College basketball on 360?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Looks like the options are CH 2k8 or NCAA 09, but from reading a handful of reviews on each & the OS forum, plus the stuff here, I get the feeling that both have some reasonably serious flaws (depending upon what you want in a game).

Since I'm interested pretty much only in Dynasty mode, with my son secondarily looking for a decent online experience (if I know him) here's what I'm hoping for:
-- Dynasty mode is deep & flows reasonably well over time
-- Sliders that can get the game to produce realistic stats for both my played out games and the AI teams (I want my leaders to rank apporpriately among the nation's leaders).
-- Minimal amount of WTF moments when watching games play out; i.e. no passes sailing through players bodies, players standing around watching rebounding battles as though they weren't going on, etc.
-- Controls that don't require a degree in video game engineering. I'm an old guy who is put off by needing more than 3 or 4 buttons, be gentle.
-- A complete & accurate real world roster set for my first season is nice but not required.

To give some perspective, before getting into Fallout 3 last month the last console game I played for more than 10 minutes was one of the college hoops games (my son says it was CH 2k5), whichever one it was had the fatal career mode bug that wouldn't allow you to spend all of your coaching improvement points & locked you up after a few seasons. If there's a sport I can really get into dynasty mode in for the console, college basketball is the most likely one.

Suggestions?

[DeToxRox]

CH2k8 is my vote.

I think EF27 is your man to ask though.

[EagleFan]

Don't know about the EA one, got turned off on that one a few years back where it just never passed the feel right test.

I have the 2K8 one and it looks like it could be good but the controls are quite annoying to me. I am on the same side as you for the controls issue which is why I like the new EA NHL game as they seemed to have scaled back the button cobination mashing into something smoother.

[Eaglesfan27]

College Hoops 2k8 and it isn't even close. NCAA 09 does some things well from the few times I've played it such as floor spacing and team specific plays. However, College Hoops 2k8 beats it in almost every other area. The dynasty mode is much better on College Hoops 2k8 (but does have flaws - such as big men usually dominating the scoring in simulated games.) The recruiting is much better in 2k8. Sliders work better in 2k8 as well and can produce some very good stats. Neither game is perfect, but IMO 2k8 is still well ahead of NCAA 09. I'm currently 12 years into a dynasty of College Hoops 2k8 and I still play it every week. I remember that same fatal flaw in 2k5 and how disappointed I was.. I never played that version again after hitting that flaw.

[rjolley]

I'd definitely recommend CH 2k8 for anyone who enjoys college basketball. The game does have it's flaws, but does play a good game of basketball. My main complaint is that big men dominate in simmed games, but that's about it. I've got about 20 season in my current dynasty (I fast sim through most of the games vs lower rated teams and I get impatient and want to see my next recruiting class) and I still enjoy playing against teams that are equally rated.

[Balldog]

No brainer to me, CH 2k8.

[RedKingGold]

Agreed on CH2K8. Plays a very realistic college game and the dynasty mode is pretty in depth. I still watch the season preview and tournament selection shows in my dynasty.

[RedKingGold]

College Hoops 2k8 and it isn't even close. NCAA 09 does some things well from the few times I've played it such as floor spacing and team specific plays. However, College Hoops 2k8 beats it in almost every other area. The dynasty mode is much better on College Hoops 2k8 (but does have flaws - such as big men usually dominating the scoring in simulated games.) The recruiting is much better in 2k8. Sliders work better in 2k8 as well and can produce some very good stats. Neither game is perfect, but IMO 2k8 is still well ahead of NCAA 09. I'm currently 12 years into a dynasty of College Hoops 2k8 and I still play it every week. I remember that same fatal flaw in 2k5 and how disappointed I was.. I never played that version again after hitting that flaw.

Can you direct me to some of those sliders?

I had a good set, but I eventually found the other team's offensive movement a bit predictable.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Okay, that seems to be pretty much unanimous.

Any major differences between the 360 version and the PS2 version (turns out my son has it for PS2 already). I guess more to the point is would it be worth me trying to find a used copy for myself for $20 or so in order to play it on 360?

[DeToxRox]

Okay, that seems to be pretty much unanimous.

Any major differences between the 360 version and the PS2 version (turns out my son has it for PS2 already). I guess more to the point is would it be worth me trying to find a used copy for myself for $20 or so in order to play it on 360?

It's a great looking game. It'd be worth the money to get it used imo.

[Balldog]

I'll go in a little more detail...

-- Dynasty mode is deep & flows reasonably well over time
CH2K8 has probably the deepest dynasty mode I've experienced, I'd download one of the rosters off 2K share that corrects the recruiting priorities though. It helps with teams recruiting too many of one position. I can look it up to see which one it is if you need it, but there is a thread for it on OS.

