IGN gives March Madness a 7.9

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 10:42 am

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/755/755229p1.html

It sounds pretty good, but I just cant listen to Dick Vitale as color man.
It looks like it may be a decent alternative to CH, but I just don't see any reason to even try this one, unless the full game is remarkably different than the horrible demo, I will have to pass on this one. I am glad it sounds decent though, as it will put a little pressure on the 2K game to up the ante next year.

Anyone getting this one?

kevinpars · Post by **kevinpars** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 11:06 am

I will rent it from Gamefly at some point. Official Xbox Magazine said that the frame rates in the game were bad - like the demo. They also said that it was too easy to use the right stick controls to drive to the hoop on every possession - but who knows what level that was tested on and by who.

I used to buy every college BB game, but I am not going to do it this year.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 11:16 am

I'm guessing IGN will be plastered with EA ads for the rest of the month.

GTHobbes · Post by **GTHobbes** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 11:33 am

The last page of IGN's review also mentions the bad frame rates...Is it just me, or does it seem that EA has more problems with frame rates in their sports games than anyone else. I remember the old Triple Play and NHL series suffered from those problems for years.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 11:42 am

It's true. You would think the opposite would be true for the 360.
Not sure how a game like GOW can have so much graphical detail
but run smoother than a game like NHL07?

GTHobbes wrote: Is it just me, or does it seem that EA has more problems with frame rates in their sports games than anyone else. I remember the old Triple Play and NHL series suffered from those problems for years.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 11:59 am

To continue to go off the topic of NCAA MM, I think it goes beyond frame rate issues with EA games--compare the animations in Madden on the 360 vs. Wii. There seems to be a few animation frames missing in the 360 that would really help smooth out the action on screen. I don't actually notice any real frame rate issues in Madden, it is the jerkiness in all movements that bugs me.

I can better understand the issues in NHL since it is their first effort on the 360 and it has a completely new engine (at least for the controls) that they needed to get in place.

LAking · Post by **LAking** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 4:28 pm

Dave wrote:To continue to go off the topic of NCAA MM, I think it goes beyond frame rate issues with EA games--compare the animations in Madden on the 360 vs. Wii. There seems to be a few animation frames missing in the 360 that would really help smooth out the action on screen. I don't actually notice any real frame rate issues in Madden, it is the jerkiness in all movements that bugs me.

I can better understand the issues in NHL since it is their first effort on the 360 and it has a completely new engine (at least for the controls) that they needed to get in place.

Exactly! It's not really a frame rate issue, it's a design choice. For whatever reason EA doesn't include as many animation frames as 2k sports. It doesn't seem like a performance issue to me. Maybe they removed those frames to prevent performance issues, but as it is now it's not that the system is stressing trying to keep up with the game. The only time i notice actual frame rate issues in NCAA on 360 is right when you cross the goal line or something like that. [/b]

kevinpars · Post by **kevinpars** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 9:09 am

I really don't understand some of the design choices EA makes. I recently rented Madden, because I really was jonesing for a pro football game during the playoffs, and I was again shocked at how badly the game can look when you play on a sunny day when the field is covered with shadows. It is such a distraction that I have started playing only games that take place in domes. And the interface is so damn slow and stutters so much that it drives me crazy.

I'm sorry, but with multiple cores and all that the next gen has to offer, we should not have any frame rate issues. If I can play Half Life 2 on my less powerful PC without frame issues, then a game like Madden or NCAA or NHL on a console should be smooth as silk.

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 12:32 pm

I'm not sure anyone takes MM serious anymore.

wpw721 · Post by **wpw721** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 1:01 pm

kevinpars wrote:I really don't understand some of the design choices EA makes. I recently rented Madden, because I really was jonesing for a pro football game during the playoffs, and I was again shocked at how badly the game can look when you play on a sunny day when the field is covered with shadows. It is such a distraction that I have started playing only games that take place in domes. And the interface is so damn slow and stutters so much that it drives me crazy.

I'm sorry, but with multiple cores and all that the next gen has to offer, we should not have any frame rate issues. If I can play Half Life 2 on my less powerful PC without frame issues, then a game like Madden or NCAA or NHL on a console should be smooth as silk.

I agree with your statement and often wonder what stadiums these developers frequent. I have never seen sunlight and colors that rich in real life without sunglasses on.

NBA 2K7 on the 360 doesn’t have frame rate issues and it could just be my TV, but I have never seen a floor that shiny. I have been to see the Pistons play and their floor is no where near that shiny.

