Another set of impressions. Appears to like it overall, but there was another mention of numerous fumbles.

http://sportsgamer.blogspot.com/2007...-thoughts.html

1) We get it. We know EA games have other issues than frame rates. That's obvious.

2) The frame rates make a difference. I'm not sure why that's hard to comprehend. We knew it would make a difference even before the release and after playing the demo, there is a noticeable difference to me and many others who have played it. That's an issue for a PS3 owner. Forget all of the other issues with the game, the game at 1/2 the framerate of the other system is an issue if you own a PS3. Especially if you have a friend who has a 360 and you play both versions. I'm not sure how noticeable it is to other people, but I htink the drop is signifigant.

Good deal. Sounds like we're on the same page them. I don't care about the frame rate if the game still has flaws. There were several posts earlier in this thread mentioning that EA would get their money even if the games were so-so simply because there is no other option for college football. I don't buy that logic at all. They have to put out a game that actually is worth my $60 before I actually spend it.

Point me to the last EA sports game thread where the impressions actually improved over the course of time. It's been quite awhile. Until it happens again, count me as sceptical.

Maybe I didn't read closely enough earlier in the thread, but I thought the fumble issue was that there weren't enough fumbles. So are there too many or too few?

Two schools of thought and both are equally right:

1) I'm not paying $60 for a buggy game that should be better. Screw (insert gamemaker here), I'm not buying their garbage.

I've taken this opinion with older versions of OOTP. (although I'm really enjoying 7) There isn't anything wrong with this opinion. I can see why people have it and have had it myself in the past.

2) OK, the game is buggy in parts, but with slider tweaks it's playable. I still have fun playing it and it is the only option out there. At the end of the day, I'll get my $60 worth of gameplay out of it, even if I wish it could be better.

I think this is the attitude most people take with an NCAA/Madden game. Simply put, there is no alternative for a graphical dynasty game. It's Madden and NCAA. There have been years the game has been a complete and total disaster. But most years EA gets it good enough to make it enjoyable for all but the die hard sports gamers.

I know I'll be frustrated by something in the game within a week of purchase. I also know I'll play the game 25-35 hours at a minimum, have some online games with friends and get more than enough enjoyment out of the overall game to make it worth my money.

If a gamer gets that, there is nothing wrong with it. I believe Mizzou plays ESPN 2K7 baseball on the 360. That thing is damned near unplayable for me but he was able to overlook the flaws and get his money worth out of it. Good for him. And good for us who will get it out of NCAA.

Too Many.

Hopefully its a lower level thing because there is no fumble sliders to adjust.

Honestly, it could be buggy as hell and I'll still play a 5 year dynasty at the minimum with Rutgers. I don't crave the perfect realism that I used to when I was younger, probably because I'm happy enough to be just relaxing in front of the TV with a video game instead of working or doing something else that's stressful. My $60 will be well-spent for these reasons. Hell, I'm working in NYC this week and I'll easily spend $60 on morning coffee, lunch, and afternoon coffee.

edit: That's not to say that people don't have the right to be mad or choose to not spend their money on a game for a "roster update" or if the little annoying bugs are enough to turn you off. Personally, I can deal with all bugs short of "I step back to pass and the ball magically shifts into the hands of a defender."

Actually, MizzouRah is the one who likes the 2K7 game. I currenly play the PS3 version of The Show. We both wear black and gold to work every day, so I can see how you were confused.

i guess it's me, but i'm a bit underwhelmed by the graphics and i don't notice or can't tell what 60 FPS looks like. guess i have to see 30 FPS to see the difference. i'm still excited to get the game though. looks real deep and seems like it'll provide quite a few hours of gameplay out of it.

I'm actually a tester by occupation, so problems in a program stick out like a sore thumb to me when compared to most gamers. I look for those kinds of bugs on a daily basis.

I haven't seen too many. You just have to cover up when there are 50 guys surrounding you.

