Who Will Be The NCAA Basketball 09 Cover Athlete?

NCAA Basketball 09 has been kept under wraps by EA Sports for quite a while now. For most titles at the very least some basic information would be known three months out from release. Sooner rather than later the first details are going to break which will likely include the cover athlete.

Like last year there are two players that stand out from the crowd. With the 09 titles it was Kevin Durant (March Madness) and Greg Oden (College Hoops) that were no-brainers. But the history of the college basketball games has not always been to select the top drafted players for the cover. It seems likely to happen this year though as EA doesn’t have a competitor seeking a cover deal of their own.

Derek Rose was drafted #1 by the Chicago Bulls and would probably have the edge over #2 pick of the Miami Heat Michael Beasley. Really though it is a toss-up. Both are marketable players with bright futures on teams in strong media markets. Rose though did get more exposure by leading Memphis to the National Championship game last year.

The possibility of a surprise cover also can’t be discounted. Having no competition opens up the potential to do something unique with it such as pushing a feature or concept (think Desmond Howard on NCAA Football 06).

So who do you think and/or want to be on the cover of NCAA Basketball 09? Vote in the poll below and be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments.

March Madness Gets a New Name

NCAA Strategies, which has received a copy of NCAA Football 09 for the PS3, mentioned today that within the previews presented on the game is a quick trailer which lets on to a name change for the March Madness franchise. It will now simply be known as NCAA Basketball. It looks like Fred @ SG was actually the first to notice.

2K Sports’ decision to end their College Hoops franchise opened up the door for this change. It makes sense in that the name matches the football branding and it will be more easily understood as the only college basketball game on the market (which it is at least for the time being). This is a critical year as EA will be looking to provide a product that can satisfy those gamers who may have purchased College Hoops instead. A disappointing release would make it even tougher to recapture them in the future.

Also of note is that NCAA Basketball 09 will release in November. While this has generally been the norm, the past two releases of March Madness have come in January and December.

March Madness 08 bracket pack released

Over the last couple months I speculated that the Bracket Pack would return for March Madness 08 and today came official word that is has arrived. It appears to be exclusive to the Xbox 360 at a price of 400 MS points and is available now in the Marketplace.

Not only does it include the 65 team NCAA Tournament bracket but also updated team ratings, 25 new alternate/third jerseys from tournament teams, and the authentic Alamodome Final Four court.

Curiously Oregon’s McArthur Arena, which was voted to be the free download offering, is listed as being included in the pack. That would make it decidedly not free.

McArthur Court wins vote for free March Madness download

The voting has been tallied and Oregon’s McArthur Court has come out on top and will be the free downloadable arena offered for March Madness 08. It beat out the arenas of Virginia, USC, Georgia Tech, Arkansas, and Purdue.

An ETA on when to expect the court has not been given but it seems likely to come this week along with other content. While nothing has been announced regarding the return of the Bracket Pack I think that’s a good bet this week as well considering how well it was received last year. If the same situation occurs it would arrive on Tuesday but if not then surely they’d be looking to get it out sometime prior to the start of the tournament on Thursday.

A couple March Madness 08 notes

EA is holding an online tournament with March Madness 08 which will take place on Tuesday March 18th. The prize to the winner will be an autographed Dick Vitale basketball. For details and to sign up to participate click here.

With the voting on which of the six new areans will be offered as a free download closing off, there is that to go along with the likely Bracket Pack (although nothing has officially been stated on that as of yet) to look forward to on the downloadable content front. Last year the Bracket Pack was released on the Tuesday following Selection Sunday, which if the same holds true this year would slate it for the 18th as well. 

That pack represented possibly the best value out of downloadable content for a sports game thus far and the response was overwhelmingly positive. So hopefully they are bringing it back again after the tournament field is announced on Sunday.

Vote for MM08 downloadable arena

Votes are now being accepted for the arena that will be offered as free downloadable content for March Madness 08. Email in your choice of the six options to mstephenson@ea.com

The options are USC’s Galen Center, Virginia’s John Paul Jones Arena, Oregon’s McArthur Court, Arkansas’ Bud Walton Arena, Purdue’s Mackey Arena, and Georgia Tech’s Alexander Memorial Coliseum. The winner will have their authentic arena made available for free as downloadable content prior to the start of the March Madness tournament in March.

Profiles are currently available for Oregon and Arkansas with the other schools coming in the near future. Which arena are you hoping wins?

Downloadable content being prepared for MM08

Last year March Madness had the well received “Selection Sunday Bracket Pack” downloadable content that included the official 65 team bracket with accurate seedings for tournament play, the Final Four court, and updated team ratings. That went for a very reasonable 250 MS points (approximately $3). There hasn’t been specific news yet regarding a “Bracket Pack” this year but it seems likely that it will be done again.

What I have found out is that an authentic arena is going to be added to 08 via downloadable content and that it will be free. It should be available prior to the tournament in March. One of the following schools will have their arena added to the game: USC, Virginia, Oregon, Arkansas, Purdue, or Georgia Tech.

The decision is being made through an online voting process. Visit the official website for the game to vote for your choice!

MM08 online event taking place tonight

Utopia College Sports is coordinating a March Madness 08 online event that will take place Thursday January 24th and includes both the 360 and PS3. Meet up with fellow members of the March Madness community as well as some EA Sports employees and get some good quality games in.

To join in head online between 7pm and midnight eastern (4-9PT) and enter the created lobby room named Utopia. The password will be: challenge.

For more information or to post game recaps visit the thread over at Utopia.

College Hoops 2K8 patch released

While the news has certainly been rough on fans of the College Hoops series this week, there is one positive piece of news for those playing 2K8. Thanks to a posting over at Operation Sports we have the list of what is included in the patch that was released today for the PS3 (the patch has since been released for the 360 as well).

Continue on to view the full list of issues that the patch will address.

Read more

Response from EA regarding end of College Hoops series

Yesterday when the news broke that the 2K’s College Hoops 2K9 had been canceled a lot of people jumped to the conclusion that there was an exclusive license in the works that and that EA Sports was positioning themselves for it. However with the relatively low sales of college basketball games and Take Two’s statement, which specifically did not use the word exclusive, that seemed to be an unreasonable assumption.

Today EA has responded to requests from Kotaku, who originally broke the story about the end of the College Hoops series. It seemed odd that EA would be expected to comment on a rival’s business decision but they said enough to clear the air on the situation.

2k and CLC are in the best position to comment on College Hoops. EA is in the middle of a long-term license with the CLC and we expect to stay in the college basketball category.

So the NCAA license was up for renewal and Take Two decided that it wasn’t in their best interest to pay for the rights and continue to produce College Hoops. There seems to be a misunderstanding out there that if there is no exclusive license that anyone can make a game using the rights but that isn’t the case, it just means that multiple companies have the ability to negotiate contracts for those rights. This seems to have been solely a business decision that took into consideration factors such as low sales and the current state of Take Two as had been previously suggested.