A Step Forward for the NCAA Football Franchise? - RaychelSnr's Blog

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RaychelSnr's Blog

A Step Forward for the NCAA Football Franchise? Stuck

Posted on May 8, 2012 at 11:52 AM.

(16)

I have written on what I thought NCAA Football 13 needed to do to really take a step forward -- and I can honestly say a lot of what I griped about has been addressed.

So congrats EA Tiburon, I'm calling you out.

Not for doing the wrong thing but for doing the right things. You see, we spend a lot of time being hypercritical of what you guys do down there -- but sometimes you just have to take a step back and smell the roses (or was that Oranges or Peaches?).

While I know NCAA Football 13 still has a lot of proving to do, the features we know about at this point have me pretty excited as a long time NCAA Football gamer.

There is the small issue of bugs, which we won't know anything about until a few dozen OS'ers do what a well stocked and well funded QA department can't -- find obvious and glaring bugs within the game.

I would try to be optimistic to that point, but I've openly called for gamers to quit buying sports games on day one.

So let's just get rid of the talk of bugs and try to be a sunshine pumper (scooter) for a bit.

The new WR/DB interactions in EA Football (not just NCAA) promise to take the passing game forward when before it was stuck in a decade old shell of antiquity. It was obvious last year the passing game needed to be rethought, and it's refreshing to see EA do new and exciting things with the passing game.

In real football, you can't throw to receivers who aren't looking at you -- so having the same principle apply to an alleged football simulation seems a good idea.

I'm also entirely excited about the QB dropback animations, and a few other odds and ends on gameplay -- but what really has me tickled is that the Tiburon boys finally decided to make NCAA Football...erm...NCAA Football.

The pure essence of college football is that every saturday, every game counts and you are not playing in a vacuum. When other teams lose earlier in the day, your game has more meaning. As your game unfolds, a dozen more (at least) are doing the exact same thing.

And they're all important, they all mean something.

In year's prior, NCAA Football did NOTHING to capture that. This year? It seems the game will at least give it a first go.

I'm not expecting it to be perfect, in the examples yesterday Rece Davis did sound a little jumpy after all. However, to finally embrace that image and vision of college football is a critical first step towards making the NCAA Football franchise the powerhouse it once was.

For the time being, my optimism for this year's game (and I'm reviewing it), is at a high level at this point. This doesn't mean I'm going to bias the game higher either, you can count on me to be rational about how good the game is. But EA is pushing all of the right buttons with me (at least) thus far, and I simply can't wait to see how the final product has turned out.

So with that said, viva la College Football! Bring on July.

Comments

# 1 BDawg35 @ May 8

I have never read a review by someone who has gotten their hands on the game this early that hasn't been rosy. Nobody is going to rip the game at this point and risk not being granted this kind of access in the future. So, as always, I wait until those of us who will have to fork out $60 to get the game for ourselves on release day have our crack at it.

That having been said, this is one of the greatest lines EVER in a review: There is the small issue of bugs, which we won't know anything about until a few dozen OS'ers do what a well stocked and well funded QA department can't -- find obvious and glaring bugs within the game.

Sidenizzle: Warms my heart to still see MM in your screen name (sniff).

# 2 JBkiLLa25 @ May 8

@ misterkrabz actually learn what your talking about before you speak. If you would pay attention to what the guys at Tiburon are doin you would realize they aren't giving us the same Kool-Aid they have been giving us for a while now. Am I saying its gonna be perfect? No, but learn how they are going about these changes before you make an uneducated assumption.

# 3 ewig @ May 8

Always calling out QA for not finding bugs, when the reality is QA finds them, but producers, executive producers and studio heads close or defer them for a myriad of reasons.

# 4 $NevaBroke$ @ May 8

This will be a tough sell for me. For the past few years i would not have even been able to play the ncaa franchise if it wasn't for the os community rosters, numerous slider upgrades by the os community, and sick stadium sounds that were ripped for easy access (shout out to dat dude reppin' the Vols and JerseySuave). This game has not been ready out-the-box in years. You can't even begin to get a decent dynasty going until around January or February after the game drops. I'm good with ncaa 12 now, but truth be told the game was garbage until all patches and community user upgrades took shape in January and it's still not where it can and should be....True heads know exactly what I mean when I say this. I'm not going to bash ncaa 13 because I know better than to have high hopes for this game on launch day. Not sure if I will cop ncaa this year, but if I do it probably won't be until January or February. Ohh, I just can't wait to read the great comments on here when this game launches.

# 5 The_Gaming_Disciple @ May 8

Not until I see a different tackle per play...not until I see better player physics...not until more Div 1AA teams...not until the price drops...(both systems)...not until (grabs stick...continues to beat dead horse)...sidelines are drastically updated like ALL Pro Football...not until real hairstyles are in the game...not until players have different body styles...not until....I can go all day with this....Because with EA...it's ONE STEP FORWARDS AND TWO STEPS BACK!!!

# 6 The_Gaming_Disciple @ May 9

@mizzou852, Was that long ill informed rant necessary...no. Secondly, I have bought NCAA since, well, probably before you knew what a PS1 was. Thirdly, it is obvious you don't read and comprehend well. The blog asked if EA was moving in the right direction. I stated, not until certain things were fixed. Fourthly, I never said I was not going to purchase the game. Go back to school and learn how to read and comprehend a sentence and statement for its main points...smh...Fifthly, the observations I made, are all things EA is capable of implementing, however, choosing not to do. I was only commenting on their progression forward. You, are the last of all people that can school me on anything little boy...shouldn't you be playing in traffic right about now...?

# 7 tHurley2010 @ May 9

Every year around this time EA comes out with a sales pitch talking about all the WONDERFUL NEW FEATURES that the new edition of their game will have. There is nothing wrong with them doing so, they're trying to sell their product, why would they write about what they still have to fix? Then when the game is released, we buyers find out that these new features really don't work how they were promised.

So can we as buyers and gamers of the NCAA Football series expect anything different from this year's installment? I don't think it would be a realistic expectation for anyone to think that these new promises are going to be flawless. The boys at EA Tiburon have damaged their reputation by repeatedly promising and later failing to deliver on the new features to their customers. But this year can be a chance to mend the leaks in the dam.

All of the features look to bring some realism and college football into a game of college football. I'm excited for this year's release, it just feels different than any of its predecessors

# 8 The_Gaming_Disciple @ May 9

@mizzou852, Oh yea one more blast on a simp like you. I also said nothing about real players in the game...you seriously need to slap whomever your English teachers were because you totally missed the point of my statement. Sorry, I just had to slip one more JAB on a simp like you...holla at me when you get off the mat...

# 9 Raven Nation42 @ May 12

After reading& watching all the features that are being added to this year's version, a step toward creating the college football experience we see on Saturday is happening.No matter how small. I truly hope that they continue in this direction and have even more to communicate as we get closer to the July launch.For now, it's their 2004 and 2006 versions that I continue to enjoy.