Ncaa '09

So, anyone taking the plunge again? I'm going to drop my son off at camp in the morning and run by Wally World and pick it up for the PS3. Or I could go to GameStop and pick it up at 12:01 AM tonight. I think I'll wait for tomorrow.

Just got a copy from Fry's...GI gave it an 8.5 and said they've really improved over the last two versions (which wouldn't be hard). I'll check back in later after playing some.

Well, I didn't get into a renaming fury, but I did change a few names on my FSU roster. I started out on rookie and played North Texas...and just about got my ass kicked. I was down 10-0 in the first quarter and 17-7 at the half, and my QB had thrown 3 INTs. I was ready to dump it back as "same ol' defensive AI", but I ended up winning the game. True, the CPU had 2 INTs that proved his DBs had eyes in the back of their heads, but my defense finally shut down their offense and my QB ended up throwing 3 TDs and I was actually able to get a running game going. I eventually won 28-24.

I daresay the game play was a bit similar to ESPN 2K, as far as how fluid it was. The voice overs are still asinine--I ran for no gain, and as I took off, the announcer says, "Good run" then immediately "No where to go! He's stopped for no gain!" I wish you could turn off the announcers, period. Didn't do any online stuff yet, or get very deep into the gameplay. I just did a "play now" and went with it.

Remember how you'd be way ahead of a team, and by the end of the game, you were struggling to hold on to a win? It almost seemed as if this were the opposite of that. I had trouble at the start, but as I went on, I had shut down the other team pretty well by the end of the game--although I only had two 3 and outs. I stopped them at the end of the game by picking off a pass at the 8 with :22 left.

And anyone care to guess who is the only 99 in the game? Only the greatest quarterback/neurosurgeon/rock star/faith healer ever.

According to the book, there's a ton of online crap. I had to upgrade my PS3 to 2.41 before I could get into it, so I'll do it later.

That's interesting. I never got into the Campus Legend stuff. I just started a Dynasty season now that I've played a few more games into it. I beat Army 56-0 and figured I was "ready" to play now.

On a side note, fucking EA...I've been looking to download a full named roster, and there's a website called http://www.freencaa09rosters.com/, and they still don't have a PS3 version yet. Turns out that there's a bug with the roster editing, so essentially, you could be in the middle of editing your roster and then the game freezes and you could lose everything. And if it's corrupted, you're screwed. EA is working on a patch. *sigh* Of course it looks like it only affects the PS3 version.

Played some online games finally. I also got a hold of a PS3 roster--sweet!

One was unranked--played vs. Pitt. The guy ran the same play over and over, which I stopped. Then he discovered if he just started chucking bomb after bomb, no matter if I had his guy double or triple covered, he'd catch one eventually. I won 42-35 by basically running 3-4 minute drives every time I got the ball.

I played my first ranked game tonight--the guy picked UGA, the #1 team in the game (I always play as FSU). All he did was run screens to Moreno the whole game, and would run the ball every 7-8 plays. It would take me like 3 guys to tackle Moreno almost every time. I ran a 3-2-6 defense almost exclusively. It was 7-7 at the half, and for some reason he tried an onside kick to start the 2nd half, which I recovered. I scored in 4 plays, and then pretty much held him in check. He drove the length of the field at one point, but I intercepted him in the end zone. He got the ball with about 2:30 left, and drove down the field and scored to tie it up 14-14 with about :53 left. He kicked off, and I drove the ball to about my own 47 yard line, and kicked a FG with :06 on the board. 17-14. He had :02 left when I kicked off, so he had to run the KO back for a TD to win. When I kicked off, for some reason, he didn't let the CPU line up his returner, and the ball hit the field and bounced about another 5 yards. By the time he ran back and picked it up, I smothered him. Game over. I like playing online. It's fun, and you don't have to listen to the person you're playing.

I'll have to say...EA has done a much better job with this version of NCAA. I've actually had fun playing, have been challenged when I should be challenged, and have steamrolled teams I should steamroll.

Playing online has been a blast, although I had my first quitter last night. I was up 28-18, and he started playing the "I'll just throw bombs" game plan, and after I picked off his third bomb attempt in the 4th quarter, he quit. Puss. He was 14-14 overall, but I didn't catch his DNF %age. "hella_indecisive" was his name, in case you see him online. He chose Missouri after starting out with Notre Dame as his default team. The funny thing was, with that QB at Missouri, he didn't start really passing the ball until his third drive. He kept trying to run the ball.

