EA SPORTS NCAA Football 09 Home Page Up...ALREADY?!

[Hammerhunker]

Quote: Originally Posted by merg311

You mean old features that will be "new" to the next-gen systems...its BS, but every year there I am at midnight release...

I would love to see, "Revolutionary Multi-Camera Angles", and "Revolutionary create a school feature." Yes, come July or maybe August I will be there. If they put back in those two features, adjust the turnovers, I would be fairly happy.

[parker002]

Quote: Originally Posted by Cardot

I am not planning on getting '09 unless this series makes a drammatic turnaround.

I'm really hoping that next year's APF has the option to use only generic players without the has-beens. If they do that, I won't be buying NCAA at all.

My problem is I don't think I could get through the fall with ZERO console football...

[rudyjuly2]

I sense an awful lot of hate in this thread. EA made fairly big strides with '08 on next gen even though it still has flaws. I expect another big jump forward and think '09 will be an excellent game. Their third installment in a series is usually one of the best from past history and I see it happening again with the vast majority of focus being removed from the PS2. I expect to see all of the old features from the PS2 on the PS3 next year along with more polishing of the gameplay. '08 has a good base to build from imo.

[Cardot]

Quote: Originally Posted by rudyjuly2

I sense an awful lot of hate in this thread. EA made fairly big strides with '08 on next gen even though it still has flaws.

I don't know Rudy. I go back to Atari, so I am usually pretty forgiving of flaws a game may have. But the INT issue in '08 really turned the game into something that doesn't resemble college football.

If this were some company putting out their first attempt at football, I think most of us would be more lenient. But this is EA who has been doing football games for years. So it is discouraging to see such a huge issue make it out the door and reach the market.

The part that frustrates me isn't just the flaws. It is that there is so much to like about the series. There are so many things they get right that really get you fired up to play. All the aspects of College Football that the game does a great job in capturing kind of go out the window when you have a game like I had last night where each team through 5 picks.

[KG]

Quote: Originally Posted by Cardot

I don't know Rudy. I go back to Atari, so I am usually pretty forgiving of flaws a game may have. But the INT issue in '08 really turned the game into something that doesn't resemble college football. If this were some company putting out their first attempt at football, I think most of us would be more lenient. But this is EA who has been doing football games for years. So it is discouraging to see such a huge issue make it out the door and reach the market. The part that frustrates me isn't just the flaws. It is that there is so much to like about the series. There are so many things they get right that really get you fired up to play. All the aspects of College Football that the game does a great job in capturing kind of go out the window when you have a game like I had last night where each team through 5 picks.

yeah I feel you on most of your points. EA just needs to improve on '08s base with tweaks to the INTs and atmosphere. I would get excited to read an EA headline that states how they upgraded atmosphere as their "new feature".

Overall, the feel of the game is 10x better than '07 on the 360. The 60fps makes such a huge difference.

[Cardot]

Quote: Originally Posted by kgx2thez

yeah I feel you on most of your points. EA just needs to improve on '08s base with tweaks to the INTs and atmosphere.

Agreed. But this is the way I felt back in '04. It was a great game, but just needed a little bit of tweaking to tone down the deep ball, and reduce the drops in the short passing game.

'04 Also introduced a Notre Dame entrance scene. I thought that each year they would add a few more custom entrances and cut-scenes....

But starting with '05, they seemed more concerned with the extras to market the game. Freshman panicking on the road, Momentum, Big Man on Campus mode. They started taking stuff out (like the entrances that I loved in '04) and breaking stuff that had worked for years.

Sorry for the rant. I am bitter and frustrated.

[fistofrage]

This is exactly why people are frustrated. Its like buying a new car and realizing there is no air conditioning, it handles worse, its stiffer, slower, and when you really look closely at it, it looks worse than your old car.

There used to be so many things to like about this game and they were so close to having a "great" game on their hands that it was always worth checking out the new version. Now they are so far away from having even a good game that its infuriating. Its like when Coke rolled out that "New Coke" garbage. People actually stopped drinking Coke. I never thought I'd say it, but I've stopped playing NCAA. And until they can make the 360 play as well as the last gen, all features included, I'm not going to play NCAA again. I'm telling you, outside of the automatic Fg's, pursuit angles, and lack of facemask penalties(slider doesn't work), NCAA for the PS2 was THAT close to being perfect. Granted those problems ruined it for me, but if those were fixed, no more complaints out of me. Ever.

I don't have enough time in the day to make a list of things that the 360 version needs to do to get this game to that point. I would say they are at minimum, MINIMUM, 3 years away and by that time they will be rolling out a new console and NCAA will be worse on that than it is on the 360 if history holds true. So hate? No, I don't hate these guys. They frustrate me and disappoint me, but all I can do is not give them my $60 next year. Its just so sad, I've beta tested for them long enough. Games are supposed to be fun, and NCAA feels more like moonlighting on a second job than having fun.

[rudyjuly2]

Quote: Originally Posted by fistofrage

I'm telling you, outside of the automatic Fg's, pursuit angles, and lack of facemask penalties(slider doesn't work), NCAA for the PS2 was THAT close to being perfect. Granted those problems ruined it for me, but if those were fixed, no more complaints out of me. Ever.

I loved the PS2 version as well but the inside running game was fairly bad in '07 and I heard it was even worse in '08. Constantly bouncing inside runs because LBs always crash way too hard in the middle was becoming a problem.

I don't think the next gen versions are three years away from being good nor do I think we will even see a new console at that time. These consoles will have at least a 10 year lifespan. I do agree it was a mistake to rewrite the game from scratch and EA has had to fix an awful lot of things in the first two years. However, I can see the progress they have made and like Cardot said, there are just a couple things that really hurt the game. Its even more reason to think EA can really put out a nice product in '09. Will it be perfect? Nope but I'm sure I'll have fun. The INT issue was better after the patch as it was really getting on my nerves but I can live with most issues now and with sliders for my skill set I'm still looking forward to playing my next game.

You can vote on how good the game is by not buying it next year which is your right but I really do think we will see another nice leap forward. I'm sure they will make one more iteration on the PS2 anyways if you are still not happy.