That video...I don't know. That diving TD was just awful. There is no way you can defend a catch like that...and that's someone playing as Boston College.

No INT's is a good thing. Only 1 possible INT was thrown and the LB dropped it. We'll see how the game plays when it comes out. One drive doesn't show me that the turnover problem is fixed. We'll see I guess.

The last version of this game I bought was 2004 for the PS2. It is sitting about 5 feet from me on the shelf in fact. If my PS2 still worked I could pop that in and here the same exact comments from the commentators. It's kind of annoying. I would be happy if they just did a play by play and left out the two clowns doing color.

I thought the video looked good, but I haven't played any prior versions so maybe I'm not the best judge.

Really not a fan of that lateral pass though.

That lateral pass was horrid and is a sign that the option game will still be overpowered. Otherwise, I saw several positive signs:

On the TD pass, the QB threw to a spot instead of the receiver, that is new to the series and a much needed change.

Several passes that were thrown would have been interceptions last year, but were either knocked down or were completions in this video.

Could be my imagination, but it looks like the blocking is better and a pocket is actually starting to form.

Operation Sports has a beta copy and have been posting a ton of screenshots including final polls and award winners at the end of a season. The stats look reasonable which is no surprise as I think the simmed stats were generally good last year. Later this week, they will be discussing the beta copy gameplay more.

Here is a link to the newer screenshots:

http://www.operationsports.com/mediaview.php?id=417

Here's a question that I'm hoping somebody can answer.

I'm going to pre-order NCAA, but I need advice on the platform - 360 or PS3. Generally, I like the controller on the 360 better, but I just like the PS3 "machine" more - there's no concern about overheating, it's quieter, etc. I know both versions are supposed to be the same, but when's the last time that was really true when it comes to EA produced games? If they truly ARE equal, I'll probably get the PS3 version...but I'm concerned PS3 owners are going to get hosed again. If that's the case, I'd be happy to just go with the 360.

Any advice?

Go with the 360 version and join our online league ;)



As far as which version is better, those at the media events have said it runs the same on both consoles. I guess EA could mess something up between then and release, but I doubt the PS3 version will have the issues that last year's did.

Dola -

IGN has 2 insider videos of an entire half between OSU (presumably CPU - maybe online opponent?) and LSU (player) from the 360 version and from the commentary on OS, the CPU(?) is picking apart the human player and had 0 interceptions in the first half. No idea what difficulty level. There is a Youtube link to a lower quality version of the video, but I can't get it to work right now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQZfMos6Zok

Thanks for the link.

Glad to know the coin toss is brought to me by Coke Zero ;)

Did they change how passing speed is determined? I like the old way of holding it down for a bullet & tapping it for a lob. The new way of using pressure sensitive buttons makes it a lot harder to control.

On the play-calling screen, did you notice that there's no indicator of what yard line you're on? That's not cool at all. Actually, there's never an indicator of what yard line you're on. Wow.

I've decided that many video game reviewers lack gaming skill. Did you see that attempted "tackle" on the OSU TD? Just the general "defense" of the user is not-so-impressive.

We'll see I guess. Last year's game was close...but there obviously can't be any game-breaking issues.

I still can't see it. Apparently, my work blocks Youtube, but doesn't tell me they do so. Instead, it just times out anywhere on their site ;)

The rest of the game is also posted on youtube, now. I should be able to post links later tonight. Apparently, this "previewer" is either very new to the series or just has very poor skills with no excuse, but the CPU demolished him in this game which most people think was probably on All-American. No INT's for the CPU and the CPU passes long twice in the 2nd half which is an improvement from last year even if it is just one game.

I haven't seen the videos either, but it sounds like the guy was sending too many blitzers / not using proper pass defense formations, and consequently, he got eaten alive. Also, he's apparently one of those drop back 15 yards then chuck it across the field types of players.

You're right on there Kodos. I was bummed when he dropped back 15 yards and heaved a pass 40-50 yards down the left sideline & completed it to a guy in single coverage. Not totally unrealistic, but when looking for faults it's not a good sign.

Glad to see the AI pick a crappy pass by the user.

The AI is just destroying this guy...he's awful. You think for a bigtime website (like IGN) they would put someone on the game who is at least competent or, at the very least, not god-awful.

I think many video game reviewers lack skills. This is just one example of questionable play I've seen by game reviewers. And these are the people we trust to judge our games?...

Can we count this game as the actual result for the national championship game? Ohio State up 28-7 at the half...

Being delusional is essential :)

Steve, a main guy over at OS who is a straight shooter, has posted his initial impressions of the NCAA Beta:

http://www.operationsports.com/preview.php?id=36


Just a few points from his post which is long:

Under the good points:
- Interceptions and Pick 6's definitely seem toned down to him. He's had limited time with the game so far, but he has only seen 1 pick 6.
- QB's will have some errant throws for no reason - it just gets away from them sometimes.
- CPU QB seems smarter, but doesn't throw deep much at all.
- AI in general is smarter and more challenging.
- WR's are fighting for the ball much more, perhaps a bit too much.


