Spalding to bundle the game up with a full-sized officially-licensed NBA game ball replica.
That’s cool and all, but I still have some concerns about dribbling a real ball around an entertainment center and on carpeted floors. Maybe I’m just paranoid, but this game is sounding like an accident waiting to happen — although I’m actually very interested to see how it all comes together.
In another partnership, Majesco has worked out a licensing deal with Panini America to feature the company’s 2012 NBA HOOPS basketball trading cards as in-game collectibles, joining other unlockable rewards that will include player posters, extra songs and additional difficulty levels.
“With NBA Baller Beats we’re focused on delivering an innovative game that stays true to the NBA brand so it made perfect sense to bundle the game with the high-quality NBA game ball replica from Spalding,” said Jesse Sutton, Chief Executive Officer, Majesco Entertainment. “Spalding has long been a leader of innovation and quality and has been providing the NBA with the official game ball for nearly 30 years.”
“Panini is the world’s largest sports and entertainment collectibles company and the exclusive trading card of the NBA,” said Christina Glorioso, Chief Marketing Officer, Majesco Entertainment. “As players master their moves in NBA Baller Beats they’ll start to unlock a collection of official Panini NBA HOOPS trading cards featuring NBA players from every franchise.”
NBA Baller Beats ships this fall exclusively for Xbox 360 Kinect. The full gameplay unveiling will occur at the upcoming E3 gaming showcase, so keep your eye on the ball for more details soon. [Update] NBA all-star point guard Deron Williams will be demoing the game at Majesco’s E3 booth in a meet & greet event on June 6th at 12:30pm –3:30pm.
Matt Litten is a 28 year old from-the-womb gamer turned video game reviewer/blogger and current editor/owner/operator of VGBlogger.com. Matt got his first taste of gaming as a youngster on the NES and Atari, and the rest is history from there.
In 2004, three years removed from high school and still looking for a career direction in life, Matt landed his first gig in the video game review business writing for the now-defunct website BonusStage.com. After the sad and untimely close of BonusStage, the former staff went on to found VGBlogger.com, and after a short stint as US Site Manager for AceGamez Matt turned his attention to VGBlogger, and to this day is dedicated to making it one of the top video game blogs in all the blogosphere.
Matt is a fair-minded reviewer and lover of games of all platforms and types, big or small, hyped or niche, big-budget or indie. But that doesn't mean he will let poor games slide without a good thrashing when necessary. 
