NCAA 07 - Current gen. vs. Next gen.

why is it that the current gen version of NCAA 07 has more content that next gen?

from gamespot:
"Where NCAA 07 falls short, at least in comparison to the current-gen versions of the game, is in sheer quantity of content. The game's single-player experience is limited to quick pickup games, the aforementioned Dynasty mode, and a trio of minigames--bowling, tug of war, and option dash--which are pretty forgettable. There's no create-a-school option, and things such as the spring drills and scrimmage modes, which are also part of the current-gen versions, aren't here either. Campus Legend--the career mode found in the Xbox and PS2 version--didn't make it into this version of the game, but honestly, if it came down to Campus Legend and Dynasty mode, EA Sports made the right call. In all, if you're looking for a mature and full-featured game of college football, you're better off to simply stick with the Xbox or PS2 version of the game."

how come they couldnt add the things found in the xbox and ps2 version? is it because of time? the devs didnt have enough time? or what?

-Please put in correct subforum next time---Lesman

Why? Because EA is an evil machine that doesn't care about its customers. And these things will later be reintroduced as "new" features.

Whatever the reason, it sucks. They did the same thing with Tiger Woods 06, only 5 or 6 courses with the 360 version. I'm definitely not buying anymore watered down versions of games just to be able to play them on the 360. I just won't be buying any version at all. They charge more for the 360 version and give you less...

ND40oz said:

Whatever the reason, it sucks. They did the same thing with Tiger Woods 06, only 5 or 6 courses with the 360 version. I'm definitely not buying anymore watered down versions of games just to be able to play them on the 360. I just won't be buying any version at all. They charge more for the 360 version and give you less...

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QFT...It looks as though Madden 07 will rebound from the tech demo that was Madden 06.

Its cause the current generation games require little to no additional graphical work, they just tweak the current system which they've been using for years. Most improvements in these games are minimal, graphical rearrangements or recombinations of features that already exist. On the one hand, its kinda sad they release a new game every year, but on the other hand...every year i ask myself, what more do i really want out of a football game? The 360 version probably requires far more man hours than the current gen games even without these features. Im not saying i dont want them, im just not shocked they're not there.

I usually pick up the NCAA football games, but this year I might get Madden for the 360 instead of NCAA. Madden 2007 appears to be way more polished than NCAA this year.

Spaceman_Spiff said:

The 360 version probably requires far more man hours than the current gen games even without these features.

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They have had a year to work on the NCAA 07 for the 360!

TheGardenTool said:

They have had a year to work on the NCAA 07 for the 360!

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They had a year to do all the versions. Why does it surprise people that they cant develop all the new features of the current hardware generation on the new 360 architecture they dont fully understand yet in the same time frame?

randy5554 said:

I usually pick up the NCAA football games, but this year I might get Madden for the 360 instead of NCAA. Madden 2007 appears to be way more polished than NCAA this year.

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It is definitely more polished from what I have read. It is the reason I traded my preorder from NCAA to Madden. I am looking forward to the release on 8/22.

Here's a question, does anyone know what engine the Madden NFL games run on? Is it their own proprietary engine? How long have they been using the same engine?

That's disappointing. Sounds like the exact same thing that was wrong with Madden for the 360, too. Oh well.

Spaceman_Spiff said:

They had a year to do all the versions. Why does it surprise people that they cant develop all the new features of the current hardware generation on the new 360 architecture they dont fully understand yet in the same time frame?

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But a game like Gun can be ported and keeps all the features and still has slightly better visuals.

The simplest answer is that people who are purchasing the 360 version of this game expect much better visuals. When they don't get it, they bitch (see: many many ports that don't look all that much better than the XBox versions - Gun is a good example in this thread). Anyway, to enhance the visuals to "HD L33tness!!!one!11!" they have to put a significantly higher amount of artists and texture work into the game, which costs a hell of a lot more money, and of course man hours, whether it be outsourced or in-house. Deadlines, publisher quotas, and other similar factors prevent developers of the hi def version to put any more work into it.

Whereas they already have a base for the previous gen to work with (the previous 5 years), they can churn out improvements in gameplay. When it comes to next-gen, graphics come first to appease the graphics whores basically (almost the whole purpose of this "next gen" is enhanced high definition graphics). And so, things have to go on the chopping block. This will be quite common in the whole "next gen" thing, because so much more money is required to work on these games. Where a game could cost $5 million to make for the PS2, it would cost $20mill to make it for the 360. Of course this is just a figure I'm pulling out of my ass to use an example, it's not far off.

