Dusted Off '04 for a Quick Spin

[Cardot]

Ok, I know I am beating a dead horse here. But I am just so bummed that here we are in January, and I am still not feelin' NCAA 08. There are so many great things about the game that make me want to play it, but the gameplay just leaves me feeling a bit empty.

So last night as the Sugar Bowl was quicky losing my interest, I decided to dust off '04, to do my own Georgia/Hawaii matchup and see if '04 was what I remembered. Earlier in the day I had played a "less than thrilling", turnover dominated affair of '08.

The first thing I noticed as I was choosing my squads was all the D1AA teams. Hopefully they'll be back soon with a tournament mode that they can be used in.

The next thing I noticed were all the alternate uni's that could be chosen. I know this is an old complaint of '08...but man, this was around in the early days of the last gen. Really added to the diversity.

Anyways, I finally start my game in the SuperDome and I remembered the entrances as both teams charge onto the field (this was before the versions of Corso putting on the stupid mascot head). The endzones were decorated with each team and the jerseys all had the Sugar Bowl patch on them......Great details.

Ofcourse the HD graphics can't touch '08. Infact I realized how large the '04 player's heads were compared to their bodies.....I am not sure why this didn't bother me before?? But aside from that, I thought things looked decent....helmets were shiny etc.

As the game began, I remembered one of my favorite little touches of that game....the yardage stats in the play select screen. Minor detail, but I missed that when they removed it.

The last thing I noticed was how much faster paced the game was. Not so much the play on the field, but all the stuff between plays. In '04, plays end with a short cutscene, but quickly return you to the play screen. After picking a play, players quickly break the huddle and you are able to start making adjustments or snap the ball. The current version just seems alot slower to me. The transitions between animations and the play screen appear to be molasses slow. I don't see many people complaining about this, so maybe I am in the minority....or perhaps I am just more "Casual" than the majority here?? But I find that in '08 I spend alot more time just sitting their waiting....and this eventually takes away my interest. It also takes alot longer to play. A game with 6 minute quarters used to take around 40 minutes, while this year it takes more than an hour.

I know '04 had is flaws, and I don't think I could go back to that version, but I sure wish I could incorporate some of it into '08.

[fistofrage]

Quote: Originally Posted by Cardot

Ok, I know I am beating a dead horse here. But I am just so bummed that here we are in January, and I am still not feelin' NCAA 08. There are so many great things about the game that make me want to play it, but the gameplay just leaves me feeling a bit empty. So last night as the Sugar Bowl was quicky losing my interest, I decided to dust off '04, to do my own Georgia/Hawaii matchup and see if '04 was what I remembered. Earlier in the day I had played a "less than thrilling", turnover dominated affair of '08. The first thing I noticed as I was choosing my squads was all the D1AA teams. Hopefully they'll be back soon with a tournament mode that they can be used in. The next thing I noticed were all the alternate uni's that could be chosen. I know this is an old complaint of '08...but man, this was around in the early days of the last gen. Really added to the diversity. Anyways, I finally start my game in the SuperDome and I remembered the entrances as both teams charge onto the field (this was before the versions of Corso putting on the stupid mascot head). The endzones were decorated with each team and the jerseys all had the Sugar Bowl patch on them......Great details. Ofcourse the HD graphics can't touch '08. Infact I realized how large the '04 player's heads were compared to their bodies.....I am not sure why this didn't bother me before?? But aside from that, I thought things looked decent....helmets were shiny etc. As the game began, I remembered one of my favorite little touches of that game....the yardage stats in the play select screen. Minor detail, but I missed that when they removed it. The last thing I noticed was how much faster paced the game was. Not so much the play on the field, but all the stuff between plays. In '04, plays end with a short cutscene, but quickly return you to the play screen. After picking a play, players quickly break the huddle and you are able to start making adjustments or snap the ball. The current version just seems alot slower to me. The transitions between animations and the play screen appear to be molasses slow. I don't see many people complaining about this, so maybe I am in the minority....or perhaps I am just more "Casual" than the majority here?? But I find that in '08 I spend alot more time just sitting their waiting....and this eventually takes away my interest. It also takes alot longer to play. A game with 6 minute quarters used to take around 40 minutes, while this year it takes more than an hour. I know '04 had is flaws, and I don't think I could go back to that version, but I sure wish I could incorporate some of it into '08.

Well you are beating a dead horse. Unfortunately, beating a dead horse is funner than playing NCAA 08. I'll say this again and stand by it. NCAA Football on the Xbox 360 is 3 years away, yes 3 YEARS! From even getting back to where NCAA football 2004 on the PS2. And NCAA 04 had some flaws that needed addressing. NCAA 08 on the PS2 would have been the greatest sports title ever IMO if the pursuit angles and automatic FG's wouldn't have been broken. All they had to do was fix those 2 things and put back in the facemask penalty and the PS2 version would be awesome.

As it stands, there are so many things wrong with NCAA 08 on the 360 that I can't even list them. It will be years before I purchase this franchise again unless drastic changes and huge strides are made.

[Cardot]

I think you are right Fist. I am looking forward to see what '09 has to offer, but I am not too optimistic. I think it will take a few years to get there.

