College Hoops 2K8 | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | Visual Concepts |
Publisher(s) | 2K |
Platform(s) | PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 |
Release | November 19, 2007 |
Genre(s) | Sports |
College Hoops 2K8 is a 2007 sports game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K. It was released on November 19, 2007 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation 3. The cover features Greg Oden, formerly of the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Almost every school competing in Division I NCAA college basketball at the time was included in 2K8, including recent additions South Carolina-Upstate, Cal State-Bakersfield and Florida Gulf Coast. Not included were Presbyterian College and North Carolina Central, D-1 independents. Also, Centenary College of the Summit League was unlicensed and instead named UL-Calcutta. The game also featured the ability to change and modify rosters and share them online via the newly introduced 2K Share feature. The real coaches feature was dropped from this game, possibly because the coaches chose not to renew their contracts and all of the coaches are unnamed.
The announcers/commentators featured in the game were Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery. The College Hoops series was put on hiatus in 2008 as 2K Sports declined to seek the college license for a 2K9 release. However, EA Sports continued licensing rights from the NCAA to make college basketball games until they too discontinued their college basketball game series, in 2010.
In this type of campaign, the user has the option of going with Career Legacy or Open Legacy. [1] In Career Legacy, the user is allowed to choose between only a hand-selected group of universities, each ranked towards the bottom of their respective athletic conferences. The goal for the user is almost always to take one of these universities of their choosing and perform well enough as the head coach to move on to a more prestigious university, though nothing prevents the user from staying at their beginning university for as long as they'd like. They would, however, miss out on various goals, as described in the next paragraph, that would allow their coach to increase in ability. The user has the ability to get fired from their head coaching position at a university, forcing them to only be able to accept lower-tier coaching positions that may offer them, with the possibility of not receiving any coaching offers after termination, leading to the user's retirement, and forcing them back to the main menu. If your coach is successful, you can play for as long as 40 years before retirement, and receiving a pop-up message after the postseason awards in the year 2048 from the game itself, congratulating you on your career before taking you back to the main menu. In Open Legacy, the user can choose any school and begin their legacy. The user can coach for as long as they would like and does not face any possibility of termination from their university.
In Legacy, the coach the user plays as has coach ratings in different areas such as: Offense, for increasing the offensive awareness of your team's players; Defense, for increasing the defensive awareness of your team's players; Scouting, your coach's ability to create game preparations for the teams you are playing against in a week, updated every week; Charisma, used for recruiting high school and junior college recruits as well as increasing the morale of the players on your roster; and Discipline, used for making your coaching emphases more effective when used during played games, with several other categories. In Career, you initially start out with a C− grade (from F to A+) in each category, and are given 5 points to start out with that you can assign to any of the categories. These grades can only rise by a single grade at a given time. For example, if a user's Offense rating is at C−, the next highest grade is a C, followed by a C+, followed by a B−. In Career mode, your coach can only increase in ratings in each of these categories by accomplishing certain goals set out for your character and gaining skill points, such as signing an overseas recruit, finishing a season with a winning record, signing the highest-ranked recruit in your team's home state, and winning a national Championship, among many others. Some goals are simple and easy to accomplish, such as finishing a season with a winning record, for users starting out in Career mode so the user can more easily ascend the college basketball hierarchy and move on to a more prestigious program, while other goals are likely only going to be accomplished at top-tier college basketball programs, such as signing a 5-star recruit or winning the national Championship. Some goals may not be accomplished at the same time, such as signing a 5-star recruit from overseas only allowing the user to accomplish the goal of signing an overseas prospect, because the recruiting rankings system in College Hoops 2K8 grades "World" (non-North American) recruits and "National" (North American) recruits on a different scale. Other goals may only be accomplished by moving on from the school the user selected at the beginning of Career mode, such as the goal of accepting the head coaching position at a "Mid-Major" school, with all of the beginning schools playing in athletic conferences marked as "Small", the lowest rung on the conference ranking ladder that includes "Mid-Major", "Major", and "Power". When you accomplish any of these goals, your user is rewarded with 1 skill point per goal accomplished, with the application of these skill points granted following the national championship game and post-season awards. In Open Legacy mode, the user plays as the coach for whichever team they decide to select from the outset, and has the option to make their coach as poorly-rated or highly-rated as they desire, with unlimited skill points available from the beginning of the game.
