Color me brave, but for the first time in forever [seriously] I am skipping the yearly release of NCAA Football. Why? I suppose there are a few reasons in no particular order.
- The NCAA Football franchise has grown stale and is going in the wrong direction. Last year was a far cry from the 2000 and 2001 glory days of the PSX, which was probably the last time I really enjoyed NCAA Football. Other than the inevitable eye candy that came with the PS2 and PS3 releases, the NCAA franchise is a non starter for me.
- I am too damn old to master two football games. Unlike the olden days, before the family multiplied like rabbits, I just do not have the time or energy to dedicate to multiple football games.
- I love college football and will write all day long about Georgia and Texas. I actually have Falcons Season Tickets so I am a little more connected to the NFL. More up front and personal, which means I can predict that in November I will still be playing Madden while NCAA will be collecting dust or worse.
- I have to be more financially responsible with my game purchases. Gone are the days when I could give a shit about throwing $100-120 bones on the table for football games. I actually need to get value for my gaming dollar. Good Lord, I am your typical Joe Blow consumer. What have I come too?
- I no longer live in the game reviewer space, so I can ignore and alienate a major gaming segment. Screw you! Yes, it feels good to be released from the shackles of review-dom.
I could probably come up with other reasons, but for the first time in the history of EA’s NCAA Football franchise, I am going to pass. No thanks. So there. Holding my breath. Have to be strong and brave the storm of first day reviews, forum rantings and ravings, and not being part of the “in crowd.” This year I am going to concentrate on Madden and live in peace with the decision. Of course there is the PSP version, but that is for another day.
Never did get too into NCAA. Bought it for a couple of years but I preferred the gameplay of Madden.
NCAA had some nice things, like the wide camera angle and playing option was a nice departure from Madden.
But to me, it always exhibited the worst aspects of EA football, such as suction-blocking way worse than Madden, poor pass defense AI.
Kind of burned out on Madden too. Playing multiplayer online games of NHL and FIFA made it seem like Madden was really stale.
Probably will end up getting it once the NFL season ramps up. But by then new NHL and FIFA would be coming out.
Madden 10 is getting praise from some traditional skeptics. But to me, I’ll wait to see the things they overlooked, like contracts and salary cap in the so-called online franchise.
Or how about coming out with Co-Op online mode only for 2 players against the CPU? Really lame.
I am such a hard ass (or maybe that is dumb ass) that I want to play college football for the running game. Three yards and a cloud of dust. A beautifully executed option play brings tears to my eyes. Yes, the game has passed me by and so has NCAA Football.
I agree about Madden. You can only play the same game so many years in a row. Yes, there are yearly upgrades and differences, but Madden, is well Madden. It is still the only NFL game in town (unless Blitz catches your fancy).