I got rid of '08 about 3-4 weeks after I bought it because I was so aggravated with it. For '09, the CPU AI isn't annoying me as much, and the gameplay is MUCH smoother. The only jerkiness I've noticed is when I played online vs. that guy last night. And that was because his connection was shitty. When you select people to play in the "lobby", you see a set of network strength bars, similar to what's on your phone. His was in the yellow/orange range instead of green. It was harder to kick FGs and the gameplay was choppy, but from what I understand it was because of his connection. I've played 2 other online games, and they've run with no issues, and hardly no difference than playing the CPU. I've had a lot of fun with this one so far on the PS3. Even my wife's niece said, "Wow" when she saw me playing it the first time.

I've started a non-online Dynasty, but I'm going to re-do it because I've got a roster with all the names now. The new recruiting logic is a little weird...it's sort of like doing a FFL draft with the CPU--you set up where you have needs, and target distinct recruits, but the CPU actually does the "pitch", and throughout the season you find out who signs with you. I haven't done an online dynasty yet...if anyone wants to get in on an online Dynasty, let me know and I'll start one up for the CHUD folks with a PS3 (I'm assuming you can't pull 360 ppl into a PS3 dynasty and vice-versa).

Yeah, I've actually downloaded some of the FSU fight songs and set them up to play at the appropriate times during the game.

Smails, you know the song the Marching Chiefs play at the start of each 4th quarter? I have that set up also...it's stupidly fun to hear it when I'm playing a home game. I also have the Warchant set up to play after a sack or a stop on 3rd and/or 4th down.

I'm in an online dynasty now with a bunch of guys from an FSU message board. I'm playing as UGA--my first game was against a "nameless" FCS team. It was 45-0 at the end of the first half. It only ended up being 59-0 because I put in the 2nd string Offense in the 2nd half. I play about 2-3 more games before I play a user-controlled team. The guy that started the league is playing as FSU, and he played a user-controlled USC the first game...and won 50-17. Which amazed me.

My biggest downfall on playing a live person is defending the bomb, but I'm getting pretty adept at quickly switching to the DB and batting the ball down.

Let's see how this works:

http://www.easportsworld.com/en_US/video/173875

I just played an AA game with UGA vs. Oregon. It was like 17-14 at the half. I ended up winning, 59-14. I scored 28 points in the 4th quarter alone. 3 INTs returned for TDs, a fumble returned for a TD, and a punt return for a TD. This is one of the INTs (2 by CB #2 and he also had the punt return).

I posted my punt return as well--however, I can't get into the website whilst I'm at work, so I'll post it later. I'm sure you're all desperate to see it.

And yeah, I thought I was as well. It's really weird how sometimes it will "leap" into the end zone, and sometimes you just "dive" like this one. I actually got the RB to leap over the pile into the end zone earlier in the game.

That site is bizarre--whenever I log in at night, it's a perfectly functioning, graphical website. When I try to log in from work during the day, it all comes up like a text-based site.

I uploaded my stuff, logged in, then went to "Videos" and they were listed there. Also, you can add a widget of "My Videos" to your initial screen when you log in.

I had my first "concession" last night. I've been trying to hook up to play this guy in my Dynasty league, and since we couldn't get it done, I played some random guy in a ranked game. I chose FSU, and even though his name was "WAREAGLENAL", he chose Clemson for some reason. We started playing, and before the end of the first quarter, I was up 21-0. I kicked off, and didn't realize I kicked it to CJ Spiller, who promptly returned it for a TD. It was 21-7 to start the 2nd half, and he decided to try the no huddle, and promptly threw an INT. I eventually drove down and scored to make it 28-7, then I get a msg saying, "Your opponent wants to concede defeat. Do you accept?" You get the win without having to play the rest of the game. I don't think the guy had ever played online before. I think I threw him off on my initial drive because I only passed the ball 2 times. He kept lining up in a dime defense, and I kept running for 10-12 yards a pop.

Finally played this guy in my online dynasty that I've been trying to play for a week. Probably my best overall game vs. a human so far. He had scored 70+ on the last two teams he played (1 CPU and 1 Human). I beat him 28-14. My last drive was a thing of beauty. I stopped him on 4th and GL on the 1, and then drove the ball for 6:48 back down the field and scored with :26 left. I think I only passed 3-4 times. I just kept running the ball down his throat, and he kept trying to guess as to when I was going to pass. When he would line up in the 3-2-6, I'd audible to a run play (if I was in a passing play) and get an easy 7-8 yards.