Trailer:

hxxp://www.gametrailers.com/player/32876.html

So... the new features are the mascot game, cheerleader animations and some tweaks to the play diagram in game? EA aren't even trying anymore...

The lighting sure does look pretty, though.

Looks ok, but I love how the Notre Dame player and the Boston College mascot were celebrating with each other after the ND player scored.

That's attention to detail right there.

I think that was supposed to be a rebuttal to the Notre Dame players Heisman pose. The BC mascot was implying, no baby I'm the Heisman hype by posing back at him.

It really does. However, what I really like in the trailer is the Online Dynasty. It's hard to say for sure, but it looks like it will be a fully featured online dynasty with at least 4 people. That is the main thing that is building my interest for 09 if I see gameplay videos showing they fixed the defensive AI issues with so many interceptions.

LOL. In all seriousness, how many years have gamers been saying that now? I can remember that problem back through the PS2 years at a minimum.

Online dynasty could be a lot of fun, but the times I've tried to play online the last few years were just horrible experiences with lag, 5 seconds to call plays and no time to make adjustments, and just overall bad experiences.

Honestly, last year was the first year THAT was a problem. The problem in previous years was not too many interceptions, but the fact that the deep ball was too easy to complete.


Phototropic, I agree that lag could be the killer for the online dynasty. I just want to be able to play/compete with my friend in NJ, but if it is a lag fest, that will kill it. Fortunately, last year, online on the 360 was a good experience with NCAA most of the time. It was the CPU games that were horrible for me due to the aforementioned interception issues.

From the looks fo that trailer I was way off on my assumption that the online dynasty would be an extension of EASPORTSWORLD. Looks like it will really be a pretty full function dynasty online with up to 3 other players based on what I saw in the trailer.

That is very exciting... I hope I can find a couple of guys on here that are reliable to play with... Or at least my buddy from college... Probably would be more fun if we were all in the same conference though...

I am still looking forward to this game despite all of the previous critics. It remains the one purchase I make every year on release day any more...

The other thing is at the very least you could always use teams from different conferences and not face off online. You still get the benefit of recruiting from the same pool and living in the same world.

I hope the Wii version isn't lame. But the outlook isn't great when they ask what's different and they talk about facebook and mascot voting. Seriously, do they talk to their customers at all? Or did they talk to a pack of 15 year old girls?

Don't you know that most people who play the Wii are 15-year old girls? Or at least, that's what M$ and Sony would want you to believe.

Of course not--A lot of geriatrics play the Wii too.

Hopefully the dynasty mode will let you play head to head in all the games involving your teams. My roommates and I the past two years had some intense dynasties where we'd always play with our teams head to head against one of the other two guys. Well, I'm here in law school, a friend is in med school in another city, and the other one is working out of state...so this would be pretty cool.

That is my hope as well. My and my best friend from H.S. used to play out Madden careers where I'd control the Eagles and he'd control the 49ers and we'd control each other's opponents for every game. That is what I'm hoping to do over the internet with NCAA with me controlling USC and him with Penn State.

A few of the community leaders were invited to EA's headquarters to have a day or two with an "early build" of NCAA and offer feedback on any fine tuning that should be done. One of the guys is from Ncaastrategies which has always been a fairly critical audience of the series and I'm interested in reading his takes. The others have had a much less critical eye. They are all free of any NDA's reportedly. Also, they all have access to a "nearly complete game" reportedly. One of those people have already reported their early findings and it appears interceptions are still a problem:

Here is a small piece of his post from Madden Mania (things that interested me in the post):

- Still too many completions - whether it be to your own receiver or other team. Not seeing over or under throws. Definitely needs addressed before release.

- No FCS or CAS, however Western Kentucky is in the game.

(This on 360 version)
- Depth Chart Bug fixed.

- HFA = More composed your QB is, the more icons he sees on the road. Seems a lot easier to call audibles/hot routes on road as compared to last-gen.

- After INTs, there is an optional "Quiz the QB" mini-game. You have three choices in which to guess the play the defense was in. Get it right to regain some composure, answer wrong and lose composure.

I like how he says 'definitely needs addressed before release' like he's going to somehow influence anyone at EA to make the necessary adjustments before release of the game.

Uhhhhh, no.`

Spot on.

You know what really sucks? Mizzou is going to have a great team on this year's game, but I'm likely not going to buy it because it appears little has been done to fix the problems. That really pisses me off.

I'm with you. I'm not buying any EA football game without reading impressions from here and a few other sites I frequent. I don't give two shits about Madden, but NCAA I really wantto like.

The Quiz the QB thing was a little joke you added, right?





Right?

I wish. Also, I didn't even cut and paste about the ice-the-kicker mini-game they are adding (which is also optional.)

Is that Clemson's stadium covered in snow?

Good Lord. I was so miffed to hear that the passing game hadn't been fixed that I didn't even notice the blurb about the mini-game. TERRIBLE!

I'm also wondering if this is just a joke..

Like I said before, the guys at NCAAStrategies are usually very critical. These impressions of their time with the early build had me excited until I read the bit about interceptions.

http://www.ncaastrategies.com/utopia...ad.php?t=57095


It's long. Here are a few of the highlights for me (paraphrased since they asked for no copy and paste)

- Great presentation including great weather effects.

- Gameplay seems like a good combo of next gen and last gen with more fluidity.

