Out of Bounds: A Call for Customization

[RaychelSnr]

After writing about how much of a bummer it is that no new college basketball game is being developed, I felt compelled to fire up my copy of College Hoops 2K8 and battle it out with my 2020-21 Indiana Hoosiers.

Fresh off a run to the Elite Eight, and stocked with returning upperclassmen and a harvest of talented newcomers, my team was ready to challenge for a third NCAA championship in 12 years. The undisputed vanguard of this group of future Hoosiers is Mark Whatley, a 6-foot-7 swing man with a sweet touch around the arc. Last year he averaged 22.8 points and 9.6 boards per game.

I tell you this knowing, full and well, that you could not care any less about players who have never existed and/or played on your television screen. That's fine and good. But I exaggerate not a bit in saying that Mark Whatley, with his penetrate-and-dish style and beautiful jumper, is just as real to me as the entire starting roster of the 2010-11 squad that will kick off their practices next month in Bloomington.

Read More - Out of Bounds: A Call for Customization

[NoDakHusker]

I couldn't agree more! I'd totally buy a game like you described.

[DubTrey1]

I feel your pain as well. I loved that game. I finally gave up on it last year due to the fact the game just felt so dated after playing the last few iterations of NBA2k. Especially with all of the advancements made to the game since Choops came out. I would absolutely be overjoyed if 2K somehow resurrected this title. I would even be fine with a game with a semi annual release cycle. I mean, release one every other year and I would be cool with it. have one for 2011 and do roster updates or patches here and there and then do another full release 2013.... I would be fine with that. As a matter of fact, if the game was that good, I would even dare say every 2 years. As long as we were always looking on the calendar for the next game coming in the future.

CHoops was just too good to lose and died when it was just hitting it's prime - ala MVP Baseball...

[DoubleJMix965]

I've been firing up my 2k8 lately as well. I had started over towards the end of playing it last year and right now I'm at Western Kentucky. I had just taken the Hilltoppers to the sweet 16 my first season as the coach and have a returning player, Ronnie Markovic, who is emerging as not only my team leader, but a top Small Forward in the nation. Averaging 25.8 ppg game, grabbing 7 boards and even getting about 6 dishes a game as a sophomore. It makes me excited to have this type of player, yet sad because he will be graduating or I may get that highly touted contract offer from a bigger school. I like your idea of the game, I would love to see something like that!

[tgt23g]

MAN THIS IS BULL****

[idesign2]

I'm on board with you 100 percent, Jared. Those of us turned off by recent editions of Madden have been hoping 2K would go this route with football.

Honestly, though, I don't think the scenario you lay out will ever happen. I just don't see why a gaming company would do it. I mean, putting out a completely customizable game, down to uniforms and stadiums, kinda kills any prospect of future editions, dontcha think? Why would a company sell a game that they know would kill any chances of selling future games? I suppose developers could push new versions by improving things such as gameplay, but would they be able to sell enough units to justify the development costs? Plus I think companies would be too scared of courtroom battles with the NFL, NBA, MLB, etc., if those entities decided to sue based on alleged property rights infringements. Would MLB really sit idly by and allow a fully customizable PS3 baseball game, one that would allow users to upload MLB logos and stadiums? Highly doubtful. And I just can't imagine developers making a game as fantastic as The Show without getting cooperation from MLB.

The best we can hope for is that the PS3 or 360 community cracks the programming code, much like what has been done with NFL2K5 or NBA2K10 on PC. The main reason I'm able to continue my Madden boycott is because I can get updated rosters for 2K5. If that weren't an option I'd probably still buy Madden each year.

[sohum]

Such a game would indeed be a lot of fun to play, but you are incorrect in your assessment that this game would take very little development time. As a software developer, I can tell you that limiting the scope of your project cuts down on development time a lot since you can hardcode a bunch of stuff that would have to be generic. Just gameplay and design aside, some of the things you are suggesting are kind of ridiculous...

Editable stadiums? I am sure 2K and other video game companies employ professional graphics artists to design their stadiums. The technology to be able to develop professional or even amateur-grade stadiums from within a video game environment would take a lot of time and money to develop. I would argue that it would actually take more money to give such an editor the depth that would prevent people from harassing the developers for not being able to customize this, that or the other.

So yes, it would be an awesome idea in theory but it would be hella expensive to develop and as idesign2 said before me, there's not a huge incentive for developers to do it since it cannibalizes their standard product offerings.

[eyesbones]

I would so buy that
I miss my college basketball....The Best is drafting him to the nba.
And to add that to a game now with the 2k11 engine would be awsome

[chukcym34]

We need to make a petition to 2K Sports to bring back the College Hoops series back.

[Jakeness23]

that would be sick dude. especially if you decide to create all of the college teams. have a tournament and then of course, be able to transport the rosters to the nba 2k game. great idea.

[RockAlum54]

i say we start a petition for real .. i need college hoop in my life this year .. esp while the Tar Heels brings in the # 1 player in the country and the talent in the sec acc and big east .. its only right to have an update or something

[stlstudios189]

no college hoops is a crime

[DJDReW3102]

college hoops 2k8 is/was possibly my favorite sports game ever...shame they cancelled it! bring it back damnit!

[Cryolemon]

I definitely agree. I've been calling for a company to do this with a football game for years. The obvious example to follow is Out Of The Park Baseball. I've beaten that particular dead horse quite a bit on the forums before lol.

What OOTP does is allow you to create a custom league from scratch. Literally anything from 2 to 5000 teams (although good luck getting a 5k team league to run on anything short of a supercomputer lol), in more or less any setup you like. The amount of rules customization is staggering too (although as always the OOTP forums can always find some nit-pick where the defaults are slightly wrong).

I've talked mostly about football before because I know more about it than BBall, but obviously this can be applied to any sport. It would be cool for example to be able to create a universe where there are different leagues (say the NFL, Arena League, UFL) all running at once in the same saved game, as you can in OOTP.

[kareem434]

Ah the possiblites. I love this idea because I spend most of my time creating leauges in assocation mode that dont exist. I have been begging for years to be able to create 30 teams instead of 10. That way I can create my own leauge. Also I tend to always try to remove everyone above 26 years of age and above and/or people rated over 73 to create a no name trash leauge. Another little thing I try to do is simulate through about 18 seasons as soon as I get the game to generate an all new nba experince. I cant explain how gratifiying it is to see Fesnko average Norwitzki numbers amazing!!!!!!