What did it patch?
Like other patches from EA, it's all a bit murky what the patch does. While other sites claim this fixes the turnover problem let's do a quick run down to see if the turnover issues are truly fixed.

Interceptions: Improved but not fixed.
Interceptions were much more of a problem when the CPU was passing. Defenders on the human controlled team would intercept an unrealistically high numbers. If you played as Ohio State, USC, Texas or any team with good defensive backs, the game was ruined because of the amount of turnovers in every game. The game was better if you took a middle ranking team.

The patch seems to tone down the amount of interception but it's still too high. It seems defenders need to look at the ball to jump for the interception.

The culprit of CPU thrown interceptions is the quarterback AI. And that hasn't been fixed. Far too many times, the CPU QB makes a really bad string of passed that leads to 4 or more interceptions a half.

Fumbles: Fixed
I didn't see any of the cheap fumbles that existed pre-patch. Also the number of fumbles caused by the ground have been reduced drastically.

Super Jump Linebackers: Not fixed
Linebackers are still able to pick off bullet passes over the middle. And they are able to make super jumps to pick off passes intended for receivers 10-15 yards behind them.

DBs not magically knowing pass routes: Fixed
Before a DB could jump a route and position himself in an unrealistic way.

Passing Trajectory and Passing Touch: Improved but not fixed.
You are able to put more loft on certain passes so they will go over the shoulder of your WR and aren't so easy to knockdown by the DB. Over the middle passes are still too low.

You can also lead receivers better to the point of overthrowing your receiver.

There are times when you try to lead a receiver and the ball is thrown not where you wanted it but instead is thrown at a defender. This happens for both the CPU and Hum teams.

Verdict:
This patch does improve certain parts of the game. The changes are subtle and if you go into it expecting to see a tad fewer turnovers accompanied with some of the stupid EA Sports tendencies you'll be able to enjoy NCAA again. If you are expecting a brand new game you will be disappointed.

Read Part 2: The Scores, What They Mean.
Read Part 1: The Scores

Football Wars is broken into readable parts. Today's feature (continued tomorrow) will cover the bad about the 07 releases. Later this week, Football Wars will continue with the good of the 07 releases and improvements I would like to see.

If there's one genre still hurting from EA's exclusive deal, its football. The death of NFL 2k5 created a void of two uninspired Madden versions for the next-gen consoles. NCAA Football, having zero competition, has done just enough to be fun and interesting but the 09 version needs some key improvements. And 2K football saw a revival in All-Pro Football 2k8, which did just well enough to see a 2k9 version.

This football war isn't a battle of x's and o's -- its a battle of real football. For as good as I think the All-Pro football engine is, there is nothing that can substitute playing as the real teams and players. EA knows this and 2K Sports knows this.

Ultimately the football war isn't between EA Sports and 2k Sports. Competition breeds better products for you to buy and enjoy. This war is the lack of vision in the football market. As you'll see throughout Part 1, we are playing football games with next-gen graphics, old-gen features and 8-bit ideas.

Gameplay: Why We Buy Electronics from China
Madden and NCAA were broken this year. Clear enough for everyone?

The turnover issues simply ruined both games. Neither game was horrible but one issue just killed off any sort of realism and fun that could have been had with both. It's no fun when you are up 27-10 and with the AI forced to throw, you are gifted three INTs returned for a TDs. If this happened in one or two games a season then we all could live with it but this happened in almost every game played.

I'm going to nitpick this issue because I think its shows off everything that is wrong in Madden and NCAA.

The culprit for turnovers stem from the lack of true "fuzzy" AI, bizarro field/player proportions and lack of key animations. Fuzzy AI is a term used to describe how dumb, varying, or "human" AI can be. I'm sure there are varying degrees of awareness for AI players but you can hardly see it. Case-in-point, LBs with their back turned can jump up and intercept the ball, with your WR wide open 10 yards further upfield, is an example of AI knowing exactly what to do, without looking. DBs were programmed to jump routes before you passed is another example. Instead of strengthening defense by making players with varying abilities, they programmed the AI to cheat.

Couple this AI behavior to unrealistic field-to-player proportions and you have a game that is destined to have issues. The players can move 10 yards in 3 strides at times due to a cramped field. Watch any NFL game and there's space all over the field, even inside the tackles. LBs abilities are exaggerated due to the cramped field and makes midfield play nonexistent.

Finally, I think Madden/NCAA need to go back to the drawing board for animations. Sticking to the defensive passing game, DBs need to stop going for INTs when reaching around a receiver is the correct play. Here again, is gameplay leftovers from the old-generations.

As for All-Pro Football, I think it had the best engine, one might say it was the most organic. But who cares? You can only play with the same and against the same teams for so long.

