my main complaint is the crowd interaction, i cant believe they've thrown out the advanced reactions that they had near the end of the PS2 days, and went back to the generic style, where the crowd only cheers once the play is dead...THATS STUPID

i belive NCAA Football 2003 was the first to actually have a crowd that sounded realistic, when your player broke the Line-Of-Scrimmage, they roared, just like in a real game and they got louder the longer you ran and the closer you got to the endzone..

i just got done playing Michigan/OSU with NCAA 08, i was OSU(at home), i intercepted a pass and ran it back for touchdown. what did the crowd do? they cheered when i first intercepted the pass, then by the time i got to the endzone(80 yards away) they had reduced to a murmer and when i scored, the band was the ONLY thing you could hear...

i would of gotten a louder responce if i was TACKLED before scoring the touchdown, because of your lack-luster programing

dont you think theres something wrong here EA SPORTS?


and whats the point of still ranking stadiums as "toughest to play in" when you dont even have the loudness meter from the Old Gen games, nor do the players even get effected by the crowds "loudness"


and if thats not bad enough, i cant play the game with the announcers on because by the time they actually "call the play" im already running the next one.


great job guys

I agree with the previous posts, but I would like to add some additional comments:

1) Where is the co-op mode? I am trying to teach my kids how to play on the PS3 but we can NOT be on the same team against the CPU. Why? Along these lines, where did the CPU vs CPU option go? Sometimes I like to have the game playing in the background while I am doing stuff around the house.

2) The crowd seems lame in the next gen version. Not loud/crazy enough.

3) Why is there no Demo mode in the next gen?

4) TOO MANY TURNOVERS... Slider bars need to do a better job of regulating these (many also need a fumble slider bar)

This is a great series but with each new version, it always seems like EA takes two steps forward and then two steps back. Some things gets made better, but something that was already great gets stupified or removed...

I have been an EA Sports NCAA football fan since its inception. I would say that I am an average player and will generally purchase a new game within a day or two of the release. I basically have two wishes for improvements. I think the gameplay is fantastic and I realize that is the most important part; however, I am disappointed that the game is still missing the complete college atmosphere. For example, after a touchdown, show close-ups of the crowd (which has been on past versions), cheerleaders (which has been on past versions), the band playing their school song, players on the sideline celebrating, possibly have some of the opening and halftime traditions that are unique to some schools, such as the Boilermaker train, the Sooner schooner, the Texas longhorn, the Colorado buffalo, the Michigan band, the dotting of the I for Ohio State, etc. I have played about 8 games and I have yet to see any of this on the current PS3 version. Maybe I am such a small minority that it makes no sense to do this, but I believe that what has always set EA sports apart from the competition is the authenticity you bring to a sporting game and I believe you are missing out on some of the the uniqueness and pagentry that college football brings.

One other wish is that when the player of the game graphic pops up at the end of the game, design it so I can control when to take it off the screen. So often it just pops up and goes away before I have had a chance to see who the players were and what their stats were.

Thanks

Forgive the length, but since you asked....

Here is some quick background on me: The first college football game I bought was the original Bill Walsh College Football for the Sega CD in 1993. With the exception of BWCF 95 and NCAA College Football USA 97 on the Sega Genesis, I have purchased and played the entire series on either Sega, the PS, PS2 and now PS3. NCAA Football 08 was the first game that made me want to buy a NEXTGEN console. I chose and bought the PS3 (over the XBOX 360) when Sony dropped $100 off the price. Another factor was the library of PS2 games that my family and I have amassed over the years. I also wanted a Blu-Ray player.

Overall, I will say it is good for the initial ideation. Maybe I had a different expectation... I knew enough to know that since this was the first version of this on the PS3, it would fall short in some areas that will undoubtedly change in future editions. Most of my criticisms are on the realism. Here is where it could be better.

- Referees... I didn't realize how much missed that until they were not on this year's PS3 version. The "chain gang" too!

- No alternate uniforms (I hope this doesn't wait for NCAA 09 and is added as a update or patch at some point for NCAA 0.

- The players don't look natural when they run. Their stride and posture seems odd and almost freakish.

- The stadiums look great, but the crowds are not what I expected.

- NCAA 07, 06 and maybe earlier (PS2 version) showed the team take the field and players warming up during the pre-game intro. It would also show specific animations (cannons, cheerleaders, mascots, angry/happy coaches) closeups on the fans) after TDs, penalties and big plays. The players could celebrate (an be penalized for excessive celebration). I would like to see a return of this and even additional school and stadium specific animations (like Notre Dame players hitting the sign as they take the field, or Tennessee running through the "T", and Osceola throwing down the flaming spear at FSU, etc). The uniforms should get dirty (maybe even torn), the lineman's helmets should get some paint transfer, the natural turf should get matted. I think this adds to the overall game experience as well.