While the game isn't perfect, some of the crap you hear on the other boards is hilarious. People complaining about the sidelines - "the players are fat - they just stand there", or aesthetics - "are there players with long hair?!" - if those are the issues you have, SHUT UP. My goodness, by far the most important thing is GAMEPLAY.

It's not NCAA Fashion Show 2008.

Exactly...to each his own. Minor stuff totally would've bothered me as a 15 year old playing NCAA 98 or whatever, but it's just not a concern to me anymore (and just for clarity I'll say that my reference is in no way to indicate anyone is being immature by being bothered by such things).

Beside Gameplay, also important is the sim engine especially for Dynasty mode.

Totally agree with this. I really wish the developers would use relatively minimal textures/polygons on the crowd and sidelines so that the on-field play was the best it could be and was the focus of the game's processing power. I'll take a terrible crowd look and great on-field gameplay anyday.

But people always bitch that there are no sideline animations. They cry about it year after year.

My one beef on this was that on some shots, it looked as if USC's helmets didn't even have the Trojan on it for the guys on the sideline. That's bad.

I agree. I know a couple of games added those fan reaction shots during the game. It was kind of cool the first few times, but the number of fan reactions shots were so limited that it grew old very quickly.

I knew which Mizzou I meant. It was Rah. We have to many damned Mizzou's on the board.

Don't think I would assume you'd buy a 360 for MLB2K7 :)

Too many fumbles is the complaint. Most of them coming from Hart on Michigan. Shrug, some people see huge numbers, others say that if they use the cover button they are seeing realistic numbers.

He never fumbles! I sense an anti-Michigan conspiracy.

I guess we'll just need to use the cover button this year. I know that the real Mike Hart never loses a fumble, but that's got to be because he works extra hard to hold on to the football. I suppose this is EA's way of making us work a little harder to hold the ball. I haven't played the demo, but I hope it turns out to be OK.

Now, it would be pretty bizarre if, in the full game, only Mike Hart fumbled the ball too much. Imagine if all the other running backs were fine. That would be a legendary blunder by EA Sports. :D

Hart fumbled a lot for me, and, oddly enough, I had much better luck running with his backup, #24. And I'm not sure if I was using the correct button to protect the ball. Isn't it the right shoulder button?

Cover button might help human players to fumble less, but its not going to help the AI from fumbling if they don't use it.

That's a good point. So I guess I wonder if any of the complaints involve Hart fumbling too much when the CPU is Michigan. Has anybody read anything on that?

I haven't had a RB fumble, but each QB did fumble the first time they were hit.

I like how the QBs will pull the ball back if there is a lot of pressure. In years past you could wait until the last possible second to throw.

Just not seeing it. I've played two games as USC and Hart didn't fumble a single time.

I've had him fumble one time with me as Michigan. (about 4 or 5 games) I haven't used the cover button once.

jb, are you seeing this yourself or just harping on what you've read others say?

I personally haven't seen it.

i played 2 games. i only had one fumble with Michigan, and it was a realistic scenario for the ball to have been fumbled (running into a crowd of defenders rather than away from it). i had a lot of INTS though, but i'll chalk it up to the difficulty level not being high enough. the game played nice though, should be lots of fun. playbook over the instant replay is stupid and i agree the AI takes snapshots/pics of some non-interesting things.

It's weird, because NCAA 07 was unplayable for me because of the 30 fps and lack of control I felt, but NHL 07 at 30 fps, although still has some lack of control issues, is fine as far as gameplay is concerned. (although NHL 2k7 is MUCH better control wise at 60 fps.

Played the demo and the control is back! It's going to be interesting to read reviews of the 360 version vs the ps3 version.

I hated the playcalling screen at first, but I'm liking it more and more now as I get used to it. Haven't seen many fumbles yet.. passing seems great imho - too many times college qb's seem like NFL qb's in NCAA, not this time. Short passes are the way to go with an occasional bomb thrown in.

