Im to the point now where I think Sony needs to step in a address certain gaming companies countless number of patches.

First im going to use Madden and NCAA Football for example. They are easy targets due to the fact that EA Sports has become the undisputed king of patching games.

[B]1)[/B] First of all, what is a company admitting when they release a patch? Easy, that they did not get the game right the first time. Years ago before online took over the gaming world, game companies did not have this advantage. And I find it odd that companies like EA were around during that time. Which leads me to believe that with the right effort, EA can make a great patchless game. Sadly though, what has been called in question the most in the gaming world over the past 2 years or so? The effort that EA puts into its games.

[B]2)[/B] What allows patches in the first place? Online connectivity with most next gen consoles is to blame.

[B]3)[/B] Online gaming has has arrived. Yes. I have no problem with it, because some games are actually enjoyable online. The killer is that OFFLINE GAMING IS SUFFERING BECAUSE OF ONLINE GAMING. More focus should STILL be put into offline gaming over online gaming.

-Not everyone has internet. And this will always be like that.

-Not everyone has good connections. Until there is a day where everyone on every spot of the globe can play against each other with a lag-free connection, then this is always a problem. Sports games really suffer from lag. Because most sports, especially football are a game of seconds and precision.

[B]-And to the killer. There will always, let me repeat and stress the word, ALWAYS be people who cheat, exploit, quit, cheese, and hinder online games to pad their stats. No amount of patches will ever fix this. Its just how it is.[/B]

[B]4)[/B] Now I understand that its all about money. But someone has to step up and force these gaming companies to get serious in putting out games. Limit their gameplay altering patches to 1 at the most. Putting out patches that add content are one thing. But patches that fix gameplay, alter gameplay, or break another area of gameplay to fix another is a whole other tragedy on its own.

For example:

I bought NCAA Football in July. This game was patched several times. The last patch that fixed progression and made the game somewhat playable for me and most others came out in late September/Early October.

Is that fair? Is it fair that I paid full retail price for this game in July and had to wait 2 and a half months to enjoy it?

I know I had 2+ plus months to play it in the meantime. But look at it like this. Why start an in-depth offline franchise and play it for 2 months. Then have to start all over when the patch comes out? Like everyone else, I am going to wait for the last patch to make the game as enjoyable as possible. Plus take into account that some of the actual bugs in NCAA 10 rendered the game pretty much unplayable from the beggining.

Moving on, Madden 10 is suffering this same way. Here we are waiting for a 2nd "Title Update" as they like to fancy it up and call it. Im waiting for this patch to start my franchise. I bought this game in August and now im having to wait until October/November to play it.

Personally, IMO like many others, I think the 1st "Title Update" actually messed up the fluid gameplay that came in the retail version of the game. And after reading the forums for a while, I got the general sense that the games fluid gameplay was altered to help online gameplay issues. SERIOUSLY?

Im a fan of effort and work ethnic. Big time. I dont feel that more that one patch for any game is needed. But Sony allowing the games to be patch once, twice, and sometimes even for a third time is pathetic. It puts us gamers in months of wait mode, or causes us to have to restart and erase our progress.

Another thing I have a problem with is this certification process. Its too damn slow. Period. What else can I say. Im not a whiz or anything, but I, pretty sure that there is a way that this process can be sped up.

In EAs case with their sports titles, they go about it all wrong. Realistically we all know that the company is about making as much money as possible. But no gaming coming comes at me as blatant about being all about the dollar than EA. I wont sit here and bash every EA title because a lot of the non sports games are good games. Some of the sports titles are good games. This is not about what gameplay features we want, this is about a bug free game.

For EA to better their football games and limit or kill off the whole patch fiasco, they have to do a few simple things.

[B]1)[/B] Bring in some people that are knowledgable about the sport. John Madden has a contract with EA right? Pick his brain. He knows so much about the game that EA could use. Let him watch and point out whats realistic and whats not. What becomes out of this? Maddens gameplay starts getting real consistent with what happens in real life. Real life situations are represented well. Robo QBs, unreal INTs, and things like this are pointed out.

[B]2)[/B] TESTING, TESTING, TESTING, TESTING, TESTING. I could say this a million times. Its clear that EA doesnt do this right. I mean theres no way. And to say that they do is a lie and a slap in the face to every single consumer that bought the game. How is the right amount of testing done, when a consumer can sit down and play the game for 30 minutes and find a few bugs. If a consumer can find these things in that amount of time, then what does that say about EAs testing department? Either that they dont test. Or that they are aware of the glitch and just say "Eh, well, we will patch it later" That shows no pride in their work or love and respect for the consumers who make them rich.