- I like the addition of The Weather Channel and would like to see more ESPN integration. Remember NFL 2K5's "Sportscenter" and Halftime shows with Chris Berman? With the power and capability of these NEXTGEN consoles, wouldn't it be great to see "College Gameday Final" at the end of each week. Or to see Lee/Kirk pick the week's top games? How about a short PTI segment (at one time rumored for the NBA Live series)? How great would that be?

- The CG (Red Zone, game stats, record breaking notifications) look OK, I would prefer to see that type of information displayed more in the manner of a TV broadcast (not so large and in the middle of the screen).

- As several others have written, there are way to many turnovers. Even adjusting the settings doesn't seem to help that much.

- Why not 1080i? I bought a HDMI cable and it looks great at 720i, but many of the second set of releases for PS3 can be played in 1080i, why not NCAA 08?

There may be one or two more, but this is what I can recall at the moment.

College football is all about atmosphere, this is what makes this game (in my opinion) 10 times better than Madden. You need to return some of that legacy and atmosphere to the game.

I am certain that this is only the beginning of what will evolve into a better game over the next year (or two), but at $59 a game, next years will have to be considerably improved to justify me buying it instead of waiting for NCAA Football 10.

Thanks for openly soliciting input and feedback on your games.

I think a great idea would be to add financial data like in madden. In dynasty mode we should be able to sign contracts with actual figures. For example, a big time coach should be able to sign a big time contract, while a new coach for a small school will have a smaller contract. We should also be able to set ticket prices and concessions, etc. I love that aspect of the franchise mode in madden.

Also, modifying stadiums would be an amazing feature. Being able to add seats, scoreboards, expanding student sections, etc. would be awesome! Then we could really turn a small program into an elite powerhouse!

I really enjoy this game, but there are a few changes I would think would make the game better if possible. Please make the game so that there are plays that won't work 95% to 100%( cheater plays). Have the CPU AI learn a users favorite plays and shut it down so that you can't run it all the time. For instance, I have the PS3 version and I'm using Nebraska playbook. I run a play from the Ace Formation, Slot Strong, WR double pass. I can run it over and over again without the CPU stopping it. I'm on Heisman and I have also tried turning up the AI sliders to 100% on defensive awareness, but it still doesn't help. My suggestion is to either do what I mentioned above or have the user be able to delete a certain play from the playbook during a Dynasty season and save it, so you wouldn't be able to call it again. (but it would still be available if you started your season over. I like a realistic game and I like a really tough challenge. I thought this game was really challenging until I came across that play. Thanks

I don't see a misc message thread so I will just post here:
Basically I echo all of the Wii comments so far.

Adding Wii features that Madden '08 already has added would be great:
(1) Ability to recruit your Mii's to play at your school
(2) Party modes
(3) College Football Trivia game
(4) More interesting dynasty mode. Could have an all-time ranking of football teams. Each season you play you can move up or down in the all-time rankings slowly. Should be popular among small school fans who would play all the time to move their programs into the top 25 of all time.

i think ea should defintly bring back the create a formation, team, and player. it has been left out on the 360 for a long time.just a thought

I fell in love with NCAA 07! In fact I thought it was the best football game ever. Therefore, I couldn't wait to get my hands on '08. I have it now and unfortunately I'm somewhat disappointed. When on defense, I play with the right DE. It is incredibly annoying, not to mention unrealistic, that I get "sunset flipped" on about 60 per cent of my sack opportunities. No collegiate or pro QB will be able to shrug off a sack attempt that often. I would love it if this feature was eliminated therefore making the game more realistic1

Is there any way possible that, with the next release of NCAA2009 football, EA sports could add the fight song and a more correct (of course, it's undergoing a massive renovation) stadium for Appalachian State University? The game itself is awsome, but ASU needs its proper fight song, especially after winning two straight national titles, defeating Michigan in Michigan, and gaining such wide national exposure. The ASU fight song is played by the ASU band and can be found at the following website: http://www.alumni.appstate.edu/Media/Fightsong.mp3

make the a.i. better for the PS3 on online and offline

EA, its obvious that you all wont even read this. But here goes..... You guys should be the Grand Turismo of Football! But every year you show me that you cant deliver. One year it's the running backs that cant run the ball. The next year it inaccurate passing and so on and so on. Why is it that the other EA titles ( for the exception of MADDEN!) has suppassed the problems of balanced gameplay and are going to bigger and better things for there titles. When Im playing NBA Live, weather it good or bad competition it is a even game. Theres no bootleg plays. The only way that you could lose is by not knowing how to play the game. So on that note here my list of problems that I know that you all will not fix.

