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NCAA Football 09 Postmortem

10:59 AM - January 13, 2009 by RaychelSnr

It is the perfect time to revisit EA Sports' NCAA Football 09 and discuss the game in postmortem fashion. NCAA 09 did a lot of things right both on and off the field. I wanted to focus specifically on what 09 brought to the table this season, and how these features held up over the course of the 2008 college season. I know there are many of you out there still playing the game -- and many who will not agree with what I have to say -- but as of this week, I feel it is important to at least "officially" end our NCAA Football 09 discussion, and begin our NCAA Football 10 discussions.

Plus, it is always fun to take a look back at a title nearly seven months after release because, at this point, most people can speak more calmly about a title that is not so fresh in their minds. Is the honeymoon officially over? How did NCAA 09 withstand the test of time?

Read More - NCAA Football 09 Postmortem

Game: NCAA Football 09Reader Score: 7/10 - Vote Now
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Member Comments

# 41 Pared @ 01/14/09 04:21 PM

OS Writing Staff,

You guys have to be in a very difficult situation here. Between the numerous glowing, positive articles regarding NCAA (that was blasted by the community early on) to this, I don't think you can "win" unless you are overly critical of this and Madden.

I empathize with the situation you're in.

I think you can say you enjoy the game for whatever reason... but I honestly feel that there are plenty of valid, legitimate comments being made and elaborated on how the game plays and the strategies involved that ultimately lead to a negative, un-enjoyable experience for some gamers here.

Perhaps an article on the community's expectations for '10 would balance out how some feel about the future of this series.

# 42 fistofrage @ 01/14/09 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pared


	OS Writing Staff, You guys have to be in a very difficult situation here. Between the numerous glowing, positive articles regarding NCAA (that was blasted by the community early on) to this, I don't think you can "win" unless you are overly critical of this and Madden. I empathize with the situation you're in. I think you can say you enjoy the game for whatever reason... but I honestly feel that there are plenty of valid, legitimate comments being made and elaborated on how the game plays and the strategies involved that ultimately lead to a negative, un-enjoyable experience for some gamers here. Perhaps an article on the community's expectations for '10 would balance out how some feel about the future of this series.

If you didn't know any better, they would appear to be on the take....

# 43 AuburnAlumni @ 01/14/09 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rudyjuly2


	Your opinion on this game went from rage to high praise to rage right from the beginning. I felt you blew a lot of stuff out of proportion when this game was released. Chris can have his opinion and it's one you shared at one point. For a game that sucked, I'm surprised you played it much but weren't you in a ton of dyansties as well?

The high praise came from sliders working so that I could get a realistic pass rush on varsity..or close to it.

The problem is...once I got into a few weeks of playing post patch...I saw all of the ugliness on varsity start to rear its ugly head...such as the lack of a good CPU playcalling AI, and inability of the CPU to stop me.

Heisman is still a cheese/cheat fest all the way through.

And yes...I was in a bunch of dynasties...because I LOVE college football and I tried and tried to give this game a chance.

I still have dynasties going but the constant "55-52" Human vs Human games, the fact that I had a game I beat Florida 98-0 and then got it recorded as a loss, the fact that anyone who has played this game for longer than a week can consistently destroy the computer on All American or lower..and the only reason on Heisman that games are close is by flat out cheating Computer play (greased pig animations galore, Robo QB, zero pass rush, etc.)

None of what I have said is blown out proportion. If you doubt it...see how many folks are getting these ludicrous numbers in their games 65-52, 76-10, 66-27, etc. See how many folks have had games turn from Ws to Ls. See how many folks had guys win Awards then transfer to Western Kentucky.

The game is severely flawed. The only reason I stick it in my console is a)I'm a college football nut and there is no other option b) the comraderie I have with my online buddies.

# 44 Pared @ 01/14/09 04:31 PM

fist,

I think that comment would be very unfair, no matter who made it.

But I can understand those who could read some of these articles regarding NCAA and feel they are almost as out of touch with what other gamers think as those developing the game.

Madden and NCAA are consistently grouped and discussed as being EA's worst products this year. I don't like to get hung up on specific portions of an article/review/comment (ok, I'm lying here; I do it all the time) but I just can't agree with anyone giving NCAA a grade of "A" in any area outside of Online Dynasty.

