NCAA Football Over The Years

[saz5016]

I've read these forms for years, mainly as a source of NCAA news and opinion. I figure this is a good thread for me to jump into.

I started playing NCAA with the 2003 version on the original xbox. I was 14 at the time, so I guess i've kind of matured with the game.

On the original Xbox, I felt the games got better every year. The only exception in my opinion was the move from 04 to 05, I think 04 was the better game. I remember doing everything in my power to get the game early on the first xbox. One year I even took a TV to basketball camp so I could play the release.

The original poster does a great job talking about the game engine. In terms of playability, the last gen games are still light years ahead of where we are now. Passing trajectories were really just added in 13, we had those back in 03 on the old consoles. The player interactions still aren't right. They claim to have fixed the physic DBs, but they weren't even a problem back in 03; in 06 you actually have CPU defenders looking for the ball and making a play on it. Do you guys remember how long it took them to implement over the shoulder catches on this gen of consoles?

I also have to bring up the player animations. On the old consoles, running was smooth and fluid. Now it looks choppy. Cuts are now totally unrealistic, and players look like they are on a hockey rink during the replays.

But lets look beyond the game engine problems on the new consoles. We hit those enough. In terms of features, NCAA on the new consoles really drops the ball. The lack of 1aa schools is an easy criticism. Remember how long it took to get alternate uniforms? How about the time it took to get painted endzones in bowl games? Or Bowl patches? What about things like stadium pulse, why has that disappeared? I remember when they didn't have nets behind the field goals on the new consoles, but still had the net animation for the ball. Where did the drills from 06 and 07 go? I think 07 on the old consoles even had a spring game. What about player specific celebrations? How about player discipline? Do you guys remember player hot streaks? Player ratings would dynamically change, game to game, quarter to quarter, even play to play. What about sports illustrated covers? Those were pretty cool. It was also cool that the preseason issue was the Athlon sports preview. The old games even had Lee Corso making head gear picks. Why did Lee dissappear?

Where has all this stuff gone?

At this point it feels like the effort just isn't there anymore.

NCAA 13 is the first game in the series I didn't buy. I've just thrown in the towel at this point. In my opinion the game is a fraction of what it once was.

[Td1984]

The reason Lee disappeared was because he had a stroke. I guess that impacted his ability to do VA work, but he still is on ESPN. I wish EA could bring him back though.

[majesty95]

I get fired up when I hear "effort" lol.

While I agree that some things do appear to be less than adequately thought out and implemented, I still go back to programming. The learning curve from PS to PS2 was infinitely less than from PS2/Xbox to PS3/360.

It was much easier to program for the PS2 which is why you quickly saw things improve. The learning curve has been much greater so certain things are taking longer.

With that being said, did we have Team Builder back then? Online dynasties? Dynasty wire? 70 player rosters? Dynamic pitches? Gems and busts? Scouting?

Was dynasty mode even remotely as detailed with custom schedules, custom conferences, coaching carousel, formation subs, custom playbooks, practice mode, etc? Some of that stuff was implemented to a degree but nowhere near the level it is now.

Again, the learning curve is much greater now and they had a poorly implemented engine to work from. We're finally going in the right direction, it's just taken a little longer.

It's actually people that constantly ask for new features that have slowed the process, in my opinion. If EA would work on solidifying and refining the gameplay and dynasty mode instead of trying to add all of these new features every year we would be light years ahead of where we are now. Personally, I've never heard anyone say "you know, the gameplay was great and dynasty mode was awesome but they didn't have enough features, so I'm not going to buy the game."

The sales numbers reflect this. Every year they add features that they can use as selling points but they neglect the time needed to perfect the gameplay and already implemented features. So, their reviews take a hit and people stop buying. It's gone hand in hand but for some reason they haven't caught onto that yet.

We will se what Madden offers. If its as great as I have been hearing and from what everyone expects, then we're on the right track. A wise man once told me, it's not how you get there that matters. Just that eventually you get there.

[Adibesee]

While I can agree this generation of systems is likely much harder to program than last gen, I refuse to give EA a pass. They are in control of how they implement their vision. They have made bad decision after bad decision in regards to where they place their focus and resources. Effort may be the wrong word but I find it difficult to believe EA has the same "developmental fire" as they did during their prime years and I for 1 will take a wait and see attitude when it comes to the next generation of systems and games. This is especially sad since in some ways NCAA helped convince me to be an early adopter with the 360. I remember loving that game and legitimately thinking how fantastic the game would be on the 360.

With that said fool me once shame on you, but I won’t fall for the okie dok twice.

[ultralow36]

Im pretty sure ea got payed thru 3 party retailers

[dowdasey]

Now I've seen it all....