NBA 2K8/College Hoops 2K8

Most stores have this right now, and a few are breaking the street date (some Best Buys and Toys R Us have been reported as selling it).

Also, the demo is apparently out on the marketplace right now, though it is an older build of the game, which does not look nearly as good as the final release.

Anyway, last year's product was good, but ultimately broken as a competitive game, thanks to some major issues with the defensive system (specifically, the way the game reacted to blocks/charges, the idiotic and robotic nature of the defensive AI, and the fact that the spin move could not be countered consistently) and an offensive system that was marred by being too dunk-heavy and gimped with the same old passing glitches that have been around since NBA 2K on the Dreamcast.

That said, I might give this a try if the reviews are great.

Highlight video over at Operation Sports

I was going to pass for sure but the demo impressed me. Animations in the demo are much more fluid than last year's offering.

It's hard for me to make a whole lot out of the demo since they don't let you play from any camera angle besides the shitty "TV broadcast" view.

I will say this though, the new defensive "lock-on" mechanism is a godsend, and it should do a lot to stop the one-man-team BS that a lot of people liked to run last year with Lebron and Kobe.

It would be sweet if they included this in the "2K Sports library" that I won from the All Pro Football tournament.

New EGM liked it A LOT.

But they also liked Madden A LOT, and hated All Pro A LOT, so their opinion is invalidated when it comes to sports games.

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Originally Posted by wEEman33

But they also liked Madden A LOT, and hated All Pro A LOT, so their opinion is invalidated when it comes to sports games.

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sounds about right to me.


AllPro SUCKS!!!!:devil:

They gave NHL 2K8 a 4

The Spanish cover for this game is awesome:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...2K8PORTADA.jpg

:lol:

They couldn't be any more stereotypical if they tried.

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Originally Posted by EvilMog

sounds about right to me.


AllPro SUCKS!!!!:devil:

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Madden is the Packers of video games. It has early flash and will fade quickly when it matters.

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Originally Posted by Joust Williams

They gave NHL 2K8 a 4

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The control is a POS.

Reviews are starting to trickle in, and it sounds like the series still has a lot of nagging gameplay issues (missed layups, bad animations around the basket, poor defensive AI, etc.), plus a few new ones introduced by the "lock-on" defensive system and the removal of lead passing.

I think I'll wait to see if I can get it for cheap sometime down the road.

Why in the name of god can that not fix the fucking missed layup bullshit?

It's been 4 fucking years.

Yep, those are the issues that result in me buying this when it's $35, every year. Looks like this year won't be any different.

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Originally Posted by Biff-chan

Why in the name of god can that not fix the fucking missed layup bullshit?

It's been 4 fucking years.

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It's been more than four years, sadly.

Most of the gameplay glitches that ruin this game have been around since NBA 2K on the Dreamcast way back in 2000.

Ok, quick rundown of this thing after spending some time with it:

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The manual and in-game menus are complete pieces of shit that don't explain how to do any of the advanced controls like Isomotion dribbling, the shot stick, etc. With a game this complex, you'd think they'd want to write more than a 10 page manual that spends more time talking about all the "cool new features" than the actual controls.

Passing STILL sucks ass, and now that the lead pass button is gone, it is even more difficult to fast break properly. Normal passing is still fucked too, because, for some reason, 2K STILL has no idea how to make the passing game feel crisp, unless you're the AI, in which case you will move the ball around the court with machine-like precision.

Seriously, how hard is it to program the game so that people can catch a pass and keep moving fluidly instead of coming to a complete stop or pausing to make a jumping catch on every flipping routine pass?

On offense, the AI still stands around like a fucking mannequin and refuses to cut the basket, even when a wide open lanes presents itself. Apparently, standing around is what the good teams do, right 2K? And you wonder why people get pissed off about the game devolving into an isolation-fest?

To fix the "fast break exploit" where people would just send their guy long all day, the AI will now make HORRIBLE (as in half way across the court from where your player is), random passes to anyone that you send out past the half court line. In short: random passes to no one in particular for no reason in particular (aside from lazy development) = massive frustration.

To fix "double team exploit," 2K gave the double-teaming defenders the reaction time of a turtle, so now double teaming is no longer a viable option at all, even when the situation would call for one. Thanks for shitting on those of us who like to play pressure D.

