40 Acres Sports

Perfect game for all of us Internet coaches. Can’t wait for this to be integrated into NCAA and Madden.

And it looks really average.

2K Sports is releasing the game March 14th just in time for March Madness and a couple of weeks before most people forget about college basketball. It essentially looks like a slightly better version of the Xbox game they released in November. They’ve slowed the gameplay down a little to more accurately recreate the college game, but many problems remain. Basketball simulations in general are a big step below the more arcade style games such as NBA Street.

Sports games have definitely been the most disappointing thing about the Xbox 360 lineup. Average ports like this one from 2K Sports and quickly thrown together, half-finished games like Madden from EA Sports typify what the genre has had to offer so far. Hopefully the football games that come out this Summer and Fall for the 360 and PlayStation 3 will be a true “next-gen” experience with more development time.

Let’s hope LaMarcus Aldridge & the real Longhorns look better this weekend in the Big 12 Tournament than they do in this game.

Play the game with real player names instead of just jersey numbers.

Good interview on MVP ’06 NCAA Baseball and college baseball in general.

MVP 06 NCAA Baseball comes out this week and IGN has up the first review of the game. The dynasty mode is what I was looking forward to the most and it sounds like they got it right, including year-round recruiting. Hopefully it proves as addicting as recruiting in NCAA Football.

Looks pretty good graphically, the “Load and Fire” batting system sounds like a cool idea, ESPN integration including live updates from ESPN Radio thanks to Xbox Live, as well as online play all make it sound like a must-have if you’re at all interested in college baseball. Plus, it’s got a Longhorn on the cover (David Maroul if I’m not mistaken) and is only at $29.99.

The game hits stores Wednesday. I’ll definitely be picking up a copy and posting my thoughts on the game here as soon as I can.

Screens of Texas celebrating the championship and Disch-Falk Field from the game due in March.

No college football till next year so next-gen Madden will have to do for now.

A few more details and screens of EA’s new college baseball game.

We learned in January that Electronic Arts (and all other developers except Take Two) had lost the rights to develop baseball games depicting Major League Baseball teams or players. EA’s MVP Baseball 2005 was probably the best baseball game on the market last year so it was bad news for a lot of fans of the game and MLB video games in general.

But bad news for them is good news for college baseball fans. The first screenshots of EA’s new college baseball game called MVP 06 NCAA Baseball have surfaced and they look great. And who else to feature in the game than the National Champion Texas Longhorns? The graphics look good and it’s cool to see those burnt orange unis and the aluminum bat in a video game.

The game will feature a dynasty mode taking your team on the Road to Omaha, but will they be able to truly recreate the college atmosphere? Will there be recruiting? Pitchers who play third base? Accurate college stadiums? Or will it just be the same game wrapped in some new uniforms with a lot of new teams? One of the best things about EA’s NCAA Football games is the true college feel of the game, hopefully their attempt at college baseball is just as successful and just as fun.

I predict it outsells anything Take Two releases.