Yeah, I was having an awesome time with the game last year before I noticed that the visors of the defensive backs on my team who kept picking off the AI's passes 7 or 8 times a game were in fact dark instead of clear - a violation of NCAA rules. This completely shattered the illusion of reality for me, and I turned it off before my CB even reached the endzone for the 9th time.

Sounds like we aren't getting any clear indications. I guess we'll have to wait until it comes out. I wonder if this is why EA says no reviews until the 15th.

I'm still all in for 09. I played 08 online with my best friend who lives in NY all the time and had no problems. Now with online dynasty, I'll just be playing that much more with human opponents.

Abner posted more:

I stopped the game at halftime because -- hey I'm tired and can't stay up like I used to.

31-7 Ohio State on Heisman. The good news? This had nothing to do with INTs. OSU is just better. In fact the Iowa QB is 13/18 with zero picks in the first half. Woo hoo! I think we need to be careful, though. QBs DO throw picks. Just because we see one doesn't mean we should get upset. There just needs to be a balance to it all.

This was also with QB ACC at (I think) 60. Very promising. But to me it seems clear at least thus far that it's w/o a doubt a Heisman thing. The game just flat plays better on this level and look..I'm killing Iowa so it's not like the AI is going to whip you at this level mercilessly.

Right now my number one concern on this lvl is the return game. I ran a punt back for a TD which was cool but I'm telling you -- it's REALLY easy. Something ain't right with the coverage. I guess if one thing had to be broken...

So I go to bed tonight optimistic. It started off a tad rocky, eh? I will revisit AA lvl with different teams to see how it shakes out but I'm thinking it's Heisman for me this year.

The online dynasty with Todd and Billy Baroo will be a go but I can't test that until the game is out. I do love the feature set for that mode, though. I'll try to post some tomorrow but it being the 4th, we'll have to see. Knowing me...I'll find the time to play a few games

Had a blast playing SirFozzie tonight on '08. Maybe it'll be a just play folks online game. That wouldn't be terrible, if we had a good bunch of guys to play.

If the shoelaces for UTEP isn't the official black, EA can forget about my money. I don't care about the 8 interceptions a game, I just want realism with my virtual player's shoelaces.

Amen, brother. Amen!

I hear you GH, oversights like this are ridiculous....On top of the visor issue when I checked my BYU roster I noticed 95% of the players were white...............oh wait. ;)

Abner sounds impressed. He said the game is a thing of beauty and that since his first two games with adjustments he isn't having INT problems at all. Take it for what it is worth.

Those impressions sound wonderful. I think there will probably be an occasional game where the QB gets rattled and throws a ton, but it sounds like the INT slider may actually be working. If it worked last year, I'd still be playing that game now.

Yep. Really glad to hear they fixed the depth chart bug as well.

Me too. I can't tell you how many games I'd be playing a quality opponent and my offense was struggling, yet I was up 17-0 because of 2 defensive TD's and 3-6 other INT's. I would always think how awful it was that I was ahead because of my inept offense.

Hopefully that will be a thing of the past. 10 more days! :)

Yeah, after reading Bill's follow-up impressions, I'm very much looking forward to this one. Fortunately, a business trip that was to run the 16th-18th has been delayed two weeks. Phew!

Crisis averted!

I'm planning to take 2 vacation days the week NCAA comes out. That means I'll have 4 days off instead of 2. Huzzah!!! :)

(Shakes fist & glares at NCAA 09...don't disappoint me!)

Bill has put up another post in which he has proclaimed the INT issue gone with the use of the interception slider, even on AA. However, he is seeing the ghost juke fairly frequently (5 times so far over a few games.) He mentions a few other issues as well, but they are all things that I think will be much less annoying than last year. He also says the gameplay is the most fun so far since 2004.

I'm sticking by what I said to my brother after I played the demo. This will be the highest ranked next generation football game.

What does this mean?

There has been some times where the CPU had open field for a touchdown and just randomly performed a juke move. This allowed the defender to catch up and make the tackle.