Lateral player movement is STILL absurdly fast in comparison to forward player movement. The introduction of "lock-down" defense makes this even more absurd, and turns the on-ball defense into some sort of shuffling circus. Again, they tried to fix a nagging issue (on-ball defense has been impossible in just about every basketball game to date), and failed.

Free throws are still freaking impossible online, thanks to lag. This leads to a lot of late game shenanigans and ridiculous foul-fests in the fourth quarter.

The shooting system remains fucked. Somehow, a natural motion like "stepping into your shot" leads to you not being able to hit shit. On the other hand, standing completely flat-footed yields the best accuracy. Oh, and if anyone gets a hand in your face, you are going to miss like 90% of the time, unless you're a superstar/sharpshooter, in which case you will make ridiculous, bullshit shots even with a guy right on top of you and jumping right along with your shot.

Speaking of shooting, how hard is it to program the inside game so that people don't miss so many freaking layups and gimmes? Like a lot of this game's problems, missed bunnies have been a source of frustration since the original 2K on the DC.

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And the sad thing is, this is still the best basketball sim to date.

I do not understand why developers have so much trouble translating the real game into a video game, but for whatever reason, basketball has always gotten the shaft when it comes to true sports sims.

The sport itself does not translate well into a video game. Something is always fucked up. EA's game has a better post game but everything else sucks. 2K always teases you with improvements but they're either not material or misdirected. Football, hockey, futbol all carry over nicely to the video game format. Basketball, not so much. All the praise 2K7 received confused me, but I just attributed it to surpassing the half-assed 2K6 port. I have no interest whatsoever in 2K8 or any basketball game until I am proven wrong.

Regarding the outlet pass thing: can't you just pass to the player closest to the basket (RT) like in previous games? Stupid that they took out lead passing though, what did they replace it with?

The standing around thing is probably the biggest flaw in previous games, so I guess I can pass this year. Free throws should always be set to real ft% anyway though, imo.

Also, I don't think it's too hard to see why basketball is that much harder to put into videogame form than football or other sports.

Yeah, the "player closest to the basket" button is still there, but it doesn't change the fact that passes tend to float around in the air like balloons, kill your momentum as if you're catching a medicine ball, and tend to be placed in the least logical location in relation to your target.

Seriously, just trying to catch a pass and then run in a straight line to the basket is next to impossible since you are almost guaranteed to trigger one of their stupid "momentum" animations along the way, as they really went overboard this year trying to add "momentum" into the player movement; the same shit almost ruined All Pro Football, and it's even more frustrating in this game, as you can't just let the computer handle the movement for you like you could when playing defense in All Pro.

They really should just steal Live's mechanic where you hold down one of the shoulder buttons to do the Isomotion jukes.

On the positive side though, I haven't run into anything online yet that I would consider game-breaking. Maybe it's just my luck, or maybe the game is actually playable this year at a competitive level; only time will tell.

If it hasn't been done already, I think it's time to annoint wEEman33 the resident expert on sports video games. I probably weigh his opinion more than any reviews I read. Hell, he even sorta sold me on APF2K8.

I am up to about ten games now in my online career and I am on the verge of selling my copy due to the fact that every time I play a game I walk away in frustration (even in victory).

Some of the bullshit from my most recent games (I always play as the Grizzlies):

This dude was playing as the Hornets. I was up about by about 10 - 20 points most of the first half. The second half starts, and this guy just starts chucking long range set shots with Chris Paul and Peja Stojakovic. Despite the fact that I am contesting virtually all of their shots with a hand in the face, Chris Paul finishes the game 8 - 11 on threes, while Peja finishes 9 - 14.

My most recent game, like a lot of the one's I've played, was against the Celtics. Again, I get out to about a 20 point lead by halftime, and the guy starts to jack catch-and-shoot threes with Ray Allen. Again, even with quality pressure in his face, he makes about 60% of them. As time starts winding down, he starts fast breaking and taking pull-up threes with Allen, which for some reason, makes the AI back off (?!) the shooter. I am not exaggerating when I report that the dude did not miss a single pull-up three that he took with Allen. Of course, if I try to jump and defend the shot manually, my idiot defender commits a foul like 75% of the time.

