So, with the marriage of Fast Break and GDS just announced, (one that I predicted BTW, so gimme some DAP), what is the mood of the current game?

IS/will the competition be favorable?

What, pray tell, are you talking about? Just wondering ...

EDIT: Misread that. Looks like GDS and Wolverine will be COMPETING (I should stop reading at 3 a.m.) I think competition's a good thing, Fast Break filled a void while TDCB development was stagnating, and TCB benefitted from being able to improve on what Fast Break was missing. Now Fast Break and Wolverine will likely be developing competing games at around the same time, and what that should mean is a robust market for good college basketball gaming. If both developers know what they're facing, it'll help make both games better. And if I'm paying for games, that's something I like to see. I bought TDCB and Fast Break (and would have paid good money for TCB, had I not been a beta guy -- and I should still make a hell of a donation to Gary for the time I've been able to spend with the game) -- and I see no reason that I wouldn't be willing to buy both Brian's and Gary's games in the future, if the level of quality keeps up.

Let's just hope we don't end up having any bad blood between companies, to where people who support Wolverine are afraid to make suggestions for Gray Dog, and vice versa. While beta testers will of course be signed to NDAs, and should behave accordingly, I think fans of Gray Dog and Wolverine will do a service to themselves and others by supporting the development of both games. Just my two cents.

I don't know about anyone else, but I think this is really good news for both companies and its customers because it introduces competition, which as we all know pushes companies to make even better products. For a niche genre like basketball sims (and many other sims), I am thrilled to have another choice and personally, I'll be purchasing both basketball games.

No cause for concern. We welcome Brian back to the market.
This should really raise both companies game up a notch and be great for our customers many of which are shared.

I think the people who frequent these forums are a unique brand of gamer. Simply put, most folks who love the sports sim genre are likely to buy both games.

I also agree that it will spark interest, discussion and innovation about these products. I think everyone wins in this kind of situation.

-Pughead

I, for one, am very interested to see how the Fast Break pro and college games look.

Competition is always a good thing. To see the flip side of this, look at the big gains Madden made pretty much out of necessity when Visual Concepts was able to make a pro football game, and look at the lack of additions they're making now that they have the exclusive license. I'm not saying Gary is lazy or anything, it's just that being able to see the strengths and weaknesses of somebody else trying to do exactly the same thing you're doing works really, really well. Anyway... if both games are good, many of us will have the money for both of them. It's not like we're paying $400 for full versions of an office suite.

awesome news and if only for the fact that this gives Brian a new opportunity to show off his great vision for this genre and simply is great news for him personally as he was going through some really tough times in his private life from what he told his customers over at Front Office Football Central.

FBCB for me still stands as the game giving the most fun over the longest period of time, just incredible combination of simplicity of gameplay, and logical influence on the game by your actions. It´s just great how you actually can put your mark on a programm with the way you recruit or coach in that game.

Nothing to take away anything from the crew here at wolverinesoftware, it´s more like the difference between "boy, what a great game" and "boy, best game ever"