Bottom line is that games should be patched at the most once, or NOT AT ALL. Unless its add-on content that doesnt effect gameplay. Put just as much emphasis in offline gaming as online gaming. A game like Warhawk for example, has only one true mode of play and thats online. People who buy that game want to play online. Its a great game. Games like Madden have both online and offline modes. So some that buy it may want to play offline, like me and many others. Offline modes a play MADE MADDEN WHAT IT IS. Some people that buy Madden may not even have an internet connection. Noone should be left out.

Thanks everyone for reading.

GatorBait06NC

Im posting another blog today because I still cant get over the presentation that NCAA Basketball 10 will have. Its amazing. It makes me hate NCAA Football 10 even more. I will say that I have FINALLY enjoyed playing NCAA Football 10 a little bit, but there are still a ton of new and old problems that these developers continue to force down our throats.

If EA is going to be the Hitler of exclusive licenses and be the only company making a college football game, then I feel it is their obligation to make it the only college football game needed. After seeing what Madden 10 did with gameplay, authenticity, and new animation packages and what NCAA basketball has done with presentation, then I think NCAA Football 11 needs to be a monster. Ben Haumiler needs to get off the Season Showdown bandwagon and start caring about what we want and less about forcing meaningless gimmicks down our throats.

Im going to see if I can send this blog entry to EA. It likely wont accomplish anything, but maybe someone over there may see it.

First things first:

[B]-ELIMINATE SEASON SHOWDOWN & GAMEPLAN.[/B] I love talking about how much I hate this pointless feature. If you look around the sports forums world, Ben Haumiler is hyping this feature like its the greatest thing since sliced bread. Its not. What exactly does this feature bring to the game. To see how many people will falsely play with a powerhouse team and score points?? Who actually cares about who wins the whole thing?? What company puts a feature in a game that wont work after a certain amount of months?? The sportsmanship part of this feature is disgusting. Nobody playes 15 minute quarters in this game. Think! Youre up by 3 scores in the third quarter and you throw a pass on third down trying to get the first and the game docks you a hundred points. Maybe im exaggerrating a bit, but still, how stupid is this.

The strategy element in Season Showdown is responsible for the Gameplan feature and the Presnap Pass, Run Left, Right, or Middle feature as well. These two features handicap gameplay so much that it almost renders the game unplayable. Its cheese at its finest. Not one defensive coordinator in this country would tell all eleven players on his defense to run straight to the middle of the line of scrimmage to stop a run up the middle. Its hilarious. And yet simple forum users like me get infractions for questioning how much the NCAA team actually knows about the game of football. The sad thing about this is that we do not have the ability to turn these features off. To win on Heisman, you almost HAVE to use these cheesy gimmicks. Look at what other tragedies GAMEPLANNING has allowed. By the click of a button, you can make your defensive guys attempt to strip the ball on every tackle. Its proposturous.

[B]-NEW SLIDERS.[/B] Simply put, NCAA Football series needs to EXACT same sliders that Madden has. We need a speed threshhold big time in NCAA. NCAA 09 is where speed dominated the game. NCAA 10 has made speed a non factor what so ever. I cant tell the difference between speedy UF tailback Jeff Demps and a Georgia Linebacker. Its pretty bad. Please give us a speed threshhold and some overall game speeds like madden has.

[B]-PRO TAK.[/B] I automatically assume that the NCAA team has the sense to incorporate this amazing feature in NCAA 11. This was a breakthrough feature for football games. Hopefully by installing this it will force them to add the new gameplay sliders in which I previously mentioned.

[B]-AUTHENTICITY.[/B] It seems like every other EA sports title is heading in this direction, why not NCAA Football? Put the refs and chain gangs back in the game. Add long hair and dreadlocks and dont give me that crap about long hair and dreads pushing the limits of what the NCAA will allow. Its in the PS2 version, so dont insult my intelligence. How about some team color shoes. A better pregame presentation. Now let me branch off of authenticity and mention some things in specific:.......

[B]-GEAR:[/B] Gear should never really be a priority, but when you have all the different alternate unis, helmet styles and brands, why not incorporate them in further detail. The most worn college REVO helmet isnt in the game. And all teams where black or white shoes. Wheres Floridas orange shoes and Oregons yellows? The REVO helmets look a lot better this year, but they still arent 100% correct.

[B]-STADIUM SOUNDS:[/B] First let me stress, ADD A STADIUM SOUND TO THE PREGAME SCENE!!! WHY THIS HASNT BEEN DONE YET IS BEYOND ME. These need to be a bit more dynamic. There should be a pregame stadium sound and an opening kickoff stadium sound. Not one for every kickoff in the game. Bumping up the limit of 50 per user would be nice too.

[B]-BANDS:[/B] I dont really get this addittion. There are 120 Div-1 schools. But how many authentic bands are there in the game??? 15?? 20 at the most. If EA couldnt get half of the bands in the game then I dont see the point of adding this. We would much rather see.....

