NCAA Football 09 Patch 2 Info (Pasta Padre)

[bad_philanthropy]

It seems to me like next-gen platform technology in general has outpaced the actual tools to develop the games. We hear about how everything is more expensive and takes much longer to do, so it's unfortunate that tools don't exist to allow developers a process that is much more intuitive and streamlined and allows for a similar yield of productivity as last gen.

[DrUrsus]

Quote: Originally Posted by MegaHusker

Because Madden is THE game for EA. It's their cash cow, and God forbid something goes wrong with that game. The NFL is the most popular sport in America today. Hence, Madden is the most popular video game EA has. You see on TV all the real athletes playing Madden. It's in movies, TV, hell its got its own televised tournament. The Madden Challenge is turning into the World Series of Poker meets The Real World. EA Sports' lifeblood revolves around that game, especially considering Madden is the only game you could say that was consistently the best title in its respective sport and genre. In all seriousness, for a great majority of NCAA's life it has always taken a back seat to Madden. I'm sure the suits at EA still see it that way to an extent. Maybe its just me, but I remember in the 98-02 days it seemed like NCAA was a hand-me down of the previous years' Madden installment with some extra window dressing (ie: NCAA 01 was the bastard son of Madden 2000). For a long time NCAA was almost a niche game for a niche market, not as mass-marketable as Madden. A few years ago that started to change as College Football reached an all time popularity high. NCAA was becoming its own game, different from Madden. The atmosphere, the option game, recruting, polls, bowl games and the BCS. Some of these things are what made me prefer the college game to the pros IRL, and in gaming too. Face it, Madden has Madden as a spokesman. It's easily accessible by hardcore sim gamers and casual gamers. It has staying power. And its successes has allowed EA to become a titan in the gaming industry. This status gave them leverage to pull off the worst thing to ever happen to sports gaming: exclusive licenses. Now they can get away with releasing an inferior product. Think about it--at one time you could argue EA was #2 in the holy trinity of sports. NFL2K5 was a great game and many people preferred it to Madden. NBA 2k and College Hoops 2k are/were VASTLY superior to Live and March Madness. Don't get me started on baseball. Now I'm deprived of College Hoops 2k, after 2k8 was possibly the best basketball game I ever played. But we are all going to have to get used to this as I doubt things will change. As long was a vast majority of the public is willing to shell out $60 for NCAA, EA won't have a reason to put out the best product possible.

I agree years ago it was the Madden bastage child and had more in common with the previous years Madden with a more college feel.

Yes, I think Madden will always get priority since it is their flagship title. They did really mess up Madden last year and it was a stinker in my opinion. I hated that Madden more than any ever made.

And Yes, exclusive licenses stink when EA has them and when 2K has one (baseball). Competition will always make things better in my opinion.

[stevedrumsdw]

As a consumer I would tend to think that it is EA's obligation to imform us of broken concepts in their games prior to release. Especially when basic gameplay functions are defective making the game unplayable. It is false advertising to have prior knowledge of a products disfunction without informing the public. I appreciate the work that goes into the game, and some of the new features are nice, but good Lord when it is this screwed up we should be aware prior to release.

[oukingpen]

Thank god. I'm pretty easy going about playability but this game is really frustrating. The AI is terrible.

[srudoff]

Quote: Originally Posted by muggins

Why does it take a minimum of 1 month to patch? Have programmers come in on the weekends. When we have an issue with code at work our programmers will often stay til 7 pm on Saturday nights. Not to mention that a few of these bugs were known about before the game even released...

different software has different levels of authorization

some healthcare companies develop software that is regulated by the fda - if they make a major code change, it has to go through testing/validation by their IT, Quality, & Regulatory departments, then has to be approved by the fda via a 510k submission. the FDA has 90 days to approve it (and they normally take most of those days). If they have any questions that need to be answered by the developer, the 90 day approval clock starts over, giving them another 90 days to approve. obviously this isn't fda regulated software, however I believe Sony and Microsoft both need to give their blessing before anything's released.

this also isn't a pc game like ootp or the mogul series where a developer can work all weekend to release a patch, only to realize that the patch creates a bunch of other problems. you should see the baseball mogul support forum for examples. i think Adam intimated that they have ONE shot to get this right because any patches after the 2nd one would take directly from their ncaa 2010 budget dollar wise and man-hour wise.

personally i'd rather wait to make sure they correct as much as possible in one patch. the season doesn't even start until late august and i don't get into madden much so i won't have to split time between the two games but i realize (as they do i'm sure) that many people play both games.

[MegaHusker]

Quote: Originally Posted by stevedrumsdw

As a consumer I would tend to think that it is EA's obligation to imform us of broken concepts in their games prior to release. Especially when basic gameplay functions are defective making the game unplayable. It is false advertising to have prior knowledge of a products disfunction without informing the public. I appreciate the work that goes into the game, and some of the new features are nice, but good Lord when it is this screwed up we should be aware prior to release.

They really aren't false advertising, because in their eyes the concepts are NOT broken. I appreciate all the work OMT and the rest of the designers due, but the suits that make the decisions wanted the game this way IMO. Not the bugs...those are going to be fixed with the patches.

Its the things are the most fundamentally wrong with the game that I think they wanted. Many people have started to figure this out. The KR/PRs are going to be fixed, but I don't think EA consider those a problem. Same with offensive speed cheats, pursuit angles, easily broken tackles, and lack of pass rush and zone coverage. EA promised "Wide Open Gameplay" and they delivered. So in a sense they are advertising 100% truthfully.

Just be prepared for NCAA 10 when gameplay is slanted the other way-- "Lockdown Defense Returns!". Hit Stick will knock the ball loose every time, press coverage will allow 70 rated CBs to hold 99 WRs on the LOS for 5 seconds, and there will be no pocket for the QB because the OL will be on their rears all day.

[BobbyZ23]

It's nice to see that they are working on patches, but what about those of us that don't have X-Box Live or Playstation Network? Are we stuck with a broken game?

[gsus8091]

Okay, so I guess no patches yet.......****!! Anyway, with this patch, I'm sure major issues will be patched. Surely not all of them and roster editing seems to be the highest priority, but I have this feeling that NCAA will stil be with major bugs even with the first patch being downloaded. Soooooooo, when do you think the 2nd patch will be released or a good estimate of when?

The first patch on any video rarely fixs the game to the point of our liking. Just look at COD4. they took at least 4 to get where they are and they were still working with a legendary product. I just don't think that NCAA will take us to the next gen level until next year at the least. If there are already bugs and gltiches that are ruining our experience some I would be sure of will not be fixable. So I have this sick feeling that no matter how many patches that will be issued still won't have the desired effect on NCAA 09. The game was born cripple and no matter how times it goes into surgery it will always be crippled.