NCAA '08

[cubuffsman78]

NCAA Football '08 came out today. I know I'm one of the few on this forum that actually prefers college football over the NFL and also prefers NCAA over Madden. There are several new features on this year's game that makes it just a little better than the previous versions of the game.

Last year, I believe I posted on another forum the results of the first complete season I played on the game. Turned out the national championship game was Florida over Ohio St. Florida actually won 3 of the first 4 first season NC's on my console that I simulated. That tells me that my PS2 is psychic. And I'm serious. I'm putting my trust in my PS2 to predict this year's national championship. So that means that it will be...

USC 52
Oklahoma St. 7

What in the hell?! Oklahoma St.? That's what you all just said huh? Yeah me too. Especially seeing how West Virginia also went undefeated in the season causing a bit of controversy.

I actually believe Oklahoma St. is a sleeper to win the Big 12 this year. They have a great QB named Bobby Reid. He plays similar to Troy Smith and is a playmaker. As long as their coach decides to let him have the snaps and not split time with him and some schmo like he did last season, then they have a legitimate shot at the Big 12. Undefeated though? No way.

So screw my PS2's psychic abilities! It's still a great game and one of the reasons...along with Madden that football is the most popular sport in the country. Here's a column that I put in today's newspaper. Just thought I'd share it with you guys.

Today marks an important day towards the beginning of football season and it has nothing to do with a live game being played or a training camp starting. No, instead, today is all about my video game console. My television will be occupied for the next several months by Electronic Arts Sports’ NCAA Football ‘08, which was released to stored today. Laugh if you must, but video games are key in figuring out how football has become the United States’ new favorite pass time. Every year, television ratings and stadium attendance falls a little lower for baseball — our former favorite pass time. However, the NFL’s attendance and ratings flourish season after season. One of the biggest arguments for this changing of the guard is that Americans are not a patient people. Everything has to be fast to us. We don’t have the desire to wait several minutes between every pitch at a baseball game. This is also why soccer is not a popular sport in America. But I will argue that as a reason why the gridiron sport is flourishing over baseball. If it was just fast paced sporting action that Americans wanted then wouldn’t basketball be more popular? After all, that action is almost nonstop. There are at least 20 seconds between each play in football unless you’re watching game film of an old school Buffalo Bills’ game from the early 90’s, when Jim Kelly quarterbacked a no-huddle offense. This makes me lean towards the argument that video games have fueled football’s popularity. EA Sports’ Madden franchise is probably responsible for the most American youth’s knowledge of NFL players and what teams they play for. I fervently believe that the top selling sports video game of all time is responsible for Atlanta Falcons’ quarterback Michael Vick’s popularity with this country’s youth. They use Vick on Madden, rush for 2,000 yards and pass for 3,000 yards in a season and immediately enshrine him as the greatest quarterback of all time. As we all know, Vick isn’t nearly effective outside the realm of video games. This year’s cover of the slightly less popular NCAA Football ‘08 is a great example of forever enshrining a player in the minds of youth. Boise State quarterback Jared Zabransky wasn’t even drafted by an NFL team this past fall, but will still grace the cover of this year’s college football video game. Certainly he’ll be remembered for leading Boise State to that thrilling overtime upset over the Oklahoma Sooners in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl that featured two mind blowing trick plays. However, the cover of NCAA Football will probably be the most face time he receives this year, as he tries to earn a roster spot with the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent. The fact is that football transcends to the gaming world better than any other sport does. There’s more strategy involved and the game play can be made to look like real game action. EA has had a tough time trying to copy this success over with baseball and basketball. Madden is tied with Tetris as the fifth best-selling gaming franchise of all time with over 60 million copies being bought. Both 2007 versions of Madden and NCAA sold over 1 million copies last year. Today’s youth learn about football from video games. This was how it also worked for me as a kid. I could tell you the rosters for most NFL teams thanks to my obsession with playing Tecmo Super Bowl on my Super Nintendo. The success of football to transcend its game to the gaming world simply ensures its popularity with the next generation. As EA puts a little bit more of the real game into the video game, as their slogan proclaims, it puts the sport further into the limelight of America’s conscious.

[porky88]

I also like NCAA over Madden except for last years version though. I got NCAA for the PS3. Looks great and plays great too.

So far I'm into year 2 of my Dynasty with the Badgers. P.J. Hill and Lance Smith are a nasty duo.

[black19]

I used to like NCAA over Madden. I haven't played Madden since 2003. I was a huge 2k fan. NCAA was great until they first added the momentum stuff and slowed the game down. Since the NFL went EA exclusive, I haven't touched a football title.

However, I will probably be purchasing Madden this year since I'm limiting myself to one game a month until Christmas.

Aug - Madden
Sept - Halo 3
Oct - GTAIV
Nov - Assassin's Creed
Dec - Halo Wars

Gonna be a great fall for us gamers...

[cubuffsman78]

Originally Posted by porky88 I also like NCAA over Madden except for last years version though. I got NCAA for the PS3. Looks great and plays great too. So far I'm into year 2 of my Dynasty with the Badgers. P.J. Hill and Lance Smith are a nasty duo.

It took me a while to adjust to last year's version, but it grew on me. They really tightened it up with this year's copy. I like it a lot.

I like to start with a bad team and take better coaching positions as they come. I started with Tulsa and was offered the Notre Dame job after two years. Just like the Irish faithful, they fired me after one 4-8 season. So I went to Texas Tech and finished unbeaten in my 4th season with them. I got screwed out of the NC game though because Ohio St. and USC finished unbeaten as well so I'm facing Wisconsin in the Fiesta Bowl instead. One thing that could make NCAA an incredible game would be an optional playoff system...That would be righteous!!

[black19]

I used to love using Northern Illinois back in 05 when I was last really in to the College game.

[porky88]

Is it just me or is the AI much tougher this year? Maybe it's just on the PS3 but I can play on Heisman on the older versions on the PS2 but this one varsity gives me a run for my money.

[cubuffsman78]

Originally Posted by porky88 Is it just me or is the AI much tougher this year? Maybe it's just on the PS3 but I can play on Heisman on the older versions on the PS2 but this one varsity gives me a run for my money.

They upped the AI in last year's version. I played games where I would have a tough game on All-American dificulty. It was virtually impossible to run the ball against Heisman. It's similar this year. I think it has something to do with the momentum thing.

[NYJets30]

The one thing I don't like about college football video games is how short players careers are. We talk about how NFL players are constantly switching teams, but in NCAA you get a guy for 3 or 4 years, maybe 2 of which he actually starts. Then it's a whole new roster, none of whom you know