Franchise Mode: Why We Put Stuff Up on Ebay
Since there wasn't one in APF, I'm going to just say, offering a game with a static season mode really was a slap in the face to people that supported 2k Sports over the years.

As reported earlier, Madden will see a patch to fix the bugs in the franchise mode. That gets us to a franchise mode that shouldn't be broken in the first place. My complaint is that features offered in 08 are the same ones from the XB/PS2 versions. In fact, the old-gen version let you pick hot dog prices.

If you run the scorecard of franchise features this is what you get. Draft, the same as last year. Free Agency mostly the same. Pre-season, same-o. See the pattern.

The game that saw the biggest upgrade of the franchise mode (dynasty) was NCAA. They expanded their recruiting model so the user could get more feedback from players, make promises to recruits that included risk and offer a different method to communicate with recruits. While the changes weren't drastic it was enough to stir up the off-season play.

Here's where it went "wrong-ish". The calling system was more monotonous than informative. Having to call the players every week did not enhance the new recruiting engine.

Back to the 'features'
Looking back at the previews to get the complete picture pre- and post-release. There is no one better at pre-release hype than EA Sports. They sell their features that sell their game even if the features result in blowing up your 360.

The big hype centered we saw weapons and gang tackling in Madden; Campus Legend update and field leadership in NCAA; and “being back” in All-Pro Football.

Madden's weapons were nothing more than pretty icons showing if you player could catch or truck over someone. Great hype but it didn't change the dynamics of player interaction like APF's trait system. The gang-tackling feature, something that really should have been in the old-gen version, finally made it's appearance on the 360. EA sold us all a load of smelly brown gel on that one. The gang-tackling feature was two-man tackles where maybe a third player would fall and make it look like a third guy.

NCAA's campus legend had another year to impress and I think it did. The absurdity of players starting in week 4 of their first year notwithstanding, campus legend provided gamers the best first-person experience for sports games. What other memorable feature is something you want to return next year? Leadership Control that give bonus points to players attributes that didn't make sense. Or weather channel updates only available during exhibition games? No and No.

NCAA and Madden's features feel more like tacked on bullet points in a press release than features added every year to enhance gameplay. When over-hyped features get the royal treatment in year one and by year two they are phased out, you know these are nothing more than gimmicks to sell NCAA and Madden.

All-Pro Football felt like a game that was just happy to be at the big table. While the gameplay was an improved version of NFL 2k5, the game was a budget title for $60. With no franchise or season mode, only six user created teams and limited user creation options, I don't think a fully priced football game could come with any less features.

Check back tomorrow for the rest of this article.

I don't believe EA will pull the patch after letting the cat out of the bag in the producer's blog. However they did pull the NCAA 360 patch, while releasing one for the PS3. When should we get worried? If the Jolly Fat Man pays you a visit and there's no patch, we will never see one.

Madden Producer's Blog

Among the key fixes are:

• FA Pool Bug
• Fumble Reduction
• Better DB AI or Awareness

Madden would be a completely new game if they properly fixed them. That's how much the turnovers and defensive AI hurt the gameplay.

I've played Madden™ before, as well as NFL Blitz™ and NFL Street™, but I was never really impressed. I mean, sure, you can play the big teams against themselves, and you can even track your scores, but it just never felt as immersive to me as I hoped it would be, so I kind of put the genre to the side.

Imagine my surprise when I, on a whim, rented NCAA 08 from Blockbuster™. Thankfully, Blockbuster lets you keep the game for a week, and I happened to have a few free weeknights. I found my college team, and started into the Dynasty Mode.

The first thing that hits you about this game is the depth that you get into as you play it. Not only are you playing a mild game of football, but you're tracking the progress of your coach, the stats of your players, and the status of high school senior college hopefuls. You're literally tracking just about every aspect of your college, down to the trouble that some of your college players get themselves into. Bowl bids, Pac-10 championships, rivalries... It's all in here.

A good friend and I both have started another Dynasty Mode together, and it always comes up between us. We ask how the other is doing, even though we both can just check it on the machine. We know each other's players, and when we play against each other, it feels like it actually means something.

Now, this may sound strange to be talking about a video game like this, but I think it has really helped me to understand what "sports guys" really go through. I know that if one of my key players was injured on a play, I'd be pretty upset. When one of my guys cheats on a test and I have to pull him out of the game, I feel not only the stress of the NCAA breathing down my neck to do something, but the fear that we're going to be underhanded for next week's game against USC.

It feels that real.