Unbalanced online game play

1. The option, fullback dives are unstoppable. Off of these 2 plays alone you get at lease 5 to 6 yards everytime.

2. The offensive line is just brain stupid on pass plays. Defenses can blitz and succeed 85 to 95 percent of the time in the game. Not only that, Ive seen Quarter and Dime blitzes tackle runningbacks that are running in the offensive goalline formation. In reality that would of never happen.

3. Kind of repeating #1, what ever happen to the weight ratio! I see runningbacks in general breaking to many tackles on defensive linemen. I know that some of the runningbacks are suppose to have some flare but be for real! DB's its a given but DL's!!!????..... Come on are you serious? It should be harder to break tackles on DL's.

4. The Ranking & Records need to be overhauled. If you win, you should get the win and some ranking points pending on the quality of player played. If you lose you should get a lost and some ranking points pending on the quality of player and how close they were to winning the game. If a person quits before the match is over, the person that did not quit should get the win and the ranking point by default. Also, why should I get a lose if your server drops the connection? You all should know when a connection is drop. I feel if this happens, it should be a no win/lose situation.

5. No MORE West Virginia's please!!!!!!!!!! There was no defense or team that could stop those guys. You practically had to be WV to out score your opponent who ALSO had WV.

6. There should be a difference when someone puts a RB or a WR at QB!!! Yeah they might be faster than your regular QB but should not have accurate passing like one. Arkansas for an example is one. We all know McFadden gets behind that QB position sometimes and run QB draw, but to having him at QB for the whole game throwing 30 to 40 yard passes accurately is unreal. Situations like this is a big problem online. For any true football fan we know McFadden would of thrown at least 5 or more INT's in a game. CHANGE IT!!!!!!!!

7. What ever happened to letting the WR and DB battle it out. Its harder to switch to the WR to catch the ball in this game.

Please fix these problems!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wish EA Sports would focus on the actual gameplay itself above everything else. I see a lot of people complaining about there not being any mini-games, not being able to play two players on the same team, recruiting complaints, depth chart complaints, no alternate uniforms, and on and on and on. I agree with all of that 100%. But we buy the game to actually play football. When it all comes down to it, the game is all about being on the field, playing football. Therefore, I wish EA Sports would make the gameplay on the field their #1 priority, to make it as real as possible. There are SO many flaws in the on-field gameplay. Way too many things happen on the game that don't happen in real life, and way too many things happen in real life that don't happen on the game. So basically what I'm saying is that it would be GREAT if EA Sports fixed all the off-the-field details in the game, but PLEASE do a MAJOR overhaul on the on-field gameplay first and foremost!!! I mean, I'm playing on a next-gen console, which means that the gameplay should be WAY better than it is currently. NCAA 09 better have some major improvements to make the on-field play more realistic. By then, they'll have had enough time working with the next-gen consoles that there won't be any excuse to not have the gameplay more realistic. It's funny to me, because I've noticed something after playing EA Sports NCAA football for the past decade... They make improvements from year to year, but they don't keep the things they do right. Instead, they'll make one aspect good one year, and then get rid of it down the road (such as alternate jerseys and mini- games). So every year there's a different aspect of the game that's better, but also another aspect of the game that used to be good but has been taken away. EA SPORTS, GET YOUR DUCKS IN A ROW!!!

Here's a bunch of ideas.

1. Some, if not all, FCS conferences/teams with their own division/season/dynasty (no generic regional teams)
2. Conference/team creation/editing
3. Auto-named coaches
4. Team promotion
5. Playbook /play creation/editing
6. Upsets

Message was edited by: ShillelaghStick (cem_ea_id)

I hate double posting, but I can't edit my last post any more.


Here's a bunch of ideas.

1. Some, if not all, FCS conferences/teams with their own division/season/dynasty (no generic regional teams)
2. NCAA Commissioner Mode (optional; I'd rather see the sub-sections)
a. Ability to dissolve the divisions
b. Ability to align the conferences according to one's own DI sports alignment
c. Ability to create new conferences
d. Ability to rename schools
3. Auto-named coaches
4. Team promotion
5. Playbook/play creation/editing
6. Upsets
7. Team creation (with the following)
a. Ability to create African-American schools
b. Conference/Division selection
c. Ability to select two or more rivals