[B]-TEAM ENTRANCES:[/B] equipped with a stadium sound. Why pregame bands was chosen over this is insane. Especially when 90% of the bands are fake and say BS like "NCAA 10" and "Go Go GO". Its a joke.

[B]-THE CROWD:[/B] I dont feel the crowd in the game at all. No camera shaking like it use to be or nothing. Everyone knows that one thing that sets the college game apart from the NFL is the atmosphere, the crowd. The NCAA football series has killed the crowd.

[B]-MENUS:[/B] Everywhere, all menus. I understand that NCAA Football has a lot of info on the disk. Which may be the reason behind all of the menus in the game being slow and irresponsive. The playcall screen in the worst. It takes almost 2 seconds to change the packaging of a certain set. We dont have all day, the play clock is running you know.

[B]-ZONE DEFENSE:[/B] Does this work at all in NCAA 10?? This has failed me in every and all situations.

[B]-GRAPHICS:[/B] The stadiums and fields are superb in NCAA 10. The player graphics and models....not so much. They arent the worst, but again they arent Madden quality either. I do love the stadiums though.

[B]-RECRUITING:[/B] They made a big deal about how this was overhauled from 09-10. I see no difference between 09s version and 10s version. NCAA 10 does the same exact thing, you just have to move through even more screens to accomplish it. Which is a fail. AND PLEASE LOWER THE INCOMING RECRUITS OVERALLS.

You want to know why the mixture of freshman and bad progression has pretty much buried NCAA 10? Look at the incoming freshman. 3* caliber recruits come in rated anywhere from 77-80 overall. When you have lower prestiged programs getting three stars that are 80s overall it boosts their team overall. Then throw in progression and these teams go from C- to B+ teams in no time.

Add a signing day. Recruiting needs some new and fresh addittions. EA is partnered with Under Armour so why not have an Under Armour or even Army High School All American game. Show the Elite 11 QBs and the recruits who participated in this game. Have a run down show of where the top recruits went. Oh wait, this leads me to the whopper of them all.....

[B]-PRESENTATION:[/B] EA has deals with ESPN, CBS, Under Armour, Nike, Oakley, Adidas, and God knows who else. Utilize these. Someone at EA is aware, because the presentation of NCAA Basketball 10 makes it an instant buy for me. Why cant we include at the least, ESPN telecast intergration for the games. Include ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN regional networks like SEC TV for games. This would be awesome. We dont need each and every announcer you could just keep Corso and the gang there, it doesnt matter. It would be nice to mix it up with some Bob Davie, Brent Musberger, lol, etc. Baby Steps though. They could add some CBS telecast integration for the SEC games, Army-Navy and any other conferences that CBS is partnered with. I know its possible. Want to go a step further and make this the only college football game needed??? Partner up with Fox and NBC for the BCS games and Notre Dame. (Hell, Madden could even use this feature with all the networks, including NFL network) This would simply make the experience of NCAA Football one of the greatest ever. I know this seems very unlikely to get them all, but atleast start somewhere. NCAA Football series has no realistic presentation at all.

And where are the preseason and postseason shows that the 2K series has had all this time?? EA hasnt tried to do this yet, with the exception of Maddens Extra Point. (Which is good) Wheres the mini Heisman ceremony that was in the PS2 versions?? Wheres the dousing of a coach after a big game. Will we see players and coaches hoisting the crystal ball after winning the BCS title like the Madden players do when winning the Super Bowl?

It doesnt have to be all there or perfect in the first year, but give us something. I would like to see the ESPN license used in telecast integration and not just to hear live real life updates while im online. I have cable and internet, I get real sports info from there.

[B]-ROSTERS:[/B] This years rosters were the worst ever. Atrocious is the best word to describe them. Ive heard that EA is looking into a web based roster sharing system that would allow users to create them before the game is released. This would be grand. And it shouldnt be that hard to do seeing as how the current Create a School feature is basically done the same way.

[B]-PROGRESSION:[/B] They supposedly tampered with this issue in the latest patch. I can tell a little bit. But fix this before next years game is released. This and the incoming recruits overalls. Dont bust next years game with this issue.

[B]-NEUTRAL GAMES:[/B] EA has yet to grasp the concept of a neutral game. If the designated home team loses, then they recieve a home loss in the toughest places to play area. Why? LAZINESS. The designated home team also has the home field advantage effects and is also able to bring recruits to the game. HELLO EA. WHY? It laziness. Both teams should have these advantages. I love it how my QB gets rattled by the crowd during a nuetral game.

[B]-FORMATION SUBS:[/B] Do I need to say anymore??

