NCAA 08 Demo up on XBLM

Fingolfin269

Lifer
Feb 28, 2003
17,948
34
91
I guess I have to download this. I mean, it's a given. I swore I would not buy any more EA football games but maybe I can buy the college one right? :)
 

PricklyPete

Lifer
Sep 17, 2002
14,582
162
106
I am waiting for a Madden that actually plays well and looks good.

I was really impressed with NHL 07...so I'm waiting for a version of Madden that impresses me.
 

Fingolfin269

Lifer
Feb 28, 2003
17,948
34
91
Originally posted by: PricklyPete
I am waiting for a Madden that actually plays well and looks good.

I was really impressed with NHL 07...so I'm waiting for a version of Madden that impresses me.

I can't remember the name of the game but 2K is coming out with an interesting competitor this year. It is not NFL licensed so they went out and inked a number of 'legends' (Walter Payton, John Elway, Jerry Rice, etc.) and there game will revolve around that. I'm pretty sure I will buy that this year instead of Madden. I thought the 2K football games were superior on Xbox and hopefully they can continue the trend.
 

PricklyPete

Lifer
Sep 17, 2002
14,582
162
106
Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
Originally posted by: PricklyPete
I am waiting for a Madden that actually plays well and looks good.

I was really impressed with NHL 07...so I'm waiting for a version of Madden that impresses me.

I can't remember the name of the game but 2K is coming out with an interesting competitor this year. It is not NFL licensed so they went out and inked a number of 'legends' (Walter Payton, John Elway, Jerry Rice, etc.) and there game will revolve around that. I'm pretty sure I will buy that this year instead of Madden. I thought the 2K football games were superior on Xbox and hopefully they can continue the trend.

I'll have to keep an eye out for that...sounds interesting...and I agree...2K always seems to put out superior games from a gameplay perspective.
 

theLION

Senior member
Dec 29, 2004
270
1
81
well i played the demo last nite as USC and i thought that it definitely ran smoother than last years game. ok ill be honest, it definitely ran smoother than madden 07 for sure. I've been playing madden 07 a lot lately so ya.
 

mugs

Lifer
Apr 29, 2003
48,920
46
91
Originally posted by: PricklyPete
Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
Originally posted by: PricklyPete
I am waiting for a Madden that actually plays well and looks good.

I was really impressed with NHL 07...so I'm waiting for a version of Madden that impresses me.

I can't remember the name of the game but 2K is coming out with an interesting competitor this year. It is not NFL licensed so they went out and inked a number of 'legends' (Walter Payton, John Elway, Jerry Rice, etc.) and there game will revolve around that. I'm pretty sure I will buy that this year instead of Madden. I thought the 2K football games were superior on Xbox and hopefully they can continue the trend.

I'll have to keep an eye out for that...sounds interesting...and I agree...2K always seems to put out superior games from a gameplay perspective.

All Pro Football 2k8.

Based on the demos on Xbox Live for NHL 07 and NHL 2k7, I bought NHL 2k7. The NHL 07 demo was a shootout though... not a good demo.
 

yowolabi

Diamond Member
Jun 29, 2001
4,183
2
81
Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
Originally posted by: PricklyPete
I am waiting for a Madden that actually plays well and looks good.

I was really impressed with NHL 07...so I'm waiting for a version of Madden that impresses me.

I can't remember the name of the game but 2K is coming out with an interesting competitor this year. It is not NFL licensed so they went out and inked a number of 'legends' (Walter Payton, John Elway, Jerry Rice, etc.) and there game will revolve around that. I'm pretty sure I will buy that this year instead of Madden. I thought the 2K football games were superior on Xbox and hopefully they can continue the trend.

It's All-Pro Football 2k8. I'm not buying either one until the reviews come in and I demo them both. I'll get the one with better gameplay. The 2k line has consistently been superior to EA, but the fact that this is their first football game for the 360 might make madden better.

As far as the demo it definitely plays smoother. I think that's a combination of this being the first year at 60fps instead of 30, and for the first time they stated that gameplay is their top priority. That gives me good hope for madden.
 
Oct 19, 2000
17,860
4
81
All-Pro 2K8 comes out next week alongside NCAA, so for those wanting to compare it to Madden, you'll have to wait another month.

As for the NCAA demo, it's definitely running smooth as silk. The frame rate is up there. However, I didn't initially see anything that is making me want to buy it. It's weird, but every single year for the past 6 or 7, I've been looking forward to NCAA and Madden. After last year's Madden, though, I'm just not feeling it. I'm getting into the mode of do something better, or you don't get my money. I'm getting sick and tired of the same freaking animations every year, they never change!!
 

yowolabi

Diamond Member
Jun 29, 2001
4,183
2
81
Originally posted by: blurredvision
All-Pro 2K8 comes out next week alongside NCAA, so for those wanting to compare it to Madden, you'll have to wait another month.

As for the NCAA demo, it's definitely running smooth as silk. The frame rate is up there. However, I didn't initially see anything that is making me want to buy it. It's weird, but every single year for the past 6 or 7, I've been looking forward to NCAA and Madden. After last year's Madden, though, I'm just not feeling it. I'm getting into the mode of do something better, or you don't get my money. I'm getting sick and tired of the same freaking animations every year, they never change!!