Taking place in the Legacy Mode and setting apart College Hoops 2k8 from other basketball games is the ability to track and recruit high-school and Junior College players. This unique feature was also available in the previous installments in the College Hoops 2K series, College Hoops 2K6 and College Hoops 2K7.
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
GameRankings | (PS3) 80.96% [2] (X360) 80.96% [3] (PS2) 64.50% [4] |
Metacritic | (PS3) 82/100 [5] (X360) 81/100 [6] (PS2) 66/100 [7] |
Publication | Score |
---|---|
Electronic Gaming Monthly | 7.17/10 [8] |
Game Informer | 7.75/10 [9] |
GameSpot | 8/10 [10] |
GameSpy | [11] [12] (PS2) [13] |
GameZone | (X360) 8.4/10 [14] (PS3) 8.3/10 [15] |
IGN | (X360) 8.2/10 [16] (PS3) 8/10 [17] (PS2) 6.9/10 [18] |
Official Xbox Magazine (US) | 8.5/10 [19] |
PlayStation: The Official Magazine | [20] |
TeamXbox | 8/10 [21] |
Maxim | 8/10 [22] |
USA Today | [23] |
The game was met with positive to mixed reception upon release. GameRankings and Metacritic gave it a score of 80.96% and 82 out of 100 for the PlayStation 3 version; [2] [5] 80.96% and 81 out of 100 for the Xbox 360 version; [3] [6] and 64.50% and 66 out of 100 for the PlayStation 2 version. [4] [7]
Virtua Tennis 3, known in Japan as Sega Professional Tennis: Power Smash 3, is the second arcade game sequel to Sega's tennis game franchise, Virtua Tennis. The arcade version of Virtua Tennis 3 is powered by the PC-based Sega Lindbergh arcade system board. Ports for the PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3 consoles are also available with a traditional collection of tennis minigames that the home versions of Virtua Tennis are known for. In 2009, Sega updated and re-created Virtua Tennis 3 in Virtua Tennis 2009.
College Hoops 2K6 is an American college basketball video game which was initially released on November 21, 2005 for the Xbox and later released for PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360. It is the first installment of the series to appear on a seventh generation video game console. It also marked the first time since the original NCAA College Basketball 2K3 that the series was without an ESPN license. It features former UNC small forward Marvin Williams, along with UNC head coach Roy Williams, on the cover.
NBA 2K7 is a 2006 basketball simulation video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K. It is the eighth installment in the NBA 2K franchise and the successor to NBA 2K6. It was released in 2006 for PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Xbox 360, and as a launch title for PlayStation 3. Shaquille O'Neal of the Miami Heat is the cover athlete of the game. NBA 2K7 is the predecessor to NBA 2K8 in the NBA 2K series. This was the 2nd and last installment in the series to be released for the Xbox.
Madden NFL 08 is a 2007 American football video game based on the National Football League that was published by EA Sports and developed by EA Tiburon. It is the 19th installment in the Madden NFL video game franchise. It features Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young on the cover, and San Diego Chargers defensive end Luis Castillo was the cover athlete for the Spanish-language version. This was the first Madden game made for 11 different platforms. It was released on August 14, 2007 for Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, Xbox, GameCube and Microsoft Windows. A Mac version was released on September 1, 2007. This was the last version of Madden to be released for Microsoft Windows until Madden NFL 19, and the last video game for the GameCube produced and released in North America.
College Hoops 2K7 is an American college basketball video game initially released on November 22, 2006 for the Xbox and Xbox 360 and released later for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3. It is the 5th installment of the series, which began with NCAA College Basketball 2K3. It features former Duke JJ Redick on the cover. It is produced by 2K Sports. It is the first college basketball game for the PlayStation 3. Redick was a special correspondent to the development of the game and added his signature shot style in motion capture.