[B]-CONFERENCE SCHEDULING:[/B] Ever know that you have been lied to? Well I was. I was told at Utopia that they fixed conference scheduling. And they DID NOT. Ohio State still plays at Wisconsin and Michigan 2 years straight. There is no excuse for this. THIS WAS CORRECT BACK ON THE PS2. Whats the deal here. I think at the least we should be able to edit the conference home/away section atleast. Cmon. Or either fix it. Ive also seen where some of the EA developers have actually gotten smart with some users saying that "If this was patchable, dont you think we would have patched it by now?" The answer is no. Because it wasnt right in NCAA 08 and NCAA 09, so why would you fix in it NCAA 10.

[B]-COMMENTARY:[/B] No im not asking for dynamic commentary, even though it would be nice. But has anyone noticed how bad the commentary in NCAA 10 is?? I repeatedly hear the announcers say that the "QB was hit hard upon releasing the ball", when in reality he wasnt touched. Or my favorite, "And he picks up the first down" When actually he was 2 yards short.

[B]-CAMERA VIEW:[/B] I dont too much have a problem with the new one. I do hate how it slowly goes down after taking a look at your routes. But others have pointed out to me how they have hated it. Atleast throw in an option to use the old camera.

[B]-KILL THE END ZONE CELEBRATIONS:[/B] The ones with the mascots are idiotic. It looks like something straight off the Wii console. You would never see something this rediculous in real life. TO and Ochocinco dont play college ball. In real life thats a 15 yard penalty. Hence "everything you see on Staruday" I love the team specific ones like the OU players putting Hookem down and the UF and FSU player mocking each others team celebration with a cut throat gesture. Those are realistic and things you might actually see in real life. Still, they should be a 15 yard penalty too.

[B]-PATCHES:[/B] I hate them. It gives developers an excuse to put out an unfinished project and patch it later. EA is really bad about relying on patches. Its one thing to have to wait until September for the 3rd patch to make NCAA 10 a somewhat enjoyable game. Its another thing to have to patch the SAME ISSUES EVERY YEAR!! Are you serious?? Rosters and Sliders had to be patched in back to back years. That is sickening.

In closing, the game needs to represent college football FIRST. We dont need mascot games or Season Showdown. Make a mascot only game on its own and sell it for the Wii. What really kills me is that the same glitches are appearing in consecutive years. And that all the great features from the last gen versions like long hair & dreads, camera shaking due to the crowd, etc. havent made it to the almighty and powerful next gen systems.

And thanks to anyone that took time to read this post. Please add anything that I forgot.

GatorBait06NC

After seeing the NCAA Basketball 10 trailer that highlights the telecast integration, you know I had to say something.

First I ask the question. Why? Why are all the new EA Sports titles such as Madden 10, NBA Live 10, and NCAA Basketball 10 promoting AUTHENTICITY and NCAA FOOTBALL IS NOT???? Why?

With Madden 10 you get "everything you see on Sunday". With Live 10 you got "Live DNA and new atmosphere changes". With NCAA Basketball 10 you get "CBS and ESPN broadcast integration".

NCAA Football 10, yeah, we got Season Showdown. The single most overrated and stupid feature ever in a football game. It promotes itself really, instead of being a useful feature to the NCAA football 10 video game. Not to mention how Season Showdown hampers gameplay by docking you sportsmanship points for throwing a single pass while up 3 scores.

To sum it up, theres no reason NCAA football 11 cant be the greatest sports title of all time. Add Maddens new gameplay features like Pro-Tak and bringing back the refs,etc. Then throw in NCAA Basketballs telecast integration, and it would be on.

So let me break it down:

[U][B]FEATURES THAT NCAA FOOTBALL 11 SHOULD KEEP[/B][/U]
[B]-Progressive Lighting[/B]

[B][U]FEATURES THAT NCAA FOOTBALL SHOULD ADD:[/U][/B]
[B]-ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, and ESPN regional telecast integration at the VERY LEAST.[/B] We dont need all the different announce teams, even though it would be nice. And having CBS would be nice too for us SEC fans. But I will say baby steps though. And maybe team up with FOX for some BCS presentation. Why couldnt they go a step furthur that NCAA basketball. Hell, EA has deals with almost everyone else.
[B]-Pro Tak engine.[/B] Bring back the refs and the chain gang. Beef up the sidelines. And yes the poll logic STILL NEEDS TWEAKING.

[B][U]FEATURES THAT SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM NCAA 10/11[/U][/B]
[B]-Gameplan:[/B] This feature is the single most fake, cheesy, stupid, and game breaking idea ever. By the click of a button you can make all your players attempt to strip the ball on every tackle. This feature is horrible and almost kills the game for me now. I pray to God that we never see this in Madden.
[B]-Play Guessing Presnap:[/B] Another horrible feature that doesnt represent football in any way. It reminds me of Tecmo Bowl. Pick Run Right, Left, or Middle and EVERY player goes right to that spot. It isnt realistic at all.
[B]-Season Showdown:[/B] Because its pointless. Its stupid. It has nothing to do with College Football itself. The game should be about the gamplay and presentation, not about seeing whos fans can cheese the most.

