• E3: NCAA Football 11 Coverage

    Over the next few days, media outlets and gaming sites will begin posting their thoughts, coverage, and impressions of NCAA Football 11 while at E3 in Los Angeles. To help manage all of these reports, previews, and video, this is your one-stop location for all game related info. The newest information will be posted at top, so keep checking The Gaming Tailgate throughout E3. For more E3 and video game information, visit our Other Video Games forum.

    Click Read More to read the NCAA Football 11 information from E3.

    June 15 - IGN at E3 Live Feed: NCAA Football 11 6:40 PM CT

    June 13 - G4TV: 'E3 2010 NCAA Football 11 Preview' by Kevin Kelly. Includes video interview with Designer Ben Haumiller.
    Comments 70 Comments
    1. cdj's Avatar
      cdj -
      IGN with a look at NCAA Football 11 at 6:40 PM CT tonight: http://e3.ign.com/2010/live/index.html

      If it's like last year, don't expect the hosts to try and pull much info. Hope the devs on hand give good info in spite of the IGN hosts.
    1. Solidice's Avatar
      Solidice -
      EASports listed an NCAA video on their youtube.



      shows the steps involved with the new phone call system.
    1. beartide06's Avatar
      beartide06 -
      That gives me a MUCH better idea of how recruiting will work. It looks and sounds a lot easier than what I had imagined. With top schools, 2 or 3 topics might be enough to get you a ton of points. For smaller schools I think it will be important to give the guys you really want 6 topics.
    1. Flav's Avatar
      Flav -
      Quote Originally Posted by beartide06 View Post
      That gives me a MUCH better idea of how recruiting will work. It looks and sounds a lot easier than what I had imagined. With top schools, 2 or 3 topics might be enough to get you a ton of points. For smaller schools I think it will be important to give the guys you really want 6 topics.
      I think he had it on Varsity difficulty so he could display it.
    1. ebin's Avatar
      ebin -
      Nice find, Solidice.

      Quote Originally Posted by beartide06 View Post
      That gives me a MUCH better idea of how recruiting will work.
      Agreed. Makes you wonder why they didn't just release something like this at the same time as the recruiting blogs.

      Also, I love Ben's enthusiasm for the game, but if EA wants to make him the unofficial spokesman for the game, they should really give him some quick lessions in public speaking.
    1. Flav's Avatar
      Flav -
      20 more minutes until IGN coverage of NCAA 11. Who's tuning in?
    1. Solidice's Avatar
      Solidice -
      Quote Originally Posted by BigBlue View Post
      20 more minutes until IGN coverage of NCAA 11. Who's tuning in?
      I'll watch, but I don't expect to see anything new. they'll likely talk about locomotion, "120 ways to win", ESPN presentation, and the Dynasty Wire for OD.
    1. CLW's Avatar
      CLW -
      Nice video. I wish they would do this for Dynasty Wire as well. You can blog and show screen shots all you want but to have someone talk you through it while seeing it being done on video is a far more effective way to get your message across.
    1. beartide06's Avatar
      beartide06 -
      I'm tuned in now... But I too do not expect anything new. Maybe i'll be surprised.
    1. gschwendt's Avatar
      gschwendt -
      Yeah, really nothing at all. Oh well.
    1. beartide06's Avatar
      beartide06 -
      Well I wasn't expecting too much. I wish they would announce these other new features or whatever. This is the time to do it.
    1. Rudy's Avatar
      Rudy -
      I hope some people get the game early and test out the AA and Heisman level of recruiting. I'm strongly considering a Michigan dynasty now with those options. The spread would be history. Hello One Back!
    1. cdj's Avatar
      cdj -
      From pastapadre:

      E3 2010 Day One Quick Impressions

      NCAA Football 11
      The build on hand is basically the final build, and in comparison the demo comes from about two months back. Unfortunately not having played the demo yet I can’t really analyze the differences between them but plan to do so once back home.

      NCAA definitely plays like it is in shape to release. I really enjoyed my time with it, the presentation comes across nicely even though they clearly have room to improve on it. The replays in particular are excellent.

      The advancements in locomotion really come through, I don’t think I’ve ever loved running the ball as much as I did in the game today. I actually preferred running the ball to passing because of how much fun it was. The player control feels right on at least as the ball carrier, presenting all sorts of opportunities to make big plays that otherwise never would’ve developed. It is great to have the ability to cutback and extend a play.

