Interview by: William Abner

EA Sports has had a checkered past with its college basketball franchise, but with NBA Live taking a monumental step forward this year with NBA Live 10, we wanted to find out what was in store this season in the college ranks. I had a brief chat with Producer Connor Dougan about what fans can expect to see this year from NCAA Basketball 10.

With the strong resurgence of NBA Live this year, many basketball fans are asking – will NCAA Basketball 10 make a similar leap? How much of what we saw this year in Live has made its way into NCAA?

Live 10 was a major step up in control and gameplay and NCAA 10 definitely benefitted from that growth. All of the gameplay, AI, animation and control enhancements seen in Live 10 will be in NCAA Basketball 10. Improvements such as lay-ups solutions, off ball player control, player movement enhancements both on and off ball will be in NCAA 10. With that said, we couldn’t make a college basketball game that is just NBA Live with college jerseys, the time we saved in using Live’s improvements we spent on differentiating the game experience by focusing on the elements of basketball that make the college game unique and exciting.

On the EA Blog, Sean Campbell said, “This is the first time that an EA SPORTS title has had full ESPN in game presentation and the first time any sports game has had CBS Sports integration.” Can you go into what that means – particularly “full ESPN in game presentation"?

Our aim with this particular integration was to replicate a live broadcast through presentation with a focus on visuals and speech. All the graphics and wipes you see on an ESPN or CBS broadcast of a college basketball game are now part of a selectable presentation package which also includes unique commentators (Dick Vitale and Brad Nessler for ESPN, and new this year Gus Johnson and Bill Raftery for CBS). Everything from the score bar on screen during gameplay with player and team stat pop ups, to player averages overlays at the FT line and replay and montage wipes is in game. This integration definitely adds to the authenticity of the experience and having two packages brings an element of variety which is a major bonus for us.

Let's talk meat -- how has the gameplay improved? I thought NCAA 09 made some strides but still had a ways to go in terms of AI -- particularly on defense. I think it's great that the presentation has been addressed but how does it play this year? Additionally, can you go into the new play calling system and how it functions?

In NCAA Basketball 2010, we introduced the motion movement control. It's basically push-button play calling and results in off-ball movements which are in line with your selected motion offense. The key is to get in the motion offenses' preferred formation. Once there, an overlay/graphic will appear, indicating that you and your teammates are in a position to create motion movement. If the motion movement control is pressed when guys are not in formation, a basic cut to the basket will play out. After pressing the motion movement control, a button will appear over the head of the next recipient in the play. Follow the play to completion or stray away from the play if other opportunities present themselves. Plays last between 5-10 seconds and some plays have multiple options. It's important to see what other options come about when the first option isn't used.

We wanted to provide the consumer a greater sense of authenticity but also create a system that was accessible and easy to use on the fly – and I think we achieved that goal with the motion movement control. I should also mention that we have 8 different motion offenses to play with. They each have their own unique positioning and goals. So for the first time ever you can run the Dribble Drive offense which is focused on dribble penetration, the Princeton offense which is focused on ball reversals and back cuts, or the 5 out motion which has 5 guys on the perimeter and it really opens up the middle for not only drive and kick opportunities but also a lot more cutting and movement.