On the Fence About NCAA Football 09

[RaychelSnr]

Are you on the fence about buying NCAA Football 09? If so, you are not alone. Our very own Carlos Hernandez is as well and you can check out his thoughts in his article, On the Fence About NCAA Football 09.

"While getting ready to play NCAA Football 09, I had an epiphany. An epiphany not simply about NCAA Football, but the sports video game genre as a whole.

Sadly, I have discovered I’m unsatisfied with the overall quality of sports games. Even fan favorites like MLB: The Show and College Hoops 2K8 have left me desiring a richer product."

[prscorpio2681]

That was a article that seemed to come from a true gamer and not just an employee to another game site. I can respect that. To each his own ...either you like it or not....there are always going to be other options...thats the best thing......as for me ....Goooo Noles!!!

[ehh]

Re: On the Fence About NCAA Football 09

Sadly, I have discovered I’m unsatisfied with the overall quality of sports games. Even fan favorites like MLB: The Show and College Hoops 2K8 have left me desiring a richer product.

There just seems to be something missing in all titles and I have yet to find the common issue, if one even exists. There is no clear feature or gameplay mechanic that will have me believe that NCAA will be any different.

I feel the same way, except I finally found out that the missing issue is fun factor, IMO.

Sports games today simply aren't fun for the most part. I hear everyone in The Show forum rave that it's the greatest sports game ever made but I just don't have fun playing the game. I can appreciate the game from an objective point of view but it gives me little pleasure to play it. Even the other game you mentioned, College Hoops 2K8, was great for a while but lost my interest by April.

Yet I'm still playing MVP '05 and having a blast with it because it's an insanely fun game to play with limited glitches. I'm going to start a dynasty in NCAA '07 on regular Xbox because that's the last football game I had a ton of fun with. Sure, the deep ball was too easy, there was a little too much offense and other items but as a whole the game was fun as hell to play. Even MLB2K8, a glitchy game that's much more arcadish than The Show is simply more fun to me.

Video games are a leisure activity for me, but at some point in the last 5-6 years it became a lot more than that. Nitpick everything, complain when something isn't included, etc. At the same time we are given glitch-filled games for the most part (that deserve criticism) and a post-release patch has become the industry norm.

What it all boils down to is that those are issues that take away from the fun factor for gamers. If I'm not going to have a ridiculous amount of fun with a sports game I'm not going to play it, either because I choose not to or because I will lose interest in it quickly. That is why I don't own a 360/PS3 anymore and I won't buy another one until the sports gaming industry changes.

It's too bad they can't patch the fun back into sports games.

And at the same time, if you have fun with NCAA 09 or any other game then great for you because that's all that matters. If you don't care that Southeast Idaho State has an impenetrable offensive line or that the CPU's QB will eat you alive almost every game then that's fine. Enjoy the game and have a ton of fun, that's what video games are made for.

[kmart2180]

Re: On the Fence About NCAA Football 09

I think what it comes down to is the game gonna be fun? And although I've read of some nasty bugs none are effecting the fun factor of the game. The patch will make this game incredible but for now it will still be fun to mess around with until then.

I am more concerned with just being able to have a fully named roster that wont crash my online dynasty. If I get that then I can wait for the gameplay patch issues.

Just go to Easportsworld.com and watch some sick video's and its enough to see that this game has a fun factor.

[Phobia]

Re: On the Fence About NCAA Football 09

Video games are a leisure activity for me, but at some point in the last 5-6 years it became a lot more than that. Nitpick everything, complain when something isn't included, etc. At the same time we are given glitch-filled games for the most part (that deserve criticism) and a post-release patch has become the industry norm.

I agree. I remember playing football games because they were fun as hell to play. Now I find myself nitpickin every little thing about sports titles.

I think this happened for most of us when sports games made the jump from being blotchs on the screen to more detail realistic games. At that point we have wanted more more more more more and this has caused us to loss sight that just 10 years ago we were watching a little blue blob named thurman thomas running for the bills. We had three different running animations, left right and striaght. It was simple and that made us accept the illusion of it being "football".

