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Information Updated: 11/9/2004

ESPN Videogames announced today details of the new additions found in ESPN College Hoops 2K5's franchise offering, called Legacy Mode. In the world of collegiate basketball, the coach is responsible for calling the shots on and off the court. Recruiting top players year round, scouting new talent and preparing the game plan against opponents are some of the fundamental elements gamers will find in the unique and exciting Legacy Mode.

"Our ESPN College Hoops 2K5 team really went all out in designing Legacy Mode to make it both comprehensive and entertaining," states Greg Thomas, president of Visual Concepts - makers of ESPN Videogames. "In collegiate basketball, the coach makes the biggest impact for a school's program. The ability to improve coaching skills by guiding a small program to success, gain respect throughout the college ranks, and receive offers for new coaching gigs at bigger and better schools is something that fans are going to love."

Legacy Mode starts the player in the role of a head coach for a "small-time" college program. The player must learn how to manage the elements of recruiting the right talent, scouting potential players, and teaching suitable skills in order to improve the current team win record. By balancing budget and time resources properly, the gamer will attain specific goals and improve his or her attributes. Players that can continue a successful coaching trend may be offered new positions at prominent colleges. Taking new job offers gives the player better budget resources, allowing for better recruiting and scouting. As they progress through their career, Legacy Mode players will receive new and harder goals to accomplish.

Recruiting the best young talent is the key to success in ESPN College Hoops 2K5's Legacy Mode. Top recruits throughout the nation will have different interests - coaching prowess, playing time, closeness to their hometown, and the reputation of the college. With the help of assistant coaches, gamers can choose to e-mail recruits, visit a prospect's home, attend a high school game, or even offer a "full-ride" scholarship.

As the season progresses, the trials and tribulations of a head coach can be viewed through dynamically generated news reports. After every game, a multiple page news story can be read as writers editorialize the great win or humiliating loss for the player's team. Every story generated is unique and includes a highlight from the user's game. ESPN College Hoops 2K5 summarizes the result of games played, all in the style of the worldwide leader in sports.

Innovation has always been a standard for the 2K series and it's no different with ESPN College Hoops 2K5. As one of the pioneers of online gaming, ESPN Videogames continues to revolutionize with online play, new online leagues, and full online tournaments

It begins with online play that has been completely streamlined to deliver the highest quality experience. Setting up online tournaments has never been easier and die-hard college basketball fanatics can now set up their own 64-team championship tournaments! ESPN College Hoops 2K5 also delivers online leagues with living rosters-- rosters that change for each league, due to injuries and lineup adjustments. Once online leagues are created on the Xbox or PS2, gamers can view their league page on their own PC, which includes every stat for every game in the league. This rich online experience comes at no additional cost and with a $19.99 price tag, ESPN College Hoops 2K5 brings forth the tradition, excitement and pageantry of college basketball.

With every new college basketball season, a head coach must overcome several obstacles to attain victory on the court. With staple, veteran players leaving every collegiate year, recruiting is a vital part to the season. In ESPN College Hoops 2K5, gamers will find the year-round recruiting full of depth and excitement.

Gamers select two assistant coaches to help find the best talent from across the nation. Starting their coaching career at a small program may prove to be a challenge, when trying to recruit top talent. The best recruits in the country will have different interests that will help determine which school to sign with-- playing time, location, coaching philosophy, college reputation are all part of this program...The head coach must be smart as they manage time and budget resources to scout and recruit players. There are over 300 other universities vying for the same pool of players. Gamers will need to figure out which recruits they have a legitimate shot in getting before committing valuable resources towards big-time talent that may have no interest in playing for them.

…AND TODAY IN THE NEWS…

Dramatic stories and front-page headlines are a big part of ESPN College Hoops 2K5, thanks to ESPN News. After every Legacy Mode game, a multiple page news story is generated editorializing the dramatic win or demoralizing loss for the player’s team. Every story is unique and filled with great wit and humor and shows highlights from the user’s game done in the style of ESPN.com’s ESPN Motion.

The impact a coach can make on a team is more crucial in college basketball than in any other sport. Eager young players hungering for playing time and experience must be properly guided by their coaches to ensure victory in the game and overall success during the season. Building upon the standards set in last year’s Legacy mode, ESPN College Hoops 2K5 adds new and exciting depth to this year’s Legacy mode with a big focus on coach roles.

The Legacy Mode allows gamers to create a coach, customizing their teaching style, recruitment, and offensive and defensive attributes of the coach. By completing specific milestones and goals during the season, more attribute points will be awarded to improve a coach’s abilities. Increasing abilities will give the gamer’s team an advantage in every area of Legacy Mode whether it is game preparations in the Coach’s Meeting, or the offensive and defensive tactics when playing Coach Mode. These are just some of the many new features added to Legacy mode where coaching is the game.

ESPN Videogames today announced that ESPN College Hoops 2K5 will include many new gameplay features, including an all-new passing system, Pass-N-Go. The Pass-N-Go system authentically recreates the team-oriented play and explosive action of collegiate basketball.

The innovative Pass-N-Go passing system allows gamers to utilize two different passing techniques - regular directional passing and lead passing to beat their opponents to the net. These two passing mechanics give the user freedom to pass to the open man or make a riskier lead pass that leads a teammate to the basket. Both passing buttons also feature advanced controls where a gamer can perform a give-n-go pass or an alley-oop at great risk and even greater reward.

"Our Pass-N-Go system offers consumers a new dimension of realism in college basketball video games," stated Greg Thomas, president of Visual Concepts - makers of ESPN Videogames. "The concept is simple, but revolutionary. Gamers will be blown away by the enhanced maneuvers this feature allows. Furthermore, the amazing visuals, breakthrough gameplay, and authentic ESPN presentation, make ESPN College Hoops 2K5 the most complete college basketball video game on the market."

Free throws are an integral part of any basketball game, and ESPN College Hoops 2K5's new Free Throw System makes it simple and intuitive. Users simply hold the shot button and release it as the player releases the shot. Each player in ESPN College Hoops 2K5 has a different free throw animation and timing that can change depending on how tired the player is and how long the game has gone on. The new Free Throw System is elegantly simple, yet challenging to both rookies and veterans of the game.

Passing is an art and in ESPN College Hoops 2K5, gamers will experience the new Pass-N-Go System featuring two pass buttons. Now gamers can take advantage of directional passing and the new lead pass mechanic that executes a lead pass to a teammate cutting to the basket. The lead pass requires the player to recognize a good situation as gamers who abuse it will find a lot of passes going to the opponent. In addition to the lead pass, new advanced passing features allow the player to perform give-n-go and alley-oop plays that are high risk, but offer higher reward.

ESPN College Hoops 2K5 also introduces the most intuitive free throw system in any basketball game. Free throw situations, and especially 1-and-1 free throw opportunities, are often dramatic moments in college basketball. In ESPN College Hoops 2K5, players can experience these moments without the worry of meters or visual aids. To shoot a free throw, gamers simply press and hold the shoot button to start the free throw animation, and release the shoot button when the ball is released. Different players will have different free throw animations and release points, making the free throw system both simple and challenging.