I believe that any sports game, or even any game for that matter, should be using this as a model. Gamers truly want this much of an experience. We want what we do in the game to actually mean something. Ever wondered why EverQuest™ or World of Warcraft™ are so popular? It's because the actions in the game actually affect things. In NCAA 08, there's no extra lives. There's no continues. If you lose, you lose, and that's all there is to it. If you win, then you progress. If your player gets himself into trouble, you really have to discipline him, or you'll get into trouble with the league. You want to win the Division championship? Then you better put the work in and win, but not against just anybody. You have to challenge the big schools.

I've always been disappointed with games that show a definite lack of depth. Gamers want to be able to customize their experience. They want to not only have a character that is interesting, but one that you can make your own. You need to be able to change the look, accessories, the weapons, the abilities, and the actions. You need to be able to make the game yours.

Everything about NCAA 08 is about pulling you into this fictional universe. And it's about the details. From the game's tracking of unnumerable stats and rankings, to the fictional ESPN Magazine stories, to even the little blurb spots about which teams have won or are winning during the same game that you're playing. It's immersive, it's addicting, and it's fun.

I guess I've gone on long enough. In essense, if you want to play a game that really rocks your world, and you like the game of football, I would pick up NCAA 08. When I finish with it, (at least for a while), and I want to track my alumni players in the pro leagues, I'll pick up Madden 08 as well. More on that to come, I promise.

- Kyle

Crimson Daddy

Let me start out by saying that I think college football is better than the NFL by a slight margin. But I think NCAA 0x is a much better game than Madden 0x. It's been true for years now.

I'm sure most people will tell you they prefer the NFL to college FB. Therefore, it seems logical that most people will buy Madden over NCAA 08. Look, I love football, but I'm going to pick the better game. I've given Madden a chance every year for the last 4. This year I will NOT be making the Madden purchase that everyone else is.

Perhaps if EA figured out that everyone who plays online, wants Online Leagues. Why is that so difficult to grasp? EA has made great strides in many aspects of their games, but they cannot figure out that online leagues are the way to go. Playing random people in most sports games only brings out the cheesy players with their unrealistic, win at all costs playstyle.

Either way, I'm halfway through season 2 of my three team dynasty in NCAA 08 and I am simply having a blast. I'll be playing this game until NHL 08 comes out on September 11.

Meanwhile, what exactly is the appeal of Madden 08 or the new Madden in general every year? It's been little more than a roster update for the last few years so what is the point of shelling out 60 bucks for it? Until there is a complete overhaul, I won't be buying another Madden game for awhile.

The Hokies proved to be a worthy adversary. They took a 6-3 lead into halftime while almost completely shutting down my offense. I really got in the face of my troops during the break and they responded by taking the opening drive of the second half right down the field and into the endzone. And they wouldn't relinquish the lead the rest of the way.

I followed that up with the #1 ranked recruiting class in all the land, and am now halfway through season 2, and ranked third in the country. Up next is 10th ranked Tennessee and Heisman hopeful/pothead Lamarcus Coker.

Your Crimson Daddy 

I'm unbeaten, yet still only ranked #10 in the BCS. Can you say Auburn 2004? Next up is the #1 ranked, Tebow-charged Florida Gators for the SEC championship. I doubt a win over them will bump me up into the BCS title game, but at worst I'll still get a BCS bid, that should help me in recruiting anyway.

I signed 5 players during the in-season recruiting period. I had to promise one player playing time. He's a middle linebacker, so that shouldn't be a problem next year seeing as I'll only have Prince Hall and who I assume to be Rolando McClain unless I recruit more. I really like the player promise addition, but has anyone else noticed the horrible angles that the defenses players take? I think I've broken more long runs this season than I ever did on the previous installments of the series, and it's because of the bad angles taken by the defensive backs. That really gets me. Oh well, overall I still think it's a little better than last year's game.

Now I had a struggle in season one but have landed some big recruits, especially with Notre Dame.

Here are my video highlights:

BSU @ #14 Nebraska

There's a great look at the scoreboard, but yeah, Ball State beats Nebraska at THEIR place. Easily the highlight of the Cardinals season who finished 5-7.

BSU @ W. Michigan

This is a play by Western Michigan late in the game, but it's still incredible what happened. 4th and goal from outside the 10 yd. line and less than 40 seconds remaining to tie it. I still managed to win prior to overtime however.

Notre Dame @ #17 Michigan

80 yard touchdown pass which helped in the defeat of Michigan on the road.

Notre Dame @ #17 Michigan

Game over, this tipped interception sealed the win for the Irish.

Let me know what you think of these videos. I'll post more of them when I get them.

It's a real shame that online ready Super Mario Strikers Charged comes out on Tuesday, because it might take away playing time of NCAA. Thankfully not much.

I'm underway with my typical 3 team dynasty consisting of Ball State (1 star school), Indiana (3 stars) and Notre Dame (6 stars).