I would say that single mode saved the game for a large portion of the NCAA Online community.

# 45 fistofrage @ 01/14/09 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pared


	fist, I think that comment would be very unfair, no matter who made it. But I can understand those who could read some of these articles regarding NCAA and feel they are almost as out of touch with what other gamers think as those developing the game. Madden and NCAA are consistently grouped and discussed as being EA's worst products this year. I don't like to get hung up on specific portions of an article/review/comment (ok, I'm lying here; I do it all the time) but I just can't agree with anyone giving NCAA a grade of "A" in any area outside of Online Dynasty. I would say that single mode saved the game for a large portion of the NCAA Online community.

Maybe unfair, but I don't think so. I think these guys are in a tough spot like you said, but I also think in some ways they are also our voice. To the outside, I am sure they are considered the "experts" on the subject. Why else would they be writing on it? To say the gameplay is an A is calling it just short of perfect in the 95-97 range. That would indicate EA college football is a minor tweak away from being A+ or perfect.

EA would be quick to point to this review and for their own agenda, equate the OS perception with this article and deem the entire site gave gameplay an A.

I may have been harsh, but its frustrating. At a time when we need people to reach out and communicate our concerns with EA so we can get a complete product once in our lifetime(because we'll be back to square 1 with the next next gen in a couple years), we end up getting someone who has give them near perfect marks in gameplay. Where would EA's motivation to improve gameplay now come from?

# 46 Pared @ 01/14/09 04:55 PM

I agree that they are our voice, in a sense. That is why I suggested an article highlight the issues the community has with the game. I think this is just one individual's take on the game but much like you said can be interpreted as to being the general consensus of OS.

That, IMHO, would be a shame.

I just feel claiming they are on the take is unfair as someone may honestly feel the gameplay is an A. Would I or others agree with them? No... but that doesn't mean they don't have a right to their opinion.

But yes, when it becomes the voice of the community I can understand the resulting worry and frustrations.

# 47 fistofrage @ 01/14/09 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pared


	I agree that they are our voice, in a sense. That is why I suggested an article highlight the issues the community has with the game. I think this is just one individual's take on the game but much like you said can be interpreted as to being the general consensus of OS. That, IMHO, would be a shame. I just feel claiming they are on the take is unfair as someone may honestly feel the gameplay is an A. Would I or others agree with them? No... but that doesn't mean they don't have a right to their opinion. But yes, when it becomes the voice of the community I can understand the resulting worry and frustrations.

Exactly, that's why I said that they are in a hard place. Everyone should be entitled to share their opinion, but when an OS writer puts his opinion in an article, it can be deemed the consensus view of the community.

I would imagine that less than 10% of the active community would grade this game an A in gameplay, but EA could spin this article in an entirely different position.

Also, I don't feel that the reviewer could have possibly tested out our concerns. For the fact alone that speed kills and after 1 year of recruiting 99 speed 2* receivers, you can with the national title on Heisman with anyone. That's a freaking game killer if you allow yourself to recruit speed. The AI not throwing deep, the pick 6's, the AI run game non existant unless you totally up their ability and lower yours, the cement shoe shuffle QB choice run over and over again by the AI, the automatic 55 yard FG's, Oline/Dline interaction, lack of penalties, the list goes on an on.

If you are a reviewer, don't you take points off for this?

An A rating means nearing perfection, 1 tweak here or there and we have reached the gold standard.....Can you honestly find a reason why somebody would make that claim? And have it speak for a whole community?

# 48 ChaseB @ 01/14/09 05:38 PM

I'll preface this by saying I'm not a football guy -- I don't really like to watch it etc. -- and I don't enjoy Madden or NCAA all that much, but I obviously feel compelled to talk about this sort of backlash, just like I was after I got back from E3 and noticed the uproar from the original NCAA review.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fistofrage


	But he has a point. What if the EA programmers are sitting around right now trying to figure out what they can do to appease the OS critics. I know, I know.....But just imagine they read our posts are take the constructive criticism. And then EA Smithers goes running up to them with the review. "I think you'll be pleased sir." "Exxxxcellent, apparantly we don't have to change a thing, OS just gave our gameplay an A. And to think, Johnson, you were going to work this weekend trying to fix that pick 6 issue they were complaining about. Go enjoy that new movie you wanted to see instead".

