What does the future hold?

[Dr Death]

Remember when we were playing on XBox or PS2 and all the talk began about "Next-Gen" gaming consoles? All the new power and technology would lead us to far superior games and gaming would even start to imitate life and feel more real. Somewhere along the line, we... the consumer... were lied to.

Gaming on Next-Gen has been largely disappointing. Sure, there are some games that are really nice and we can all agree that the graphics are massive improvements, but it seems that most games that were on last gen leave much to be desired by their long-time players.

Which leads us to the XBox 720 - XBox Phoenix - whatever you want to call it and the PS4... Now what I don't understand is how all the stuff that was in XBox on NCAA is still missing from XBox 360? With a rumored release date of sometime in 2012/2013 we may have two or three more years of NCAA on the current gen. We are finally getting some much needed features into the NCAA series w/ 11 and we could only conclude we will get more in 12... but then what?

If XBox releases its next-gen console in Fall of 2012, what will this do to the NCAA series? By then we would be on NCAA 13... would EA have to start completely from scratch again? Would the advances made in 11, 12 and 13 then be right out the window in 14?

It's funny, but reading about the next-gen of consoles I keep reading that games are right now pushing the current consoles {360/PS3} to their limit. I find that incredibly difficult to believe. Who lied to whom? Were we lied to about how powerful the 360/PS3 would be? Or were we lied to about how easily the companies would be able to integrate their games into that technology?

NCAA and Madden have been major disappointments on 360/PS3. That much is something I think we can all agree on. But what hope does that give us for the future? If EA had this much trouble adapting to and learning the power of current-gen consoles, how much worse is it going to be on 720/PS4?

One thing that I would love to see happen, but probably never will due to financial concerns, would be for EA to make NCAA/Madden for core sim players... ie; people who want it as real as can be... and make another game for kids who want to do all the stupid cheesing and other-worldly tricks that no human could ever do.

It would be very simple really. Keep making the games they are making now w/ guys sliding all over the field, receivers who catch passes w/ out looking for the ball until the last possible second, etc... call those games NCAA 14 - 12 and Under.

Then, start over w/ a brand new engine that will give us realistic game play, realistic line interaction, realistic offense and defense, realistic momentum, and include everything the community has been asking for for years now; several broadcast teams, ESPN/ABC integration, team entrances, authentic pre-game shows, half-time shows and post-game shows. Bowl trophy presentation, Heisman presentation, spring game, Team Builder w/ much more in the way of options, custom playbooks including play creator, stadium builder, AD mode and coaching changes.

The next-gen systems... 720/PS4... will be able to handle all of that. The question is... will we ever see it?

[bigjake62505]

I would say that football has been very bad on the 360/PS3. All the other sports have been ok. NHL, MLB (the Show), FIFA, and NBA have been fairly successful. IF these new consoles come out I dont think I will be making the leap. I sold my 360 a while back and bought a PS3. Not to start a fan boy riot, but I think the PS3 has more life left in it. The 360 was great and it has a ton of great games but I think its reached its peak. Hell, I haven't moved to "next gen" on football yet. The ps2 versions of madden and NCAA are light years ahead of any current football game in terms of gameplay and features. Current madden and NCAA games are like dumb blonde women, pretty but when you open them up, dumb @$$ is everywhere.

[Rocky]

One word.....

starts with an 'e' and ends with a 'y'.

[boomersooner31]

The original poster is right and I often wonder what's going to happen when the next XBox and PS systems come out. Is the game going to start from scratch and again and suck and suck some more until they FINALLY get it right....just in time for the newest system? If so, count me out. Crap like FCS teams, refs, proper equipment, hair, atmosphere, etc should already be in the latest version of PS3. Half of those aren't.

[duckfever8]

Last-gen had all these things that the next-gen games don't have:
Medical Redshirts
Heisman Presentation
Sports Illustrated Magazine
College Gameday (kind of)
Dreadlocks
FCS Teams
Classic Teams
Spring Games
People have requested all these things to be added to the next-gen games, but these features have been on last-gen for about 5-6 years now. Some people bought the PS2 version of NCAA 10, instead of the next-gen because the PS2 version had more features. If that's where you are, you need some sort of improvement.

[SageInfinite]

I think this current generation has only been a disappointment when it comes to football. EA quite possibly built the worst architecture for a football game possible when they started this generation, and we've been paying for it ever since. This wouldn't be so bad if they weren't the only ones making football games.

[lgxjames]

Quote: Originally Posted by SageInfinite

I think this current generation has only been a disappointment when it comes to football. EA quite possibly built the worse architecture for a football game possible when they started this generation, and we've been paying for it ever since. This wouldn't be so bad if they weren't the only ones making football games.

I really don't have a comment about your quote..but your avatar is really funny

[prowler]

Quote: Originally Posted by duckfever8

Last-gen had all these things that the next-gen games don't have: Medical Redshirts Heisman Presentation Sports Illustrated Magazine College Gameday (kind of) Dreadlocks FCS Teams Classic Teams Spring Games People have requested all these things to be added to the next-gen games, but these features have been on last-gen for about 5-6 years now. Some people bought the PS2 version of NCAA 10, instead of the next-gen because the PS2 version had more features. If that's where you are, you need some sort of improvement.

The only problem with that list is the majority of it wasn't implemented until after the series had transitioned to current gen. Spring games were added to last gen in NCAA07 (the first year on the 360), redshirts in NCAA08. I can't remember when FCS teams were added but they were never finished nor updated.

I'm not defending EA, I'm just saying in a disturbing sort of way they're right on course to do what they did in last gen.