LAST YEAR FOR NCAA FOOTBALL?

[Gopher]

I'm not trying to cause chaos here. This is serious.

I just got home from reserving my copy of NCAA for PS3 and the (respectable) Game Stop employee claims that there is a rumor going around; this rumor says that this could be the LAST YEAR for NCAA Football due to profit issues.

Obviously Madden trumps NCAA in sales, but I don't see how NCAA isn't making enough money for EA to move forward with it.

Has anyone else heard this rumor?

[HustlinOwl]

Re: LAST YEAR FOR NCAA FOOTBALL?

Sam Keller and O'Bannon lawsuit

[seasprite]

Re: LAST YEAR FOR NCAA FOOTBALL?

Have no idea if true or not, but the guy at Gamestop would be the last person I would listen to. They generally dont have the first clue about the gaming industry.

[gogators]

Re: LAST YEAR FOR NCAA FOOTBALL?

Without really coming out and saying, EA hinted that NCAA would be on next gen next year.

[SECElit3]

Re: LAST YEAR FOR NCAA FOOTBALL?

I think it all depends on what happens with these lawsuits. NCAA is already pretty far down on the totem pole in terms of revenue generation. It may not be the last year for NCAA, but if these lawsuits go south we will see some big changes in the product that might drive sales into a downward spiral.

The nails have started to be driven into the coffin. Only time will tell if that last nail will "drive home. Let's hope 14 is a game we can play forever.

[Gopher]

Re: LAST YEAR FOR NCAA FOOTBALL?

Have no idea if true or not, but the guy at Gamestop would be the last person I would listen to. They generally dont have the first clue about the gaming industry.

I understand that the Game Stop dude probably isn't the best for inside info on EA, but like I said he's a respectable dude who knows his stuff when it comes to sporting video games. But I don't see how it couldn't be on the next gen consoles for at least a year.

[N.C.State]

Re: LAST YEAR FOR NCAA FOOTBALL?

I would hope that you are wrong. If the rumors are true then I'd question Tiburon's work on NCAA 14 more than I have already. Didn't MLB 2k13 have almost nothing added to it besides a roster update when it ended its cycle?

[Wilson16NCSU]

Re: LAST YEAR FOR NCAA FOOTBALL?

Sam Keller and O'Bannon lawsuit

well luckily for EA that has gotten delayed. They were supposed to decide a week or so ago if that lawsuit was worth moving on to a class-action trial. However the judge was curious why there was no current student-athletes apart of the lawsuit since it seems that who it effects the most, so the decision has been delayed until they find a current student-athlete to testify. So that has caused quite a delay in things and no one is sure when this will continue. Even when the decision is made they can appeal certain parts of the ruling which will drag things out. Most seem to think if it advances to a class-action trial that EA/NCAA will most likely settle out of court and all college video games would stop being made.


So based on that I could see a NCAA 15 coming out. Hopefully it does so we finally get a game with a playoff.

[stooge 1010]

Re: LAST YEAR FOR NCAA FOOTBALL?

they said that last year to.

[sphanlon]

Re: LAST YEAR FOR NCAA FOOTBALL?

At least stretch it out until NCAA 15. We're about to get a playoff in the game. It would be crap if it stopped just before that.

[hornfan]

Re: LAST YEAR FOR NCAA FOOTBALL?

What I don't understand is this. Even if O'bannon and Keller win the lawsuit, couldn't EA still be able to make a game with fictional players? After about three seasons you are playing with fictional players anyway. The lawsuit is all about using a players likeness, not NCAA football and it's use of universities in a video game. NCAA football is probably the second most popular sport in this country and I really have a hard time believing they would not continue to make this game.

[SlickRick11]

Re: LAST YEAR FOR NCAA FOOTBALL?

Na, still not a credible source..... the guy at GameStop has NO IDEA what's going to happen with the NCAA Franchises future lol, that's way above his head trust me.....the judge, EA, Sam Keller, or any GameStop employee doesn't know yet if this is the last year or not because the case is Pending and on hold.....

I'm sure EA is still making enough profit to make the game

[BigBlue10989]

Re: LAST YEAR FOR NCAA FOOTBALL?

Na, still not a credible source..... the guy at GameStop has NO IDEA what's going to happen with the NCAA Franchises future lol, that's way above his head trust me.....the judge, EA, Sam Keller, or any GameStop employee doesn't know yet if this is the last year or not because the case is Pending and on hold.....

I'm sure EA is still making enough profit to make the game

Agreed. If EA wasn't making enough money then they would have stopped making the game, i.e. NCAA Basketball.

[dghustla]

Re: LAST YEAR FOR NCAA FOOTBALL?

What I don't understand is this. Even if O'bannon and Keller win the lawsuit, couldn't EA still be able to make a game with fictional players? After about three seasons you are playing with fictional players anyway. The lawsuit is all about using a players likeness, not NCAA football and it's use of universities in a video game. NCAA football is probably the second most popular sport in this country and I really have a hard time believing they would not continue to make this game.

I agree with your post. There are too many options for EA to simply scrap NCAA (hopefully at least). They could always reduce the NCAA Dev team and make NCAA a port of the previous years madden (Circa ps2 days) with tweaks to dynasty mode and college related aspects and still make a ton of money.

As far as taking information from GameStop employees. I'm sorry but these guys are usually the farthest off. They read and follow the same sites for information that we do. Because they work in a game store it is perceived that they have more knowledge in the field. What would make him privy to such insider information anyways? Did he hear from a friend, of a friend, who has a brother, whose cousin works for EA?

[Chrgrs17]

Re: LAST YEAR FOR NCAA FOOTBALL?

EA would be crazy to stop it now. If they will be forced to shutdown (which I highly doubt), they'd be stupid to not release a next-gen version. Sales will be through the roof as people rush to get games for their new consoles. As someone else mentioned, the fact that it will be the first version of the game with the new playoff alone will help boost sales. They probably don't even have to add anything else to the game to get people rushing to the stores.