I don't downplay the possible effects OS can have on a broader sports-gaming audience, truly I don't. I do believe we can be a "beacon" for sports developers and all that, but I also realize that these developers are not robots, and they take in more than simply what a front page or review says. After all, they are here in the community and so they have to know many of you are not happy. It would be nearly impossible not to notice this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pared


	OS Writing Staff, You guys have to be in a very difficult situation here. Between the numerous glowing, positive articles regarding NCAA (that was blasted by the community early on) to this, I don't think you can "win" unless you are overly critical of this and Madden. I empathize with the situation you're in. I think you can say you enjoy the game for whatever reason... but I honestly feel that there are plenty of valid, legitimate comments being made and elaborated on how the game plays and the strategies involved that ultimately lead to a negative, un-enjoyable experience for some gamers here. Perhaps an article on the community's expectations for '10 would balance out how some feel about the future of this series.

Definitely the staff response has been more positive than negative when it comes to NCAA this year. I also do not personally poo-poo the valid complaints being made about the game. As an outsider, I do think a lot of the positive staff vibes have to do with playing with friends in an online dynasty. I know I sometimes play games that are not all that great and have a good time them because I am playing with friends, and so we are BSing as we play or whatever. And at the same time, I can't tell the writers to be negative just to be negative -- unless it's actually for part of a story aka playing devil's advocate. I don't think the staff has been universally positive either though. I know Patrick Williams wrote a "negative" NCAA article a bit ago discussing his unhappiness with the game, and the fact that the patch was too little too late.

But returning to the point, before the "postmortem" went up, the day before we did post the consolidation process article, which was meant for people to post their biggest expectations for the following year, so we did at the very least that. Having a whole article devoted to the comments within that growing thread isn't a terrible idea either. And I can also say that as I edited Christian's article, I knew there would be anger and all that -- because hey I remember the review thread and having to talk about all this then. Frankly, I sort of dreaded it. But I think as one of the editors it's important to let people write about what they want, because otherwise it wouldn't be good in the first place. Christian was passionate about writing this article, and so an editor let him do it.

However, this is the first "postmortem" we have really done, and we plan to do them again moving forward. So, this is another learning experience, and I think I have learned from this, and in the future I think we will put more weight behind postmortems. As it stands, it was Christian's opinion and Christian's grades. The next postmortem we do will probably be by the "OS Staff" and will have opinions from multiple staff members, so we can better gauge the response of the entire staff -- or perhaps we won't put grades on the various aspects of the game, it's up for discussion. That way, at least the whole staff will either be berated or praised or whatever, instead of Christian having to take these body shots for his personal opinion. As of now, I think you should blame me before Christian, because I am the one who allowed the article to go up, he simply wrote it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fistofrage


	If you didn't know any better, they would appear to be on the take....

I am swimming in EA printed money as I write this response.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keith121212


	I'm never wasting my time reading a "ChrisS" article again after this garbage.

It was written by Christian -- "Bumble" on the forums. Chris just posted the article, like he always does for any written articles.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fistofrage


	Maybe unfair, but I don't think so. I think these guys are in a tough spot like you said, but I also think in some ways they are also our voice. To the outside, I am sure they are considered the "experts" on the subject. Why else would they be writing on it? To say the gameplay is an A is calling it just short of perfect in the 95-97 range. That would indicate EA college football is a minor tweak away from being A+ or perfect. EA would be quick to point to this review and for their own agenda, equate the OS perception with this article and deem the entire site gave gameplay an A. I may have been harsh, but its frustrating. At a time when we need people to reach out and communicate our concerns with EA so we can get a complete product once in our lifetime(because we'll be back to square 1 with the next next gen in a couple years), we end up getting someone who has give them near perfect marks in gameplay. Where would EA's motivation to improve gameplay now come from?

