NCAA Basketball 10 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions (PS3/360)

[countryboy]

ARRRGGGHHHH!!! The same annoyance of fouls being called but you have no idea what happened appear to be back from last year. Example, I had a collision underneath the basket as I was backing the defender down and I didn't know if it was a block or a charge as there was no overlay to tell me and the game cut away to a stat overlay of conference standings so I couldn't look at the ref to tell what happened.

This annoyed me to no end last year.

[countryboy]

LOL...the players standing up on the bench during gameplay have no numbers or names on their jerseys. Not complaining, just thought it was funny.

[countryboy]

2 games in of playing nothing but zone defense, have not seen the cpu turn into mental challenged mode like they would last year. Very good to see.

Also, enjoying the cpu missing wide open shots on AA level.

[countryboy]

the block animations look silly, for lack of a better term. Once in a while there will be a blocked shot and it looks natural, but more often then not, I don't know the block occured until I see the ball not going to the rim if that makes sense. Very odd looking animation/sequence at times.

Also, not a fan of the fact that everyone is the "same" in the sense that with a Center, I can dribble the ball like a PG. Now granted, trying to take someone off the dribble usually results in me losing the ball, but the idea that I can even attempt this raises a concern.

CPU is much better at rotation defense. I was called for 3 charges this past game due to this fact. Or it could've been because I was UNC playing at Cameron Indoor.

[ehh]

I don't know if this is really good for this game or really sad for Live but I actually like the demo of this more than I like the post-patch version of Live.

I played about ten games, first five on All-Conference (All-Star in Live) and then five on Varsity (Pro). After the first five games I was ready to delete the demo, same issues post-patch from Live were already annoying me on AC.
CPU's defensive rotations are way too fast on All-Conference and they block way too many shots in the paint, plus it's a little too hard to get past your man with the dribble (not an issue in Live). Nothing criminal, but things look so much better on varsity. Varsity is easily the way to go in terms of realism and an even balance between you and the CPU.

On Varsity the drive and kick game, defensive rotations and in general the entire feel of the game is so much better than All-Conference IMO. On default you just make too many shots and it's a little too easy to get past your man with the dribble but that can be adjusted in the retail with sliders.

One of my biggest beefs with Live is the amount of contact in the paint even when using Layup Solutions properly, NCAA '10 on Varsity does this sooooo much better than any setting in Live. There is some contact, but I've seen more clean layups in ten games of the demo than I've seen in about 25 post-patch Live games (full 48 minutes per game too). Thank the Lord! This facet of the game play alone will make me sell Live.

I also like the CPU's offense in this game more. As I expected, DNA seems to do more harm than good in Live. There's less wacky crap from the CPU in this game, though neither team pushed the ball all that much and both are supposed to be up tempo teams. That will probably be fixed via patch though. Again though, the only downside will probably be that teams don't go to their stars enough. Individualism is not going to be a bright spot of this game out of the box, we'll see what we can do with the roster editor. A big key will be is if we get the "shot likelihood" ratings that are in Live. If that is in this game then we should be okay, it'll just take a lot of work.

The post game also seems cleaner, animations and feel seem better. The net animations are also more realistic though I'm kinda sad they didn't put in the crazy "super splash" swish that's in Live for those shooters with rainbow arcs on their shot.

Motion offense for the user is a pleasant surprise, I like the multiple options and guys cut with a purpose. I love OBCing to certain guys and making their cuts slightly different (aka better) so I can get them a bucket.

I was able to take three charges which is cool. There was only one questionable call from the ref in terms of an offensive foul which is nice.

FT's are crazy as UNC, I think I made 1/20.


There are still plenty of issues that perhaps I'll touch on later but besides that color me impressed. Looks like the trend will continue as far as the college version of basketball games being the superior.

In summary...

- Contact in lane is better than Live (less frequent)
- Defensive rotations are better than Live (post-patch at least)
- CPU's offense is better than Live

I'd say that's enough for me.

[chris11sg]

