EA Sports did a remarkable job of keeping a tight lid on the unlockable celebrities in today's "NBA Jam" Wii release. My copy is still en route according to its UPS tracking number, but the first announced batch of competitors includes U.S. President Barack Obama, as well as Joe Biden, the Clintons, Al Gore, George W. Bush, Sarah Palin, John McCain and Dick Cheney.
"We found these pictures that showed off the emotion of all of these politicians, and some of them are classic," "NBA Jam" creative director Trey Smith told ESPN. "Dick Cheney has the Darth Vader snarl. Obama makes some great faces, and the politician dunk faces are some of the best dunk faces in the entire game."
Smith also revealed that Charles Barkley, Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton were all player he wanted to bring back for the game, but they didn't make it in for unspecified reasons. He did hint, however, that the Beastie Boys are not the lone musical act to earn secret player status. Though he didn't drop names, he said that the artist "was an old school 'Jam' fan." (The phrase "old school" seems to eliminate Justin Bieber.)
As for Air Dog, George Clinton and my own list of picks, we may not know who else is in there until they're discovered. Nevertheless, this is going to be an epic week of button combination testing for legions of "NBA Jam" players.
What do you think of EA Sports' choices for unlockable "NBA Jam" celebs so far? Who else do you want to see in there? Share your responses with us in the comment section below.