NCAA Football 12 Demo Details Revealed, EA Demo Stream Available

[TheTodd84]

And I guess... the ONE thing I'd like to know is why the EA marketing team continues to cater to the casual gamer? Am I the only one who realizes that casual gamers do NOT buy the game every year? They buy NCAA 09 and then that's it and play it until they get sick of it and trade it in when call of duty comes out. And if they don't like it, they probably didn't like it because it DIDN'T PLAY WELL. That is the definition of a casual gamer. The Hardcore guys on here are the ones who buy the game every single year because they are huge college football fans. Those are the MAJORITY of the buyers of this game. Casual gamers have their mom's buy them the game for christmas and aren't standing in line at midnight to buy this game.

That's where I feel like EA doesn't have their priorities right. Why are you catering your sports game, which is a genre more conducive to hardcore fans than most others, to casual gamers who may or may not purchase the game on a yearly basis? Especially since the hardcore people WILL buy it every year. It doesn't make business sense. You can only have so many new buyers of a game each year before you hit a ceiling. That's why madden hasn't increased in sales... the hardcore people aren't buying the game because it's garbage and the amount of casual gamers buying the games are spending their money elsewhere on games they are more interested in, like call of duty or LA Noire.

Am I the only one who notices this?

[nag5115]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheTodd84

And I guess... the ONE thing I'd like to know is why the EA marketing team continues to cater to the casual gamer? Am I the only one who realizes that casual gamers do NOT buy the game every year? They buy NCAA 09 and then that's it and play it until they get sick of it and trade it in when call of duty comes out. And if they don't like it, they probably didn't like it because it DIDN'T PLAY WELL. That is the definition of a casual gamer. The Hardcore guys on here are the ones who buy the game every single year because they are huge college football fans. Those are the MAJORITY of the buyers of this game. Casual gamers have their mom's buy them the game for christmas and aren't standing in line at midnight to buy this game. That's where I feel like EA doesn't have their priorities right. Why are you catering your sports game, which is a genre more conducive to hardcore fans than most others, to casual gamers who may or may not purchase the game on a yearly basis? Especially since the hardcore people WILL buy it every year. It doesn't make business sense. You can only have so many new buyers of a game each year before you hit a ceiling. That's why madden hasn't increased in sales... the hardcore people aren't buying the game because it's garbage and the amount of casual gamers buying the games are spending their money elsewhere on games they are more interested in, like call of duty or LA Noire. Am I the only one who notices this?

I agree completely. I'm one of the hardcore fans, buy the games (madden and ncaa) every year. Last year madden was so terrible that i ended up not touching it after a few weeks and focused my time on NCAA. Likewise NCAA 10 was miserable to play I actually thought about not buying NCAA last year. It seems like every other year EA slacks on one game and puts all their effort to make the other better. Unfortunately I'm afraid that this may be the year they devoted to madden. Hope I'm wrong because the coaching carousel looks pretty nice, as well as the additions to RTG. Just waiting for that exclusive liscense to expire because I feel like 2K could make a sweet college football game or at the very least give EA some competition so they step their game up.

[acts238shaun]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheTodd84

just because they "increased the size of the football team" for NCAA does not necessarily mean they are focusing on gameplay. They are not mutually exclusive. We, and you, have no idea what the extra people are being used for in this instance. It is not a "tangible fact" that it is being used on gameplay just because EA says they are working on it. How long has EA said one thing and delivered another? When are we going to stop believing them? They are out to market their product, OF COURSE they are going to say they are "focused on gameplay" to please the masses and get people to shut up. Until the gameplay ACTUALLY changes and there are "tangible" changes, then really, nothing has changed. So it's not necessarily a fact because we can only speculate what their intentions are. Until a spread running team like oregon picks me apart for 300+ yards rushing and 500+ yards of total offense and not just throwing the ball for slants or seams that can't be stopped and the CPU actually puts together a dynamic gameplan to pick me apart, just like, I dunno, oregon does IN REAL LIFE, then they will have showed me they have worked on gameplay. Until then, I will believe it when I see it. Hopefully increasing the "football team" at EA will mean a football version of the "impact engine" FIFA is using. Until they use that, everything will be scripted and movement will be way off... as well as logic and how the game plays. Real-time physics would fix a lot of the gameplay issues w the CPU, like defensive linemen reacting WAY TOO QUICKLY to the zone read.

