The payment and lincesing deal is, imo, much more interesting than the game itself. I'm interested where it will lead in 10 or 15 years.
[cool story bro] My brother was the kicker/punter for SWT in the mid to late 90's. EA came to them one year for the game back then and he was recorded as the sound made when the ball was kicked. But, because he was a college player then, they didn't have to pay him s***. It was his foot that made the sound for years until they stopped making the game. [/cool bro story]
Liked the original NCAA better than Madden. It just seemed more fun. bigger plays. More scoring and less predictable. Lot's of changing parts. That said, how will recruiting work, lol. Recruiting used to be sort of fun, now I just got fork over some cash.
What set the games apart, especially later in development, was that Madden had all these forced, canned animations that overwrote stick skills. Especially on defense. IIRC the very last iteration of NCAA had the same issues emerging. More reliance on canned animations vs sticks. I played NCAA religiously (dynasty online with friends) - but have not played a football game since it's demise. I will pickup the new game but wont play it much if it isn't good.
I might just buy this game for nostalgia purposes. I don't really buy games anymore (I have game pass on xbox) but this one might be 11 years in the making.
Meh, no Steam version like there is for Madden. Last console I purchased was a PS3....or steamdeck if that counts.