      On defense I had trouble adjusting to the locomotion. In several instances I just ran right by the ball carrier. I would imagine this is something that one will get accustomed to and compensate by making sure tackles and approaching ball carriers a little more cautiously. Pass rush from the front four was not terribly effective, and blitzing maybe seemed to take a little long to get there, but I can’t say whether those are problems based on the short time I had to play.

      I really liked the no-huddle, which pulls up the full playbook in the formation to choose from. Being able to hurry up and even snap before the defense is ready, adds a new element to the game.

      NCAA still has a clear slant favoring the offense. This is especially the case now since you have to respect the opponent’s running game more so than before, which opens up the passing game more. On a few occasions passes were caught in situations that would most likely have resulted in the ball being batted down, and passes dropped that really shouldn’t have been. Working the middle of the field, and deep passes, were most often successful. Curl or out routes on the outside much more dangerous.



      His thoughts on Madden after playing NCAA:

      Spoiler: show
      Madden 11

      I went from playing NCAA to playing Madden and in that sense it felt like a letdown. The presentation has some similar elements in regards to the replays, though I wasn’t as impressed with the actual replays or their frequency. Lacking the ESPN integrated presentation the whole thing falls a little flat.
      Gus Johnson sounds great on big plays, that was about all I could hear of the commentary though given the state of the show floor. When I was able to get a little more I noticed some dead periods, but again I can’t properly evaluate the audio.

      The gameplay feels similar to NCAA, except like last year Madden plays slower. Last year I was a proponent of the slower game speed, and maybe it is because I played one after the other, but it almost seemed a little too slow. I’m not sure I should be saying that though given Jerkfacefave returned two kicks on me with Percy Harvin. Once he was in the open field I was toast. So it isn’t necessarily the balance in ratings but maybe an overall sense that the game moves a tad slow.

      Maybe it can be attributed to the game speed but the gameplay feels somewhat deliberate, it doesn’t have quite the same element of “anything can happen” that NCAA does.

      GameFlow definitely improves the pacing of games, so I can see many using and enjoying the feature especially when tied in with GamePlan. In my first drive though it called two straight WR reverses for Housh so I had to audible out. I’m told that GamePlan would solve something like that, but I don’t see why it would happen regardless. I do like the new audible setup, which makes it much nicer to use along with GameFlow as it presents different types of plays to move into.

      The new kicking meter seems really easy but I did notice some people missing field goals. We didn’t have any trouble nailing near full power and near perfect accuracy on most kicks though.
      It is just too early for me to make any determinations on how Madden will be received. To me, after the short time with it, I just didn’t find anything terribly compelling about it. This seemed especially to be the case when put right up against NCAA. All things equal I tend to enjoy Madden more because I heavily lean towards the NFL over college football. My gut feeling though after having played both is that I’m going to get more value out of NCAA.
    1. cdj's Avatar
      cdj -
      Operation Sports' Millenium is taking NCAA Football 11 questions and has posted some impressions:

      - CPU Recruiting has been tweaked and updated. Not completely sure if they will specifically draft to their team strategy as I didn't get too involved in dynasty yet, but I was told that it will not be possible for a 1-2 star school to just sign everyone like it was in years part.
      - No conference realignments this year, as it wil not be hapenning until next year. They will look into this as a possibility for 12.
      - No changes to the camera options. Still has the reverse lock cam on defense.
      - The window of time for the hand off on the option has been slightly widened due to the reanimating of the hand off.
      - Speaking of the option, the CPU seems to run it much better. Played some extended time with Navy versus Army, and the Army QB was pretty good about when to pitch, when to keep, and turning the ball up field.
      - The CPU will cut the ball upfield on a much more consistent basis with the running backs. Gone are the days last year of the a CPU RB cutting the ball outside and losing his blockers. From what I have seen, it seems like the CPU run game will be something to keep qqqq
      - No major updates to Road To Glory outside of the gameplay changes already known.
      - The Speed Bust is now an option to turn on or off. You can change this from the menu system.
      - Line play is still up for judgement. I saw some very good things, and a couple of iffy things. The offensive line seems to pick up blitzed well, but I did see some missed assignments on sweeps and such.
      - The playbook now allows you to scroll up and down between formations while looking at the list of available defensive formations.
    1. jaymo76's Avatar
      jaymo76 -
      Quote Originally Posted by Rudy View Post
      I hope some people get the game early and test out the AA and Heisman level of recruiting. I'm strongly considering a Michigan dynasty now with those options. The spread would be history. Hello One Back!
      Yeah... change is in the air my friend. I have a feeling Arizona St. will be running a pistol offense this year... it's going to be a LONG YEAR with ASU's talent as is but I'm up for the challenge.
    1. jaymo76's Avatar
      jaymo76 -
      Quote Originally Posted by cdj View Post
      From pastapadre:

      E3 2010 Day One Quick Impressions

      NCAA Football 11
      The build on hand is basically the final build, and in comparison the demo comes from about two months back. Unfortunately not having played the demo yet I can’t really analyze the differences between them but plan to do so once back home.

