Operation Sports is proud to present our interview with Sean O'Brien, Associate Producer of NCAA March Madness 2003.

GAMEPLAY

Operation Sports: Are there any variations in play calling from school to school on offense and defense? How do they follow their real life counterparts?

Sean O’Brien: In NCAA March Madness 2003, we focused on ensuring that defense plays as true to life as possible. We received scouting reports from each of our coaches that make up this year’s EA Sports Coaches Council. With their help, each coach focusing on their own conference, we were able to focus on each school’s style of play, tendencies, key players and defensively, play the type of defense that they actually play in real life. You will see Syracuse playing a 2-3 zone and Stanford will be playing good, solid half court man to man. You do have the option of customizing both your offensive and defensive quick plays in the pause menu.

Look for this feature to continue to evolve in next year’s game.

Operation Sports: How many zone defenses are there?

Sean O’Brien: Here’s our breakdown of defenses within NCAA March Madness 2003 available with our Quick Plays feature on the PlayStation2 D-pad – Half court – man to man, 2-3 zone, 1-3-1 zone, 3-2 zone, half court trap and double team Full court – man to man press, ¾ court man press, 2-2-1 press, 1-2-2 press and 1-2-1-1 press

Operation Sports: When playing the round ball classic, will I be able to play with any recruit or just the best players?

Sean O’Brien: When playing in the EA Sports Roundball Classic, you play with the top twenty generated high school seniors for that particular year of Dynasty Mode.

Operation Sports: Are there A.I. sliders? If so, what do these cover?

Sean O’Brien: Yes, there are gameplay sliders that cover just about every part of the AI.

You can adjust your settings in the following areas:

• Jump shot height
• Block height
• Rebound height
• Game speed
• Pass interceptions
• Deflections
• Steals
• Blocks
• Lay ups
• Dunks
• Inside shot accuracy
• Jump shot accuracy
• Long range jump shot accuracy
• Offensive rebound aggression
• Defensive rebound aggression
• Fast breaks
• Fake outs
• Alley oop frequency
• Out of bounds force field

Operation Sports: How much of the college feel is represented, is it as good as NCAA Football 2003? If it’s better, please tell us more.

Sean O’Brien: We did go to similar lengths in attempting to recreate the unbelievable atmosphere that is college basketball. We have mascots from 49 of the top basketball schools in the nation, we have over 320 crowd chants, over 120 school specific fight songs used throughout the front end and in game and a fully animating 3D crowd in all arenas that do everything that they can to distract free throw shooters, boo and heckle opposing schools and their players and will even do the wave if the home team can fill up the momentum meter.

You will see mascots interacting with the players within in game cut scenes, as well as coaches doing their best to motivate and encourage their players and keeping the officials on their toes.

We have also signed Brad Nessler and the voice of college basketball Dick Vitale.

Operation Sports: Is the atmosphere in the NCAA tournament different than from the regular season?

Sean O’Brien: With all that we were attempting to accomplish this year, are plans for neutral site games was one thing that we had to push off until 2004. We’ve got some great ideas on how to adjust the atmosphere to these unique situations. Also, we will be implementing some very cool logic for “Cinderella” schools that always appear during March Madness.

Operation Sports: Is the crowd a factor, is there a momentum meter?

Sean O’Brien: Crowd is a factor. At home, a crowd can really provide a boost to their school as well as causing numerous distractions for schools that come into their building to play. We have extensive logic that utilizes our library of crowd chants and animation attempting to create a college basketball atmosphere.

We do also have a momentum meter that tracks events from both schools. The momentum meter will then have a positive or negative impact on certain ratings based on who has the momentum at various times in the game. This is where time out management is essential. Look for the crowd to do the wave if the home team has filled up the momentum meter.

Operation Sports: Are there technical fouls?

Sean O’Brien: The only type of technical fouls that we have in NCAA March Madness 2003 are as a result of a flagrant foul that causes an injury. The opposing teams will then be awarded two free throws and are given possession of the basketball.

Operation Sports: Do player ratings improve during the season?

Sean O’Brien: Within Dynasty Mode there is extensive logic and functionality that tracks player progress during both the season and the off-season. Players can improve during the course of the season as well as during the off-season. Also, the Coaching Priorities feature allows you to focus on different aspects of your team’s practices throughout the week. For example, if you focus heavily on shooting throughout the week, there’s a chance that you will see marked improvement in your player’s shooting and overall team shooting percentages.