This third instance of BS is from a game with the Bulls, but it also applies to another game I had against the Celtics and Kevin Garnett. This dude was playing as the Bulls and gave the ball to Joakim Noah on about 75% of his possessions. Every time Noah got the ball, he'd back my defender down, then face up, and shoot a shot within two to three feet of the basket (or dunk it, if he got close enough). Of course, common sense spurred me to bring in a quick guard to steal it from Noah while he's taking his 4 -5 seconds doing the methodical "backdown" animation, and yet, when I bring my quick, nimble guard (Damon Stoudamire) in for the steal, my hand either swipes at air or goes through some part of the ball or the player’s body about 90% of the time! Oh yeah, and the refs apparently like to swallow their whistle whenever this happens, so don't expect to get a three-second violation called, even when the dude is in the paint for upwards of 5 seconds. Again, I am not exaggerating when I say that Noah DID NOT MISS A SINGLE SHOT THE ENTIRE GAME and ended up with 40+ points. Garnett would have done the same to me had my opponent not abandoned his inside game and started chucking threes with Pierce and Allen.

Then there are the free throws. Offline, I am good free throw shooter (about 80%-90%), yet, in the abovementioned Celtics/Bulls games, I went a combined 24 - 59. Why? Because the timing of the free throw system is not adjusted for lag, which means that the point (indicated on-screen by your player's various shooting animations) at which you normally would release the shot stick is often not even close to the point at which you have to release it to get the game to recognize a "perfect" shot. This means that the free throw timing turns into a complete guessing game of trial and error, which gives people who foul a lot (often intentionally) a ton more opportunities than they should really have.

There’s a lot more BS to talk about, but I think you get the point: this series, superior as it is to NBA Live, is still nowhere close to being an enjoyable emulation of basketball.

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Originally Posted by wEEman33

This third instance of BS is from a game with the Bulls, but it also applies to another game I had against the Celtics and Kevin Garnett. This dude was playing as the Bulls and gave the ball to Joakim Noah on about 75% of his possessions. Every time Noah got the ball, he'd back my defender down, then face up, and shoot a shot within two to three feet of the basket (or dunk it, if he got close enough). Of course, common sense spurred me to bring in a quick guard to steal it from Noah while he's taking his 4 -5 seconds doing the methodical "backdown" animation, and yet, when I bring my quick, nimble guard (Damon Stoudamire) in for the steal, my hand either swipes at air or goes through some part of the ball or the player’s body about 90% of the time!

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Geezus Christ that gave me a hard on. Tell me more about how Noah just dominated in the post, but tell me slowly, don't rush it. Did he go to a hook shot? Did he let out a fierce scream after he posterized your defender? How was his footwork? Passing out of double-teams? He did draw double-teams, right? Fap fap fap.

If you try to let the game do the double-teaming for you (either via the matchup screen or by holding down one of the bumpers--I forget which one), then you are screwed, as 2K toned down the double-teaming so much that the on-ball defenders hardly ever force turnovers and are ridiculously slow getting out of the double team and back to their normal defensive positions. Also, your other AI defenders are retarded when it comes to whom they chose to cover while the double team is going on, so if you're playing someone with decent three point shooters (he had Heinrich and Gordon), you are pretty much giving up an automatic three--because if there's one thing the offensive AI is good at, it's standing still on the perimeter--and as I already mentioned, a set-shot with a good three point shooter is money like 80% of the time.

Again, the only viable option for double-teaming the post is to do it yourself, but that strategy is also completely gimped because the 2K steal system remains a farcical game of chance, wherein your chances of getting a steal are slim to none.

As for Noah, he basically did the same animation every time after getting in-range via the backdown: he turns towards the basket, rises up, and banks an easy two off the glass. Because Noah is so tall, lanky, and athletic, no one on my team (not even Pau Gasol) could rise up and block his shot.

The same strategy that the dude used with Noah was used by two other people who used Garnett, only they would dunk it most of the time by simply going right over the top of my defender.

It would be really nice to have effective weak-side help AI for those post situations, like having a Rasheed Wallace come swooping by for a swat if McDyess is getting back down.

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As for Noah, he basically did the same animation every time after getting in-range via the backdown: he turns towards the basket, rises up, and banks an easy two off the glass. Because Noah is so tall, lanky, and athletic, no one on my team (not even Pau Gasol) could rise up and block his shot.

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I need a cigarette.

The only time the defensive AI will ever come out of its default mode of standing next to its man is when a ball carrier is running completely free. Otherwise, they take their cue from the offensive AI and stand still.