      NCAA definitely plays like it is in shape to release. I really enjoyed my time with it, the presentation comes across nicely even though they clearly have room to improve on it. The replays in particular are excellent.

      [I]The advancements in locomotion really come through, I don’t think I’ve ever loved running the ball as much as I did in the game today. I actually preferred running the ball to passing because of howgreat to h much fun it was. The player control feels right on at least as the ball carrier, presenting all sorts of opportunities to make big plays that otherwise never would’ve developed. It is ave the ability to cutback and extend a play.

      On defense I had trouble adjusting to the locomotion. In several instances I just ran right by the ball carrier. I would imagine this is something that one will get accustomed to and compensate by making sure tackles and approaching ball carriers a little more cautiously. Pass rush from the front four was not terribly effective, and blitzing maybe seemed to take a little long to get there, but I can’t say whether those are problems based on the short time I had to play.

      I really liked the no-huddle, which pulls up the full playbook in the formation to choose from. Being able to hurry up and even snap before the defense is ready, adds a new element to the game.

      NCAA still has a clear slant favoring the offense. This is especially the case now since you have to respect the opponent’s running game more so than before, which opens up the passing game more. On a few occasions passes were caught in situations that would most likely have resulted in the ball being batted down, and passes dropped that really shouldn’t have been. Working the middle of the field, and deep passes, were most often successful. Curl or out routes on the outside much more dangerous.[/I]


      His thoughts on Madden after playing NCAA:

      Spoiler: show
      Madden 11

      I went from playing NCAA to playing Madden and in that sense it felt like a letdown. The presentation has some similar elements in regards to the replays, though I wasn’t as impressed with the actual replays or their frequency. Lacking the ESPN integrated presentation the whole thing falls a little flat.
      Gus Johnson sounds great on big plays, that was about all I could hear of the commentary though given the state of the show floor. When I was able to get a little more I noticed some dead periods, but again I can’t properly evaluate the audio.

      The gameplay feels similar to NCAA, except like last year Madden plays slower. Last year I was a proponent of the slower game speed, and maybe it is because I played one after the other, but it almost seemed a little too slow. I’m not sure I should be saying that though given Jerkfacefave returned two kicks on me with Percy Harvin. Once he was in the open field I was toast. So it isn’t necessarily the balance in ratings but maybe an overall sense that the game moves a tad slow.

      Maybe it can be attributed to the game speed but the gameplay feels somewhat deliberate, it doesn’t have quite the same element of “anything can happen” that NCAA does.

      GameFlow definitely improves the pacing of games, so I can see many using and enjoying the feature especially when tied in with GamePlan. In my first drive though it called two straight WR reverses for Housh so I had to audible out. I’m told that GamePlan would solve something like that, but I don’t see why it would happen regardless. I do like the new audible setup, which makes it much nicer to use along with GameFlow as it presents different types of plays to move into.

      The new kicking meter seems really easy but I did notice some people missing field goals. We didn’t have any trouble nailing near full power and near perfect accuracy on most kicks though.
      It is just too early for me to make any determinations on how Madden will be received. To me, after the short time with it, I just didn’t find anything terribly compelling about it. This seemed especially to be the case when put right up against NCAA. All things equal I tend to enjoy Madden more because I heavily lean towards the NFL over college football. My gut feeling though after having played both is that I’m going to get more value out of NCAA.
      That's not too good to hear about pass rush... looks like a PATCH will be needed ASAP.
    1. Rudy's Avatar
      Rudy -
      No camera options for NCAA? That's disappointing but I like the new camera so this doesn't piss me off too much. Can't believe Madden didn't add player lock as many like it. Go NCAA 11!
    1. gschwendt's Avatar
      gschwendt -
      Pretty good write-up over at Tradition Football.
    1. Flav's Avatar
      Flav -
      Video from Pasta Padre- Washington vs Penn State

    1. CLW's Avatar
      CLW -
      OS has posted a video from E3: