NCAA Football 12: Week of E3 Recap

[Rudy]

I'm not real worried about the CPU running game. We have RBL and RBA sliders for a reason.

I AM worried about the cpu running game and sliders don't fix the disparity between a traditional running offence and the spread option offence. I've usually been able to tweak the sliders to fix the traditional cpu ground game but the cpu shotgun running game still normally sucked. It's almost impossible to play with two slider sets, particularly since most spread teams may still have traditional formations and certainly the goalline.

Unless EA split the run blocking slider between traditional runs and shotgun/option runs, this is still a big issue that the series hasn't fixed on next gen.

[Deuce]

Nice summary Rudy. It really doesn't bother me that he is blown away by Madden and not NCAA. Madden has been bad...not fun at all. So it had a lot of room for improvement. I would have been pretty happy with NCAA if they only fixed the zones. We've got a lot more than that.

[JBHuskers]

2-3 YPC might be slightly low but maybe I am wrong i dont think teams average 4-5 yards a pop unless they are great rushing teams.

Maybe a bump in sliders will cure it....

[JBHuskers]

Very fishy that NCAA is not open for everyone\

Not really....it's not an indication of how good or bad the product is....

[JBHuskers]

I think he was referring to running out of the spread/shotgun, not straight-up CPU running.

At the last Community Event, I felt the CPU running attack was pretty solid at times, especially out of power sets.

Yes I'm referring to spread teams like Oregon.

[JBHuskers]

Well there is a reason why Madden seems to have more improvement over NCAA....they had much of a bigger hill to climb.

[beartide06]

True stuff. It's no different than how much better NCAA 11 was from NCAA 10. This is just madden's "jump year" if you will as far as major improvements go. Madden needed a big overhaul this year as NCAA needed it last year and now the two games will just be improved on significantly each year.

[xGRIDIRONxGURUx]

if madden made a leap over ncaa that just means its finally catching up to ncaa and the standard it set with the jump made in 11... no worries from me, just tired of the 20 second RTG vids... seriously lol

"E"

[SmoothPancakes]

Yeah, the fact that NCAA is shoved in a back room while Madden gets the entire floor, means absolutely nothing. Madden 11 was attacked by everyone in the gaming community last year, from casual games, to fans of the series, to reviewers and gaming magazine/website writers. This is EA's way to trying to show people that Madden really is better this year and has been improved leaps and bounds over Madden 11, by making it the main (and pretty much only, besides Need for Speed) product on their floor.

[Jayrah]

I also think anyone who is worried about these comments is forgetting that these impressions are based solely on gameplay improvements, where it seems that YES indeed the big improvements are collision system and zones, which are big-time (but simple in most regards) polishing measures of what IMO was a great game from 11 when considering where 09 and 10 were. And then of course the visual upgrades are nice but they won't get graded most of the time at an event like E3. Ncaa's big-time jump in 12 however is OUTSIDE of the gameplay elements, and in that regard, the playability of the game has improved 1000x.

Madden's gameplay has been just terrible the past 2 or 3 seasons, utterly terrible, so any decent jump in that area is going to and SHOULD get rave reviews from anyone who's played it recently. I LOVE what Madden did this year by the way. I can definitely see aspects of both games that really truly capture the spirit of football at each level. I am just dreaming of playing in these series' where I go to throw in my NCAA dynasty and play a game and feel the college pageantry and gameplay aspects of team and recruiting and coaching on Saturdays, and then throw in Madden and get a truly gritty pro football game, where ratings of individuals jump off the page and really make different one on one matchups crucial to your success or failures on each Sunday. I gotta say, once again both these games will be fun to play for an entire year where I shouldn't ever be bored. Also looking forward to exporting my graduating class and FINALLY having the good players in the class come into Madden as the highest rated draftees. I've always hated that the best NCAA players were just so-so in the Madden draft class when I exported them.

[Jayrah]

if madden made a leap over ncaa that just means its finally catching up to ncaa and the standard it set with the jump made in 11... no worries from me, just tired of the 20 second RTG vids... seriously lol

"E"

I love NCAA, but once again I hope Madden actually matches and surpasses the NCAA series in certain aspects, while I want NCAA to beat Madden out in other aspects. Not because it was "worse" for either game, but because they did something totally riveting in different parts of the game. It's happening now, but I hope it continues for both games in the future each and every year. I want each to try and work on their game, but try and surpass the other each year in the dynamics that it brings to the table for that level of football. For example next year I'm looking for an aspect of dynamic player performance from Madden 12 to be integrated in NCAA fashion for NCAA 13, but I want it to be totally unique and college performance driven. And of course other stuff too.

[cdj]

Here is Operation Sports' NCAA Football 12 E3 Preview:

I'm a huge fan of college football and an even bigger fan of what EA's NCAA team is trying to accomplish with the series. My fear is that NCAA 12 may be unfairly criticized in the weeks leading to its release. As I mentioned, unless you actually play the game you will not really appreciate just how much better NCAA 12 feels when compared to NCAA 11. Thankfully the game's demo will be releasing soon (before the game's July 12 release), giving folks a chance to experience the game for themselves.

[cdj]

Part 2 of Hellisan's E3 NCAA Football 12 impressions (Tradition Sports Online)

[psuexv]

Part 2 of Hellisan's E3 NCAA Football 12 impressions (Tradition Sports Online)

Is it just me or was this video bad? It just showed defenses getting burnt with deep balls and dudes missing tackles.

And there was no flow the real clips vs the game clips

[cdj]

Is it just me or was this video bad? It just showed defenses getting burnt with deep balls and dudes missing tackles.

And there was no flow the real clips vs the game clips

Just so people don't get confused, that vid is NCAA 11. His impressions are text only.

[Jaredlib]

I'm not real worried about the CPU running game. We have RBL and RBA sliders for a reason.

This response scares me. EA needs to be held accountable if the CPU running game from shot gun sets still sucks. Look at the BCS title game last year.

Unless this is magically fixed before release, we are going to run into the same problem this year as last. If you bump the sliders to make spread running attacks viable then traditional/pro style sets are overpowered.

College football is very much about the spread offense....I think it is honestly dumbfounding that EA couldn't figure out a way to make this work....

[psuexv]

Just so people don't get confused, that vid is NCAA 11. His impressions are text only.

Thanks for clearing that up Chris

[Paakaa10]

From PastaPadre's Facebook account:

Played a full game of NCAA Football 12. The improvements are more subtle than Madden, but in a sense that has allowed it to play really clean while Madden is still a little rough at times around the edges. I think people will be satisfied by NCAA but it will feel familiar.

It would seem as though his speculation about why the game was not being prominently displayed has proven unfounded.

[Cody]

So it will be like NCAA 11 gameplay wise?

Not a bad thing, I fell in love with that game.

[Paakaa10]

So it will be like NCAA 11 gameplay wise?

Not a bad thing, I fell in love with that game.

We're at the point where videos and information cannot replace or substitute for hands-on time with the game, in my opinion. I wish the demo were out right now so that people could get their own hands on the game and see how it feels for themselves.

Are the improvements from NCAA Football 11 to NCAA Football 12 subtle? I guess; but I think that the improved zone defenses and enhanced tackle and collision system bring a lot to the gameplay this year. I've hardly touched NCAA 11 since I've played more recent builds of NCAA 12, and I probably won't load up NCAA 11 again once NCAA 12 is released because--to me--it is that much of an improvement year-over-year. This is saying a lot because NCAA 11 was the first NCAA game I really got into and played long past the end of the college season.