I mean shit, I could sort of of understand someone like Hakim Warrick (my starting PF) getting worked over by a superstar like Garnett, but when some scrub like Joakim Noah drops 40 on you (without missing a single FG), and you know that the other dude is trying to feed him the ball every play, it's just time to go play something besides this broken excuse for a basketball game.

Hater in the house!

It is too bad, I like 2K7 alot but this sounds like a step backwards.

Only because wEEman didn't make the 2K7 thread. :lol:

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Originally Posted by kingoffighters

It is too bad, I like 2K7 alot but this sounds like a step backwards.

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They are two different types of brokenness, really. 2K8 just looks prettier and has more animations, though most of the animations they added actually seem to hinder the flow of the game more than they help it.

Lock-on defense is really the only practical improvement they made to the gameplay model this year, but because they are too lazy to put serious effort into retooling their game engine, it looks totally ridiculous from a visual standpoint. The decrease in dunks would be a positive too, were it not for the fact that open layups still get converted at such an absurdly low rate, and also, the fact that the AI likes to make all kinds of crazy hooks and scoop shots instead of simply squaring its shoulders to the basket and taking the ball up strong like every basketball coach teaches his players from middle school on.

That said, if you just want to play against the computer in franchise mode (which you seem to do much more than I; frankly, I cannot stand playing with the AI in sports games, much less against them), you may get some fun out of it after doing some serious tweaking to the slider settings.

Even if that's you're plan, I would wait until this hits the inevitable $20 mark.

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Originally Posted by wEEman33

That said, if you just want to play against the computer in franchise mode (which you seem to do much more than I; frankly, I cannot stand playing with the AI in sports games, much less against them), you may get some fun out of it after doing some serious tweaking to the slider settings.

Even if that's you're plan, I would wait until this hits the inevitable $20 mark.

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I enjoy franchise mode in games, but I actually like playing against friends in NBA/NHL games. Cap and I had a few fun games (well fun for me, not so much for him) in 2K7, but I think you sold yours already and very few ppl on TNL plays sports games.

Did you ever get NHL 08? I really enjoy that game, we should play if you have it (or trade NBA 2K8 for it or something).

Yeah I sold NBA 2K7 sometime over the summer after I got tired of dealing with the same type of frustration that this year's game is giving me.

The only sports game I own right now is All Pro Football.

I liked the NHL 08 demo, but not enough to pay full price for it. Once it drops down to the $20 - $30 level, I may pick it up.

I think I will keep NBA 2K8 'till the end of this weekend, and if it's still ticking me off, it's going on eBay along with all the other sports games I got from the All Pro Football tournament.

I've been thinking about giving this game a shot again since it got a pretty big patch recently:

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The patch includes the following fixes:

Gameplay:

OTFC (On The Fly Coaching) Duping – There was an issue in the game where multiple players could be set to guard a single player simultaneously. We have isolated the cause of this and rectified the problem.

DPC and Offball (Online) – We inadvertently shipped the game with the DPC and Offball Control features disabled for online games. These features functioned properly in the offline version of the game. For this patch, they have been enabled for use in online.

Online Free Throw Issue – There was an online issue where the first free throw would essentially drop out of the sky (due to framerate issues) and the user would always miss it. This issue has been addressed.

Layup Strips – We have tuned layup strips to happen at a more frequent rate. They weren’t firing off as much as we wanted.

Layup % - Based on consumer feedback, users should notice an increase in the percentage of layup / close to the basket shots made. We felt that solid players were missing too many “gimmies”.

Layup Holes – There were some layup holes which would cause players to shoot jumpshots into the bottom of the rim right underneath the basket. These holes have been identified and fixed.

Layup Removal – The 360 circus layup was removed from the game. Consumers felt strongly that this layup didn’t fit the scope of our gameplay.

Mirrored Plays – We now mirror plays in appropriate situations to minimize crossing. This removes a lot of clutter that was occurring during the setup of plays.
Up-and-Under – The up-and-under mechanic shipped with the game did not work as intended. It should now be functioning properly.

Fadeaway Shot Fix – We identified and fixed the issue where players would shoot unwanted fadeaways after catching the ball on occasion.

Hop Step Cheese – The Hop Step was identified as a huge “cheese” exploit by our online consumers. Players will now lose the ball on occasion if they attempt to exploit this move.

Pump Fake Breakout – We now allow the ballhandler to exit the pump fake animation early to improve their ability to drive around the faked out defender.