Major League Baseball 2K8, or, in shorter terms, MLB 2K8, is an MLB licensed baseball simulation video game co-developed by Blue Castle Games and newly renamed 2K Los Angeles and published by 2K Sports for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii, and Xbox 360. It was released on March 4, 2008. A demo was released on Xbox Live Marketplace the next day on March 5 for Canada, United States, and Asian markets and features the 2007 World Series opponents.
All-Pro Football 2K8 is an American football game for seventh generation consoles. All-Pro Football 2K8 is the first football game to be published by 2K since EA Sports purchased exclusive licenses to the intellectual properties of the NFL and NFLPA. John Elway, Barry Sanders, and Jerry Rice appear on the cover.
NBA Live 08 is the 2007 installment of the NBA Live series by EA Sports. It was released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, Windows and PlayStation Portable. This is the first NBA video game to include all three next-generation consoles, the first game to be released for Sony's PlayStation 3, and the last NBA Live game for the Windows platform.
NHL 08 is a video game released on September 11, 2007 in North America; the Xbox 360 version was supposed to be released on the same date as the Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 versions, but was postponed for a day due to shipping issues. This was the first installment to be released on the PlayStation 3.
NCAA March Madness 08 is the 2007 installment in the NCAA March Madness series. Former University of Texas and current Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant is featured on the cover. It was the only March Madness game available for the PlayStation 3 until the name change.
NHL 2K8 is an ice hockey video game made by 2K, and published on the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 consoles. It features former Ottawa Senators centre Jason Spezza on its cover. Bob Cole and Harry Neale return from NHL 2K6 and NHL 2K7 to provide commentary.
NHL 2K9 is an ice hockey sports video game made by 2K, part of the NHL 2K series, and published on the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 consoles. It features former Columbus Blue Jackets left winger Rick Nash on its cover.
NBA 2K8 is a 2007 basketball simulation video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K and Spike. It is the ninth installment in the NBA 2K franchise and the successor to NBA 2K7. It was released in 2007 for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets is the cover athlete of the game. NBA 2K8 is the predecessor to NBA 2K9 in the NBA 2K series.
Major League Baseball 2K9, or MLB 2K9 for short, is an MLB-licensed baseball simulation video game published by 2K. The game was developed for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable and Wii. The game was released on March 3, 2009, to mixed-to-positive reviews.
MLB Front Office Manager is a Major League Baseball-licensed sports management game developed by Blue Castle Games and published by 2K for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It was released on January 26, 2009.
Madden NFL 10 is an American football video game based on the National Football League that was published by EA Sports and developed by EA Tiburon. The 21st installment of the Madden NFL series, it is the first game to feature two players on the cover: Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals, who played against each other the previous season in Super Bowl XLIII. It was released in August 2009 for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Xbox 360 and BlackBerry, and for the iOS on September 9 through the App Store.
NHL 2K10 is an ice hockey sports video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K, part of the NHL 2K series. It was released on September 15, 2009 for PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360. Randy Hahn and Drew Remenda provide commentary as they did for NHL 2K9. NHL 2K10 was the final 2K Sports ice hockey video game to be released for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, as NHL 2K11 was released only for the iOS and Wii.
NBA 2K9 is a 2008 basketball simulation video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K. It is the tenth installment in the NBA 2K franchise and the successor to NBA 2K8. It was released in 2008 for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows. Kevin Garnett of the Boston Celtics is the cover athlete of the game. NBA 2K9 is the predecessor to NBA 2K10 in the NBA 2K series.
Madden NFL 11 is an American football video game based on the National Football League, published by EA Sports and developed by EA Tiburon. It is the 22nd annual installment in the bestselling Madden NFL video game franchise. It was released in 2010 for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation Portable, BlackBerry, and iOS platforms. The PS3 and Xbox 360 demos were released July 27, 2010.
Top Spin 4 is a tennis video game developed by 2K Czech and published by 2K released on the PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 consoles. The game features licensed professional players, venues and equipment. The game was released on March 15, 2011 in America, and was released on March 18 in the PAL region. The PS3 version supports the PlayStation Move and is also compatible in 3D. The Xbox 360 version does not support the Kinect but is 3D compatible.