Some developers are placing us in a type of hyper colorful world that doesn’t exist.

Badgun · Post by **Badgun** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 8:54 pm

For anyone that cares that may be on the fence about renting or buying this game...don't. It is garbage.

Let me start by mentioning some of the good things. Great atmosphere, maybe better than College Hoops and I really like Vitale in this game. There are a few cool little things you can do like pump up the crowd if you're the home team.

Now the bad...the gameplay is God-awful, and I mean NBA Shootout 2000 awful. The gameplay is way too fast to begin with, but you will literally see guys warping to the basket. I've seen guys dunk the ball from behind the backboard and I've seen guys intercept rocket half court passes with one hand and the ball sticks in their hand. Also, the alley oop is downright money. Just come down the court, tap the right button, and somebody is going to dunk the ball.

Here's the kicker. In true EA fashion, they have to try and put some kind of gimmick crap in their games. Well in this game, it's called the Impact Moment. If you dunk on someone or hit a 3, you will get a little message that an Impact Moment has been obtained and to tap the Left button at the next dead ball. What happens next is absolute worst thing I've ever seen in a sports game. Upon tapping the left button, the game goes to a little cutscene of one of your players either taunting another player or taunting the crowd. At one point, one of my players hit a 3 and then I hit the button and he went almost into the tunnel and motioned to the other team's home crowd that he could not hear them. I have NEVER seen a college player exhibit this lack of class in a basketball game so why did the NCAA let EA put this in the game? Better yet, what idiot at EA thought this crap up? You'll see your guys get in other player's faces and taunt them as well. It's funny as hell the first time you see it, but like all EA games, it has nothing to do with the sport it represents.

I'm sure someone will like this game, but if you have College Hoops and like it, don't waste your time or money. I managed to get through one game and that was all I could stomach, and trust me, this game is not going to get better by playing it more. Fundamentally it sucks. After playing this game, I have little or no hope for NCAA Football or Madden this year.

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 9:06 pm

Badgun wrote:After playing this game, I have little or no hope for NCAA Football or Madden this year.

How did it lead you to this conclusion? What does MM have to do with the football games? Am I missing something here or would this be the same as saying "I have no hope for NBA 2k7 or NCAA 2k7 after playing MLB 2k6." last year?

kevinpars · Post by **kevinpars** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 9:19 pm

True, March Madness has sucked since a few decent versions on the psx, and during this time there have been some excellent NCAA and decent to good Madden games.

ExtremeGamer · Post by **ExtremeGamer** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 10:13 pm

ScoopBrady wrote:
Badgun wrote:After playing this game, I have little or no hope for NCAA Football or Madden this year.
How did it lead you to this conclusion? What does MM have to do with the football games? Am I missing something here or would this be the same as saying "I have no hope for NBA 2k7 or NCAA 2k7 after playing MLB 2k6." last year?

You forget, He hated Madden and NCAA last year on the 360, still bought them both though. I knew he'd hate March Madness as well, but he bought that. He'll buy Madden and NCAA this year as well.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 10:32 pm

ExtremeGamer wrote:
ScoopBrady wrote:
Badgun wrote:After playing this game, I have little or no hope for NCAA Football or Madden this year.
How did it lead you to this conclusion? What does MM have to do with the football games? Am I missing something here or would this be the same as saying "I have no hope for NBA 2k7 or NCAA 2k7 after playing MLB 2k6." last year?
You forget, He hated Madden and NCAA last year on the 360, still bought them both though. I knew he'd hate March Madness as well, but he bought that. He'll buy Madden and NCAA this year as well.

Yeah, but the difference is that Madden and NCAA are proven commodities for the most part. MM and NBA Live for that matter have been garbage for years. Badgun likes to generalize A LOT...so anything EA related gets lumped in with the rest of his generalizations about said company. Some guys don't mind next-gen football...he does. We've all accepted that.

I'm with Scoop...not quite sure how they are related at all outside of the logo on the front.

DivotMaker · Post by **DivotMaker** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 10:53 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote: I'm with Scoop...not quite sure how they are related at all outside of the logo on the front.

They aren't related as the development teams are distinctly different with different goals for each project. It sounds as if EA's basketball teams have really fallen off and are no longer competitive with 2K Sports.