I hope the NCAA team is taking notes. NCAA Football 11 has the potential to be a monster!

GatorBait06NC

NCAA 10. The annually must-needed patches have been released. The game is pretty much in its final form. After playing Madden 10 for the PS3, I was absolutely disgusted with NCAA 10 as an overall product. Which makes me ask the question. Whats in store for the future of EAs NCAA football titles. As it stands right now, it looks like EA has the exclusive rights to make two more NCAA football titles. One thing that should be said over and over again is that EAs exlusive rights is a cancer that is killing sports gaming. It doesnt matter if the next EA NCAA football game is the best game ever made, NO company should have exclusive rights. Being an American, I thought things like this fell into the monopoly category and were illegal?

For starters, this blog is in no way trying to refresh everyone on the problems that NCAA 10 football has. But they may be brought up a time or two. Ever since next gen and the mega-explosion of online gaming that came with it. Sports games have suffered. Offline modes have been damaged severely. And its sad. Its sad because its these offline modes that made Madden and NCAA what they are today. I think that way too much is put into online gaming. And at the end of the day, its all for nothing, you hear me?? NOTHING....reasons being

1.) Online gameplay still doesnt move as fluid as offline play. Not everyone has the same connection.

and 2.) In EVERY sports game there are people who cheat and cheese to pad their stats. They will find every glitch and exploit to ruin the online experience for everyone. This will never change, unless a gaming company does some EXTREME testing to eliminate all these issues before they happen. And we all know how well EA tests their products.

I dont despise EA for bad products, as long as they show effort to fix them. I know that EA is capable of making some great sports games. Madden 05, 06 and the NCAA games of that time period on the last gen systems were awesome. Thats the last time I really had fun in sports gaming. So I know EA can make great games. And lastly, I absolutely hate the way EA handles things. They take a government-like approach to answering their mistakes. They simply say one thing and never answer any criticism about it. The NCAA developmental team is the worst when it comes to this. Making a game that isnt worth its price tag is one thing, but then to absolutely block out the consumers who make your paycheck is another. To make consumers wait days and weeks for answers is dastardly. If they showed some compassion and stuck with us through the process of patching, I would have no animosity at all towards EA. I was at the community day for NCAA 10. And formation subs was requested until people were blue in the face. And it was highly requested the year before that as well. Thats just one example.

Moving on. Every Madden game on next gen except for this years Madden 10 was horrid. They were some of the worst games Ive ever experienced. Not because of glitches they had. But because they in no way represented Sundays or the NFL and how its goes along in general. Every game has glitches, yes. But Maddens AI logic was a game killer. Peyton Manning not being resigned after year one, incoming rookies being high 90s overall. No player progression. A dull franchise mode. Bad gameplay. Oh yeah, and that glitch in 09 that caused franchise games to freeze on kickoffs. People, these are not glitches. These are game killers. These issues causes hardcore fans to have no fun playing these games at all. Theres a difference between a bug and an issue that kills any realistic representation of a sports game. THATS THE BIG ISSUE.

Now finally lets break down NCAA 10.

[B]GAME KILLING ISSUES[/B]
[B]-Progression.[/B] Theres nothing I can say that hasnt already been said. This has hurt this game in so many ways to the extent that a good percent of people who bought it, dont play it anymore. The way the NCAA dev. team went about handling this made it worse. By doing nothing. But instead trying to make up reasons as to why this progression system is right. Its not. Will this issue addressed in NCAA 2011???
[B]-Bugs and glitches that existed in NCAA 09.[/B] To have to patch something 2 years in a row is beyond the range of unacceptable.
[B]-Lack of formation subs.[/B] How many years will this specific thing be requested before we actually get it.
[B]-Lack of fluid playcalling screens.[/B] The small one second freeze that happens when moving through play windows is terrible.
[B]-Recruiting.[/B] The only reason I say this is because NCAA 10 made recruiting more complicated to actually move through. But its the same system thats in 09. So in 2009 and 2010 you are doing the same thing. But it 2010 you have to move through some many more screens to accomplish it. This is always a bad thing.
[B]-Season Showdown.[/B] I CANNOT STAND THIS FEATURE. This is made worse by the fact the EA (Ben Haumiller) is STILL out trying to hype up this feature like its the best idea EA has ever had. This is the most stupid waste of disc space I have ever seen. 1.) This feature is dead come Feb. 2.) Anyone that has seen it, knows that Florida and Ohio State are dominating the whole thing. Its no mystery who is going to win it all. And its only September.
[B]-Graphics.[/B] Especially when compared to Madden. Madden looks as real as a video game can look. While NCAA football looks like a cartoon show. This saddens me because the look and atmosphere of the college game buries what the NFL brings to the table. I know that Madden is EAs bread and butter, but still. Dont both of the games carry the same price tag?

