The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Tecmo Bowl/NBA Jam tournament set for Aug. 4-5 in Avon Lake
Tom Jenkins is 35, but the kid in him remains strong.
About as strong as the legend of Bo Jackson in the classic video game “Tecmo Super Bowl.” More on that in a bit.
First, back to Jenkins, a man who loves video games. Always has, always will.
For about a decade, he and about eight of his friends — it varied from year to year — would gather on an annual basis for a tournament extravaganza to challenge each other for supremacy in not only “Tecmo Super Bowl,” but another classic sports video game, “NBA Jam.”
Then in 2017, Jenkins, a North Ridgeville resident, had an idea.
“I thought, ‘Why not open it to the public?’ ” he said. “Let’s see if there’s interest.”
There was indeed interest.
A total of 55 gamers from seven states in addition to Ohio gathered at the American Legion (31972 Walker Road) in Avon Lake for “Tecmo Super Bowl” and “NBA Jam” supremacy. Jenkins calls the tournament Tecmo Jam Cleveland.
Get ready for Round 2 on Aug. 4 and 5 at the same venue. Jenkins expects the number of competitors to increase to about 65 or 70. A gamer from Indiana has registered, so that makes nine states that have been represented in the two-year history of the tournament.
“Tecmo Super Bowl” and “NBA Jam” are two of the most popular sports video games of all-time.
“Tecmo Super Bowl” was released on the original Nintendo system in 1991. In 2016 for the game’s 25th anniversary, several stories were written as a tribute to it. The game is a side-scroller that plays simple: There are four running plays to choose and four passing plays.
The big attraction was the addition of one of sports’ greatest dual athletes — the Raiders’ Bo Jackson. He was so good in the game, he was nearly unstoppable.
“Bo is awesome in the game, but he’s not the only reason the game has a cult following,” Jenkins said. “It was the first sports games where you could customize playbooks, play entire seasons, change rosters, do substitutions.”
In 2017, Sports Illustrated wrote a story about the history of “NBA Jam,” It gained popularity as a standup game in arcades then became a massive hit on home consoles. The 2-on-2 style playground style game featured most NBA stars of the time — save Michael Jordan. It was over-the-top fun as players dunked from all heights and angles, and even caught on fire. When a player was at top form, the game’s announcer would scream “Boomshakalaka!”
Putting the two games together for a weekend blowout seemed fitting to Jenkins. The games are still popular, and he’s hoping that popularity paves the way for a third tournament in 2019 and beyond.
“This is purely a hobby and a passion,” Jenkins said. “I do it because I love video games.”
As expected, the demographic for the tournament is men between the ages of 30 and 50. Jenkins said about 200 were in attendance at the 2017 tournament. Several were under 30, and their introduction to the games always make for good conversation.
“They love the games when they see them,” said Jenkins, who provides the TVs, Nintendo (for “Tecmo Super Bowl”) and Sega Genesis (for “NBA Jam”) consoles and the video games for the tournament.
Each day will feature three divisions based on the skills of gamers. Cash prizes and 12 trophies — six each day — will be awarded. The tournament also will be live-streamed on the True Game Fans Network.
“I think this a really cool community thing,” Jenkins said. “The people involved are really passionate about these games. How incredible is it that 25 to 30 years later we’re even having this conversation? But these games still hold up.”