Next week, really? Why are they being so slow to release information then? It doesn't seem like a good sign that all i've seen from them is one lackluster trailer and no demo. I feel like EA stole my money with madden for the last two years, so if 2k8 is said to have great gameplay, I might just buy it right away.
 

mugs

Lifer
Apr 29, 2003
48,920
46
91
Didn't NCAA 07 show your receivers' routes when you hold the left or right trigger? NCAA 08 doesn't seem to do that... unless I'm missing something. Why take that out? :confused:
 

yowolabi

Diamond Member
Jun 29, 2001
4,183
2
81
Originally posted by: mugs
Didn't NCAA 07 show your receivers' routes when you hold the left or right trigger? NCAA 08 doesn't seem to do that... unless I'm missing something. Why take that out? :confused:

It used to be you could just hold the right trigger to show routes. Now if you hold the right trigger, you still have to push up on the right thumbstick to see routes, and down on the right thumbstick to see the "motivation" for the players. It took me a second to figure out, and I won't know how much I like it till I figure out how big a factor motivation is in the game. It seems like it's not something that we need to see that badly. It's effect will be to encourage people to keep going to a certain player in an attempt to get him hyped up. That's not too bad, because the defense can focus on that player too. They also made fatigue more of a factor, so it'll be interesting to see how that meshes with motivation.

Speaking of defense, I love that they put in a lot more defensive hot routes. It always frustrates me that the offense can change things around and exploit weaknesses without you being able to respond. Being able to tell a specific player to qb contain, drop into a zone at a certain spot, or double team a specific receiver, will allow me to stop the cheesers who found one or two things that work every time and exploit them to death. This year's game should be a lot more intricate.

From previews, it looks like they also made dynasty mode more interesting as far as recruiting. You can make promises to players about things like playing time that will get them to come to your school. If you don't give them the time you promised, they'll transfer out, and your schools "integrity rating" will take a hit. It seems like it'll be easier to get the players you really want, but harder to stockpile great players. Also the deal with the weather channel is crazy. Every game will kick off with the same weather conditions as the real life stadium at that moment.


I'm pretty excited because these 3 football games this year have a chance to be the best we've ever seen.
 

Ichigo

Platinum Member
Sep 1, 2005
2,158
0
0
Is it just me or does NCAA 08 just look bad? Low quality terrain, low quality models, low quality effects, etc. The game was actually okay, to my surprise but the graphics were truly terrible to me.
 

Queasy

Moderator<br>Console Gaming
Aug 24, 2001
31,796
2
0
The sports games have never been graphical powerhouses. It looks better than last year's version though.
 

yowolabi

Diamond Member
Jun 29, 2001
4,183
2
81
Originally posted by: Ichigo
Is it just me or does NCAA 08 just look bad? Low quality terrain, low quality models, low quality effects, etc. The game was actually okay, to my surprise but the graphics were truly terrible to me.

They did take out some of the reflections and sharpness to achieve 60fps. But to me, it still looks very good. If you're comparing this to non sports games, then yes it looks a lot worse. Sports games always do, and it's a necessary compromise.
 

Fingolfin269

Lifer
Feb 28, 2003
17,948
34
91
Have they fixed the problem where people can just roll out fast QBs and scoot up the sidelines? Granted, I've never been a top 1% player but I always found it ridiculously difficult to scheme to defend this. The only way to do it was to basically play a LB yourself and spy the QB.
 

yowolabi

Diamond Member
Jun 29, 2001
4,183
2
81
Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
Have they fixed the problem where people can just roll out fast QBs and scoot up the sidelines? Granted, I've never been a top 1% player but I always found it ridiculously difficult to scheme to defend this. The only way to do it was to basically play a LB yourself and spy the QB.

People who do that are rarely skilled, i've usally been able to stop them by mixing up blitzes to the side that they run toward, selecting pass defenses where a linebacker is assigned to spy the qb, and manually controlling a linebacker. They get the big play every now and then, but they also get sacked for big yardage, and can rarely sustain a drive. I think that the option to manually assign a guy to spy the qb or to play a zone in the flat, will also help to cut down on people who abuse that. I'm willing to live with it seeing as how the top running QBs in college are able to break out some big runs.
 

RollWave

Diamond Member
May 20, 2003
4,201
3
81
Originally posted by: yowolabi
Originally posted by: Fingolfin269
Have they fixed the problem where people can just roll out fast QBs and scoot up the sidelines? Granted, I've never been a top 1% player but I always found it ridiculously difficult to scheme to defend this. The only way to do it was to basically play a LB yourself and spy the QB.

People who do that are rarely skilled, i've usally been able to stop them by mixing up blitzes to the side that they run toward, selecting pass defenses where a linebacker is assigned to spy the qb, and manually controlling a linebacker. They get the big play every now and then, but they also get sacked for big yardage, and can rarely sustain a drive. I think that the option to manually assign a guy to spy the qb or to play a zone in the flat, will also help to cut down on people who abuse that. I'm willing to live with it seeing as how the top running QBs in college are able to break out some big runs.



Agreed. I'd crush these guys. No matter the QB they will FUMBLE if they get hit hard. By doing different cover defenses you can definitely punish a person who tries this.

As far as the demo, i'm not that impressed but all of the features that make NCAA arent there so we'll just have to wait and see.
 

SEAL62505

Golden Member
Oct 8, 2000
1,764
1
81
Originally posted by: yowolabi
Originally posted by: Ichigo
Is it just me or does NCAA 08 just look bad? Low quality terrain, low quality models, low quality effects, etc. The game was actually okay, to my surprise but the graphics were truly terrible to me.

They did take out some of the reflections and sharpness to achieve 60fps. But to me, it still looks very good. If you're comparing this to non sports games, then yes it looks a lot worse. Sports games always do, and it's a necessary compromise.

This demo was the first time I had played a football game on 360. I was immediately surprised how crappy the graphics looked. I guess I didn't expect a lot going into it, but I was expecting a lot more. I played NHL 08 on PC quite a bit, and I figured 360 would be a step up from that in graphics.