Lock-On D – Changes to the mechanic were made in an effort to fix odd defender movements. Big men should be less effective as well when using this feature.

Defensive Player Reaction – Player reactions on defense have been minimized in an effort to mimic more realistic behaviors.

Spinout/UB Dunk Exploits – Fixes were implemented for the Post Spinout and UB (Under Basket) Dunking exploits that were identified by our consumers.

3 In The Key – Our ‘3 In The Key’ violation timer has been adjusted to be a little less forgiving. Keep your guys moving!

Queued Passes – There was a bug where queued passes would fail when certain isomotion moves were executed. The animations in question have been addressed such that the passes work properly.

Double Team Exploit – Changes were implemented to prevent users from exploiting double teams. They should no longer be the strategy of choice for online players.


General:

Shoe Editing Issue – Shoe colors should no longer change when a player is edited. The patch will not revert any previously changed shoe colors, it will only prevent it from happening again in the future.

Intentional Fouls – There was an issue in the game where when you complete a game in NBA Blacktop mode, the feature would autosave and essentially autosave the street settings. When you attempted to play in a quick game, Intentional Fouls would not be called even though the violation was being committed. We have identified and corrected the issue.

Standing Dunk – Users were unable to edit/change the Standing Dunk attribute. It was viewable in the roster menus, but unable to be changed via Edit Player. This attribute has been added to the list of editable attributes.

Lobby Pings – There was an issue where if a lot of people are in a lobby, lobby pings would be reported inaccurately. This issue has been addressed.

Replay Cursor Toggle – The replay cursor can now be toggled on/off in replay by pressing the LB+RB (360) triggers simultaneously. This is just a little bonus for you guys creating videos via replay mode.

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Anybody here played it since the patch?

So College Hoops 2K8 went down to $39.99 a week or so ago, and I've been wanting to pick up a basketball game, but was still a bit hesitant about picking up NBA 2K8 again since it sucked so hard pre-patch. Long story short: I came home with College Hoops instead, just to try something new.

Apparently, College Hoops also got a patch around the same time NBA did, and if it's any indication of how NBA plays now, I have to say that I am impressed with steps forward that the engine has made.

Admittedly, there's still way too much momentum-based wackiness going on with the physics engine, but man, you take out the crazy athletic ability that some of the NBA guys have, throw in 100+ teams, each with maybe one or two really good players and a bunch of specialists, and the game becomes so much more fun than the dunk-fest, 3 bombing, sit in the lane with Yao, isolate with Kobe/Lebron bullshit that made NBA 2K8 so unfun.

Lane play is actually reasonable now. Fast breaks and press breaking are a little easier thanks to improved passing. Double teams are no longer the dominant defensive strategy. Inside shooting got a much needed percentage boost. Free throws seem to be working as well online as they are offline.

Basically, the game engine is fun again.

And the sweet thing is, thanks to this being the first game to implement the "2K Share" feature, downloading rosters with all the teams filled out (and the rating adjusted) is as simple as bringing up a menu and downloading/loading a roster file like you would for any other roster update.

Even better, there's a tournament coming up ala the All Pro Football tournament, where 2,048 players will be put into brackets of 64 and simulate the actual NCAA Tournament with whatever teams get picked for the real tourney.

I have only played CH 2k7 on the PS3, and it was really fun. I used a divison 3team to beat Duke, every possession was important and none of my guys can do shit. Biggest upset ever.

So 2K totally butchered Vanderbilt's team in this game.

The court looks nothing like the real thing. Their starting freshmen center (imported from Australia), who's averaging 20 points/10 rebounds a game, is the worst rated player on the team (a 61 overall), which leads to all kind of problems in the team's (lack of) interior game, as it forces the starting power forward into the center position and some scrub power forward who doesn't even see the floor in real life into the starting power forward spot.

I could handle all that if the team could shoot threes like they can in real life, but for some reason, 2K decided to make Vanderbilt a terrible 3 point shooting team.

In real life, Vanderbilt's centers/power forwards Ross Neltner and Alan Metcalfe both shoot threes pretty well (good enough to deserve a 70 something rating), as does the PG Jermaine Beal, yet none of them can shoot threes worth a damn in this game because they are rated in the low-mid 60s.