It was perhaps worded a bit harshly/unfairly but it is honestly a valid point in some regards. We do have input with developers at certain points. I know when I preview games, sometimes developers will ask what I think of the game or what the reaction will be from the community once the game comes out. Now most of the time, I don't think it's my "job" to tell them right then what I think of the game -- my "job" is to tell you all first what I think of it so I can remain as fair as possible without being swayed one way or the other. Then, later perhaps I will e-mail the developers or simply let them read the preview or something else along those lines. But, I don't want this point to lose focus: I do think it's important to tell them what can be improved upon at some point. But it's not solely my job to do so.

You all have done a great job giving the developers advice for months now. Developers have been around these parts and you guys have given tons of input and I think the EA developers are deeply interested in what you all have said. Plus, I would guess this year there will be some full-time OS "Community Leaders" like there are now for most of EA Canada's sports games/Sony Sports -- if it has not already happened, like I said at the start of this I am not an avid football follower, which does somewhat include the latest community info.

I don't think Christian's beliefs about the game would make them simply stop working, even if I do kind of think it would be rather awesome if OS had that much pull. Being able to start and stop development improvements at the drop of a hat would be quite a powerful tool.

# 49 fistofrage @ 01/14/09 05:46 PM

^^^Thanks for the response Chase. Believe me, I understand that you guys are in a tough position and will take heat no matter what you write.

But I also appreciate that you understood where I was coming from in my response that its hard to hold EA to task when they get an A in gameplay from OS.

# 50 Pared @ 01/14/09 05:58 PM

Bumble wrote this? Between these comments and the NBA Live comments he really enjoys causing quite a stir, eh?

I think you hit a great point about allowing this sort of article to include multiple opinions on the topic being discussed. It would allow readers to discern who they trust (or don't) regarding a sports video game.

Perhaps even allow a few forum goers to provide their input as well.

# 51 ChaseB @ 01/14/09 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pared


	Bumble wrote this? Between these comments and the NBA Live comments he really enjoys causing quite a stir, eh? I think you hit a great point about allowing this sort of article to include multiple opinions on the topic being discussed. It would allow readers to discern who they trust (or don't) regarding a sports video game. Perhaps even allow a few forum goers to provide their input as well.

I know, he is such an EA fanboy this year, jeez.

Jokes aside, yea I agree with you for sure about how to deal with these going ahead.

# 52 ftball11 @ 01/14/09 11:12 PM

Here is my quick "postmortem" review of '09.

Graphics/Presentation: D

The stadiums and players look great, but the in-game animations are a little stale, too "last-gen" for my taste. Presentation? There is no presentation or atmosphere. Every game you play is just another football game.

Gameplay: D

I am not going to go into too much detail here, these boards are filled with the obvious problems. Over all, the gameplay feels more like a PS-1 game rather than a "next-gen" game. '09 reminded me too much of Gameday.

Feature Set: D
Not enough features, Dynasty Mode makes absolutely no sense most of the time and I won't even go into the problems with recruiting. On-line play is the only feature that saved this game. This game does have replay value, only because it is the only college game on the market.

Overall: D

I have been playing football games for 16 years, '09 is not the worst game I've ever played, but it doesn't even crack my Top 20. Definitely not worth the price tag.

# 53 jyoung @ 01/15/09 12:28 AM

I think people would be a lot less forgiving of the numerous flaws in this series if it didn't have the online dynasty feature this year, because the gameplay to me still doesn't play anything like real football, and the presentation is second only to Madden in terms of being the worst in sports gaming.

But if the author enjoyed the game, I really don't have any problem with him saying so.

At the end of the day, it's his opinion on the game, and he presents it fairly well, even if I completely disagree with many of the grades.

# 54 cameldunginit2 @ 01/15/09 05:13 AM

Campus Legend was broken. It needs to be retooled to reflect a hurry-up offense at the end of each half. The QB needed to make more changes at the line and God forbid he audible to another play entirely. The QB camera angle doesn't allow the player to see the receivers. It would be awesome IMO if they ported the game from NCAA 07 for ps2/xbox to next gen. Those games were awesome and had good mini games that actually had something to do with football. Madden also needs to port to next gen from 06. Just my opinion.

# 55 Bumble14 @ 01/15/09 10:11 AM

All-

I just wanted to clarify this article as it has garnered a lot of passionate response from our community (which is what OS is all about).