So you know, I'm using sim sliders supplied by "Playmakers" from Sportsgamer.com forums. If you want a great set of sim sliders, go with those. I've gotten truly realistic games and stats. He also figured out that the INT and awareness sliders are probably switched or wrong. Interceptions are WAY down to realistic levels now. Pics still happen, and yes they ARE still your fault.

Anyway 6 games into my dynasty, here's how my teams stand thus far:

Ball State University:

Currently at 2-4 (1-3 conference). I'm pretty disappointed with this team because not only did I upset #14 Nebraska AT NU, but the only other win was against a 1-AA school. Ball State has a long way to go before competing for a MAC title, but that upset was still monumental.

Indiana University:

3-3 on the year (2-2) and in position for a bowl game. I have an equal number of teams to play that are over/under .500. WR James Hardy has 6 TD and over 800 yards receiving already. I hope to make him a Heisman candidate his senior year. A tough loss to Akron really hurt the chances of this team having a certain winning record, but still lots of games to go.

University of Notre Dame:

Everyone knows the Domers are going to be mediocre at best this year. So does my team. Currently at 3-3, ND has played 4 games that came down to the final possession. The finest win was at #9 Michigan but on the flip side, lost to Georgia Tech at home by 20. Notre Dame has some big recruits on the horizon however. We've already locked up the top defensive player in the nation for next year.

Anywho, I love this game and am certainly digging the saved highlights. I'll upload some on here in the near future.

JK

Yesterday, I played NCAA '08 for around 2 hours; ended up playing All-Pro Football 2k8 for a near ridiculous 5-7 consecutive hours. I'll tell ya what though, it surpassed my expectations and then some. I was very hyped that you could take your own created players into the online play and make due against other people around the world and their teams.

So as 2k doesn't have the NFL license, I done a little creativity of my own. I created a St. Louis Rams-counterpart team. It allows you to break up stars into 2 Gold players, 3 Silver players, 6 bronze players. The rest of the team is filled out by generic players (which surprisingly, I enjoy!) Anyhow, here's how I set up the St. Louis "R's" with my created NFL players.

Gold
Marc Bulger
Steven Jackson (the long-hairless Stevie J.)

Silver
Orlando Pace
Torry Holt
Isaac Bruce

Bronze
Corey Chavous
Tye Hill
Leonard Little
Will Witherspoon
Pisa Tinoisamoa
Drew Bennett

Not too shabby, huh? My first online game with my Rams-relevant team, I had a shootout with some guy that pulled a Marino-Branch combo on me. I was losing at one point, but on a punt, one of his generic players dived after the ball and tapped it away, so I picked it up with one of my generic players and ran in a TD. 1 minute left in the game, he goes for it on 4th down at midfield, going for the win. He doesn't convert, so I'm at midfield. The answer? The created Torry Holt.

And yaddee-yaddee-yah, I stall the guy over the next 12 seconds, win the game.

Even on a game where there is no NFL significance except for the obvious football and old legends, you can make it significant.  As for NCAA, I don't have much to say. I mean, eh, it's a fun game, but it, just like Madden, has been nearly the same game over the past few years, and All-Pro Football 2k8 is a fresh breath of air. NCAA is fun, the animations are nice, but APF 2k8 is nicer'.

Oh, and I'll be back with the Breaking 'em Down segments once I get unaddicted to these two games.. which could be a while. But I'll still be posting some of my thoughts, or some brief thoughts, on what's currently going around in the sports world.

Anyone interested in getting beat on All-Pro Football 2k8, or interested in beating me on NCAA '08 (Xbox Live), add my gamertag: Hookshot Maniac.

Available for Xbox 360 and PS3 through Amazon.com.

Right away you'll notice how much better this game looks than the poor graphical excuse that was NCAA 07. This baby runs at a smooth 60 FPS as well. The animations are really well executed too.

It took me awhile to get the controls down like it does every year, but it comes back to you eventually. Thankfully the game appears to be on Varsity difficulty so playing the CPU isn't tough at all. Plus it helps that it's Michigan v. USC so having a killer offense makes it more fun too.

You'll notice there are no announcers or much of a presentation either. A lot of bare bones as you'd expect from a demo. However you do get a full game at 2 minute quarters which is pretty nice.

The actual gameplay is pretty similar to before but with the enhanced look. There were some slight freezes if you get through the play selection screen too quickly, but it's minor.

The progression of daylight is awesome too. The demo starts at 6pm and when the game is over it's completely dark outside. Nice touch.

Overall this is a fantastic preview to what should be a phenominal outing by EA Sports. The depth that this game has to offer over previous years alone is exciting. Hopefully the online play isn't lacking with lag.

See you on Tuesday!