I think the game is on varsity, so I'm interested to see how the AI plays on higher levels. With the gameplay and new recruiting, I think I'll be happy this year. (it is annoying to see slowdowns at times.. it doesn't affect the game, but I'm not sure why we are still seeing slowdowns in next gen games.. maybe when they put the games on HD in the future, those will go away?)

Feels like college... plays like college and the control is like night and day vs last years game.

hxxp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U3uoAKBI9o

Ncaa Football commercial.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX2LjWPELXo&NR=1\
adrian peterson's one. Apparently they're going with "What could have been"

I just saw an Adrian Peterson one, with a Longhorns fan gang-tackling him on every play.

With the Boise State play now in the game, is the Wrong Ball Play in there, too?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ynnn...elated&search=

Fairdale Kings has posted on OS that he will have the game early tomorrow and that he should have 360 rosters ready for the official release day next Tuesday :)

Awesome!!!

Stupid EA has disappointed me with every football game for years, and I may be a sucker and buy this one because of all of the improvements. Could I just enjoy myself playing various forms of the Campus Legend mode? Or trying to build a monster out of a crappy team? I wanna be Ohio State but I think the way NCAA Football has been in the past won't allow me to do a dynasty with them, but we'll see.

Will probably search for an early copy on my day off, even though I'm still playing the hell out of College Hoops 2k7...

I downloaded the demo and played through most of the first quarter (the quarters are only two minutes long in the demo). On my first carry with Mike Hart, I fumbled, and USC returned it for a touchdown. On the next possession, my QB - Chad Henne, I guess - got sacked and fumbled, but he recovered it himself. I don't think I'd ever seen a player recover his own fumble in one of these video games before, so that was cool.

Anyway, I'm not alarmed about the fumble from Hart, but I've got to admit that I was surprised.

After hearing about all the fumbles people were having with Mike Hart I decided to do a bit of research.


Glad they added realism to this one.

The demo plays like it's on the "varsity" level which could equate the fumbles issue. Again, I've played 4 games and don't see the issue so far.

We'll see what the retail version is like.

Additionally I seem to remember early builds reporting higher than expected fumbles, so perhaps they were apart of the demo as well. I'm not sure at what part of development they start working on the demo.

I certainly can't imagine them releasing a game with this many fumbles.

I wonder how many times Mike Hart has fumbled in his college career. I know that he's only lost one fumble, but how many fumbles has his own team recovered? I'm not trying to justify all the fumbles that people find in the video game. I'm just curious.

FWIW, the two guys who are confirmed to have the game on OS report a lower number of fumbles that is more realistic. One of them also says the game plays better than the demo and doesn't have the noticable pause between plays. I'm finally checking out the demo tonight. I can't wait to play the retail version on Tuesday.

This thread is really tempting me to buy XBox 360 instead of just playing it another year on PS2.

The game doesn't know names, just ratings. I wonder what Mike Hart rating is in the game.

Does anyone have any info on the final changes to the PS2 version? I've done some searching and haven't seen anything, but if any of you have come across something, please post it here. Thanks.

That sounds great. I've noticed some of the pausing seems to result from displaying the button control mapping that they've liked to use all the time the last 2 years. We can probably disable that by changing the control scheme slightly like last year.

I've been keeping an eye out as I know you are interested, but I've seen very little info. Most people say it is 2007.5 with few changes. The biggest changes appear to be auto motion, a new QB evade move, and it seems the recruiting has changed to using hours, but is not significantly different from last year.

Thanks. Do you know whether the PS2 will have the in-game sim option? If the other changes aren't a big deal and they haven't screwed up the 2007 gameplay, I may get it just for the sim option. If not, I may just pass and play the 2007 version this year.

Conflicting information re: Supersim in different threads, but most people seem to say it is in the PS2 and Xbox versions. Here is the most detailed impressions I've seen of the PS2 version on OS (you need to register over there to view it):

http://forums.operationsports.com/vB...d.php?t=209792

Example A of why I sim through 5 seasons and get a completely fictional universe. I don't trust EA to get one team right, much less 110 teams worth of players. No thanks.