Operation Sports: Will all the freestyle moves be toned down at all compared to NBA Live 2003?

Sean O’Brien: The EA Sports Freestyle Control will be very similar to NBA Live 2003. The key difference is that across the board, there aren’t as many good players in the NCAA so you won’t have as many players on each school who are able to pull off all of the moves that you see the elite performers pull off.

Operation Sports: Have the ball physics on blocked shots been toned down from Live 2003?

Sean O’Brien: Yes. You will see the occasional big block in NCAA March Madness 2003, but they are much more toned down compared to NBA Live 2003. You also have the ability to block dunks and lay ups within the college game. Look to use the double tap shot functionality when performing a lay up dunk or even a jump shot if you think you’re going to get blocked. Keep in mind that this does lower the likelihood of the shot going due to the potential level of difficulty of the shot.

GRAPHICS

Operation Sports: Are the arenas generic, or are they designed to look like the actual arenas?

Sean O’Brien: We have 3 different styles of arenas that can be customized to each school using banners, signs, dorna board and player bench placement. Look for this to be an area of focus for the future.

Operation Sports: How many cut scenes are in the game?

Sean O’Brien: We easily have over one hundred different cut scenes in the game that focus on the players, mascots, coaches and referees as well as giving you a behind the scenes look at what a college locker room looks like. We also have extensive scripts seen as you progress through the NCAA tournament.

Operation Sports: Are the coaches modeled more accurately this year?

Sean O’Brien: We did take a step forward with our coaches this year. All of our licensed coaches that are a part of our EA Sports Coaches Council appear within the game and we did attempt to improve the coach models as well.

GENERAL

Operation Sports: Are there any classic teams?

Sean O’Brien: No classic teams are in NCAA March Madness 2003.

Operation Sports: What conferences are represented?

Sean O’Brien: We represent the top fifteen basketball conferences in the NCAA.

Operation Sports: Can you get fired, re-signed, resign and change schools during a dynasty?

Sean O’Brien: We did not include any coach firings, resignations or give the consumer the ability to changes schools within Dynasty Mode.

Operation Sports: When you make a substitution, is there a window that pops up and shows who came in and who went out?

Sean O’Brien: After every substitution, there is an overlay that appears letting you know who was subbed out and who is coming into the game, replacing that player.

Operation Sports: Is there an NIT tournament and/or Conference tournaments?

Sean O’Brien: We did not include the NIT tournament but we do have a post season conference tournament as a part of your season.

Operation Sports: Is there a trophy case like there is in NCAA Football 2003?

Sean O’Brien: Unfortunately, we don’t have a trophy case like there is in NCAA Football 2003. We do have both team and individual player post season awards.

Operation Sports: Does coaching style influence a recruit?

Sean O’Brien: A recruit will look at a number of things during the off season when in the process of selecting a school to attend. We’ve attempted to include numerous factors in this decision such as school prestige, coach and coaching style as well as the recent success of the school to name a few. Using the experience and insight of our EA Sports Coaches Council coaches, we will be looking at ways to improve recruiting as well for 2004 with the goal of making recruiting as realistic as possible.

Operation Sports: Is there a multi player dynasty?

Sean O’Brien: No, currently we only allow for one player Dynasty Mode.

Operation Sports: How many lines does Dick Vitale have?

Sean O’Brien: Dick Vitale recorded well over 3,000 lines with many more planned for NCAA March Madness 2004. We’ve got some really great ideas on how we’d like to incorporate Dick, the voice of college basketball, into next year’s game.

Operation Sports: Why no online play? Will this be in future editions? Why only PS2?

Sean O’Brien: We wanted to focus on ensuring that we delivered an unbelievable Dynasty Mode for NCAA March Madness 2003. We will be online for the PlayStation2 in 2004.

Operation Sports: Is the game based on the Live 2002 or 2003 engine?

Sean O’Brien: The game is based on the NBA Live 2002 engine but we worked together on numerous features that you have already seen in NBA Live 2003. Examples of this are the EA Sports Freestyle Control as well as the Quick Plays functionality using the D-pad.

CUSTOMIZATION
Operation Sports: Are there alternate uniforms?

Sean O’Brien: Every school in NCAA March Madness 2003 has authentic uniforms, logos and courts.

Operation Sports: Will you be able to edit everything about someone (ratings, accessories, tattoos)?

Sean O’Brien: We have given consumers the ability to edit absolutely everything within our edit player screen. You can add head bands, change hair styles, adjust ratings, pick different socks and shoes along with many more options.

