NCAA Basketball 09 First Look (IGN)

[Steve_OS]

IGN has posted their first look at NCAA Basketball 09.

Quote:

"One of the primary facets pointed out by Sean O'Brien, Lead Producer of NCAA Basketball 09, was the focus on the tempo of the game, which takes center stage in this year's title. If you've watched a basketball game, you know that there's a flow that is established by each team primarily based around their play style. Some squads like to run the ball up and down the court, wearing out the other squad with a hard charging offense and lots of pressure with their defense. Others prefer to play a half-court game, setting up their plays and running down the clock, while others balance the transition game with specific plays. In NCAA Basketball 09, you'll be called upon to duplicate the style of play of your chosen school, using the fast paced play of Memphis or the balanced play of UCLA, for example, to dominate your opponents."

[ehh]

Well we got a release date at least, that's a bonus. Not much else in there in terms of new info, hopefully some media will be out next week.

[racerx]

Quote: Originally Posted by ehh

Well we got a release date at least, that's a bonus. Not much else in there in terms of new info, hopefully some media will be out next week.

ehh,
What is the release date? I am at work and IGN is blocked.

Thanks

[warnerwlf98]

Quote: Originally Posted by racerx

ehh, What is the release date? I am at work and IGN is blocked. Thanks

December 2nd.

[warnerwlf98]

Racer, some highlights for you:

Quote:

O'Brien mentioned that since the development team will be using the same game engine as NBA Live, but will have an additional two months of work on the title, they are trying to focus on some of the feedback that will come in on that title but also make sure that NCAA Basketball 09 plays and feels completely different. We were able to find out a few more details from him regarding how the implementation of the tempo and coach instruction has changed the franchise, and how it will wind up carrying over. For instance, the momentum meter and specialized triggers that you could pull off in last year's game is now gone, having been replaced by the tempo meter. O'Brien mentioned that while it was an amusing feature, it was one of those things that was too deep and rarely used by many of the people that they spoke to, so it was removed from this year's game. Kiss the dancing with cheerleaders and pumping up the crowd goodbye. That doesn't mean that the campus atmosphere has been reduced in anyway; far from it – the home team will still go completely nuts at every single score, perform school chants or try to rattle visitors at the free throw line.

Quote:

After you set your favorite team within your game profile, you can instantly go online and select the Rival option, which will go online and search for another player that happens to represent your loathed adversaries.

Quote:

As for other gameplay modes, we did ask about the possibility of a Campus Legend mode being included within the franchise. O'Brien did mention that the mode will not be included within this year's game, but that the development team had been looking very closely at the feature that has been a significant feature for EA's NCAA Football series, and mentioned that it could potentially be included within future titles.

Quote:

Similarly, he mentioned that the implementation of the DNA feature that's being included within this year's game is one that the development team had looked at as a possible future feature, but that the tempo and coaching style elements were focused on much more for this year's gameplay.

[ehh]

The DNA thing would be way too big of a feature to implement in a college game, I'm fine with it not being included. I actually like the idea of the tempo meter.

Hopefully Tomba will be on today to give us some more info.

[racerx]

Warner thanks for looking out!!!!:

[Vince]

wow, long time still.