Just sim, sim away and start playing with a fictional roster for me. :)

DO it! Buy the 360! I dare you!

Thanks. I saw you mention OS a few times earlier, but didn't know if it was worth registering for. I'll check it out.

It's kind of frustrating in some of those impression threads. People keep asking the same already answered questions and the ones that I find interesting seem to be ignored.

If I hear one more person ask about I-AA teams (no, they're not in NG) or about a particular teams a) playbook b) ratings for their top 5 players c) hair length, I'm going to scream.

The reaction to your humorous questions in there was priceless. Some guys have no sense of irony or sarcasm. ;)

Yep. I hate the ratings questions, and guys who complain about no clear visors. Get a life!!!

Yeah, I was kind of surprised no one understood when I asked for BYU's top five players and their hair/sock lengths.

Great news!

I can't wait either. Not sure if I want to get the necessary tools to get the real rosters or just start with fake names.

For some reason, with college, I couldn't care less about real players. Maybe it's because they go away pretty quickly, or that 95% of the players on 115 teams I don't know anyway.

From Operation Sports.

First Impression thread who has the retail game already.

Many more impressions on OS as about a half dozen people have the game over there now. Most of them sound very good. A few of my favorites that have been mentioned by multiple people: Jump balls are much more realistic. Trick formations make good use of automotion. Also, bad CPU kickers are missing even intermediate kicks wide. The game is saving all of the plays to review at the end - at least on 5 minute quarters you can go back to any play in the game and review it from 8 different angles. Also, multiple people have confirmed the delay that was in the demo with the play calling screen is gone.

Dola -

Forgot my favorite 2 impressions: The CPU will punt from the 35 if it is 4th and long and they have a weak FG kicker. Also, the CPU reportedly seems to be running a good hurry up offense when they are behind and time is running low with more passing towards the sidelines.

Hopefully the game turns out well...I hope IGN/Gamespot posts a review on Friday (even though they're slammed with E3...lucky timing for EA?)

I have Friday off so I'll see if anywhere is selling it early. EFan, are our College Hoops 2k7 days numbered? :)

For what it's worth, I have the game (got it at a local Wal-Mart just before work), if anyone has questions. I won't be able to answer them until I get home (I'm at work right now).

I'm trying to convince myself not to go hunting for the game, but it's hard. I never find it early, but I just have fun going around town to search for it. It's pointless, though. The only places within 20 miles of me are Target, Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, EB/GameStop, Toys R Us, and Best Buy. You know EB and Best Buy aren't gonna budge. Target is a crapshoot. Sam's Club had the game out on the shelf early last year, but their register rejected the sale, so I assume that Wal-Mart's will do the same. The Toys R Us people around here are generally clueless about new video games, so that's my best hope, but they've told me in the past that they usually get their video game shipments on Mondays, so they don't even bother to look around if it's not a Monday or Tuesday.

Just for fun, I'll probably go searching anyway. Silly me. :)

Edit: Err, after reading WVUFAN's post, I guess I'm wrong about Wal-Mart. :D

I have a friend who works there, and it didn't have a problem going through, although I'm not sure if he did something special to make it work.

I'd still play College Hoops 2k7, but it would be much less if this game turns out as well as it sounds like it might. Unless there are major advancements in College Hoops 2k8, I'm going to skip it and just continue my 07 dynasty.

I just found NCAA 08 at a C&C games in Fremont Ohio for anyone who lives nearby.

I'm back in Findlay and that's only about a 40 minute drive!

They said they close at 8. BTW, These guys were fully aware they are selling early and seemed surprised I only wanted 1 copy.

Hilarious. I'm reading the NCAA impressions thread over at OS, and I see this post from jbmagic. It is word for word exactly the same post that I put in a questions thread in Madden's Community Day on their forum:

07-13-2007, 01:31 AM	#662
jbmagic Rookie Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 159	Re: *OFFICIAL* NCAA Impressions/Questions Thread Is there still too many DE's taken in the 1st round? Will teams draft more intelligently and consider their own rosters (For example will a team with a young potential star QB still take a QB in the first round or two?)

yep

I didn't see it get answer where you posted it at, so I posted that great question in the NCAA Impressions Forum.

