As for NCAA 10, you could have gone even further:

Week one PS2 sales dropped from roughly 70,000 (NCAA 09) to under 40,000 (NCAA 10).

NCAA 09 sold roughly 27,500 copies for PSP in week one; NCAA 10 sold roughly 18,000 (approximating the graphs on VGchartz).

I'm surprised the sales haven't been brought up more on the NCAA Football forum

Count me as one of those people that didn't buy NCAA FB 10. I'm sorry, but I'm tired of the Next Gen version not matching up with the PS2/Xbox version. Formation subs, refs on the field, coaches on the sidelines, FCS schools, reverses and fake reverses on kickoffs, the list goes on.

I've played NCAA FB 10 (borrowed it) and agree the game play is improved, but the default rosters are F'd up (so what's the point of playing someone online) and the dynasty is F'd up with progression (so there goes the fun in playing that).

I'm waiting for details on Patch #2. If progression isn't fixed I'm not buying it, if it is I will consider it, but I will buy it used.

I'm trying to speak with my wallet. I hope others are too and that EA is listening.

To me it seems that with a lot of the current gen stuff people are expecting more and more and getting pickier and pickier which could be leading to sales dropping.

Also regarding sports games there just seems to be a general lack of quality these days. I mean I love my NHL 09 as much as anybody but a lot of the features that they 'added' to it in the creation of NHL 10 for this year are things that used to be pretty standard, even in the SNES days in some cases.

I don't know why, but sports games seemed to lose a TON of features when they made the leap from PS2/Xbox to the PS3/360. Almost every series I can think of got a very nice new coat of paint that sure looked pretty, but all the guts of the games were basically emptied. While it's true they are adding lots of brand new features to many sports titles, for the most part they're just re-adding features that were in these games just a few years ago. Could just be that more people are catching on to this trend..

Could be a result of the bad economy also. A lot of folks can't justify spending $60 on new games now, especially sports titles where there may not be a huge upgrade from the previous year, aside from new rosters. Game sales in general have been down for the past few months according to NPD.

aday and matt8204 - Good points from both of u. I actually enjoy NCAA 10. I just go for the overalls of a game and don't get too bogged down with much other than the fact that a game is fun with good graphics and animations. That's how I look at NCAA 10 when I play it. As I get older, many of the things that woulda been sticking points from me when I was younger are no longer that important.

aday - As for the feature loses when hopping to a next gen console, I think it's because of the coding issues. Somethings don't work as well when porting codes and they also wanna add new things that may conflict. There are other things that may contribute to that but, eh.

I think with NCAA 10, the fact that Madden 10 was getting most of the goodness, NCAA cannot get the same love in the same year. All the gameplay fixes and protak and the refs/chain gangs, yada, will be in NCAA 11 and people would rather get Madden 10 to get all that, this year, instead of getting NCAA 10.

Never really thought about the economy as a factor. That is a good point. Madden has definitely been given more press but the NCAA team had the big team builder feature. I don't think that's been as much of a sales push as others have thought it would be. I'm sure a lot of people created multiple teams to push the number over 100,000.

the economy would definitely factor in. i used to buy certain games on release day automatically. then i started waiting until the reviews due to the quality problems. the disaster that was mlb 2k5 started this for me.

now with the economy the way it is, if the upgrade is not huge, then i wait for the price drop to $19.99 when i finally cannot resist. there are times i simply stick with an older version, like NCAA Football 07. the game play didn't disappoint me because:

1) i didn't pay a lot to start, $7.99. one of the first games i bought when i got my 360.
2) nothing in the reviews for 08 or 09 impressed me enough to feel a patched 07 would be so much worse than those games.
3) how could i leave my imaginary players for another game?
4) finally, other games out i have were more fun to play.

a few years ago during the height of the nfl 2k vs madden wars, the chief spin doctor of madden said their chief competition was halo and grand theft auto. at the time, most of us thought he was dissing 2k football, which he partially was. in retrospect, he was right.

why play an incomplete sports game, when forza is well done? why again, when you can buy mirrors edge for $19.99 and it is better? why play a sports game that doesn't feel next gen when nba 2k9 and nhl 09 do? time and money are too valuable to play a crappy game.

i have always respected rudyjuly's opinion on games, ncaa football in particular. when he is not impressed, i definitely don't buy it or even are tempted. i would actually search for his posts to get his opinions. but the last couple years, the games lack of improvement over last gen haven't given me any reason to even look to see if he liked it.

Thanks for the kind words Radja. I can see how people like NCAA 10 but there is a real lack of polish and attention to detail with some things. For that being the 4th NCAA game on the 360 (3rd on the PS3), I think it's pretty inexcusable for some of the bugs and glitches to be shipped with the game, patches or not.

I don't really think it has that much to do with the economy. Madden's sales increased a lot, esp. on the PS3. I think the economy plays a role NOW, and people are buying re-issues a la NCAA 10...

The thing that sticks out to me is NCAA sales #'s are the only ones that have been declining steadily in consecutive years since next gen. I think its obvious people are getting tired of the same ole same ole.

jWILL- I thought Madden's sales decreased across the board last year? I could be wrong, but I remember someone mentioning that.

part of the problem is definitely the economy with people finding better ways to spend $60... but it also has to do with the fact that a lot of sports franchises are stubbornly reluctant to take a risk. The idea that we still have canned animations on the next-gen systems is testament to this and is frankly bush league. There is no reason why our sports games shouldn't have advanced physics engines to match the modern technology. The problem is that, for whatever reason, video game companies are reluctant to spend the money and take a risk so they rest on their laurels. EA is not the only one at fault with this, so is 2K... look at NBA 2k9... there had to be a patch for the lay-ups bc it was too easy bc of canned animations...

Canned animations are completely last-gen. they shouldn't be on the current gen systems, xbox 360 or ps3. there is no excuse.

This is what i think the problem is. Bc with canned animations, what is the difference between NBA 2k6 on ps2 or NBA 2k9 on ps3 with upgraded graphics and more animations that are still canned? Weak. Same with the madden and NCAA series.

Until this changes dramatically, we will continue to have this debate and be wasting our breath.

I just think the games have yet to truly offer a compelling experience. I'll never forget the Xbox version of NCAA 10 that I really loved. I forgot the year, but it was the home-crowd rumble thing that you could see the meter of your home crowd and it would rattle the players. I used to love playing that game. However, all the NCAA's on the 360 have been blah. I think that EA takes such a slow and glacial approach to maxing out a system that it is killing the experience for everyone. I'm happy game sales are down: now they'll have to do better.

I also hope that Madden 2010 starts us on the right path.

to zoneblitz it was ncaa 05 with larry fitzgerald on the cover.... that was the best year thats cuz it was last gen but the next gen lacks something.. it just doesnt feel right it needs more presentation more time worked on...better mechanics... the best next gen football game i played was apfb 2k8 they nailed it gameplay wise but presentation is stale and features were stale and dynasty was stale witch is exactly what ncaa 2010 is ALL THEY NEED is a fixed and exciting dynasty and PRESENTATION i want tha dude CHRIS BURMAN from espn 2k5 every game and every week for every sports title thats whats fixes presentation.. when will they learn?

@Hey_Rebby

Me too man,this was the first year I haven't bought NCAA since 2001 but I'm tired of not having at least an equal experience to what I had on my xbox and ps2. I don't think it's being picky and asking too much either because I don't see any reason why the game on next gen consoles can't have the same stuff when the systems are far more powerful and plus the amount of time they've had to progress,what 5 years now? It's ridiculous. Hopefully NCAA11 is done right because I love my college football but I'm not craving it to the point where I need the game (even though I'm pretty close).