TJdaSportsGuy · Post by **TJdaSportsGuy** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 1:49 am

DivotMaker wrote: They aren't related as the development teams are distinctly different with different goals for each project. It sounds as if EA's basketball teams have really fallen off and are no longer competitive with 2K Sports.

Very well said. EA just is not good at making basketball games anymore.

Badgun · Post by **Badgun** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 9:34 pm

ScoopBrady wrote:
Badgun wrote:After playing this game, I have little or no hope for NCAA Football or Madden this year.
How did it lead you to this conclusion? What does MM have to do with the football games? Am I missing something here or would this be the same as saying "I have no hope for NBA 2k7 or NCAA 2k7 after playing MLB 2k6." last year?

I know there are different development teams that work on each game, but EA as a whole has gotten farther and farther away from what serious sports gamers want with Madden, NCAA, Live, Tiger Woods, and now March Madness.

The gimmick crap. The hit stick, the impact moment, it all seems to be moving towards satisfying arcade players...people who don't care about realism in their sports games, but just love the big hits and taunts.

That's why I have little hope for Madden and NCAA. I guarantee you that instead of working on getting the gameplay better, that EA is busy working on some new gimmick like "Snatch the ball out of the air" or some other unrealistic bullsh*t like they put in every game now.

If anyone, and I mean anyone that has played College Hoops can say March Madness is even on par with it as a serious basketball game, then I want some of what they're smoking. This game is pure crap.

Badgun · Post by **Badgun** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 9:37 pm

ExtremeGamer wrote:
ScoopBrady wrote:
Badgun wrote:After playing this game, I have little or no hope for NCAA Football or Madden this year.
How did it lead you to this conclusion? What does MM have to do with the football games? Am I missing something here or would this be the same as saying "I have no hope for NBA 2k7 or NCAA 2k7 after playing MLB 2k6." last year?
You forget, He hated Madden and NCAA last year on the 360, still bought them both though. I knew he'd hate March Madness as well, but he bought that. He'll buy Madden and NCAA this year as well.

What is it with you? Is it your life's mission to follow me from website to website reminding people which games I liked or hated?

If you're going to continue to do this, you need to get your facts straight. I clearly stated in the thread at OS that I DID NOT buy this game nor did I EVER say I bought it. And thank God I didn't.

DivotMaker · Post by **DivotMaker** » Fri Jan 19, 2007 11:38 pm

Badgun wrote:I know there are different development teams that work on each game, but EA as a whole has gotten farther and farther away from what serious sports gamers want with Madden, NCAA, Live, Tiger Woods, and now March Madness.

Sorry to spoil your post, but TW 07 is MORE of what serious Golf sim users want than any console version of Tiger. IMO, the 360 and PS3 versions are the best Tiger games I have ever played for gameplay, graphics, and the overall package.

Badgun · Post by **Badgun** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 1:42 am

DivotMaker wrote:
Badgun wrote:I know there are different development teams that work on each game, but EA as a whole has gotten farther and farther away from what serious sports gamers want with Madden, NCAA, Live, Tiger Woods, and now March Madness.
Sorry to spoil your post, but TW 07 is MORE of what serious Golf sim users want than any console version of Tiger. IMO, the 360 and PS3 versions are the best Tiger games I have ever played for gameplay, graphics, and the overall package.

Tim,
It's closer, I'll give it that, but it's still a console golf game. And you know what that means. It means people shooting in the 40s on the first day they get the game. It means people hitting 400 yard drives and making multiple holes in one each round. It means the heartbeat practically everytime they hit an approach shot.

Yes, I know about tour difficulty, but that is a joke unless they make it the standard for online play. If they want to make this game fun, then they need to tone the attribute points way down. But I do agree that Tiger has improved, but I don't know if they will ever make it a sim game on the consoles.

DivotMaker · Post by **DivotMaker** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 2:23 am

Badgun wrote:
DivotMaker wrote:
Badgun wrote:I know there are different development teams that work on each game, but EA as a whole has gotten farther and farther away from what serious sports gamers want with Madden, NCAA, Live, Tiger Woods, and now March Madness.
Sorry to spoil your post, but TW 07 is MORE of what serious Golf sim users want than any console version of Tiger. IMO, the 360 and PS3 versions are the best Tiger games I have ever played for gameplay, graphics, and the overall package.
Tim,
It's closer, I'll give it that, but it's still a console golf game. And you know what that means. It means people shooting in the 40s on the first day they get the game. It means people hitting 400 yard drives and making multiple holes in one each round. It means the heartbeat practically everytime they hit an approach shot.

