March Madness 08 - first look

[Rs0n1sT]

Is EA's upcoming baller a winner? We have your ticket to the dance

Durant or Oden? Durant or Oden?

You couldn't escape from the debate this summer of college basketball's two best players. But we're not talking about the NBA Draft here. We're talking about the cover of NCAA March Madness 08. For a game that claims to revolutionize gameplay in the post, it's a mystery why EA chose wunderkind Kevin Durant to front its game when Oden was among the most dominate post player in college hoops last season. But that's what college basketball is all about - pure, unadulterated controversy. Durant or Oden? The debate may never end.



While March Madness 08 looks and feels almost exactly like last year's game at this point in development, we noticed a lot of subtle improvements on and off the court at a recent EA Sports press event. First off, EA wants you to play inside-out basketball and utilize your post players. When you receive a pass in the post, you can now use both analog sticks to back a defender down, step back for a jumper, or spin to either side. On defense, you'll have to match him move for move. It's a sort of game within a game, not unlike the old lockdown stick, only now it's moved down into the paint and seems to work well. Attributes play a big part in the post, so if you have your power forward somehow defended by a small point guard, back him down and take him to the hole.

March Madness is also getting the next-gen EA Sports makeover this season, which means it runs at a smooth 60 frames per second, features online leagues and increased an increased ESPN presence. There's also a host of new stadiums, player models to avoid redundancy, and authentic T-shirts under the jerseys. That's right. Now featuring authentic T-shirts.

The online leagues cap out at 32 teams - the goal is to eventually get to 64 for a complete NCAA Tournament bracket. But the good news is that you can get the friends back together to play through the entire conference schedule. Along with a new ESPN.com homepage to update you with Dynasty mode news and information, ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews joins Brad Nessler and Dicky V to call the action. That's right. Now featuring Erin Andrews.

EA also adds 70 classic teams into the fold, and all we can say is that it's about time. There's no excuse why competitor College Hoops 2K has had classic teams and EA's game does not. It's a shame too that classic teams have inexplicably disappeared from NBA Live, Madden, NCAA Football and NHL Hockey. The '85 Bears, the '98 Vols, the '94 Rangers, the '98 Bulls - these are classic videogame teams that we all know and love. Well, at least we now have the '92 Duke Blue Devils to play with. Bobby Hurley is so dreamy.



On the floor, EA is still trying to fine-tune the game speed and attributes. The team wanted to slow the game down a bit to encourage post play and eliminate the arcade, fast-break style of past games. But in doing so, EA is finding it hard to balance between too fast and too slow, and it is a bit too slow at this time. When you hit the sprint button, a guard doesn't explode forward with the ball. Instead, he kind of ducks and continues running at the same speed. That's right. Now featuring the duck button.

Still, the improvements are noticeable and college fans are going to eat up the atmosphere, the deep Dynasty mode and the clever School Pride feature. With a few months before release, let's hope EA's perennial baller makes the grade.

[bsain]

sounds like a bust. gonna stick with 2k