A Treatise on NCAA College Football Games

Take a good look at these two images. Take away the titles from the bottom of these pictures and many people would not be able to tell which game is what. The highly (and I mean highly) successful gaming machine known from EA Sports has been pumping out football titles for years (for a complete compilation of those titles, see NCAA Game Series Wiki Page) and as an avid lover of video games and everything that they can stand for I have to ask this one question "Why????". What I am asking is why are these games continually pumped out year after year without hesitation? Of course, I have to look beyond the most obvious of reasons for why anything is done in this world (a.k.a. Money) in order to get at an answer that would satisfy the gaming purist in me. Criticizing a very profitable business model is something not done lightly, because for whatever reason or justification you can find for said criticism, it can always be countered by simply pointing to the success of the franchise in question. Therefore, I will be drawing upon basic gaming principles that I feel are important for a gaming franchise to grow into something truly legendary and not just a cash cow meant to be milked annually during the holidays.

To be frank, I actually do buy this game just about every year and will most likely continue to do so. In fact, I can't remember the last time I did not purchase a NCAA football game. I do enjoy playing these games, and while there is plenty I dislike about them there is also plenty I do enjoy. I know I know, that seems totally against what I am about to barf onto this blog but please, forgive me, my insatiable appetite for sports, games, and competition with friends keeps me on the gravy train.

Now that is off my chest, let me get down to exactly what I feel could be changed about this franchise. The change I am offering is nothing drastic, nothing overly complicated, and nothing close to a complete overhaul. My first, and most major of my suggestions, would be to change the release of NCAA titles from annually to every other year! Instead of EA Sports releasing NCAA 11 and 12 in succession, there would simply be 1 of those titles. Many video game companies will release their titles 2,3, even 4 years apart from one another and still maintain financial success. However, such titles like Skyrim cannot be compared to NCAA due to them being so different in every major way. So exactly what the hell am I rambling about here?? Well, with the way video games are going with the whole downloaded content generation, why not use this tool for more than just asking people to pay for stuff that should already be placed in the game.. let's say, use DLC to update teams statistical information, player information, and other technical information such as football field shapes and sizes, team logos, etc. You see where I am going with this now?? The "in-between year" where NCAA would not be released could be used to implement these changes which would allow the developers to further create and finalize new content and graphical updates needed to keep a video game series feeling fresh and exciting.

Seriously, having a NCAA come out every year where the biggest change to the game comes in the form of adding Erin Andrews to the sideline is disappointing from this gamer's perspective. I don't care about the flashy intros by the teams for the game, and more often than not, they actually show off the game's glaring graphical issues as the players, fans, and mascots look robotic and downright sad (just take a look at this Youtube Video and see how pathetic it looks). This is a plea to stop trying to give the masses a horribly implemented crowd system (which has gotten worse over the years), Erin Andrews (wtf is the point of her, seriously, why do people like her so much /fuming), and bad team intros... instead, give gamers a more polished NCAA in the form of better tackling (which is being worked on thankfully), better hit and ball detection, reduce player barriers, and for the love of all that is holy take out the totally unnecessary replay system.... the game knows when someone stepped out of bounds early or was down before a fumble occurred, I do not need to sit there and watch a couple of poorly constructed A.I. bots stare at each other before the correct call is made.

Sports games like NCAA (as well as racing "games") have never been something I have considered a true game. Maybe it is because I grew up playing more RPG's and action games than sports and racing or maybe it is because those types of games rely more on the Michael Bay Theory in gaming (add in flashy, purely eye candy material and they will come) more so than taking the time necessary to make each NCAA stand out from the last. I feel the developers need more time in between each title in order to completely hash out and implement new gameplay elements as well as creating a more worthwhile experience. When it becomes more exciting to find out who is on the cover and what the grass looks like in game instead of the actual gameplay, I think a video game series has long reached its apex and is in need of serious creative help, or maybe just a change of pace.