Yes, I know about tour difficulty, but that is a joke unless they make it the standard for online play. If they want to make this game fun, then they need to tone the attribute points way down. But I do agree that Tiger has improved, but I don't know if they will ever make it a sim game on the consoles.

Did you even PLAY the game? TOUR Pro difficulty is far from a joke. It is more challenging than Expert mode on the PC. The game is very deep offline as well. The attribute points have little impact on the challenge of the game in TOUR Pro difficulty.

I realize that the daily online tournament is usually default difficulty, but there are at least one tournament every week that is TOUR Pro difficulty and sometimes two per week when then do the same difficulty for Saturday's event. TW07 is light years ahead of any Tiger console game and in many users opinions, is a better simulation of Golf than Links 2004 and I can attest to it being a better simulation than TW 07 for PC.

Badgun · Post by **Badgun** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 11:05 am

DivotMaker wrote:
Badgun wrote:
DivotMaker wrote: Sorry to spoil your post, but TW 07 is MORE of what serious Golf sim users want than any console version of Tiger. IMO, the 360 and PS3 versions are the best Tiger games I have ever played for gameplay, graphics, and the overall package.
Tim,
It's closer, I'll give it that, but it's still a console golf game. And you know what that means. It means people shooting in the 40s on the first day they get the game. It means people hitting 400 yard drives and making multiple holes in one each round. It means the heartbeat practically everytime they hit an approach shot.

Yes, I know about tour difficulty, but that is a joke unless they make it the standard for online play. If they want to make this game fun, then they need to tone the attribute points way down. But I do agree that Tiger has improved, but I don't know if they will ever make it a sim game on the consoles.
Did you even PLAY the game? TOUR Pro difficulty is far from a joke. It is more challenging than Expert mode on the PC. The game is very deep offline as well. The attribute points have little impact on the challenge of the game in TOUR Pro difficulty.

I realize that the daily online tournament is usually default difficulty, but there are at least one tournament every week that is TOUR Pro difficulty and sometimes two per week when then do the same difficulty for Saturday's event. TW07 is light years ahead of any Tiger console game and in many users opinions, is a better simulation of Golf than Links 2004 and I can attest to it being a better simulation than TW 07 for PC.

That's good to hear, Tim. Yes I played the game, but I didn't get too far into it. I like to jump in and play some online games with randoms more than anything else and it was clear that online play was pretty much the same as it ever was. Hell, you didn't even have to bother to spend the time to build your guy up this year...you could just buy him off the marketplace. Pretty lame if you ask me. Anyway, the game came out at a bad time for me. Lots of good games came out at around the same time and it kind of got lost in the shuffle. Maybe I'll pop it back in and see if it grabs me this time.

DivotMaker · Post by **DivotMaker** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 11:22 am

Badgun wrote: That's good to hear, Tim. Yes I played the game, but I didn't get too far into it. I like to jump in and play some online games with randoms more than anything else and it was clear that online play was pretty much the same as it ever was. Hell, you didn't even have to bother to spend the time to build your guy up this year...you could just buy him off the marketplace. Pretty lame if you ask me. Anyway, the game came out at a bad time for me. Lots of good games came out at around the same time and it kind of got lost in the shuffle. Maybe I'll pop it back in and see if it grabs me this time.

Online play is much like it was in 06 for 360. The only way I play 07 online is to find someone in my Friends list to play. I don't have the time nor patience to try to find a random match.

As far as your golfers, EA gave users the choice of going through the Training Facility and Tiger Challenge to build their character or purchase one through the Marketplace. The time investment of building a character in the game is about 20-25 hours of gameplay to get to 100% attributes. I was very worried that I had no real control over how these attributes were applied, but thankfully the attributes at 100% across the board represents a well-rounded character, but the gameplay is still such in TOUR Pro that you have to execute or you will not play well. That was a huge relief for me as I was watching my "luck" attributes climb I was fearing that every shot would start going in from the fairway and I would ace every par 3, but luckily that is FAR from what I have experienced in this process which I have completed twice (once on the 360 and PS3 before I returned the PS3).

If you ever get time and can rent a copy, spend some time building a character in Career Mode. I found it to be pretty engaging and kept me working towards a golfer with the kind of attributes I could go play with on the PGA TOUR Season.

DivotMaker · Post by **DivotMaker** » Sat Jan 20, 2007 11:38 am

My apologies for the threadjack fellas. Back to March Madness discussion....