ESPN College Hoops Impressions....

jLp vAkEr0 · Post by **jLp vAkEr0** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 11:28 am

Anyone geting it today?

If EB has it at lunch break I will. Looking foward to playing it.

Parker · Post by **Parker** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 11:35 am

jLp vAkEr0 · Post by **jLp vAkEr0** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 11:37 am

Sudz · Post by **Sudz** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 11:37 am

i'm hoping to get it today!

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 11:41 am

I don’t have the game yet, but here are my predictions:

- Tonight there will be 5-10 people playing the game on my friends list. That will be the most people I will ever see playing it at once.
- Most of us will really like the game based on our first impressions.
- Starting next week there will be posts complaining about the lack of fouls or 3 point attempts by the CPU. There will also be bugs found in the legacy mode. Some will be “gamekillers.”
- We will make a feeble attempt at a tourney or league.
- There will be complaints of people “cheesing” by taking 50 3 pointers.
- People will start selling it on Ebay as early as next Thursday.
- There will be dozens of references to how much better the college game is than the NBA.

GTHobbes · Post by **GTHobbes** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 11:48 am

Very sad but true, Leebo. I'm picking it up anyways.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 11:49 am

I was poking fun at us more than the game. I'm sure it will be fun. I had fun with last year's version despite the flaws. You can't beat it for $20.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 12:10 pm

Actually...I don't think people will start putting them up on Ebay. For $20, it pretty much cements itself in my collection since I can only get 15 tops for it on ebay. It's almost not worth my time. I just keep all of the ESPN games...it's a good thing that they make the games I like.

But everything else you said is true. LOL.

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 12:20 pm

Anyone know if there's a create a school feature? My wimpy liberal arts education fostered no love for Div. 1 basketball, but I'm still excited for a good b-ball title, and I like the way all those ESPN game spines look next to one another on my shelf.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 12:51 pm

I know that last year I created my small DIII school and placed them in C-USA. You had to insert your team in the place of another, but as long as I didn't choose one of the Super Power conferences then I was fine with that, it isn't like I knew any of the players. Heck, I'll probably put myself in the Horizon League if I do it again.

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 12:53 pm

I put my D2 college in the Big South

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 1:00 pm

I should be picking this one up tomorrow along with either GR2 or CoD. Hopefully it plays like a college game and not exactly like NBA with college teams. I'm also hoping for more fouls, NBA's biggest weakness and the reason I am enjoying Live more this year.

TheTruth · Post by **TheTruth** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 1:35 pm

Scoop...according to Steve at OS, it doesn't play like NBA 2k5 with college players. It plays like a college game. And he has stated that he is seeing plenty of fouls.

kevinpars · Post by **kevinpars** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 1:59 pm

I picked up both this game and March Madness. I took the day off from work - it is my birthday and I had to stand in line this morning to renew my drivers licence. So i figured I owed myself a little gaming. I almost went with HalfLife2, but I am not in the mood to fight my wife for the computer, so I decided to go with college ball. I will post impressions later.

I had to deal with a little electrical issue when I got home. I threw some clothes in the dryer and about a minute later a hanger fell behind the dryer from the top shelf above and it hit the plug right where it goes into the wall. Let's just say that I am glad I was not in the laundry room at the time!!! WHOOOOMMPP!

TheTruth · Post by **TheTruth** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 2:08 pm

kevinpars wrote:I had to deal with a little electrical issue when I got home. I threw some clothes in the dryer and about a minute later a hanger fell behind the dryer from the top shelf above and it hit the plug right where it goes into the wall. Let's just say that I am glad I was not in the laundry room at the time!!! WHOOOOMMPP!

Hmm..I think that was God saying you should have picked up a copy of HL2 as well.

reeche · Post by **reeche** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 3:41 pm

Leebo33 wrote:I don’t have the game yet, but here are my predictions:

- Tonight there will be 5-10 people playing the game on my friends list. That will be the most people I will ever see playing it at once.
- Most of us will really like the game based on our first impressions.
- Starting next week there will be posts complaining about the lack of fouls or 3 point attempts by the CPU. There will also be bugs found in the legacy mode. Some will be “gamekillers.”
- We will make a feeble attempt at a tourney or league.
- There will be complaints of people “cheesing” by taking 50 3 pointers.
- People will start selling it on Ebay as early as next Thursday.
- There will be dozens of references to how much better the college game is than the NBA.