Wait. I don't get it. What draft are we referring to in NCAA? Is that a new feature in 08? Do they also have the Grand Slam Challenge?

The cut and paste master!

Impressions? Come on, I know you're still up playing it... :D Which version do you have, PS3?

OK so after spending an hour putting in Ohio State's roster I fired up a game. (editing takes longer it seems). Here are a few impressions from my OSU-MICH game:

- Graphics are alot better and the games moves really smooth(as if that says anything)
- To see play art before the snap, you hold right trigger and flick the right stick up(sort of annoying)
- Plays will auto-motion receivers and backs before the snap
- I fumbled(and lost) the ball twice and threw 4 picks, I feel like I have to relearn how to play offensively.
- Running is fun but I hope the fumbles were a fluke, I don't want to have to remember to press the protect ball button everytime I run. Also I couldn't switch hands when running down the sideline.
- Chad Henne killed me, Maybe AA level was a little optimistic.
-No sacks from 10 yards away that I could tell(and I was sacked about 5 times)
- Only 1 pass interference was called all game and that was legit when I picked it off and ran it back.

One Play stood out in particular for me: Henne threw into the endzone and the reciever jumped up and had it at the peak. I hit sticked him low and the guy flipped(looked like I broke his neck). First time I actually jumped out of my seat for a video game hit in a long time. That was nice.

I played 1 dynasty game, againts FCS Midwest, and won 70-0. Best thing about that was I started simming when I was up 30-0 in the 2Q. The computer subbed in all of my backups without me telling it to(I was really worried about this)

To touch on the recruiting, u select 35 guys by searching or the old method to your target list. I'm sure it was the sheer # of recruits, but it seemed a little slow. I always got into a rythm in recruiting in older versions but this seemed like an awful lot of work. You can select Recruiting assistance, offer assistance, and visit assistance(i think that was the third). It alows you to create a prospect before preseason recruiting initially if thats your thing.

If anyone has specific Q's on gameplay please ask, I am going from memory and I was drinking heavily.

Anyone that got an early copy have a PS3 version?

Nooooooo!!! I was hoping that wouldn't be in the final version.

I am going to go ahead and buy the the 360 for this game and then get All Pro 2k8 in a month or so.

Does anyone have any recommendations on where I should buy it? I do not plan on buying an extended warranty from the store so that doesn't have to play into it. Since I am going to be dropping over $450 for the 360 and NCAA is there a store that would bundle it with a free year of Xbox Live or something along those lines?

Thanks for any suggestions.

I'm gonna play it pretty much just like that :)

I would try a local Gamestop or EB Games.

Starting Sunday, Circuit City will be giving a free year of XBox Live with the purchase of any 360 system.

I'm in Marlboro...we can meet up at the CC in Freehold and buy the system at the same time :).

The impressions on OS are insane. I'm not sure I've ever had such a high level of anticipation for a console football game.

I've tried to find the links you're talking about but with no luck. Can you post a link?

http://forums.operationsports.com/vBulletin/index.php

It's almost a thousand post thread (in just a few days) and you need to be logged in to view it:

http://forums.operationsports.com/vB...211312&page=92


A few of my favorite tidbits from it that immediately come to mind:

- A guy was dominating with his HB (I forget which one) and was running well with him as well as throwing little screens to him. The computer started putting 8 and 9 men in the box in obvious running situations and started double teaming him when he was spread out wide.

- When the computer has a lead, it is actually running down the play clock earlier than ever.

- People are getting decent results on All American with default sliders! They are getting very good results with just a few minor slider tweaks The only one that is routinely being adjusted is interceptions are being turned way down (which is one of flaws that remains.) However, with interception slider at 15, people are saying it is much better.

