Hey, real quick, do me a favor and have “Space Jam” by Quad City DJs playing the entire time you read this.
I’m serious. Oh, you think I’m not? Here’s the link to an hour-long loop; get on it.
Now that the vibe has been properly set, let’s talk about all the cool gaming initiatives that are popping off to celebrate the upcoming release of Space Jam: A New Legacy!
If you, like many gamers, have ever thought about how cool it would be to see one of your gaming ideas come to life, you’re in luck! Space Jam: A New Legacy has partnered with Microsoft for the upcoming game based on the movie.
As part of that collaboration, gamers aged 14 and up can enter a contest and pitch their ideas for what they want to see in the upcoming game. The two selected winners of the contest will see their ideas come to life in the Space Jam: A New Legacy arcade-style game that’s set to come to Xbox Game Pass next year.
You probably would rather hear all this from Bugs Bunny and LeBron James though, so I’ll let them take it from here.
Hey, uh, LeBron and Bugs. I don’t know if you’re reading this, but I’m just saying I’ll love y’all even more if the new Space Jam game is just NBA Jam but with Looney Tunes.
The streets need this. More importantly, I need this.
In addition to the contest, Microsoft stores will be holding multiple coding workshops themed around the movie to teach youngins the basics of coding and the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) careers that go into creating some of their favorite games.
There are also two Microsoft Learn lessons aimed at teens and more experienced coders that allows users to implement tools such as machine learning and Visual Studio Code to help a coach make “real-time decisions in the middle of a game.”
Lebron really went “Yes we’re going to slam, and of course we’re going to jam, but you know what else we’re going to do? Learn.”
Jokes aside, this is actually a really cool way to teach kids skills that are going to be invaluable as they grow up in an increasingly digital world.
Space Jam: A New Legacy will slam into theaters and HBO Max in summer 2021. Now excuse me, I’m going to dig up my childhood copy of the Space Jam soundtrack.
Oh, and I guess you can stop listening to the Space Jam theme now. I don’t know why you would want to but you can.