Rebuilding year for ‘NCAA 09′?
EA Sports dropped the ball on “NCAA Football 08.” There, I said it.
No, “NCAA 08″ wasn’t broken or unplayable. I even gave it a very favorable review. But the more time I spent with the game, the more I realized something was missing. The fun factor that made the “NCAA Football” franchise a must-purchase was gone. So much so that I was actually on the fence about picking up “NCAA 09.”
But just when I thought I was out, EA Sports reeled me back in this week with the announcement of features included in ”NCAA 09.”
Online dynasties? Online roster sharing? A new animation system? Wide-open gameplay? Count me in.
You can read all about the new features in “NCAA 09″ on the Plugged In page at wvgazette.com. With any luck, the developers can deliver on all of those promises.
I’m especially excited about the possibility of post-game presentation. EA has been sitting on the ESPN license for years and it’s time to incorporate the brand into EA Sports titles. If 2K Sports could do it with “NFL 2K5,” EA can do it “NCAA 09.” The question is whether it will.
We’ll have more on “NCAA 09″ in the weeks leading up to its July 15 release.
April 4th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
[…] jeff rider wrote an interesting post today on Rebuilding year for âNCAA 09â²?Here’s a quick excerptNo, “NCAA 08″ wasn’t broken or unplayable. I even gave it a very favorable review. But the more time I spent with the game, the more I realized something was missing. The fun factor that made the “NCAA Football” franchise a … […]
April 4th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
What are your thoughts about the roster sharing feature of NCAA 09?
April 4th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
I think online roster sharing will be a huge addition to NCAA 09, but I’m curious to see how it will be implemented. I’m hoping for a system similar to the one found in College Hoops 08. Finding and downloading user-created rosters was a breeze in that game. But honestly, anything would be better than the system that exists now, especially for Xbox 360 users. I have a ton of respect for the guys who devote hours and hours of their free time to edit the rosters so that gamers like myself can enjoy a more realistic experience. Hopefully EA’s system will allow their hard work to be seen and experienced by more people.