Gamespot's "On The Spot" with NCAA Football 12 - Video & Recap

[JeffHCross]

What I mean is that having the option to turn it off.

Gotcha. That would at least make it consistent between man and zone. Certainly an option.

[Cipher 8]

Also heard Ben say that even though they improved zone defense this year it isn't overpowered at all. Then he elaborated that there will be holes in the zone to allow an offense to still move the ball against zone D, which is all were asking for in the sim community.

Not to be rude.... But Ben talking about the stuff means squat! Lol. Of course he'll talk it up! That being said, it looks like it will play the way they're describing. If it does and they don't tweak it to death after release for anything that's "too hard" I think this is the version I've been searching for since this gen released!

I agree. Of course the video's and trailers they've shown showcase the great zone coverage but in the live gameplay footage I've seen I think WolverineJay has a point. There were holes in the coverage and the offense moved down the field just fine.

I think it's just going to make them play their zones better, actually pick up and pass on players who enter it, but if you put some touch on your passes, lead them to open areas, and find the holes in the coverage you'll be able to pass on the zone just fine. It'll just take more work or effort on your part which is all I ever really wanted in the game as far as zone coverage. Not overpowered or unstoppable.

[Rudy]

The one thing I have going for me is that while I'm not a great passer, I never took advantage of the flats. My game probably won't change much lol.

[JeffHCross]

It's worth saying that an open man is still an open man. And there will still be routes that get open against Coverage A, and there will still be routes that get open versus Coverage B. That's how real life is, and the game is getting closer to that. The primary difference, in terms of pass defense, between NCAA 11 and NCAA 12, is you will no longer be resigning yourself to certain types and yards of gains with zone defense. There will be no more "Oh, he called zone, this will be easy" types of attitudes.

I'm not saying holes won't still exist and the guys who are much better than I on the sticks won't be able to find plays that are "money" against certain coverages or even zone coverage in general -- I'm sure that will still be the case. But the pass defense on the whole will be improved. In the end, I think that counts for a hell of a lot.

[jaymo76]

The one thing I have going for me is that while I'm not a great passer, I never took advantage of the flats. My game probably won't change much lol.

I'm just thinking about the hours of time you, me, and a dozen or so other people on this stie will be putting in tp cpu defense sliders... Oh well I still looking forward to it nonetheless.

[jaymo76]

Just watched that clip again... everyone has talked about how many more stat overlays will be provided in game. Based on all the gameplay so far I think we have seen less that NCAA 11. Are the developers saving examples of these for another blog???

Plus, the interviewer said "demo" in his closing statements. Was that a slip-up acknowlegement that this will be one of the two demo matchups???

[JeffHCross]

Plus, the interviewer said "demo" in his closing statements. Was that a slip-up acknowlegement that this will be one of the two demo matchups???

He meant "demonstration". Which is what demo is short for No connection to the demo that will be released for the game.

[WolverineJay]

After re-watching the video today something Ben said about the new tackle button has me a little concerned. Ben stated that we can hit the new tackle button even if we aren't that close to the player and the defender will still attempt to bring the ball carrier down. My question to the CD guys is this over done when it comes to diving tackles from behind? In other words does the new tackle button automatically generate a diving tackle animation even when the ball carrier has a 3 yard lead on a defender? Will it be absolutely necessary for the offensive guy to do a high step to avoid being tackled every single time or will the defender just continue to do a face plant dive like in NCAA 11?

[cdj]

Jay, I prefer to use the Hit Stick and that's a tough habit to break, but I did try and incorporate the Tackle button more. I felt that if I did it too far away the defender would fall on his face. When in close proximity, I felt it was effective but not 100% lockdown. Based on playing at previous events, I don't feel like it can be readily abused in any fashion.

[Paakaa10]

After re-watching the video today something Ben said about the new tackle button has me a little concerned. Ben stated that we can hit the new tackle button even if we aren't that close to the player and the defender will still attempt to bring the ball carrier down. My question to the CD guys is this over done when it comes to diving tackles from behind? In other words does the new tackle button automatically generate a diving tackle animation even when the ball carrier has a 3 yard lead on a defender? Will it be absolutely necessary for the offensive guy to do a high step to avoid being tackled every single time or will the defender just continue to do a face plant dive like in NCAA 11?

Jay, I prefer to use the Hit Stick and that's a tough habit to break, but I did try and incorporate the Tackle button more. I felt that if I did it too far away the defender would fall on his face. When in close proximity, I felt it was effective but not 100% lockdown. Based on playing at previous events, I don't feel like it can be readily abused in any fashion.

I'll echo what cdj said here about the tackle button not easily being abused as we've seen it at the Community Events so far.

In NCAA Football 11, it was very easy for me to rely solely on using the "Hit Stick" on defense because of how much warping could occur on a tackle; it didn't matter if I was a little bit out of position because the tackle animation would often cover that distance for me.

In what we've seen of NCAA Football 12 so far, those types of "gimme tackles" are pretty well gone. Using the "Hit Stick" as your only tackle attempt on defense is going to end up hurting you a lot more this year than it did last year. That said, the "wrap" tackle isn't a 100%-effective option; it all depends on the circumstances. Lining up the ball carrier and making a "wrap" tackle definitely has a higher chance of success and a lower risk than blindly "Hit Stick"-ing, for sure.

With regards to Ben's statement that the defender will still attempt to bring the ball carrier down, regardless of distance, this is true; but what he means is that the defensive player you control will go into the "wrap" animation when you push that button. If the ball carrier is nowhere near, then your defender isn't going to warp over to him; your defender is just going to look off-balanced and ridiculous tackling the air on the replay.

As for when you try to do a "wrap" tackle once a ball carrier gets past you; it depends on how fast your defender is compared to the offensive player. If you have a slow defender and you've been burned, you can try the "wrap" tackle all you want but you will likely just flail behind the runner.

[WolverineJay]

Thanks cdj and Paakaa10 thats what I needed to here. I just had images of NFL Blitz and Tecmo Bowl dives bringing down ball carriers 5 yards ahead of them, lol.

[JeffHCross]

I had one play during the Community Day events where I felt it was a little Blitz-like. I was chasing a scrambling QB and caught him near the sidelines. It wasn't from behind, rather he was running parallel to the Line of Scrimmage and I was coming from the DL. My opponent and I looked at it a couple times, and we concluded that the only reason it looked bad is because he went from a full run to a full stop because he got near the sideline. So the rate of closure was just high.

I certainly don't feel like the tackle button is anything like Blitz or Tecmo, in general.