- The computer is actually sticking with the run if it is working and has run 40-50 times for a few hundred yards against one guy.

- Simmed stats look great. One other guy posted and besides the one's jb copied, there were ones in which rushing QB stats looked good, passing stats looked great, and defensive stats looked very solid.

- Some of the stories about mid air collisions sound amazing. One guy was running down the sideline with his FB and accidently hit the hurdle button and was nailed by a DB who flipped him over, but the FB had the presence of mind to reach out with his hand and put the ball inside the pylon for the TD.

- Players are slipping in rain and snow and people say that fatigue really seems well done, particularly in inclimate conditions.

- The biggest common complaint is too many interceptions which appears to be fixable with sliders, alternate uniforms which I frankly don't care about, and the lack of class editing which I also don't care about as starting rosters don't need to be perfect for me.

Oh yeah, the fake punt run play actually worked for someone for a 1st down. That play never worked in the past.

- Also, the Florida playbook sounds like it is quite fun to run as well as a few of the other more imaginative teams. Among many other interesting plays there is a WR option pass play.

Not to nitpick, but this is something that has always bothered me. They know they get eligibility wrong, it's a foregone conclusion every year...why not just let us fix it? A couple years back I had to create an alternate Brian Leonard just so I could play with him for the right number of years.

Man.... I can't wait for Tuesday...

Well, that explains why I wasn't seeing it.

Me neither. A few of the other things that I forgot to put in the other post but have been excited to read:

- With 6 minute quarters on AA, guys are ending up with 10-7, 14-7 type games and even a few 6-3 games in the snow (which most people don't like as the snow is overdone and makes it impossible to see the sidelines.)

- 3rd and long is hard to convert and long passing is really difficult. Even on short and intermediate passes, QB's with lower accuracy ratings are missing guys in all directions. Finally, QB's aren't perfect with their throws.

- On AA with mild slider tweaks, experienced players are getting beat by the CPU. One guy just had Colt Brennan complete almost 70% against him and shred his defense for over 300 yards.

Well, I'm definitely going to be hunting a little bit this weekend. I'm sure I'll strike out like I do every year, but I'm going to give it a shot. I've tried one Wal-Mart and one Toys R Us. No sight of the game at either place. I'm going to try another Wal-Mart tonight or tomorrow, and I'll probably end up checking out Target and FYE as well.

Against my better judgment, I might stop at Target and Wal-Mart on the way home. I'd really like to get it now because the family doesn't come home until Monday. After that, we're going on vacation in a couple of weeks - I'll probably wait for my birthday in mid-August.

Thanks EF for all the impressions!!

Tuesday can't come quick enough. :)

Too long for me to read through (threat at OS) not having read from the start....did anyone mention anything about the little glitches between calling plays, etc. Are they gone in the final game?

There's no glitches between plays so far.

This game, at AA, is HARD. Good lord. I'm in the second year of a dynasty (I simmed first year stats), and Va Tech just spanked me(I'm WVU) 34-14. Completely stopped my offense.

Several people have said it is gone. One person says he sees it. Another says it is there, but it is less noticable. Shrug.

I'm just summarizing what other people said. I can't wait to form some of my own impressions. I can't wait for my upcoming 3 day weekend next week :)

Is Walmart where people have been finding it? I may have to swing by...

I've heard of several from Walmart, several from Circuit City, and the majority seem to be mom and pop stores. I'm actually contemplating going 15 miles out of my way after work to check out a mom and pop store... I'll probably just call them instead to see what they say.

Edit: Most people who are getting it from places other than mom and pop stores, seem to have a connection at the store.

Sounds like a plan - I have a wedding to attend in Red Bank on Sunday evening but could do it in the morning. I am thinking about doing a little hunting for NCAA after work.

Check out this article on 5w-g about rosters for the 360. Especially Fairdales comment at the end. Sounds like they will get something figured out but it'll be difficult.

http://www.5w-g.com/?p=233