Now we can see just by looking at someone through the face mask who they are. See the beads of sweet run down their face ect. We wonder why can't we do everything that the real people do on sundays.

I think we need to back away for a sec and just enjoy the game.

[Tywon]

Re: On the Fence About NCAA Football 09

I think we need to back away for a sec and just enjoy the game.

That's the best advice I've read on these boards in weeks.

[Herky]

Re: On the Fence About NCAA Football 09

I think the main reasons for gripes is as far as next gen goes, there have been a lot of issues with sports games. College Hoops 2K8 is really fun and pretty realistic IMO, but after that games have been so buggy on next gen consoles that it kills realism.

Madden 08 is pretty fun on PS2 even with it's problems, but at least you can play a game and have fun without issues that ruin gameplay.

It's year what now on next gen and there are still problems? I know nobody want's to hear about NCAA 2004 again, but why after so many years since then can't EA seem to release a football game without a big bug in it? )2005 was a mess with the drops).

Next gen has been as disaster for NCAA and Madden and it's just frustrating when you shell out $60 for a unfinished or half assed product.

Rant over and I'm done bitching. Let's just hope this thing gets fixed and I'm still on the fence, but leaning towards waiting.

[BigDofBA]

Re: On the Fence About NCAA Football 09

It's ironic that people talk about how great old games like Tecmo Bowl were and bash today's games. In actualy reality, games of today blow games of the past out of the water.

Everytime a game is released people pick it apart to no end. It's a result of us becoming spoiled. Remember when you couldn't edit anything, play online, have deep dynasties, etc?

There are some valid complaints but there seems to be way more nagging. Sports games are released every year so there isn't going to be any drastic changes year to year.

Games aren't fun today because people have picked them apart before they have even played them.

[crques]

Re: On the Fence About NCAA Football 09

I agree. I remember playing football games because they were fun as hell to play. Now I find myself nitpickin every little thing about sports titles.

I think this happened for most of us when sports games made the jump from being blotchs on the screen to more detail realistic games. At that point we have wanted more more more more more and this has caused us to loss sight that just 10 years ago we were watching a little blue blob named thurman thomas running for the bills. We had three different running animations, left right and striaght. It was simple and that made us accept the illusion of it being "football".

Now we can see just by looking at someone through the face mask who they are. See the beads of sweet run down their face ect. We wonder why can't we do everything that the real people do on sundays.

I think we need to back away for a sec and just enjoy the game.

I think I had more fun with the first 2 Tecmo Bowls than any other football game out there and it's for the reasons you mentioned above. Back then we didn't have the internet to tell us about all the glitches and bugs before we even bought the game, and we didn't have sliders to adjust. We played the game as it was and accepted it because it was simple and fun and the only thing we could really do with it was play.

[ehh]

Re: On the Fence About NCAA Football 09

It's ironic that people talk about how great old games like Tecmo Bowl were and bash today's games. In actualy reality, games of today blow games of the past out of the water.

You prove my point to an extent. Going back in time, games like Tecmo Bowl all followed by the golden rules of sports games. 1) It's fun. 2) There are no big glitches.

Things like graphics, realism, features, etc all come down the road, but those two must come first, IMO, because you need to build on a solid foundation. Today's games blow Tecmo Bowl out of the water in terms of graphics, features, options, etc but they have way more glitches and are not as fun & entertaining. I mean, how else can a game like MLB Power Pros survive today? Limited glitches (which almost always leads to great gameplay) and it's a ton of fun.

I really can't think of a single sports game on the nex-gen consoles that doesn't have a ton of glitches. CH2K8 wasn't bad and that's probably why many people view it as the best nex-gen sports game.

That being said, it comes with the territory since games have so much more these days and are more complicated. More features, more chances something will go wrong or contain a bug.

But again, I will stand by the idea that different people like different things in a sports game. If graphics, options and features galore are what makes you happy then you enjoy what nex-gen sports games have to offer.