At this point, I think they are going to need to take a few steps back before going forward. The biggest issues are too entangled and entrenched in the code. Problems from JTS and Momentum and whatever else has been jammed under the hood for the last few years. Wishlists of the past contained things we wanted to see added.......Over the last few years, there seem to be more things people want removed....which is a pretty sad statement.

I would be a pretty happy buckaroo if they went back to the '04 engine and:
- Add on the pretty 360/PS3 graphics.
- Update the rosters, Teams & Confernces.
- Make the deep ball tougher and reduce the drops on the short passes.
- Remove the 4th Quarter Offensive Explosions.
- Update some of the physics that '08 does a pretty good job with.

[fistofrage]

Quote: Originally Posted by Cardot

I think you are right Fist. I am looking forward to see what '09 has to offer, but I am not too optimistic. I think it will take a few years to get there. At this point, I think they are going to need to take a few steps back before going forward. The biggest issues are too entangled and entrenched in the code. Problems from JTS and Momentum and whatever else has been jammed under the hood for the last few years. Wishlists of the past contained things we wanted to see added.......Over the last few years, there seem to be more things people want removed....which is a pretty sad statement. I would be a pretty happy buckaroo if they went back to the '04 engine and: - Add on the pretty 360/PS3 graphics. - Update the rosters, Teams & Confernces. - Make the deep ball tougher and reduce the drops on the short passes. - Remove the 4th Quarter Offensive Explosions. - Update some of the physics that '08 does a pretty good job with.

Like I said, I would be ecstatic if they took the 2008 PS2 engine and just fixed the pursuit angles, auto fieldgoals and added back in the facemask penalty. I even like the player models on the PS2 better. I hate the 360 linemen that look like refrigerator boxes with mini-helmets glued on them. Its pathetic that the 360 version has gone down this road.

NCAA used to be the ONLY game I bought. I would rent others, but I'd play NCAA so much that I didn't have enough time to warrant the purchase of anything else. Now I can't even see myself renting NCAA 09 because I already know its going to be worse than what I used to play on the PS2.

[Sausage]

Hey guys does '04 include "auto name" for rosters? I'm deciding between the Gamecube version to play on the Wii or PS2 version where I can Sharkport the rosters.

[Soonerd2]

Quote: Originally Posted by fistofrage

NCAA used to be the ONLY game I bought. I would rent others, but I'd play NCAA so much that I didn't have enough time to warrant the purchase of anything else. Now I can't even see myself renting NCAA 09 because I already know its going to be worse than what I used to play on the PS2.

Is 08 really that bad guys? I play 1 to 2 games everyday minimum. Maybe I'm a sucker and EA feeds off of people like me but I'll get this game every year.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I'm not slamming anyone here. I just personally feel that whatever product EA puts out yearly isn't going to please everyone. The game isn't that bad, just imo.

[fistofrage]

Quote: Originally Posted by Soonerd2

Is 08 really that bad guys? I play 1 to 2 games everyday minimum. Maybe I'm a sucker and EA feeds off of people like me but I'll get this game every year. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I'm not slamming anyone here. I just personally feel that whatever product EA puts out yearly isn't going to please everyone. The game isn't that bad, just imo.

Well independently if you lived in a vacuum and played NCAA 2008 without any prior knowledge of previous football games, I could see how you might give this game a 6 or 7 out of 10. Turnover issues, the clunky menu, the announcers being a play behind the action, sliders not working would all be factors in taking this game down to a 7 or a 6.

But now factor in the fact that I've had every version of NCAA back to Bill Walsh football and I can tell you that this game is pretty rotten. I'd have to give it a 4 out of 10. Its not even passible and I'm an video football junky. There is just so many features that we used to have that didn't make it to the 360.

There are alot of great games(non-sports) out there that get scores from 7.5 to 8.5 and NCAA isn't even close to these games in fun, navigatin, graphics, and completeness of all around product. I think if you look at it that way you'd say, yeah, this game really belongs in the 4 to 6 range, with a 6 being extremely generous.

[Cardot]

Quote: Originally Posted by Soonerd2

Is 08 really that bad guys? I play 1 to 2 games everyday minimum. Maybe I'm a sucker and EA feeds off of people like me but I'll get this game every year. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and I'm not slamming anyone here. I just personally feel that whatever product EA puts out yearly isn't going to please everyone. The game isn't that bad, just imo.

No, it is not that bad. In a way, I wish it was because then I could just leave it on the shelf and forget about it. But there are enough great things that keep me coming back.

For me, it boils down to 3 issues:

1. The game is dominated by turnovers. Winning or Losing for me generally comes down to how many pic 6's the CPU is going to give me. My best strategy seems to be just run the ball, and wait for the CPU to throws some picks. Winning this way isn't rewarding since I am not really doing anything to get these picks.

2. Offense is frustrating because I am pretty much afraid to pass. I don't have the skills of most folks here, so passing is tough. Even when I have an open reciever, the result seems more dependent upon the whims of the CPU than anything I do...maybe they'll let me catch it, or maybe the defender will get a jump on the ball before my reciever or a LB will super jump to pick it off.

3. The games screens and menus are very slow. I really like browsing the rest of the NCAA, but it is painfully slow on the 360. Likewise, in game things seem to be alot slower between plays than it used to be. This is probably more a function of the new systems than EA, but for me it hurts the experience.