Jordan Rivas writes:
"Thankfully NCAA Football 09 delivers on so many levels my expectations weren't simply met, they were exceeded. Not only does this game meet the standards set by its NFL big brother, it crafts a niche all its own and paves the way in certain areas that Madden could learn from. From opening kick off to the final overtime drive, NCAA Football 09 is one of the best football experiences available.
For anyone who has picked up a copy of Madden 09, the core gameplay will be instantly familiar, if only slightly tweaked. The control scheme on both sides of the ball is identical save for a couple of minor functions. The difference you will feel is when carrying the football – the fluidity of your ball carrier's movements is surprisingly smooth and natural. Even after playing Madden 09, which also featured smooth animations, the freedom and fluidity in your ball carrier's motions is amazing. A new animation feature means players aren't "locked in" to certain animations, allowing you to quickly chain together a series of moves in a natural way; this is the same feature that Madden 09 touted, but for reasons I can't explain, it just feels better in NCAA Football 09."
As GamePolitics has reported, Electronic Arts may soon face a lawsuit by retired NFL players who believe their likenesses were unlawfully incorporated into EA's best-selling Madden game. But former college players now want their slice of EA's money pie as well.
SF Weekly reports that a one-time college quarterback is now making the same claim as NFL retirees in regard to EA's popular NCAA Football and NCAA Basketball franchises. Samuel Keller (left), formerly of Arizona State and Nebraska, is the lead plaintiff in the class action suit.
But College athletes aren't allowed to be payed. A roster download is done by third parties, and merely makes renaming every player in the game much, much quicker. Which is what many gamers will do anyway.
And the players aren't always right anyway. Austin English (#33) from OU is black in NCAA 2008, but is clearly white in real life.
I don't know what he wants EA to do, they aren't allowed to pay the players, and gamers want to play as the players. It's a lose-lose.
The NCAA Football 09 $1,000,000 Challenge, sponsored by House-Kidder Entertainment, is a new nationwide Tournament that will allow U.S. video gamers to compete using the NCAA Football 09 video game on the Xbox 360 for a Grand Prize that could be as much as $1,000,000.
Operation Sports' Wil McCombs examines NCAA Football 09's recruiting model and gives suggestions on how to improve it for NCAA Football 10.
Excerpt: "The main system 'improvements' in '09 were, in my opinion, aimed in the wrong direction. Last year, EA developers presented gamers with ways to streamline the process via features like Quick Call and CPU assistance. Sadly, many sports games -- particularly EA Sports games -- yearn for the casual gamer, and these new tweaks made it nauseatingly evident. Considering the over-the-top, hardcore nature of most college football fans (and NCAA gamers), it seems counter-productive to dumb down the product for the masses, at least in this department."