-- Sliders that can get the game to produce realistic stats for both my played out games and the AI teams (I want my leaders to rank apporpriately among the nation's leaders).

I've experienced great results on 3 different levels with sliders. EF27's are giving me great results right now. rspencer's from OS are giving great results but the gameplay is a little slow for my taste. I have a set I use for MOP and I get great stats, the CPU and my team were right around the NCAA average for all categories but turnovers.


-- Minimal amount of WTF moments when watching games play out; i.e. no passes sailing through players bodies, players standing around watching rebounding battles as though they weren't going on, etc.

There aren't a whole lot of WTF moments that I can remember.

-- Controls that don't require a degree in video game engineering. I'm an old guy who is put off by needing more than 3 or 4 buttons, be gentle.

I like the controls far better in CH2K8, they are not too complex but they do require some practice to get everything down pat. I like having the ISO motion controls on the face buttons, because I am getting too old for that other fancy stuff.

-- A complete & accurate real world roster set for my first season is nice but not required.

You can get a 2007-08 roster set from 2k share that some guys did at OS, it has over 1000 rating edits and quite a few appearance edits as well. They give great results.

[Balldog]

Can you direct me to some of those sliders?

I had a good set, but I eventually found the other team's offensive movement a bit predictable.

You gotta use custom playbooks to fix that, check out koshi's thread on OS.

[Balldog]

Also, I read a dynasty for NCAA BBall on OS yesterday...in year 1 Gardner Webb (cpu) won the national championship. haha

[Balldog]

Okay, that seems to be pretty much unanimous.

Any major differences between the 360 version and the PS2 version (turns out my son has it for PS2 already). I guess more to the point is would it be worth me trying to find a used copy for myself for $20 or so in order to play it on 360?

It plays a lot better on 360 IMO. Not as stiff as Ps2 version.

[rjolley]

Hey Balldog, which thread mentions the rosters with the modified coaches? More accurate coaching profiles would be good to have.

[RainMaker]

CH 2k8 by a huge margin. Not to mention you can get it dirt cheap used or even new. Amazon has it for $30 new, but I've seen it as low as $15.

Amazon.com: College Hoops 2K8: Video Games (http://www.amazon.com/College-Hoops-2K8-Xbox-360/dp/B000V1OUUE/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1231728530&sr=8-1)

[Balldog]

Hey Balldog, which thread mentions the rosters with the modified coaches? More accurate coaching profiles would be good to have.

I believe its the rating adjustment stickied thread.

[BrianD]

I don't know whether to thank you guys or curse you. This conversation and always seeing EF27 online playing it made me think really hard about getting it. Seeing that I could get it shipped for under $15 from an Amazon reseller caused the order to get placed. I've got too many games to keep on top of now, but I guess I've got one more to work into the mix.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I don't know whether to thank you guys or curse you. This conversation and always seeing EF27 online playing it made me think really hard about getting it. Seeing that I could get it shipped for under $15 from an Amazon reseller caused the order to get placed. I've got too many games to keep on top of now, but I guess I've got one more to work into the mix.

Just found $9.99 from Toys R Us, plus $2.99 shipping (it's slow though, 2-3 before it ships & then presumably ground)
NCAA College Hoops 2K8 for Xbox 360 - 2K Games - Toys "R" Us (http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3076253)

[RainMaker]

Just found $9.99 from Toys R Us (haven't checked their shipping cost yet tho)
NCAA College Hoops 2K8 for Xbox 360 - 2K Games - Toys "R" Us (http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3076253)

That's ridiculous. I might actually just pickup a backup copy since I don't think we'll be having a good college hoops game for a few years.

[Eaglesfan27]

I've thought about picking a backup copy as well. As it is, I have it on my harddrive now so it puts less "strain" on my disk ;)

[Eaglesfan27]

I don't know whether to thank you guys or curse you. This conversation and always seeing EF27 online playing it made me think really hard about getting it. Seeing that I could get it shipped for under $15 from an Amazon reseller caused the order to get placed. I've got too many games to keep on top of now, but I guess I've got one more to work into the mix.

Thank them. It's still in my opinion the best sports game of the last few years, although I haven't played NHL 09 or The Show.

[rjolley]

I believe its the rating adjustment stickied thread.
Kool. Lots of pages there, but I think I found it. Thanks.

[BrianD]

Thank them. It's still in my opinion the best sports game of the last few years, although I haven't played NHL 09 or The Show.

Your play history seems to confirm that. I think I've seen you playing that game way more than anything else. I've always enjoyed the 2k series including the CH games, so I'm sure this will be a blast. I'll just have to remind myself to go upstairs and see my wife once in a while. :)