Fans of the insanely over-the-top game NBA Jam will have their chance to play it on the Xbox 360 finally.  But as with most things these days that involve new games and used games, there’s a catch.  You’ll have to buy a new copy of NBA Elite in order to get a one-time download code to play NBA Jam.

You’ll have access to three modes of play in NBA Jam after using the code.  Yes, I said three modes of play so it appears that it’s not quite a full game or at least not the experience Wii owners have had.  At any rate, the modes include Play Now, Classic Campaign and Online so there’s definitely a lot to get your “jam” on with.  This is in fact the only way you’ll be able to play NBA Jam on 360 because EA has no intention of selling it otherwise.

“We’re still holding back the Remix Tour for the Wii consumer, and that’s about 20 hours of gameplay,” EA Sports’ Jordan Edelstein tells ESPN.  “But for the PS3 and 360, we want people to try ‘Elite’.  We feel like ‘NBA Elite 11′ is a great product and we want people to give it a chance and see all the changes we’re making.  So as a way to say thanks to these people, we are going to let them experience ‘Jam’.  It’s not the full product, but it’s a good portion of it.

“And the only way to play ‘Jam’ on the 360 and PS3 is by picking up ‘Elite’. There’s a one-time use code that will be in every copy of ‘Elite’, so you just go online and redeem it.  We’re not selling ‘Jam’ on PSN or Xbox Live.  If you still want the full product, the full experience is on the Wii, but if you pick up ‘Elite’, you’re still getting a good taste of it, especially with the inclusion of online play.”

So what say you?  Cheap trick to try and get people interested in Elite or a good plan and just added value?