[bhurst99]

That's the best advice I've read on these boards in weeks.

I think the negatives in these games tend to get more attention than the positives. Just appreciate the fun of the game. I know that I can get lost adjusting sliders. You can spend hours doing that or recruiting which isn't too exciting.

[ehh]

Re: On the Fence About NCAA Football 09

I think I had more fun with the first 2 Tecmo Bowls than any other football game out there and it's for the reasons you mentioned above. Back then we didn't have the internet to tell us about all the glitches and bugs before we even bought the game, and we didn't have sliders to adjust. We played the game as it was and accepted it because it was simple and fun and the only thing we could really do with it was play.

I think this is true but to a very limited extent. I hated NCAA '05, '06 and '08 on Xbox but I love '07, regardless of what people said on here. IMO, '07 is what NCAA '05 should have been.

I mean, can you name a true glitch in Tecmo Bowl? Was there anyone who didn't have fun with Tecmo Bowl? It was wacky and arcadish but there weren't any big glitches and it was fun as hell. I don't think it was because the Net wasn't around and there was no one who could point out the flaws, I just think it was a fun, glitch-free game.

Simple and fun vs. glitches and bugs.

[Illcat]

Re: On the Fence About NCAA Football 09

I agree. I remember playing football games because they were fun as hell to play. Now I find myself nitpickin every little thing about sports titles.

I think this happened for most of us when sports games made the jump from being blotchs on the screen to more detail realistic games. At that point we have wanted more more more more more and this has caused us to loss sight that just 10 years ago we were watching a little blue blob named thurman thomas running for the bills. We had three different running animations, left right and striaght. It was simple and that made us accept the illusion of it being "football".

Now we can see just by looking at someone through the face mask who they are. See the beads of sweet run down their face ect. We wonder why can't we do everything that the real people do on sundays.

I think we need to back away for a sec and just enjoy the game.

I do agree; technological leaps have made us even more critical.

I think what we also need to factor in that a lot of us sports games consumers are older now and our lives are vastly different from when we were playing Madden, when he was still on the cover or Bill Walsh's College Football. I was in college back then and I'm telling you, it didn't matter so much if a sports game stunk or had it's quirks; we still played it to death. I was so irresponsible back then and money just didn't mean all that much to me. I blew through it like bags of Doritos. Now, I'm 36 and when I go get a game sure, I expect it to be fun but I also expect what I see on that screen to justify the $60 bones I just dropped on the game. My biggest gripe about sports games (especially football) is all the countless hours of tweaking that goes on after the purchase. I almost feel like I should be getting paid for the hours of work that I put in to make the game playable. Ultimately, this decreases my time in actually play with the game. But, this is the world of a sports games and I accept it because "all the classic games had glaring issues; from Tecmo Bowl to the 2K series these games had huge flaws but we were able to still enjoy the games." IMO, NCAA will be no different. If we didn't have the ability to tweak like we can now we would just play and prolly b!tch less. Sure, technology has upped what I want to see in terms of eye candy and gameplay but at the core; I just want the game to be engaging and worth my purchase.

[ForeseenBurrito]

Re: On the Fence About NCAA Football 09

I think this is true but to a very limited extent. I hated NCAA '05, '06 and '08 on Xbox but I love '07, regardless of what people said on here. IMO, '07 is what NCAA '05 should have been.

I mean, can you name a true glitch in Tecmo Bowl? Was there anyone who didn't have fun with Tecmo Bowl? It was wacky and arcadish but there weren't any big glitches and it was fun as hell. I don't think it was because the Net wasn't around and there was no one who could point out the flaws, I just think it was a fun, glitch-free game.

Simple and fun vs. glitches and bugs.

I guarantee that if you go back and play Tecmo Bowl for an extended period of time, you will find some kind of glitch.

[WallaceNails]

Re: On the Fence About NCAA Football 09

I have had the game since Friday. It is a great game. Go buy it. Really...