Welcome back to the Game Shop. On your last visit, we discussed my new computer and the new parts in it. This time around, I’ve got to talk about NCAA Football 12. This will be coming from the perspective of someone who never really understood the inner workings of football, so most of the time I do not know what I’m talking about. But that’s what makes it entertaining, right?
When you speak of football games, two major series come to mind; Madden, and NCAA Football. There used to be the ESPN 2k football games, until EA Sports bought out the contract with the NFL, and now we’re doomed to annual sequels that rarely change more than little details.
I started my video game football “career” with Madden NFL 11. I had a really fun time playing this game while it was all that I had. However, over the course of time, I discovered many flaws.
A defender being “suctioned” in to tackle your receiver or running back from around three yards away is just one of many examples. It was my first entry into the football video game genre, but it left a sort of sour taste on my video game taste buds (like what I did there?).
Madden NFL 12 was released in early August 2011. I had played the demo that came out in mid-July, and it just blew me away. Because I wanted something different from the experience that Madden 11 has, I really wanted Madden 12. However, I did not end up getting it until some time in January. When I did get it, I was in love. It was something completely different I had not seen before, plus it had addressed many issues from the previous year’s game.
Suction tackles were removed, as well as the horrid tackling. Gang tackles are now more realistic, and momentum is a big factor in making a big hit on an offensive player. However, this one still had flaws. Linebackers being able to jump five yards in the air to one-handed intercept a ball is the main problem I have. But overall, it is still better than Madden 11.
The NFL is what I’m really interested in. I honestly have no concern about college football. But in hearing that NCAA Football 12 is the better football game, I knew I had to check it out.
In early March, I got NCAA 12. I have not looked back since. This game is such an improvement to Madden, in both gameplay and visuals. When you play this game, you can tell that NCAA 12 is the superior football game. I don’t think I have found a flaw in this game yet. It has better visuals than the Madden series, and better gameplay. How can you beat that? However, I cannot get around the fact that it’s a college football game. I just don’t really like college football. But there is an AMAZING feature in NCAA 12 that I took a liking to: Team Builder.
Team Builder allows you to go to EA Sports’ website and design your own team. It is so detailed; it even gets down to naming the coach, and uploading primary/secondary logos. You can individually name players, and type in stats one-by-one. Once you save your team, you have the option of making it public or private. Once you save it, you can go to the main menu of NCAA 12, and go to the Team Builder option. You have multiple searching options, like team and city name, school type, author, etc. If you want to download and test a private team, search for your own user ID, which would be your gamertag on Xbox 360, or your PlayStation Network ID on PS3.
With the ability that Team Builder gives you (compared to Madden’s pathetic custom team creator), I was able to create a somewhat true-to-life Paoli Rams team from this past season (2011-2012). I still need to edit stats to reflect true skill, but the uniforms and the field are mostly good. I actually had fun doing it too, and I got a little help from freshman Todd Osborn.
Thank you for stopping by the Game Shop. The next time you come back, we will be talking about my thoughts on the current generation of video game consoles, and what I expect from the next generation. Until then, stay classy.
Blog by Ron Compton