While they will build a base game to make things easier for next year as they always have, companies simply are getting less gameplay features for their investments because so much money, emphasis and developing team members are going into art and texture work nowadays. Developers aren't happy about it, for the most part, but hey... you've gotta do what you've gotta do. You can't spend unlimited amounts making games, so you have to prioritize. People say "oooh ahhhh" at the sweat dripping off the fake-looking people and hopefully they won't realize how bad collision detection is, right? (see below for an example of what people's expectations are - these expectations cost a lot more money)

TheGardenTool said:

But a game like Gun can be ported and keeps all the features and still has slightly better visuals.

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The thing about Gun and Tony Hawk is that if I'm bothering to move to a next gen system...I'm hoping for a totally new game engine with comparable or even more features. This is especially true when they're charging $10 more per game, too. I don't want just a slight graphical facelift...I want a new game.

Does anyone know if the I-AA teams are included in the 360 version? I played around with it at an EB kiosk for a bit, but I couldn't find them. The only reason I buy EA's NCAA game is so I can play as the school from which I graduated (University of Delaware), which happens to be a I-AA school. The graphics are good on the 360 version, but I will just get the PS2 one if the 360 lacks all the teams.

Someone asked "what more do you want in a football game?"

Anyone remember Sierra Sports Front Page Football (before it went to hell)? I want a dynamic play editor. Wouldn't everyone like to design some of their own plays?

1 AA teams are NOT included. that and all the quaterbacks look the same. they look like some steroid beast too lol. I'm trading it for madden when it comes out.

Domingo said:

The thing about Gun and Tony Hawk is that if I'm bothering to move to a next gen system...I'm hoping for a totally new game engine with comparable or even more features. This is especially true when they're charging $10 more per game, too. I don't want just a slight graphical facelift...I want a new game.

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But I also want the same features that I'm used to playing with the past 5+ years...
And then why wasn't there a huge lack of features missing when it went from PS1 to PS2? I didn't remember it lacking any features. EA is just being lazy and hoping that people buy it just because it's the college football game.

TheGardenTool said:

But I also want the same features that I'm used to playing with the past 5+ years...
And then why wasn't there a huge lack of features missing when it went from PS1 to PS2? I didn't remember it lacking any features. EA is just being lazy and hoping that people buy it just because it's the college football game.

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Because moving from PS1 to PS2 didn't require a massive leap in development cost. Again, see my post. It's not laziness, it's cost balancing and development time quotas.

Actually in the mid 90's there were a few Madden games with design your own play modes in there. The problem was that with a little tweaking of your audibles, you could essentially set-up 3-4 plays that could all be coordinated to beat almost any defense. No matter what your opponent chose, you could set-up something to gain at least 5 yards every time. That doesn't even take into acount the horrible trip sets you could use to always have at least one open receiver 7-8 yards down the field.
With online play thrown in, we'd be back to 2004 when everyone just chose the Falcons and ran Vick all over the field until someone opened up 30 yards down.
I dunno about anyone else, but I've seen enough 70-66 style games. I miss the first Bill Walsh College Football game because it actually allowed you to play defense. I once had a 3-0 game won in overtime...and one of us was using Miami. I don't think the secondary AI has ever been better than in that game.

tosp said:

Because moving from PS1 to PS2 didn't require a massive leap in development cost. Again, see my post. It's not laziness, it's cost balancing and development time quotas.

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Well I agree that it wasn't a huge leap as most games didn't seem to have the problems they are having with Xbox and 360. I do believe they had adequate time to add the features. They had from the '05 release to work on it. And hopefully '08 will bring more.

I don't really play anything else besides dynasty mode in NCAA, so I don't find the 360 version to be too lacking. There is a create a player mode, so I can still have my alter ego lead NC State to victory. My biggest complaint is the lack of 1AA teams. They give you the generic "1AA Northeast" "1AA Southwest" etc...... This strikes me as pure laziness, and annoyed me b/c I graduated from a 1AA school (App State, current national champs!)

But I still can't go without my NCAA fix, so I bought this anyway.