Actually that is the exact formula for 95% of games around here (Hello Halo 2...Goodbye Halo 2) ....which is why I stopped talking games and mainly stick to actual sports talk now. (Not that anybody is missing by informative game insights

fsquid · Post by **fsquid** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 3:53 pm

Sully, who I think posts here, said he's enjoying it and is actually getting fouled!

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 4:15 pm

I tried Live for one night and sent it back because of the force field. I see online that people know how to beat it, mostly with the spin move. But the gameplay didn't impress me enough to try to learn such tactics.

Do the Sega games also have force fields?

Still seems like NBA Street and NBA Ballers handled that aspect way better than Live ever has.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 4:19 pm

Just from what I've read over at OS, it's sounding very good. At least one person who enjoyed last year's game is commenting that it's leaps and bounds better. Teams actually play to their strengths (i.e. slowdown or up tempo). If the fast break is run as smoothly as everyone is saying, then I'm in heaven. So long Halo 2, so long wife, so long kids.

bdoughty · Post by **bdoughty** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 4:20 pm

Do the Sega games also have force fields?

To an extent but it does not feel like Live and in a way more like how Inside Drive handled it. I wish you had an Xbox and played ID. No game handled this area better.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 4:36 pm

wco81 wrote:I tried Live for one night and sent it back because of the force field. I see online that people know how to beat it, mostly with the spin move. But the gameplay didn't impress me enough to try to learn such tactics.

This is certainly something Live could do better, although with slider adjustments and time you learn how to avoid it. Picks, running plays, freestyle, and laying off the turbo helps tremendously. I really don't notice it much anymore. You really notice the forcefields when you try to do a lot of one-on-one moves without proper use of freestyle or setting up plays. I can now drive to hoop quite often and penetrating and dishing to a cutter is awesome. It's kind of like "Mario Running" in this year's Madden. If you avoid laying on the speed burst and hit the shoulder charge button you can avoid it.

I am very encouraged with the early reports of foul calls in College Hoops. I can't wait to play it tonight.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 4:37 pm

I'm also encouraged by the balance of working the ball underneath and the number of 3s the AI seems to be taking. This is all hearsay of course.

skinsfan · Post by **skinsfan** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 5:11 pm

Quick impressions after one half,everything default:Right away this feels more polished than NBA2K5.It seems as if the feel of the controls and player movement is ever so smoother.The icon for where the rebound is going is easy to see and very handy.You won't get creamed by the cpu's offensive boardwork,like NBA.The cpu takes more threes and jumpers than in NBA.There were a few fouls-definitely those sliders need to go up.The free throw shooting is totally the way to go for hoops games.The cpu time out and subs seems pretty good;will need to play more to really tell.You will need to set some plays from your book...the default on the fly plays are the same generic four as in NBA.The player faces and bodies look better than last year.This game also is in 5.1,unlike last year.Overall the sound is an improvement.Backing down and hop stepping in the paint is not nearly as money as in NBA.The retarded hook shots in the paint are there,but not as bad as last year.Still maybe a bit too hard to dunk.You will need alternate control scheme "C" to go between NBA and this one without relearning too many button changes.So far so good-I can tell I'll probably play this more than NBA.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 5:16 pm

Do the passing icons stay on for more than 2 seconds?

Badgun · Post by **Badgun** » Thu Nov 18, 2004 5:16 pm

fsquid wrote:Sully, who I think posts here, said he's enjoying it and is actually getting fouled!

Yeah, I bumped the foul sliders up about three quarters of the way, and Georgia Tech fouled me 6 times in 3 minutes! Might have to turn it back down.

Digital Sportspage

ESPN College Hoops Impressions....

ESPN College Hoops Impressions....

quick first impressions-stream of consciousness style