Under the bad points:

- Heisman Trophy selection seems to heavily favor the QB's.
- Issues with the change to a 40 second play clock.
- CPU snaps the ball too quickly to allow any defensive adjustments most of the time.
- Still only 1 camera view and NCAA doesn't pan out to show wide receivers like Madden will this year.
- Offensive linemen will just stand there at times if there is no one to block, rather than looking for someone to block.


He has much more info than that which can be found at the above link. I just picked out a few of my favorite points from reading his post.

Both of the versions will be exactly the same. Last year was a PR nightmare for EA and they've gone out of their way to state numerous times that both versions will be the same and perform at 60 FPS.

Links to instructions on how to create and play an online dynasty. #11 is nice as it confirms that online dynasties will be able to use modded rosters with real names if we choose :)

http://easports.com/downloads/easports/ncaa09/onlinedynasty/CreatingAnOnlineDynasty1.pdf

http://easports.com/downloads/easports/ncaa09/onlinedynasty/CreatingAnOnlineDynasty2.pdf

http://easports.com/downloads/easports/ncaa09/onlinedynasty/Dynasty_Headquarters.pdf

http://easports.com/downloads/easports/ncaa09/onlinedynasty/RunningTheOnlineDynastyAsCommiss.pdf

http://easports.com/downloads/easports/ncaa09/onlinedynasty/PlayingTheDynastyAsANonComis.pdf

Dola -

#13 is nice if the commish ever wants to quit the job, it allows for a fairly easy transfer of commish abilities :)

Dammit...this is starting to get my attention.

Good find EaglesFan.

Did you see the ratings screen? Good teams are in the 90's, but teams like Alabama (73) Syracuse (51) Nebraska (68) Wake Forest (60). Are they actually using the entire scale this year? That would be a miracle.

More good news: the commissioner can change the sliders/settings for the dynasty. I remember on another sports game years ago, you couldn't adjust any of the settings. This way people can tweak the game to their liking and use the best sliders possible. Very cool.

So much potential here...but I don't know why I am getting excited. Every year the NCAA game has some game-breaking glitch (last year: INT's, 2 years ago: blocked kicks). IF IF IF IF IF there are none of those, then I see this as a game that many members of the forum will be playing for a long time.

It's gonna kill me when there's some awful glitch in the game...because this could really be amazing. We'll see I guess.

Steve from OS has posted answers to another batch of questions:

http://www.operationsports.com/preview.php?id=37


Here is an excerpt of the question I asked and the answer (he hasn't adjusted sliders at all, yet.):

eaglesfan27: Steve,

Yesterday, you mentioned that you had only seen 1 pick 6 (unless I misunderstood your answer). On average, how many CPU thrown interceptions are you seeing per game?

Thanks for taking the time to do this.

Steve: AI has thrown, on average, 2 INT's per game. I've seen as many as 4 in 7 min. qtrs and I've actually seen a game where the AI didn't throw a single pick. So far in my time of playing, I've seen 2 pick 6's now. TONS better than last year, as the AI throwing picks in general was extremely annoying.




Also, he posted screenshots of stats from a full simulated season:

http://www.operationsports.com/mediaview.php?id=417



From looking at the screenshots:

QB Ratings seem a bit high for the leaders, maybe due to high completion percentages, but in the further screenshots their are QB's throwing a good number of INT's (20 in one screenshot for a QB who threw it a lot and was one of the leaders in yardage.) Yardage totals look good. Another screenshot shows that the highest Interception totals were: 27 (with 20 TD's), 20, several guys with 17, 16, and 15. About a half dozen to a dozen guys with over 70% completion rates with the highest at 73%.

Leading rusher had 1865 yards on the year with 19 TD's. Lots more screenshots up on OS, but the stats generally look good.

Dola -

One person asked him if he has seen any gamekilling glitches yet, and the worst glitch he has noticed so far is that if you call a punt block, you can get unrealistically good returns.

Edit: Other major issue was the CPU snapping the ball too quickly to allow for defensive adjustments.

One person? I'm that one person :) I posted that question because that's what I fear right now. I think the online dynasty will be awesome for us FOFC'ers (and other folks) but if there's something awful in the game (too many INT's, too many blocked kicks, etc.) then it will ruin the game for me.

The quick snap/no defensive adjustments thing is kind of a bummer.

The punt block giving you 20+ yards on a return is a definite bummer. Hopefully this gets fixed.

Other than that things sound pretty good. I hate to get my hopes up (again) for an NCAA game...but this one sounds like it might be sweet.

So hard for me to give EA the benefit of the doubt on anything, as I usually end up disappointed.

Heh, I didn't realize that :)

Looking over the stats more, it seems like QB INT's are low particularly for the elite QB's, rushing yardage for QB's is low, and season tackle totals are low, but as usual the stat engine looks much better than Madden. At least NCAA is in the ballpark of realistic which I can accept and still enjoy the game. :)

This screen is not good news.. hxxp://www.operationsports.com/mediaview.php?id=417

Strongly suggests to me that they either haven't fixed the deep passing game at all or that part of the sim engine is deeply flawed.