Will these things be addressed next year. We dont know because EA never is out assuring its loyal fans that things will get better.

My hope is that NCAA Football takes a page out of Maddens book. I was so impressed by Madden 10. Its "If you see it on Sunday, you see it in Madden 10" slogan sums it all up. I want college football to be this way. If this means eliminating things like Mascot games, the so be it. Save mascot games for the Wii. I want better graphics that make me feel like im playing a college game. The Madden team stepped it up. Someone there finally came through. And personally I dont think the current NCAA developmental team is thinking about going in this direction. Or that they are even capable of turning NCAA football completely around like the Madden team did with Madden 10.

So finally. The last thing I will talk about is rosters that are in the NCAA titles. We all know that EA has to watch what they do to keep from crossing the line with the NCAA. Which is of course why the rosters arent named. And with the recent lawsuits from Sam Kellar and the other guy, this may have factored in to why NCAA 10s rosters were so horrible. So about this.
1.) I dont think that Sam Kellar has a leg to stand on against EA or the NCAA. He and the other guy are obviously bitter about how their careers ended up and now want payment for what they think is their likeness in a video game. When you have have over 50,000 plus players come through the college football system and 2 or 3 of them have a problem with this, I dont think that favors those 2 or 3 players.
2.) Their name, nor their image is being used in any way in these games. Yes we all know who the fake players are supposed to be. I dont think that is enough though. These guys do not own the skin color, height, weight, or number on that football team. Plus these clowns are recieving a free education from a big time college. There is your payment right there.
3.) Something that really bothered me on EAs part is this: I asked Greg over at Utopia about why we dont have long hair or dreadlocks in NCAA 10. His reply was that this would push the limits on what they are allowed to do with the rosters in the game. Ok. This is a lie. It has to be. Because last time I checked, the PS2 versions had long hair and dreadlocks. So whats the difference??? Its things like this that make me question the practices of EAs team that do actually come to sites and post. It makes them less credible. And the fact that next gen games dont have all the things from previous gen systems has NEVER made sense to me in the first place.

In closing. For Madden, they need to keep doing what they are doing. Dont take a step back, but keep going forward to make the game better and better. Madden 10 is no flawless game. But its playable. And it shows you that they are now trying to go in the right direction.

For NCAA, try to be more like Madden. Change the way the game is being made completely. Fix gameplay issues, upgrade the graphics, give the community things that they have been begging for. Make the game a better representation of college football. FIX PROGRESSION. Dont include any big new gimmicks like Season Showdown in NCAA 2011. Fix the current build of the game. Saying that the game will play great and more fluid is a way bigger selling point to me than some cheese like Season Showdown.

And to EA sports in general, Less patches. If these games are worked on year round like we are led to believe, then cut out the fact that we need some monster patch to makes things work. And obviously this requires a great deal of testing. Dont insult are intelligence by saying that the games are tested thuroughly. And then the consumers find several huge bugs within 20 minutes of gameplay.

Im not demanding anything. I think the wide use of internet mixed in with next gen gaming has made developers lazy. Because they know they can patch something later if it doesnt work. No matter how good the games are, EA or any game company shouldnt have exclusive licenses to anything. Just take some pride in what you do and think about the consumers and the hardcore gamers that help put EA on the map.

GatorBait06NC

A while back I posted my initial impressions of NCAA 10. Now that I have had a chance to play the game more and explore all game modes. I have decided to write my last impressions for NCAA 10. And it isnt good. Please Madden 10, save us all.

I will start by saying that this game is pretty close to being a total train wreck. It seems like the more they hype the game, the more a let down it turns out to be. Here is the Good & Bad...

[COLOR=red][B][U]THE BAD[/U][/B][/COLOR]

[B]NCAA 09 GLITCHES in NCAA 10:[/B] Mainly, ROSTERS. This is very poor. When NCAA 09 came out, there was a bug that prevented you from naming all the rosters. In 2010, instead we were able to name them all. Only problem being that the rosters were a crapshoot. The 2nd so-called fixed rosters were even worse. Hundreds of Freshman were higly overrated. There were tons of players who had graduated and drafted by the NFL that were still in the game. Regardless of EAs lawsuits about the use of likenesses on some of the players, this is pathetic. I have also heard that the weather channel glitch is also in NCAA 2010, but its not a game killer for me. Theres much more to worry about.
Conference Scheduling home/away bugs or glitches or whatever EA calls it, are still here. Even though they said they fixed it.

