Do you realize...

[peteykirch]

Brian Leonard should've been on the cover.

[cliburn]

Quote: Originally Posted by bgeno

In response to the last few replies stating that he's a great pick for the cover... Sure, he was a great college player. And, sure, it doesn't matter for a true fan or someone who is going to buy the game either way. However, the move turned out to be a TERRIBLE marketing strategy. People who aren't entirely familiar with the game, the audience that EA needs to be targeting, aren't going to recognize some guy with a red goatee and a blue helmet with a horse on it. People like you and me are going to be interested in the game regardless of the cover athlete. Hence, Zabransky is a great guy to have on the cover for OUR AUDIENCE. However, he's not going to sell any games, that's for sure. And, face it, that's what the cover athlete is supposed to do--sell games. I'm not going to blame it on EA. I mean, it was just dumb luck that he did not get drafted, and I think the kid could have a good career as a Jeff Garcia back-up type who has a couple of magical years as a starter. I dont think all that many people saw him going undrafted.

I've never known anyone who said, "Man, I was going to buy a college football game this year, but [insert name here] was on the cover." or "Man, I was content with NCAA 06, but when I saw Reggie Bush on the cover of 07, I just had to have it!"

[Shaver]

It's a college game... he's a college player. It doesn't really matter when push comes to shove. Joey Harrington was on the cover and look how well that worked out...

[olemiss86]

Quote: Originally Posted by Clay_OS

It's a college game... he's a college player. It doesn't really matter when push comes to shove. Joey Harrington was on the cover and look how well that worked out...

Very true

[Cebby]

Quote: Originally Posted by Clay_OS

It's a college game... he's a college player. It doesn't really matter when push comes to shove. Joey Harrington was on the cover and look how well that worked out...

Joey Harrington was a lot better than Zambransky. Z wasn't close to a "great" college player.

[bgeno]

Harrington went in the draft too... people knew his name.

Quote:

I've never known anyone who said, "Man, I was going to buy a college football game this year, but [insert name here] was on the cover." or "Man, I was content with NCAA 06, but when I saw Reggie Bush on the cover of 07, I just had to have it!"

There are a lot of casual gamers/young people out there who will, in fact, make selections based on who is on the cover.

What I failed to remember, however, is that there is no competition for EA... so I'll conceded the arguement right there.

But imagine a game has Jared Zabransky on the cover on another has Brady Quinn. Someone who doesn't know a whole lot about football sees both games sitting side by side. With little to no prior knowledge of the games, which one do they pick?

If you dont think the cover of a game has anything to do with how it sells, you're kidding yourself.

[olemiss86]

That is true. I know several people that didn't buy the 2005 Ncaa game because of who was on the cover. Alot of my friends were pissed cause they didn't put Eli on the cover but put Larry Fitzgerald. I didn't care, hell I just got a custom cover made.

[NoleFan]

Who was he before Boise State beat Oklahoma? That was definitely not a reason to put him on the cover. Leak? I can deal with that. Smith? I can deal with that. Quinn? I can even deal with that but Zabransky...no so much.

Doesn't matter though. I just hope the game's good.