NCAA Basketball 09: March Madness Edition News Post

NCAA Basketball 09: March Madness Edition First Look

07:21 PM - March 2, 2009 by ExtremeGamer

Gamespot has posted their exclusive first look at NCAA Basketball 09: March Madness Edition. It looks like an Xbox 360 exclusive.

Quote:


	"EA Sports is diving into the DLC ocean with verve these days. Just a few weeks ago, the publisher announced the Ultimate Team Mode, a downloadable expansion to last year's FIFA 09, and now they're getting set to release NCAA Basketball 09: March Madness Edition, a download-only, standalone game based around the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Exclusively for the Xbox 360 and available for download on March 11, the game will let you play out the tourney using this year's tournament teams, and will include updated rosters and seedings. The publisher has been experimenting with March Madness-themed DLC in its NCAA Basketball series for a couple years now. In both 2007 and 2008, EA released Selection Sunday Bracket Packs which included updated ratings and seedings and a full virtual bracket. According to EA reps, those who have previously purchased the Xbox 360 version of NCAA Basketball 09 will still be able to download updated ratings and the authentic 2009 tournament bracket for free-- this year's Selection Sunday roster update will be available on March 18."

Game: NCAA Basketball 09: March Madness EditionReader Score: 8.5/10 - Vote Now
Platform: Xbox 360Votes for game: 3 - View All

Member Comments

# 21 Murph @ 03/11/09 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaosming


	has anyone bought this yet? I cant seem to find it on the xbox.com marketplace to que up

I didn't see it either.

# 22 WFHorn @ 03/11/09 09:23 PM

Yeah, I was looking forward to downloading this. Kind of annoying that nothing shows up and nothing mentioned here or on EA's site. At least keep your potential customers updated as to what this download's status is.

# 23 zpq12 @ 03/12/09 01:17 AM

I'm going to download now. So this is basically a full, stand alone game?

# 24 ExtremeGamer @ 03/12/09 06:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zpq12


	I'm going to download now. So this is basically a full, stand alone game?

In the fact that it's just the tournament, yes.

# 25 jaosming @ 03/12/09 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zpq12


	I'm going to download now. So this is basically a full, stand alone game?

dammit, i decide to check to see if its up when i get to work, not when I am home.

please give some impressions, since I dont normally play through dynasties in college games this looks to be ideal for me.

# 26 Pared @ 03/12/09 09:58 AM

How would you guys be able to buy it if the tournament teams/seeding are not set yet?

# 27 jaosming @ 03/12/09 10:21 AM

we get last year's bracket until wednesday when both the disc and this version gets the bracket update

# 28 jaosming @ 03/12/09 12:54 PM

just loaded it up quickly, gotta post these before lunch is over

you get the outdoor practice court
no play now
only tourney mode
can select multiple teams (i think)
didnt try to connect a 2nd controller but im sure it works
can load and save rosters
cant create players
can edit existing players
can autoname
current rosters, last year's bracket
gameplay is nice and smooth (framerate wise)
game does NOT behave like a neutral court, crowd is one sided for the home team (this is kinda BS considering the entire game is in neutral courts)
can edit and name playbooks
no uploading replays

yea, overall, its good and im going to enjoy this, but no play now or online kinda sucks.

I was thinking that getting this for 10 bucks or so was going to be a really good thing compared to me picking up a used copy for 30 bucks when it gets down that far, but this is just a bit more gimped than i thought and that I'd like.

# 29 zpq12 @ 03/12/09 01:32 PM

I'ts what I expected. Right now you play with last years tournament teams with this years rosters. The only mode is tournament, but if you really wnated to play 2 teams against each other you could just change around matchups and play a single game. You can still do all of the editing and sliders and stuff. Looks cool to me. Worth my $15 as far as I'm concerned.

# 30 captaincrusader @ 03/12/09 02:40 PM

I was wondering if this edtion has a player lock option? Thanks in advance for any answers.

# 31 The Gird @ 03/12/09 02:56 PM

Is there any way for somebody like me who does not have the retail version to DL rosters with names if I only have Bracket Pack?

# 32 jaosming @ 03/12/09 02:56 PM

next week

I dont know about player lock

# 33 Metroalex @ 03/12/09 03:48 PM

I love this idea. I just got it since I don't care enough about basketball to buy a complete game. I'm liking it so far, but I'm disappointed there's no exhibition/play now mode.

# 34 WFHorn @ 03/12/09 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Gird


	Is there any way for somebody like me who does not have the retail version to DL rosters with names if I only have Bracket Pack?

I'm in your boat. I don't think we can get rosters as I haven't seen any way to access the EA locker. Although I suppose you can download it to a memory card if someone posts it.

# 35 Jab_Step @ 03/12/09 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigdmo9999


	When does the PS3 update come out for people with the disc?

The DLC for people with the retail copy and the authentic bracket for people who have bought the March Madness Tournament Edition will be available on March 19th for Xbox 360 and PS3 users.

# 36 Jab_Step @ 03/12/09 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by captaincrusader


	I was wondering if this edtion has a player lock option? Thanks in advance for any answers.

There is no player lock in the Tournament Edition or the retail version of the game.

# 37 Metroalex @ 03/12/09 11:33 PM

Is anyway at all to play an exhibition game?

# 38 spit_bubble @ 03/13/09 02:40 AM

No PS3 version???

Woulda had a sale here... CHoops 2K8... Not... Aging... Very... Well...

(that was CHoops on it's last legs)

Hopefully EA doesn't can this series all together. I just can't get into the NBA games for very long.

# 39 spit_bubble @ 03/13/09 05:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigdmo9999


	There is still the update for the people with the disc version, there just won't be the standalone game that is just the tournament

Yeah I just thought the standalone game woulda made for a nice little downloadable game for $15 or whatever it would've been.

# 40 WFHorn @ 03/13/09 05:40 PM

The gameplay itself is OK, but I've noticed some nasty bugs on this game. I've played about 8-9 games so far, and the game has frozen twice on me. The freeze occurs at the conclusion of the game, when it freezes on a picture of the winning team, and the menu that lets you continue back to the tournament screen never appears.

Also, maybe I'm doing something wrong, but when I select multiple teams, often I'll choose to play a game and my games for my other teams will be simulated, without giving me an option to play the game the computer simulates for me, even though it's a user selected team.

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