NBA Jam · Arcade / Various · 1993
NBA Jam contains secret playable characters including Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Prince Charles, and various Midway staff members, unlocked through specific initials and button combinations at the player entry screen.
Midway programmer Mark Turmell and his team populated NBA Jam's hidden character roster with political figures, celebrities, and internal Midway staff. Bill Clinton and Al Gore (newly elected at the time of development) were added as a topical joke; Prince Charles appears as a secret character; various Midway employees were included as a developer tribute. The characters were unlocked by entering specific initials at the player select screen combined with button-hold inputs, a discovery process that spread almost entirely through arcade operator gossip and gaming magazines. The hidden character tradition continued in NBA Jam T.E. and subsequent Midway sports titles, with the roster of secrets expanding with each version.
On the initials-entry screen, enter the character's initials — for example "ARK" for Bill Clinton or "NET" for Al Gore — while holding the required buttons on the final letter; the arcade version also asks for a matching birthdate. The exact inputs vary by version (arcade, Genesis, SNES).