Quote: Originally Posted by ehh

I don't know if this is really good for this game or really sad for Live but I actually like the demo of this more than I like the post-patch version of Live. I played about ten games, first five on All-Conference (All-Star in Live) and then five on Varsity (Pro). After the first five games I was ready to delete the demo, same issues post-patch from Live were already annoying me on AC. CPU's defensive rotations are way too fast on All-Conference and they block way too many shots in the paint, plus it's a little too hard to get past your man with the dribble (not an issue in Live). Nothing criminal, but things look so much better on varsity. Varsity is easily the way to go in terms of realism and an even balance between you and the CPU. On Varsity the drive and kick game, defensive rotations and in general the entire feel of the game is so much better than All-Conference IMO. On default you just make too many shots and it's a little too easy to get past your man with the dribble but that can be adjusted in the retail with sliders. One of my biggest beefs with Live is the amount of contact in the paint even when using Layup Solutions properly, NCAA '10 on Varsity does this sooooo much better than any setting in Live. There is some contact, but I've seen more clean layups in ten games of the demo than I've seen in about 25 post-patch Live games (full 48 minutes per game too). Thank the Lord! This facet of the game play alone will make me sell Live. I also like the CPU's offense in this game more. As I expected, DNA seems to do more harm than good in Live. There's less wacky crap from the CPU in this game, though neither team pushed the ball all that much and both are supposed to be uptempo teams. That will probably be fixed via patch though. Again though, the only downside will probably be that teams don't go to their stars enough. Individualism is not going to be a bright spot of this game out of the box, we'll see what we can do with the roster editor. A big key will be is if we get the "shot likelihood" ratings that are in Live. If that is in this game then we should be okay, it'll just take a lot of work. The post game also seems cleaner, animations and feel seem better. The net animations are also more realistic though I'm kinda sad they didn't put in the crazy "super splash" swish that's in Live for those shooters with rainbow arcs on their shot. Motion offense for the user is a present surprise, I like the multiple options and guys cut with a purpose. I love OBCing to certain guys and making their cuts slightly different (aka better) so I can get them a bucket. I was able to take three charges which is cool. There was only one questionable call from the ref in terms of an offensive foul which is nice. FT's are crazy as UNC, I think I made 1/20. There are still plenty of issues that perhaps I'll touch on later but besides that color me impressed. Looks like the trend will continue as far as the college version of basketball games being the superior. In summary... - Contact in lane is better than Live (less frequent) - Defensive rotations are better than Live (post-patch at least) - CPU's offense is better than Live I'd say that's enough for me.

Thank you for that info ehh. Mine's almost finished so I'm about to enjoy everything you just pointed out.

[ehh]

Quote: Originally Posted by countryboy

the block animations look silly, for lack of a better term. Once in a while there will be a blocked shot and it looks natural, but more often then not, I don't know the block occured until I see the ball not going to the rim if that makes sense. Very odd looking animation/sequence at times.

Blocks were real messy in Live pre-patch, as in a defender wouldn't even make contact with the ball some times. After the patch though I don't know if I've ever seen a better game with blocks, at least in terms of actually getting a hand on the ball and timing it right. The context isn't perfect but it's pretty good.

[bjones16]

Quote: Originally Posted by ehh

I don't know if this is really good for this game or really sad for Live but I actually like the demo of this more than I like the post-patch version of Live. I played about ten games, first five on All-Conference (All-Star in Live) and then five on Varsity (Pro). After the first five games I was ready to delete the demo, same issues post-patch from Live were already annoying me on AC. CPU's defensive rotations are way too fast on All-Conference and they block way too many shots in the paint, plus it's a little too hard to get past your man with the dribble (not an issue in Live). Nothing criminal, but things look so much better on varsity. Varsity is easily the way to go in terms of realism and an even balance between you and the CPU. On Varsity the drive and kick game, defensive rotations and in general the entire feel of the game is so much better than All-Conference IMO. On default you just make too many shots and it's a little too easy to get past your man with the dribble but that can be adjusted in the retail with sliders. One of my biggest beefs with Live is the amount of contact in the paint even when using Layup Solutions properly, NCAA '10 on Varsity does this sooooo much better than any setting in Live. There is some contact, but I've seen more clean layups in ten games of the demo than I've seen in about 25 post-patch Live games (full 48 minutes per game too). Thank the Lord! This facet of the game play alone will make me sell Live. I also like the CPU's offense in this game more. As I expected, DNA seems to do more harm than good in Live. There's less wacky crap from the CPU in this game, though neither team pushed the ball all that much and both are supposed to be uptempo teams. That will probably be fixed via patch though. Again though, the only downside will probably be that teams don't go to their stars enough. Individualism is not going to be a bright spot of this game out of the box, we'll see what we can do with the roster editor. A big key will be is if we get the "shot likelihood" ratings that are in Live. If that is in this game then we should be okay, it'll just take a lot of work. The post game also seems cleaner, animations and feel seem better. The net animations are also more realistic though I'm kinda sad they didn't put in the crazy "super splash" swish that's in Live for those shooters with rainbow arcs on their shot. Motion offense for the user is a present surprise, I like the multiple options and guys cut with a purpose. I love OBCing to certain guys and making their cuts slightly different (aka better) so I can get them a bucket. I was able to take three charges which is cool. There was only one questionable call from the ref in terms of an offensive foul which is nice. FT's are crazy as UNC, I think I made 1/20. There are still plenty of issues that perhaps I'll touch on later but besides that color me impressed. Looks like the trend will continue as far as the college version of basketball games being the superior. In summary... - Contact in lane is better than Live (less frequent) - Defensive rotations are better than Live (post-patch at least) - CPU's offense is better than Live I'd say that's enough for me.

Ehhh i was just about to type the exact same thing. This game seems soo much better than Live post patch its amazing! Almost everything you listed was accurate. I play on All american though and both teams do push the ball. They play motion offense, the pg doesn't take all the shots. They actually play real offense! I love the game and I will be picking up this game and taking Live back!