Operation Sports and it's network sites are extremely busy tonight with many gamers scoring their copies of NCAA Football 09 early.  Instead of having to read through several pages of impressions, I have included some highlights from Operation Sports and MaddenMania members for your enjoyment.

First and foremost, many NCAA gamers are worried about how NCAA freezes when trying to edit rosters, making the whole process very difficult, if not impossible.  Adam Thompson, lead gameplay designer for NCAA responded to user's concerns, "CDJ linked me a video. This is a soft crash (one or two doesn't matter to us if we have video... that was just to determine based on text)."

"This is a nasty bug, and I promise on Monday I will make sure it is known. Hopefully we can figure out what happened and get it patched."

Fairdale Kings, a popular roster editor on the 360 platform confirmed the problem happens across both platforms, as he is now stuck on his thirteenth team and cannot proceed because the game crashed on him thirteen times in a row. 

X-Box 360 owners still have rosters to look forward to thanks to PastaPadre having a set available in his locker which gamers can download.  As for PS3 users, there is a possibility they may not get rosters until after the game is patched.

General Impressions

The general consensus thus far on how NCAA Football 09 plays is that the game plays very close to how the demo played, except maybe a bit smoother.  

Forum user JTDribbles25 commented on how smooth the game played, "The game feels slightly tighter than the demo, especially running. While I was playing the demo I noticed alot of the stuttering after the play and haven't seen it in the retail version."

Several users have remarked about how much better the game controls compared to last year.  Some even went on to say it was one of the best controlling football games they have ever played.

"I feel like I have so much more control when I'm running and trying to wait for my blockers," OneTonMartin said. "Slowing down and juking to get into the open is very satisfying."

"You have a lot more control over your passes from last year. It's a lot of fun to try and zip one between defenders or throw a lob to a reciever over a defender. I threw a beautiful fade route to my TE and couldn't wait to lightly tap his icon when he got open. I was almost like I was showing off.""

JTDribbles25 also comented on how each team seems to play a bit different game.  "Teams definitely have different styles. Seem to play to there strengths alot. The differential from the good teams to the middle of the road is huge!! Speed absolutely kills."

Also, an important note for PS3 users who like to play in HD.  NJPapi reports the game only supports 720p, so if you're HDTV only supports 1080p or 480p, you will be forced to play with the lesser resolution.

Lack of a Pass Rush?

Several forum users have posted their stats for their games they have been playing.  From this writers perspective, most users are reporting games with 5-6 sacks combined for each team, which is not too far off from what a real NCAA Football game would offer.  This may not mean the pass rush is as good as it could be, but it may not be as bad as we once thought.

Stay tuned to Operation Sports as we provide more updates on the NCAA Football 09 Launch.