I agree with EF27 - elite QB's look to have too many TD's and nowhere near enough INT's. That might be fixable with sliders though, and if not at least the game will be playable. Much better IMO to have way too few INT's than way too many in terms of gameplay.

Also, apologies if I missed it but I see Temple & UNT in those screenshots... are they putting FCS/1A teams in the game this year or did those schools get moved up to D1?

Both schools have been in Division I-A for years. Temple is currently in the MAC (used to be in the Big East) and UNT is in the Sun Belt.

Every year the train gains speed in the month before release. I'm always amused when the train derails and everyone acts shocked. :)

I'd like to see this one live up to the hype, it's been three or four years since I bought one of the NCAA games.

I really have to hand it to EA again for coming up with EA SportsWorld. I was just watching some videos from the dynasty I did last year. It was cool to be able to relive some of this stuff almost a year later.

Gameplay videos that I saw on OS. A poster there found it on Vimeo. It's a whole game of 5 minute quarters on AA defaults.

http://www.vimeo.com/1060908?pg=embed&sec=1060908


http://www.vimeo.com/1060964?pg=embed&sec=1060964


http://www.vimeo.com/1061308?pg=embed&sec=1061308


http://www.vimeo.com/1061436?pg=embed&sec=1061436

Cool video, but I could do without the Mountaineer Mascot freak dance.

Looks like it is taking about 20 seconds from snap to snap.

Agreed about the mascot. The CPU offense seems smarter, especially the QB. Also, the CPU running game seems like it will be more potent than last year.

Sounds like it is better, but then you get some mixed signals. I'll wait and see. What is the release date for the game?

July 15th.

That was an exciting game very engrossing. I found myself in awe of how good #7 for West Virgina was...

Very impressed with that video. I'm not sure what it is exactly, but you can see the CPU avoid tackles without simply breaking out of wraps. They are putting themselves in better positions.

The only negative I saw beside the prolonged mascot shots is the high completion percentage by the CPU, but the player was sitting back in zone from what I saw.

According to PastaPadre's site, interceptions and scoring have been toned down in the month since they last touched the game. Woohoo!

Every year at this time I think I'm not going to get sucked in and then I routinely begin my visits to the OS forums and begin to watch and get jealous of the guys who get the game 2-3 days early. I thought this year would be different, but not after hearing the latest update.

I'm in the same boat.

The FOFC league has me fired up for this game.

Will you have the ability to create your own play book, and set up formation subs?

I believe the answer to both is no. However, there will be quick formation subs this year.

4 fumbles in the first half of the game on vetzballin.com of OSU/UGA. That's not good...

The lack of formation subs kind of sucked. It's a pain in the butt to go to your depth chart (which I hope is easier to use this year) every time you wanted to make a change. Playing online in a dynasty, it would be annoying. What exactly are "quick formation subs"?

The previewers say the depth chart is much smoother and the bug is fixed.

Quick formation subs are where you hit "x" or whatever button to sub in your HB into the slot, or your backup HB into the HB position, etc.

There are a bunch of new previews up after a community day yesterday, and they all report a few positives:

- The option is much more realistic. No longer can QB's make great pitches while going down in the grasp of a defender.

- The game is more defensively oriented than a month ago. 14-3 and 21-3 scores aren't uncommon.

- A large expansion to most team's playbooks. Some teams run over 20 formations.

- No transfer kit needed for rosters. If you know the gamertag of someone who has rosters on the web, you can enter it and download directly to the console.

- Running game is improved from last year.

- Interceptions seem a bit more toned down.

Some negatives:

- CPU still quicksnaps.

- Short passing game is too effective, particularly passes to the RB's in the flat. (I think QB accuracy being turned down for both sides will be one of the necessary tweaks.)

- Too many big kick and punt returns are happening.

- Pass rush is weak unless you blitz.


My favorite thread for reading impressions:

http://www.ncaastrategies.com/utopia...53#post1634053

This is freaking awesome news. Thank God EA has finally joined the 21st century. Casual gamers everywhere rejoice :D

I really wish they'd get rid of the quick play calls on the CPU-side. It really screws up the timing of the game.

my potential sucess in the FOFC MP dynasty just took a hit, now that the QB can't run the option very well as he's being taken down by defenders. 50% of my long td runs were from those types of plays.


aaaaargh.

I hated the option last year. You have two guys wrapped up on the quarterback, sideways and covered, and yet some way he still manage to make the amazing pitch.

i have like 4 or 5 highlights of such a play. though unrealistic, it's really exciting to pitch the pall at the absolute last second.

The community day is done and there are a bunch more impressions of this, Madden, and Head Coach. Most of the positives have already been mentioned, but the big negative that everyone is mentioning is that the pass rush is vastly underpowered. Even with sliders, it is almost impossible to get a pass rush from the front 4 and even with the blitz, it can be difficult.

http://www.ncaastrategies.com/utopia...ad.php?t=57848

A game killer?