NCAA March Madness 08

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Wow... EA are you serious? Sometimes, I think they just needed to fill a PS3 quota with this conversion. I also think they have inexperienced/inadequate development teams working on some of their titles. And apparently, when going in and fixing this or that is too costly or time consuming, they just add a new feature or two to gloss over the remaining crappy elements included in this title. I bought this game with little expectations, I read the reviews and said, how bad can it be? I've played Live 08, and it wasn't that bad. But this is BAD!!! The frame rate, as you may have read is really the issue. Players jerk and jostle about. You'll step out of bounds without trying, get locked into an animation as you go to the net and again, run out of bounds. The opponent double teams and intentional fouls you if you're winning with less than a minute to go which sends you out of bounds to pass it in which is incredibly annoying the 5th time it happens. But it's not all bad. I like the college feel, the arenas feel alive, the mascots, cheerleaders, etc. all feel like NCAA football. The low post play is pretty solid, as you can rely on an easy bucket by flicking the right analog stick when the defense posts up and move right on around him. Most players instead of a dunk do a up and under move that's pretty reliable as well. Still, the frame rate is the biggest nail in this games coffin. And where is the game you see in the screen shots? or even in the in-game opening preview after the title screen? A few more close ups of the pretty decent looking player models would be nice, heck if they can get the graphic quality to anything close to what you see when you win or lose and congratulate the other team, then this might be something to write a positive review about. But nope, it's just skinny kids playing ball. Eh, skip it!

Add-on 8/29: After playing this game awhile, it's starting to grow on me. Yeah the above issues are still there. But, if you slow the game down on the sliders to a snails pace, the gameplay is actually quite solid. I've enjoyed the mini games before each game and I like how it transitions from the playground to the arena, where all the fans cheer or boo as you make and miss shots. The recruiting part is actually kind of fun, sending emails, packages, scholarships, etc. are all fun. And like I said before, as college goes, it's really cool to play in the arena's with the mascots, fans, cheerleaders, etc. That might be because I didn't go to a big school, so I missed out. But I can get it all here in the comfort of my own home. Not a bad game. But still I hear College Hoops is the one to get.

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I wanted something realistic and instead got this barely playable game. EA sports has continued to disappoint with the degradedation of some of its best known franchises.

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Great I wish the game had trophies but otherwise the game is very nice game to play.. Thank you for the game.

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NOTE: I have not played this version yet for the PS3, but for some reason, when I chose the 360, it sent me here. This quick review is only on the 360, but from what I've heard, they are basically the same game but with different controller buttons to do different things.

March Madness 08 offers some neat features this year: 1). The post game is much better than previous versions of MM. Erin Andrews does a fine job of being the sideline reporter, and her presence offers a clean, nice touch to the game. Dickey V. & Brad Nessler give the game the usual collegiate feel, but honestly, I think EA should give the end user (us) the ability to choose different color commentary analysts. As often in the past, the commentary feels too repetitive. It is still better and more collegiate feel than 2K8's. 2). The player models look much better this year, as well as the collegiate arenas. They are almost dead-on! 3). The menu screens are very nice and easy to navigate thru ... ESPN is finally put to good use.

That's really about it, though. Just enough tweaks to get die-heard MM players to spend their money. It's really a carbon-copy of MM 07 if you take away the new post-game features and the slick menu screens. That's not a bad thing, though. Still, as well as the NBA game, if you want the ability to run with many teams, import your created players into NBA 2K8 and get better, accurate gameplay, College Hoops 2K8 is the game to beat. I will give MM 08 a slight edge on overall graphics and menu screens, but it still falls short to CH 2K8.

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i am an avid basketball fan and i can't resist basketball games for the playstation 3. i know there is a lot of competition out there with the nba and college games and even streetball. while i stay away from the street versions, i love the college and nba games. well, ea sports has been pretty crummy in the past with their ps3 games (madden 07 mainly) i have played both the 360 and ps3 versions. while i only own the ps3 version, its exactly the same except there are no achievements to boost your gamerscore. while many say the 360 version is better, i don't agree. my 360 recently died to the red ring of death and i am stuck with the ps3 and i love it. so no matter what system you buy this for, its the same game. while the game plays smooth and there are lots of extra features in the game, its still not a very good game. neither is college hoops 2k8 though. i havent seen a good college basketball game yet for the ps3. the game would earn a 4.5/5 overall if it wasn't for the terrible graphics. the players look weird on the court for some reason. they look like walking stick figures my brother said, and i have to agree. the arena details are not there at all. the crowd looks like dots and i understand that, but i am a season ticket holder for the wisconsin badgers with courtside seats and i can definately see how different the kohl center looks in theis game compared to real life. i also watch the kansas jayhawks, ohio state buckeyes and my cousin attends marquette and she is on the dance team which means she attends many of the college basketball games. we both agree there are no arena details. the court looks average though. the sidelines and endlines look verry jagged, but that's no big deal.

so i will sum up the pros and cons of the game:

+around 150 teams to choose from

+game plays smoothly on the ps3

+startup and menus are cool

+difficulty isn't too hard

-arena graphics are terrible. there aren't any to speak of. i don't feel like i am looking at a college basketball game. the arenas look like walls with dots for the students/fans. phog allen fieldhouse looks like a boxed in room.

-free throws can be hard for beginners

overall score:

without including grading of the graphics: 4.5/5

overall with the graphics: 2/5

the graphics are terrible