BenGerman's Blog - Operation Sports

Ben Vollmer's Blog

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Tuesday, November 26, 2013

A Next-Gen College Football Game Is Far From Impossible

Posted on November 26, 2013 at 01:32 PM.

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Let's just forget for a moment that the NCAA series made millions on top of millions of dollars for their company. Sure, a different big company might want to swoop in and take a chunk of that total by taking a shot at a college football game (or even EA, in a few years). But first, we have to assume that they will ask themselves: is it worth it?

Unfortunately, the answer is almost certainly no at this ... Read More

Monday, November 25, 2013

NG Features: Share Button (PS4)

Posted on November 25, 2013 at 10:00 AM.

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Over the course of the next couple of weeks, I'm going to be taking an in depth look at some of the features on next-generation consoles that could help shape the future of sports gaming.

About five years ago, when NCAA Football 2010 released on the Xbox 360 and PS3, I was enamored with the idea of being able to play a dynasty online with friends. It was a novel concept - one that is still blossoming ... Read More

Monday, August 5, 2013

Why The Show's Trade Deadline Needs an Improvement

Posted on August 5, 2013 at 12:01 PM.

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One of the most fascinating parts of Major League Baseball is the business aspect of it. Organizations will trade life long members of their squad like it's nothing, bring on players from rival teams, and trade some of the biggest names in baseball for just a few prospects that haven't even sniffed the majors. It's unique to baseball in that it's really the only professional sport where players are more like assets than they are ... Read More

Sunday, July 21, 2013

An Ultimate Next-Gen Wishlist: "College Football '15"

Posted on July 21, 2013 at 05:20 PM.

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As many of you already know, I think NCAA '14 is a heck of a lot of fun to play. Yet, as I prepare myself for the oncoming season of college football by watching some replays of past games, I can't help but be glad that this generation of football games is close to coming to an end. NCAA '14 did the best with what it was given: a terrible engine that had been sugar coated over the last seven years. Fortunately, the addition of ... Read More

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Should Student-Athletes Be Paid?

Posted on July 18, 2013 at 05:38 PM.

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One of the hottest topics in college football is whether or not athletes should be "paid to play". Not to mention, with the current lawsuit against the NCAA and EA Sports, player likeness has never been such a talking point. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a resolution anywhere in sight. While most coaches and players seem to believe players should be given some kind of payment for their athletic endeavors, there is still a very prominent crowd that is adamantly against the idea. Ultimately, ... Read More

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Five Teams To Run The Spread With: NCAA '14

Posted on July 16, 2013 at 07:30 AM.

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Perhaps the best thing about NCAA '14 is that every play works the way its supposed to. College football is synonymous with opening up the playbook, and getting it to your playmakers. This weekend, I got a little time to sit down and try out a bunch of spread option teams - perhaps the most exciting style of football there is.

5. Toledo

Toledo is actually a lot of fun to play with this year. ... Read More

Monday, July 8, 2013

Another Look at NCAA 14

Posted on July 8, 2013 at 09:23 AM.

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After the generally positive feedback that came with the demo, it's not a real surprise that NCAA '14 has turned into EA's first big football success since Madden 2010. As I contemplated what exactly it was that NCAA Football got right this time around, I was kind of stumped. Commentary is still pretty stale (though, it is better), penalties and special teams still seem pretty broken, and modes like Road to Glory and Teambuilder ... Read More

Friday, June 14, 2013

How Did EA Grade Out At E3?

Posted on June 14, 2013 at 03:18 PM.

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Issue number one for EA right now is to gain the trust of their consumers. It's now been close to seven years since EA released the incredibly misleading Madden 06 trailer, and then a couple of weeks off another CGI trailer that made their next-gen titles a little too fluid to be true. The real question became: why would they do it again?

This time it wasn't just Madden, but rather NBA Live, FIFA, and UFC. It ... Read More

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

The Future of Sports Gaming

Posted on June 4, 2013 at 04:14 PM.

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It's not a surprise that sports gamers are among the most excited for the next generation of consoles. And why wouldn't we be? Unlike most other genres of gaming, we are given yearly upgrades with each new version seeming more like the last one. Understandably, it's hard for developers to make any drastic changes from year to year without taking a big risk. With that said, unless the developer of a certain series wants to be ... Read More

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

What an MLB: The Show Fantasy Draft Can Do For You (Part II)

Posted on May 22, 2013 at 04:37 PM.

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Last week, I gave everyone some (hopefully) helpful hints and house rules for an MLB: The Show 2013 fantasy draft. In part one, the article was based entirely around a one user-controlled team fantasy draft. The benefits of just having control over one team include a much faster fantasy draft, absolutely no bias towards the other 29 teams, and a having to bring a certain strategy into the draft if you want to succeed.
... Read More

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

What an MLB: The Show Fantasy Draft Can Do For You (Part 1)

Posted on May 7, 2013 at 02:05 PM.

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I've always been a HUGE fan of fantasy drafts. I never thought MLB: The Show did them particularly well (I would love it if next gen they went all out into making it a immerse experience with trading picks, players, having specific draft needs and wants, and re-worked logic) but I found that with a set of house rules, it was easy to really get into it.

The best thing about fantasy drafts, is they extrapolate ... Read More

Monday, April 15, 2013

Three Features In NCAA '14 We Should Be Excited About

Posted on April 15, 2013 at 10:55 AM.

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With EA releasing the first gameplay trailer and blog for NCAA Football 2014, the inevitable "hype train" is in full force. It's not exactly without merit, as the trailer shows off a few features that give us fans a few things to be excited about.