Fight Night increased their team, didn't help. The code was so bad the constant freezes broke many PS3's.

[NDFan1029]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheTodd84

just because they "increased the size of the football team" for NCAA does not necessarily mean they are focusing on gameplay. They are not mutually exclusive. We, and you, have no idea what the extra people are being used for in this instance. It is not a "tangible fact" that it is being used on gameplay just because EA says they are working on it. How long has EA said one thing and delivered another? When are we going to stop believing them? They are out to market their product, OF COURSE they are going to say they are "focused on gameplay" to please the masses and get people to shut up. Until the gameplay ACTUALLY changes and there are "tangible" changes, then really, nothing has changed. So it's not necessarily a fact because we can only speculate what their intentions are. Until a spread running team like oregon picks me apart for 300+ yards rushing and 500+ yards of total offense and not just throwing the ball for slants or seams that can't be stopped and the CPU actually puts together a dynamic gameplan to pick me apart, just like, I dunno, oregon does IN REAL LIFE, then they will have showed me they have worked on gameplay. Until then, I will believe it when I see it. Hopefully increasing the "football team" at EA will mean a football version of the "impact engine" FIFA is using. Until they use that, everything will be scripted and movement will be way off... as well as logic and how the game plays. Real-time physics would fix a lot of the gameplay issues w the CPU, like defensive linemen reacting WAY TOO QUICKLY to the zone read.

EA should've gone after the Euphoria engine from Backbreaker. If they had that, the game would be incredible. Gameplay-wise, it would open up a million doors for this franchise.

[kt-od]

[bpac55]

Not to sound like a loser but what if I never use xbox live and don't have any friends to share with?

[TheTodd84]

Quote: Originally Posted by NDFan1029

EA should've gone after the Euphoria engine from Backbreaker. If they had that, the game would be incredible. Gameplay-wise, it would open up a million doors for this franchise.

This... couldn't have said it better myself.

[volwalker]

After reading all of the comments in the post I have conlcuded that the biggest concerns that the hardcore gamers have for NCAA 12 (including myself) are 1) CPU shotgun running and 2) USER play-action effectiveness. After watching every single gameplay footage the internet has to offer (Bama vs. Auburn, Cal vs. USC, South Carolina vs. Clemson, the demo itself, etc.) I would like to share my thoughts regarding the two concerns above.

1) After watching the UStrem event, the demo is the only real footage we can go by that relates to CPU shotgun running. I admit that the CPU struggled to establish the shotgun running game. Is there a chance that this concern will carry over into the retail version of the game? Sure, but there are a couple of things that can hopefully fix this problem: tuners and sliders. There is a small chance (albiet a chance) that tuners can fix this problem. If not then I believe that I can fix this myself with sliders. Whenever I will play against a CPU spread option team (I am an offline dynasty guy) I will simply adjust the HB awareness or something to that effect. Once the game is over I will set the slider back to my default setting.

I think the simple reason why the CPU has a hard time with running from the shotgun is that the HB simply can not find the correct hole to run through, especially cut-back holes. Most if not all shotgun run plays call for the HB to run horizontally then make a cut upfield. The "cut" part is what the CPU is struggling with. That is why under center running works so well in last years game: most under center runs call for the HB to run vertically upfield and thus eliminates the need to rely on cut-back runs. Those same runs lead the HB to run right into a hole made by the offensive line. I feel that one, if not both things can help fix this problem.

2) After watching all of the gameplay videos that are mentioned above, I am thoroughly impressed with the improvement of the USER play-action pass. In NCAA 11 I ran mostly a pro style offense which call for alot of paly-action. 9 times out of 10 play-action would not work. After counting the number of play-action plays in the NCAA 12 videos, I have calculated that the play-action worked a little over 50% of the time. This is an amzaing improvement compared to what we are used to. If you are not convienced that play-action has improved and is therefore more realistic, then there is no way to please you as a gamer.

I hope that my little speech can help ease the minds of the hardcore gamers who are worried that these two facets of gameplay will not ruin their overall experience with NCAA 12. I know they will not ruin mine.