Even Vanderbilt's best 3 point shooters (Alex Gorden, Shan Foster, and Keegen Bell) have a really hard time making threes, for some reason. I think the highest rated 3 point shooter on the team is Gordon, with a 83, yet he doesn't make crap once he sets foot on the court. Shan Foster is in the running for SEC player of the year, and is the all-time leader in 3 point field goals made at Vanderbilt, yet he's only rated a 81 on 3s, and for some reason, actually makes more than Gordon. Fresheman point guard Bell has a 77 rating, but like Gordan, doesn't hit shit in the actual games.

So I gave up on Vanderbilt and starting using Belmont (another Nashville, TN college, playing in the lowly Atlantic Sun conference).

Amazingly, their court looks a lot like the real thing, and their players, which are built very similar to Vanderbilt's, actually shoot threes well, especially their power forwards and centers (they have ratings in the low-mid 70s, like Vanderbilt's big men should).

They are only rated a 69 overall (Vanderbilt's an 81, and most of the best teams are in the high 80s), yet, I have been able to knock off people using teams like Duke, Tennessee, USC, and a few other powerhouse schools. The only ones that really kill me are teams like Georgetown who have 7-foot centers and guards who never miss threes.

Abridged version:

30 games in, and I finally found my niche as the all-white, zone-playing, 3 point shooting team, it's just strange that I had to go to one of the weakest conferences in D-I to do it.

If you're beating people using Duke with that team, then they don't know how to play. All they have to do to beat you is pound it inside and draw fouls.

I finally gave up Belmont (unless the other guy's playing a team rated in the low 70s), and replaced them with a similar Rhode Island team (rated a 79 overall).

They have one dude who's rated a 93 on threes, in addition to a SF and a PF with low 80 ratings.

Defense, rebounding, and the ability to finish at the rim are what separate them from Belmont. That, and they don't miss so many open threes.

I saw somebody else picked this game up (Deewtaei, I think).

My advice:

Check out the 2K Share feature, then search for rosters from the user "Roman Caesar." Look for the latest one he posted (called "OS Final" or something like that), and you'll have the latest, most complete rosters.

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Originally Posted by wEEman33

I saw somebody else picked this game up (Deewtaei, I think).

My advice:

Check out the 2K Share feature, then search for rosters from the user "Roman Caesar." Look for the latest one he posted (called "OS Final" or something like that), and you'll have the latest, most complete rosters.

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Yep, it was an impulse buy. I really needed a sports game to play with a buddy when he came over. The price point was the deciding factor ($39.99). Anyhow, I'm playing on Legacy right now trying to get the hang of it.

Qualifying for the tournament closes tomorrow at midnight.

Right now I'm sitting at 1579/2048.

I just want to be able to play as a mid-high 70s team so I'll at least have a chance against the Georgetowns and U-Conns.

If not, I guess I'll go with Belmont.

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Originally Posted by wEEman33

Qualifying for the tournament closes tomorrow at midnight.

Right now I'm sitting at 1579/2048.

I just want to be able to play as a mid-high 70s team so I'll at least have a chance against the Georgetowns and U-Conns.

If not, I guess I'll go with Belmont.

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Please explain. I didn't think it was important to sign up until the brackets were announced.

The qualifying has been going on since February 22.

Basically, every ranked online game you've played since then counts towards your ranking for the tournament qualification. If you've played at least 10 games, and you're ranked in the top 2048, you get a chance to participate in the tournament.

To see where you're ranked, search for your gamertag on this page.

On Friday, teams will have to "check-in" on the Pontiac website, and if you don't check in, you lose your spot in the tournament. Usually, there's a couple hundred qualified teams who don't check in, so even if you're ranked outside of the top 2048, you should still check-in on Friday since you have a good chance of qualifying in place of someone who didn't check-in.

So they actually shortened the field to 1,024, and looks like I made it in at spot #761.

That means I should have the 48th pick in my bracket, and will get assigned to a team tomorrow at midnight. The games start on Tuesday.

I'm hoping for Georgia now, since they are actually rated pretty high in this game (84 overall rating makes them the second best SEC team behind Tennessee) and they should have an easy road to the elite eight.

Yeah, so the dude I'm playing is a 17 seed in our bracket (I'm a 48), and he took Kentucky (!! QUE?!!), which means I get Marquette.

Things are looking good for tomorrow night's game.

I believe both UK and Marquette are rated 85 overall.

Do you win anything in this tourney?

A NEW CAR!!

An Xbox360 + 2K sports library

And an all-expense-paid trip to the final four.

Well I hope you win one of those.