[B]DYNASTY PROGRESSION:[/B] This by far is one of the biggest blunders in the history of sports gaming. This has been a game killer for a ton of people. I shouldnt have to get into much detail on this, seeing as how most people already know what the whole situation is. Basically it makes the dynasty no fun if you are a decent team. Theres is no position battles, not freshman are likely to ever be needed. In the end there are way too many 99s overall and 90+ overall players is general. Its insane. They talked about how they improved progression, but they actually destroyed it. There ends up being way too many A+ teams and it calls for some pretty odd NC games. Lets just hope it doesnt killed the imported classes for Madden....atleast not too much. EA has said they wont talk about whether this will be in patch #2 or not. And im thinking that means in wont be or that they cant fix it. Bottom line: GAME KILLER.

[B]RECRUITING:[/B] They have jumbled this up big time. Its FARRRR too easy for good teams to pretty much PICK any player they want. Theres so much going on that recruiting has become pretty confusing actually. The recruiting against other schools thing is cool. But im still not sure why this matters so much. All in all, Recruiting may not be bad. Just overdone.

[B]CONFERENCE SCHEDULING:[/B] Just like in NCAA 09, teams end up playing other teams on the road multiple years in dynasty mode. Whats bad is that they said this was fixed. Its not. Ohio State playing Michigan and Penn State on the road in multiple seasons. Tragic. Those are big games to bring recruits to. I personally havent seen any but Ohio States, im almost certain the SEC is screwed in some way. Plus I heard the the Pac 10 is messed up too. When will they allow us to edit conference games, or atleast let us change the home and away. That would be simple.

[B]GRAPHICS:[/B] Graphics are typical EA fashion. They are great when you are right up on the players. But far away, they are way less than NEXT-GEN quality. Not a game killer though.

[B]JERSEY NUMBERS OFF CENTERED TO THE RIGHT:[/B] This is so bad that I felt it needed its own paragraph. How this made it past developers is something that will stump me until the end of my life. It took me 5 minutes to realize this. Some teams look way worse than others.

[B]GAMEPLAY:[/B] Gameplay is pretty sickening at times. And sometimes its pretty good. The thing that disgusts me is when you nail a player and start bring him backwards, and then he all of the sudden is moving forward for 3 yards is a joke. That is killing me online. Players bumping into the ball carrier and completely changing his direction is looking like a very cheap rip off on on Pro Tak. 3-4 defense is again, hard to work with. Defensive Keys are a joke. Zone defense is almost impossible to use. And they made a big deal of passing lobbing out when the QB gets hit while throwing. But when running the option, you can be wrapped up by 2 tacklers, upside down and on your head, but still make a PERFECT option pitch. Kind of contradicting to me. Oh yeah, and I love when an option goes for a TD. Then counts as an incomplete pass. Thats awesome how I didnt get any stats for it. I still say bad AI logic. Im still see the CPU taken horrid angles. Speed killed in 09. It got killed in 2010. I cant break away from anyone with Jeff Demps from UF. The dude is the fastest player in the game.

[B]SEASON SHOWDOWN:[/B] To me, this is an ok feature. Too bad it pretty much ruins the rest of the game. And too bad it will be useless come Feb. Strategy points are glitched up. And to get strategy points, you mainly have to utilize....(see below)

[B]DEFENSIVE KEYS:[/B] Why are these in the game? They either make your players outplay their attributes, or the completely leave you burnt on any skill level. Why are these here? To help you get Strategy points in what else, but SEASON SHOWDOWN.

[B]SPORTSMANSHIP:[/B] This is the most irritating thing ive ever seen. Theres 1 minute in the third quarter and I throw a pass while up 3 tds and then I get docked -75 sportsmanship points. Seriously. I will be playing my offline franchise offline from the EA servers. Want to know why Florida has hella negative sportsmanship points??? Prob due to the fact that UF has only Shotgun formations besides goaline. Hardly any effective running plays.

[B]PLAYBOOKS:[/B] I dont know about anyone elses really but my team's playbook. Florida. For the past two years with Meyer and Tebow, Florida has ran one or two plays under center. But in NCAA 08 and NCAA 09, the UF playbook contained Ace and I formations. But in NCAA 2010, UF has neither. So basically, the year that Florida will actually start using Tebow some under center, they decide to remove these formations from UFs playbook. You dont have to be Lou Holtz to know that UF will run some plays from under center. Have you been under a rock?

[B]STADIUM SOUNDS:[/B] Another very innovative and awesome cant-do-without feature. I love this feature especially when I found all the gator band files. In NCAA 2010 though, if you have a lot music on your HD, the game will freeze when trying to input the song with the event. The work around is to either delete all the music on your HD, or to rename all your SS files to be ordered at the top of the list of songs when pick your music. Pretty sad that a work around is needed here.

