NBA Jam drives the lane in October

With the Electronic Entertainment Expo kicking off next week, some publishers are letting gamers know what they can expect to see from the show. In some cases, they're also doling out new bits of information on their upcoming titles, as was the case with Electronic Arts' E3 lineup announcement today.

In a list of more than 20 games EA will be showing off at the Los Angeles Convention Center next week, the publisher also narrowed down the launch window for EA Sports NBA Jam on the Wii, its all-new revamp of the over-the-top arcade basketball blockbuster. Previously set for release in the fourth quarter, NBA Jam has now been given an October shipping date, putting it in alongside the publisher's rebranded hoops sim series, NBA Elite.

Developed by the Vancouver, British Columbia-based EA Canada studio, EA Sports NBA Jam retains many of the core gameplay concepts, such as turbo boosts, shoving, and rim-rocking dunks, but rolls in new ankle-breaking crossovers as well as alley-oops. The publisher has also given the game a new visual style that incorporates digitized faces of the players on 3D bodies.

For more on EA Sports NBA Jam, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.