Operation Sports: Can you make your own schedules?

Sean O’Brien: At the beginning of each season, we give the consumer the ability to customize his/her non conference schedule. This is one of the coolest features in Dynasty Mode. We asked for insight on scheduling from our EA Sports Coaches Council coaches on how they schedule their non conference games as well as some of the hurdles/obstacles that they encounter based on the size of their school, their recent successes as well as the conference they play in. Mark Few at Gonzaga has different scheduling obstacles and goals that Gary Williams does at Maryland. Because of this, although we allow you to customize your schedule, there is logic in there that takes into consideration the realities of scheduling in the NCAA. You will face the same type of challenges that all coaches face each year in the NCAA. The CPU will deny you from playing some games if it’s not in the best interest of the school that you’re attempting to play. There are in turn some strategies that have to be developed when looking to improve your school’s RPI rating from year to year within Dynasty Mode.

Operation Sports: Can you edit player names and if so, will Brad Nessler say the player’s name?

Sean O’Brien: You can edit all player names as well as other attributes/ratings. Unfortunately, with Brad having to record everything in the game from scratch, we didn’t have the time to have him record player names and generated player names. This is definitely something that we’ve planned for NCAA March Madness 2004.

RECRUITING

Operation Sports: Is there an on/off option to have players stay the full 4 years no matter how good they are?

Sean O’Brien: No there isn’t an on/off option to have players stay the full 4 years of eligibility.

Operation Sports: Do High School recruits leave to the draft? Will we be able to know before recruiting them?

Sean O’Brien: No high school recruits do not leave announce their intentions to join the NBA draft. However, based on their performance throughout their first three years of college, players will leave school early for the NBA. Some will be successful, some won’t.

Operation Sports: They have mentioned that it will be similar to NCAA football on recruiting. But you can only bring 3 or 4 recruits so scouting is not as in depth. How will this work?

Sean O’Brien: There are five weeks of recruiting during the off season. Each week, you’re given a certain amount of points that can be used for recruiting – each phone call or home visit used by either the assistant coach or the head coach uses a certain amount of points for each recruit. You can recruit as many players as you’d like, but you better pay close attention to what you’re needs are, who’s interested in your school and if you recruit too many players, you may end up in a situation where players lose interest in your school because you’re not paying enough attention to them.

Also, as I mentioned earlier, we do include numerous factors as to why a recruit would be interested in attending your school such as school prestige, coach and coaching style as well as the recent success of the school to name a few. Using the experience and insight of our EA Sports Coaches Council coaches, we will be looking at ways to improve recruiting as well for 2004 with the goal of making recruiting as realistic as possible.

Operation Sports: Will players transfer?

Sean O’Brien: No players will not transfer.

Operation Sports: Do Players get suspended for bad grades?

Sean O’Brien: We didn’t touch academic performance in NCAA March Madness 2003.

Operation Sports: Can we cut players at the end of a season?

Sean O’Brien: You certainly can. If you don’t think a player is performing up to your standards or expectations, you can release him and reorder your entire roster. This will free up some room on your team to recruit some other prospects.

Operation Sports: Does red shirting a player help with player development?

Sean O’Brien: Yes red shirting a player can help with his development. His growth over the course of the year will be based on his player package and how you’ve used your Coaching Priorities.

Operation Sports: Can you give us more info on recruiting?

Sean O’Brien: We did go to great lengths to ensure that recruiting is as realistic as possible. As I mentioned earlier, we used the insight and expertise of our EA Sports Coaches Council coaches to really nail both recruiting and scheduling. I think consumers are really going to enjoy the off season part of NCAA March Madness 2003. As a consumer, you’re really challenged with building a good basketball program that will challenge for a national championship through recruiting, scheduling, coaching throughout the year and ultimately winning basketball games to put you amongst the elite programs in the country.

THANKS

Operation Sports: We would like to thank you for your time with this interview, is there anything else you would like to add?

Sean O’Brien: I think consumers will be really surprised with NCAA March Madness 2003. We think that it has taken a really big step in overall product quality. From the new gameplay features, such as EA Sports Freestyle Control and the Quick Plays functionality on the D-pad, to the depth of the game with new season mode, EA Sports Maui Invitational and Dynasty Mode. We have added more schools, mascots, more fight songs and crowd chants attempting to really capture the passion and emotion that represents college basketball. We’re very committed to turning this franchises into one of the better EA Sports titles and I think consumers will.