Redwood Shores, CA - November 6, 2008 – EA SPORTS today launched a contest to choose one NCAA school’s home venue the “Toughest Place to Play” in college basketball. Fans of the EA SPORTS videogame NCAA Basketball 09 can visit http://www.easports.com/ncaabasketball/toughvenues.action now to vote for their school from among 50 schools entered in the contest. Ten finalists will be selected from fan voting before a winner will be crowned and that school featured in next year’s videogame. In addition, a full playable demo of NCAA Basketball 09 is available for download beginning November 6 at the PLAYSTATION Store and Xbox Live Marketplace. NCAA Basketball 09 will be in stores beginning Nov. 19 for the PLAYSTATION3, Xbox 360 and PlayStation2.
The NCAA Basketball 09 demo, featuring the University of Tennessee, University of Kentucky, the 1979 Michigan State Spartans and the 1982 University of North Carolina Tar Heels, showcases a new, strategic basketball gameplay experience that challenges gamers to replicate their school’s style of play and set the game tempo to win. NCAA Basketball 09 features the EA SPORTS ESPN Classic Tournament of Legends and Division I coaches in-game for the first time. Each coach will provide real time instruction and feedback to help gamers control the tempo by executing their team’s offense and defense to perfection.
Voting in the “Toughest Place to Play” contest closes December 1. School’s voted in as finalists will receive a visit from EA SPORTS this basketball season to judge their arena based upon a number of factors. A panel of basketball experts will then determine the final top 10 rankings and crown a winner. The rankings will appear in next year’s EA SPORTS NCAA Basketball videogame.
To learn more about NCAA Basketball 09 visit www.easports.com/ncaabasketball09.
