The Future of the NCAA Series (Part 2)

[sportzbro]

Following up with my first blog/post, I will begin taking a look at the steps necessary for dramatic change in the series.

Everyday it seems there is something new that comes up with NCAA that just kills the community’s spirit. With the news being confirmed by Russ about the DLC (that you actually have to pay money for) relating to dynasty cheats, it has forced me to voice my opinion once again about the series. This time though, it is more about the steps necessary to get the game back on track & headed in the right direction.

Disclaimer: I’m going about this not knowing what the actual NCAA budget is, what they plan on doing with the exclusive license, or the Sam Keller law suit, but I'm still trying to be as realistic (sim) as possible..

So lets start at the top..The lead designer. This is the person who oversees the entire development process, makes the hard decisions, and ultimately approves what goes on the shelves. Under his watch, we have seen the game become a shell of itself since the crossover to next gen (as pointed out in my previous blog). Things such as botched rosters, horrible gimmicks, cutting of good features, & bugs after bugs have apparently been deemed “OK,” or somehow gone unnoticed. With that being said, it’s time to move on & and a new leader with a fresh outlook must be brought in.

For this article, I will be acting as that man, and this is my vision for NCAA.

A very clear direction must be set in place for the future of the series. That direction would be a simulation style football game.. That’s right. No more gimmicks, no more fluff, straight football and things that relate to the actual game. It would run parallel to Madden; there would be no longer the days of it seemingly being substantially behind in the development process. NCAA annually would be pushing Madden for the EA Sports crown in terms of improvement and innovation. I realize that NCAA will never have the sales of Madden, but they could close the gap with a new tone.

The next area that needs to be concentrated on is who we are actually selling the game to - something I think has become very fuzzy for NCAA heads to understand. The target market, or primary consumers for NCAA has changed since next gen came about. Its obvious from my standpoint that the majority of consumers aren’t 8 - 13 year-olds who want to scramble and throw hail mary passes every play - That’s why we have Wii All-Play. One reason being, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for younger gamers to afford the consoles and games of today. These kids don’t have jobs or a source of income, and parents are less willing to drop that type of money when they have more important things to take care of.

That leaves the true base market - a mature crowd of 16 - 45 year-old diehards with at least a serviceable amount of knowledge about college football & sports in general. Everyone on this board knows their team like the back of their hand, and there are even leagues set up for guys over 40. No way you can tell they are going to be satisfied playing NCAA geared toward the first time or casual gamer.

Speaking of sales.. As clw22580 has pointed out in the "Dynasty Mode - Pay Real Money for Advantages" thread:

Quote:

NCAA 09: 1,466,063 09 units sold (360, PS3, PS2) = $80,440,520 in sales ($60 PS3/360 $40 PS2) http://vgchartz.com/swlaunch.php?reg...+PS2&weeks=100 NCAA 06: 2,074,506 units sold (PS2 XBox) = $82,980,240 ($40 for PS2 and XBox) http://vgchartz.com/swlaunch.php?reg...me3=&weeks=100 That is down 29% in units sold since 06. That is down 3% in $. (The $60 compared to $40 makes a huge difference) (Note: VGChartz used to have 04 and 05 sales and those were even higher than 06 as I recall but they are apparently no longer available).

It is common knowledge that if a product is poor, the demand is low, and the sales don’t justify the employees work, then changes must be made. With that in mind, the obvious route would be changes to my staff.. bringing in better resources committed to the new outlook of the game.

My first move would be beefing up the art department. With many of the 120 teams changing their looks, logos, stadiums, & equipment annually it just seems it has become too daunting of a task for the number of art people on staff currently. When the community is begging for things like team-specific entrances, it means more people are going to be needed to deliver that type of game.

Also, there has to be a better means of communication between the universities themselves & EA to make it run smoothly. I have seen already this year things like UConn's new uniforms & Iowa's field turf be left out due to lack of initiative on the university's side. I realize there are deadlines for art-lock, but I believe things can be put into place to help schools meet those deadlines when it comes to providing accurate information.

I would also love to bring in past coaches, players, and scouts as well. I feel like their experience and expertise with the sport would be beyond helpful. To me, it seems there are few current staff who truly understand what makes football, football. Their knowledge and input alone could help improve playbooks, team tendencies, rosters, & atmosphere.

I have plenty more ideas, but I'll stop there for now. For a future blog/post, I'd like to focus on my thoughts and ideas for individual aspects of the game:

Presentation
Dynasty
Gameplay
Gimmicks
Community

I've provided a pole and would like to see what you all would like to hear about first..

BTW, this will also be in my blog section to view at any time.

[Maximus205]

PREACH!!! I hope they take notice.

[MrOctober430]

too long to read. but it's time to move on man, your living in the 60s brah.

[Flav]

That is great stuff man.

[SHO]

I'd like to here about your thoughts on the community first. As evidenced with Madden and other sports games with attempts at big turnarounds, the change typically starts with community and their interaction.

[Cubone_Jones]

I really think Noble has a point. If we are going to hear about all of these issues we might as well hear about the community first. That really is where it starts.

Without those sales (from the community) then none of it really matters. So they need to listen to us and we need to get more organized.

[Boucher]

Quote: Originally Posted by MrOctober430

too long to read. but it's time to move on man, your living in the 60s brah.

Are you kidding me? Why post in this thread when you didn't even read it. This isn't IGN, we actually form opinions and talk like mature people here.

[WisconsinSports414]

Quote: Originally Posted by Survivor

I really think Noble has a point. If we are going to hear about all of these issues we might as well hear about the community first. That really is where it starts. Without those sales (from the community) then none of it really matters.So they need to listen to us and we need to get more organized.

There needs to be a general consensus among those in the community on what should be looked at and improved upon in a given year, rather than hundreds of random threads asking for this, that and the other.