- The option is harder to pull off when falling down and is a bit more realistic.


The big negative and the main reason I'm not excited about their long review:

1-2 interceptions returned for TD's per game. Too many interceptions. Too many on target passes that are either caught or intercepted.

Anyone who is interested in reading some good non-biased views on this "early build" of NCAA 09 should check out the link.

Dola -

This writeup also mentions the QB mini-game after INT's and explains them a bit better. It's definitely not a joke.

This is a big problem. That likely means that the screens and short passing game are defended very tightly, because that's where you get most of your 'Pick 6' plays. Given that Mizzou is a team that likes to throw a lot of short routes and screens, this would be a big issue if I were to get the game.

If it is the same issue as last year, which I'm willing to bet it is, it isn't the screens that most of the pick 6's are coming from. Simply, the cornerbacks are the fastest players on the field and they seem to be able to make unbelievable moves on interception returns. Last year, most of the pick 6's came for a deep interception in the middle of the field, the cornerback faking out a player or two and then burning everyone down a sideline. I bet it is the same this year.

As the guy from NCAA Strategies said, part of the problem is that DB's and linebackers in NCAA Football never stumble or fall after intercepting it in the game like they do in real life. They just catch it, make a perfect pivot, and then start running at full speed. If they added stumbling and such into the game, it would help the pick 6 issue greatly.

Gamespot has their preview of the game up as they were at the press event this week as well. They focused at looking at online dynasty:

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/spor...=1&sid=6189867


Highlights:

- Up to 12 people can participate in an online dynasty.

- Everyone has to finish a week before it can advance to the next week, but the commish can force an advance.

- You can pick be in the same conference or different conferences.

- All 12 players can be simultaneously recruiting, playing games, or doing whatever the week's actions call for. They can all be voice chatting with each other while doing it.

- No mention of CPU games being able to be controlled by Humans :( Of course, you play out games vs your friends online when your 2 teams meet.

If the receivers were as aggressive in going after the balls as the defenders are, that would help too.

That would appear to take out Quick Slants/In over the middle then. Just as tough to deal with. Limits the offense quite a bit.

Reading the impressions worries the heck out of me. 1-2 interceptions run back for a TD per game. Yeah, right. Scores are realistic with 5 min quarters. Ok, what does that say for realistic statistics then (not going to happen)? Oh, and I just LOVE to hear that the only way to stop an offense is via a turnover.

Sounds like EA is trying for an arcade version of college football. Disappointing.

http://www.pastapadre.com/2549/ncaa-...ds-on-part-one

Impressions from Pastapadre.. some good things in there.

Keep in mind that he is a major EA fanboy.

Oh I know that.. I did like him mentioning that penalties just MIGHT FINALLY work now. :p

It's kinda funny. A few years ago, I was the resident EA fan here at FOF. How the times have changed...

I actually think that the "Quiz the QB" mini-game looks like fun.

Heh. The NCAAstrategies link I posted may no longer work. Apparently from reading on OS, EA has embargoed these hands-on previews until after May 2nd.. I'm guessing they didn't like what they were reading.

Doesn't sound too bad.

It's loading very slowly for me, but here is supposed to be video of NCAA 09 being played by Gamespot employees:

http://www.gamespot.com/video/944961...otball-09-demo


Edit: It just loaded and it is EA employees playing the game. I'm watching it now, wonder if they will show any interceptions.

No they supersimmed the defense.

I noticed a couple of things while watching the video. I played as Florida last year (OK, every year), and the playbook looks the same. It is easier to set the formations as it appears you dont have to switch screens for each formation.

The supersim feature looks unchanged as well(meaning broke). They showed the sceen for one series the defense took the field at 4:12 and after 1 incomplete pass, 2 running plays and a punt there was still 3:47 left so each play took about 6 seconds. (watch that be abused in online dynasties, super sim on defense if behind to to try and save time and timeouts!)

I want to see more information about the online dynasty before making a decision, scratch that I will buy this at midnight if not before, but I am a sucker for NCAA football.

Actually, they did show 1 interception. The guy controlling tried to throw a bomb into double coverage and it was picked off. That was on the easiest setting of freshman. After he threw the interception, it showed the QB mini-game.


It's going to be hard for me because I'm a sucker for NCAA Football, but I'm going to hold off buying and try to find it at a Blockbuster and rent it first.

This dude with the camera is pissing me off. Focus on the game numbnuts...

Here is what he said about the pre-play event. I'm just adding it as information.

"Feedback given at this event will be used to help improve the game before the release in July."

While that's encouraging, it's amazing to me that they didn't see these issues to begin with, especially with the outrage from last year's "oh look, my cornerback leads my team in scoring" debacle.

Really?! You didn't know this stuff was happening?!

I agree, every year the pick 6 is a problem. They need to make more defensive players fall down after intercepting and after recovering fumbles.

In other scenarios, make the interceptor pause as he lands and adjusts to start the runback. Too many yards after interception.

And make receivers be more aggressive in getting the ball.

A new preview is up in which the development team says the turnover issue is fixed. Too bad, I don't believe them. I can't remember who asked about the number of seasons that can be played, but that is addressed in the preview as well - 60 seasons in the 12 player MP online league. I believe it is the same for single player.

http://www.gametap.com/articles/game...x_360-04292008