[B]PRE GAME BANDS:[/B] This feature still isnt making much sense to me. Ive only seen maybe 9 or 10 authentic bands. Im sure there are more. But for the other 100 or so teams, how do these fake bands capture the spirit of college football?? Im tired of seeing "EA SPORTS", "VICTORY", and "GO GO GO" as UFs pregame band. Its stupid and makes me want to skip the lame pregame scenes more than ever before. WE WANT PLAYERS RUNNING ONTO THE FIELD. ATLEAST EVERY TEAM CAN DO THIS WITHOUT BEING GENERIC! We know it can be done. We have seen it on the PS2. Yeah, that OLD last gen system.

[B]UNNEEDED MODES:[/B] Mascot Games and Mini Games may not take up much space on the disc or much time to code. But still. This isnt the Nintendo Wii. How many people asked for these things during community day??

[B]ONLINE DYNASTY:[/B] Still a very awesome feature. I havent seen if players leaving actually come back this year for 2010. But I have been in a dynasty that had that crashing issue, where it had to be taken offline to restore it. Ive heard that this has happened to a lot of people.

[B]ROAD TO GLORY:[/B] Simply put: AWESOME IDEA, BADLY DONE. The coaching logic on this is really stupid. I played four years and maybe saw 20 different plays called the WHOLE time. Its 3rd and 15 and we need a td and they call HB dive. Seriously? The practice and activities may be needed for this mode. I cant get into it tho. This mode can be fun at times. It has improved a lot over the years. I will say that.

[B]MINOR ISSUES:[/B] White sleeves actually being gray. Still not being able to see the numbers on Alabamas helmets. No ability to create duplicate numbers on a team. We need colored cleats. That would be a nice minor addition.

[B]MASCOT CELEBRATIONS:[/B] These still sicken me. Most of them are foolish and child like. Plus, isnt this a 15 yard penalty in real life. Ask Butch Davis about it. Mascots should be in the game, but on the sidelines. NCAA needs to steal a page from Madden, "If you see it on Saturday, then you see it in NCAA 11" That would be a step in the right direction.

[B]WEATHER:[/B] With Florida, it rains in 80% of all my games. Why? It gets annoying after a while.

[B]INABILITY TO COPY SAVE FILES:[/B] This kinda sucks. Big time. Whether this was done because of XMB trophies or Season Showdown, either way, it needs to be undone. You want to back up your NCAA files. You have to back up your PS3 in order to do so. Atleast EA Locker is there.

[B]COMMUNITY DAYS/LACK OF FORMATION SUBS:[/B] I recall Formation Subs being more than begged for at the community day. Only to be told that is wasnt a priority. Season Showdown I hated at first, now I think its ok. But Formation Subs should have came before this gimmick.

[B]TESTING:[/B] This game was played by consumers and most of these problems were found within 30 minutes of playing. How it all made it passed EAs Testing Department, assuming there is one, is baffling. I wont take shots at EA, I just pray that they feel for us hardcore guys. I just hope it gets better in the future. Thats all I can do. I miss my good NCAA games already

[B][U][COLOR=red]AND YES, THE GOOD[/COLOR][/U][/B]

I still have to praise EA for the things that suprised me.

[B]PROGRESSIVE LIGHTING:[/B] Simply put. AMAZING.

[B]ANIMATIONS:[/B] A lot of the new tackle animations are great. I hate the trip from behind as it has become over the top annoying. But they all look good. I like the new stances by the Running Backs and QBs especially.

[B]STADIUMS:[/B] All of the stadiums look great. I love Floridas. I love how the got the SEC and End Zone field art right for 2010. They actually have 2008 National Champions on the end zone wall.

[B]REVO HELMETS:[/B] Revo Helmets look worlds better in 2010. Still not flawless, but better. Percy Harvins REVO speed helmet is still missing. It is the most popular helmet in the NCAA arguably. But this is not a big deal at all.

[B]JERSEYS:[/B] Getting a ton of new alternate uniforms in the game is awesome. The ability to mix and match them is even better.

[B]ABILITY TO MOVE PLAYERS:[/B] Athletes are still almost worthless in this years game. But I like how I can move a FS to SS without making him a 40 overall.

[B]BOWL END ZONES:[/B] Long over due.

[U][B][COLOR=red]WHERE TO IMPROVE[/COLOR][/B][/U]

Test the game. Period. I will do it for free EA. Hell, I will pay you guys.

I would say just fix everything thats in the game now. Yeah, we could use better graphics, return of refs and chain gang to field, better looking sidelines. Army All American bowl, Under Armour game, expanded rosters, bands actually seen in the stands, better looking crowd, and on and on. But these things are minor compared to the issues in NCAA 2010 that have really made me hate playing the game.

It would be a dream come true to see NCAA 11 mirror Madden 10. I would die of happiness. Lol.

Thanks for reading,
GatorBait06NC

GatorBait06NC