Journalist and arcade expert Reyan Ali is on the verge of releasing his first book: NBA Jam. The title will chronicle Midway’s arcade hit of the same name, which slammed into arcades in 1993 and gave sports fans a reason to plunk a humongous amount of quarters into the machine.
Ali takes his readers deep into the saga of the game’s creation, giving them an up-close view of Midway’s bustling Chicago offices filled with some of the era’s most talented game designers taking advantage of some then-cutting edge technology.
Ali’s NBA Jam features interviews with the game’s architect Mark Turmell, iconic commentator Tim Kitzrow, secret characters from the game like DJ Jazzy Jeff, Atari founder Nolan Bushnell, Doom co-creator John Romero and NBA players Glen Rice and Shaq. Stay updated on Ali’s progress on the book by visiting his Twitter here. You can also read an excerpt from NBA Jam here.