I'll just pretend that they are a relative of Leon Lett, and have taken to showboating at an unfortunate time. :)

Leon Lett must have a lot of offspring then :p

As we learned from the Thanksgiving Day game against the Dolphins, Lett would jump on pretty much anything that moved.

/Rimshot ;)

I've been playing the demo almost every day now. My excitement for the new game is reaching a fever pitch. I hope there's nothing gamebreaking in it. Reading Bill Abner's impressions is helpful...but we'll see how things go. Some flaws I can live with, but things like excessive blocked kicks or excessive turnovers (flaws with 07 and 08) would be game-killers for me. We'll see.

9 more days? ;)

Some kind of announcement is going to be made about the game tonight at 9 PM EST. Nothing regarding a new feature in the game but the developer believes the community will be pleased. I am praying this is a pushed up release date and not something like free mascot pictures.

Maybe they'll announce that the game is suppose to play, gasp, like an actual football game. :)

Rats, definitely not about release date.

Where you reading this? OS?

OS mentioned it - the actual announcement is being made over at pastapadre.com so it's not actually from EA. The more I look at it this might just me some kind of mini-publicity stunt by that website. They might just announce something like "Hey, we have a copy of the game and will take questions!" Sure will generate some traffic on their site though.

Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised at all if this is just Pasta Padre announcing that he has the game and will take questions. I don't think it would be the first time he has overhyped something.

Yeah, it's not the developer making the announcement, it's Pasta. He probably has the game early and will be posting videos and stuff. Why he needs to wait until 9pm to do so doesn't make sense to me, however.

Wow. Pasta Padres announcement is for the 360 he has rosters done already and available in his EA Locker.

So, I'm coming to realize that I suck at these football games. I need to bone up on my skills before I start playing in these online leagues. Does anyone know of a thread or site where I can learn how to suck less. I need pointers and practice!

I usually let the CPU playout the games because I suck at passing the ball. Far too often I either get sacked or press the wrong button and pass it to the guy with 2 DBs all over him.

Very glad that this mode is back in for NCAA 09.

Check out operation sports. There are several good (recent) articles for beginners/rookies.

I've been playing some games of NCAA '08 online to knock the rust off. I'd be glad to play you if you likel. :)

Cool. I can play most any night during the week at around 9:00.

Logan and Ironside need tips on how to play too. They suck. Eat it.

I'm up for games as well: SirFozzie2 is the nick, if you don't see me there, PM me here

Good enough to whip Colorado's bitch ass with Colorado State last year.

Cheat codes. Sure hope you're not planning on using your Game Genie come league kickoff.

Gonna be different year, same result.

Hahahaha.

9:00 is tough for me because that falls in my son's bedtime window. And I'm the one who always puts him to bed. 10 pm is more workable for me, and 11 pm almost always works if I know in advance.

I'm so excited about this game.

Why does EA always have to torment me so? :(

I'm heading online right now, if any FOFCers want to play NCAA 08. :)

Is there anyone online who doesn't select the fastest QB to run playaction, drop back 30 yards, and wait for someone to get open? Everyone I play against who is not from FOFC does this. Tonight, this dude was running up the score and going no huddle when he was way up. Dude, I'm IU, and you're Virginia Tech. Don't think you're good or something. My team just doesn't have the personnel to match up.

Online play against random opponents in sports games is, in theory, a great idea. In reality, not so much. For every game of Madden or NBA 2K I've played online against an opponent who plays the game without abusing the engine, there are 30 or so others that have.

Yep. Dudes who think beating up on IU with Virginia Tech gives them bigger testicles.

I sold my copy of 08...I'm half tempted to rent it just to get through til the 15th...but I am leaving for Vegas on Saturday morning and not coming back until the night of the 15th. Just have to make it through Saturday!

Regarding online play with Madden/NCAA...it's an absolute joke.

dola

Who is this "Arden" fellow?

So, I guess I should work on my sportsmanship, eh? ;)