The point of this retrospective review was more to touch on the things that NCAA 09 did right, before we start tearing the game down in our wishlist threads for NCAA 2010. I felt it was important to talk about the positives in 09, as we can not fully know where we want to go in the future without knowing where we have already been.

Sure, the game is not perfect, and there are always areas to improve on for us rabid sports gamers- but I really enjoyed NCAA 09 this year. The game was very enjoyable, and the scores that I posted were based on my enjoyement with the product in the noted areas.

Also, please be aware that a retrospective postmortem review is not the official OS review of the game. As I said before, the purpose of this article was to touch on NCAA 09 one last time, talk about what it did right, what was enjoyable about it, and to give an overview of what exactly it brought to the table this season for the NCAA Football genre.

Postmortem=game officially dead- time to tear the game apart, and put our improvements into the OS Consolidated Wishlist that we already have posted. I believe you will even find some posts from "Mr. NCAA 09 lover", Christian McLeod/Bumble14 in there as well ;-) You will find I love this series just as much as many of you, and am just as passionate about improvements in certain areas.

# 56 bangpow @ 01/15/09 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pared


	I agree that they are our voice, in a sense. That is why I suggested an article highlight the issues the community has with the game. I think this is just one individual's take on the game but much like you said can be interpreted as to being the general consensus of OS. That, IMHO, would be a shame. I just feel claiming they are on the take is unfair as someone may honestly feel the gameplay is an A. Would I or others agree with them? No... but that doesn't mean they don't have a right to their opinion. But yes, when it becomes the voice of the community I can understand the resulting worry and frustrations.

Actually, Pared. A LOT of these issues were brought up at the NCAA Community Event that took place last year.....before the game was released. Like, a couple months before, if I remember correctly.

There's no need for a community article.

# 57 Pared @ 01/15/09 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bangpow


	Actually, Pared. A LOT of these issues were brought up at the NCAA Community Event that took place last year.....before the game was released. Like, a couple months before, if I remember correctly. There's no need for a community article.

I know that but I'm making the comments in reference to the articles that get posted at OS...

I know all about the community day "fiasco" that went on.

Hopefully the scope of community day changes as well as what the "suits" deem as what is necessary to sell an NCAA football game this year.

# 58 rudyjuly2 @ 01/15/09 01:55 PM

It's funny how the Show had complaints about the game being too easy last year for the elite gamer. So they created an extra difficulty level called Legend to provide a challenge to anyone out there.

NCAA '09 had similar complaints by quite a few of the good gamers on the board here (fistofrage, Keyser Sose, stewaat, etc.) where they couldn't make the game hard enough on Heisman. Perhaps with a much improved slider system, they could also create a Legend difficulty level to provide a ridiculous set of challenges for those people.

# 59 Pared @ 01/15/09 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rudyjuly2


	It's funny how the Show had complaints about the game being too easy last year for the elite gamer. So they created an extra difficulty level called Legend to provide a challenge to anyone out there. NCAA '09 had similar complaints by quite a few of the good gamers on the board here (fistofrage, Keyser Sose, stewaat, etc.) where they couldn't make the game hard enough on Heisman. Perhaps with a much improved slider system, they could also create a Legend difficulty level to provide a ridiculous set of challenges for those people.

I hate being negative but this series has always shown a "harder" difficulty usually results in MORE unrealistic play by the CPU.

# 60 bangpow @ 01/15/09 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rudyjuly2


	It's funny how the Show had complaints about the game being too easy last year for the elite gamer. So they created an extra difficulty level called Legend to provide a challenge to anyone out there. NCAA '09 had similar complaints by quite a few of the good gamers on the board here (fistofrage, Keyser Sose, stewaat, etc.) where they couldn't make the game hard enough on Heisman. Perhaps with a much improved slider system, they could also create a Legend difficulty level to provide a ridiculous set of challenges for those people.

There's a difference between a game being hard and a game being unrealistically hard.

It would also be one thing to win games based on good playcalling and a sound gameplan and another to score at will due to bad pursuit angles and brain dead AI.

Everybody has their opinions of the game, but when you look at this article objectively with a knowledge of the game they are talking about, there's no way it gets an A. If the gameplay was even in the range of an A or even a B, there wouldn't be such polarizing opinions to debate that.

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