NCAA Football 2008 Impressions

[becomingwater]

PS3 version

I got the game last night.

I started the game and noticed right away the changes from 07.

The gameplay is smooth at 30 fps or whatever they have it set at. I started Legend Mode and I am a RB from North Shore in Houston. I played the first game and around the 3rd Quarter I had a glitch where the LT was on a different axis than the other players, and the ball would never get snapped. I had to restart the game. Then I finally played up to 2 games and it was a great time. Hopefully I will not see the glitch again. I did save one Highlight that was rated a 723. The animations are really nice and overall I think the game is better than last year. I know a lot of people will like this version. I will play more and add on to this after I play it awhile.

[JTK]

Ported from 2k8 thread:

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

Someone be sure and post impressions All Pro and NCAA College Football.

Also, please correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I hear the refresh rates on most newer hdtv's render the 30fps vs 60fps debate a mute point. Saying that the human eye will not detect much, if any difference between the 2. As long as it's smooth and the animation is good, who cares about the difference?

I do and I'm noticing it now on NCAA 2008. You will too and so will just about everyone else. It's not refresh rate it's actual frames per second. 60 vs. 30 makes a big difference, even on less than cutting edge hardware.

I was in the store this morning and there were two Ps3 owners who had bought the game at midnight last night and played theirs and then went over to a friend's house who had the 360 versions of the game. To their angst and chagrin, they reported a "night and day" difference in terms of controls, responsiveness, and "fluidity."

Obviously I didn't want to believe this, despite the earlier 1up article in the back of my mind, so I picked up my two football games this morning for the PS3.

I'm about an hour into NCAA 2008 right now and believe me: I'm the LAST person who wants to notice anything wrong here, but I've noticed a certain sluggishness and lack of responsiveness to the controls that I don't care for at all. It's noticeable. It's cost me on several plays where normally anyone would get it done.Keep in mind: I'm used to playing these games on PS controllers anyways, so it's not like I have any serious learning curve here.

There's a certain "crispness" I'm used to with these games that I'm not feeling right now.

FWIW, on the PS3, you only get 720p as well whereas the 360 versions go all the way to 1080i and p. And 60 fps instead of 30.

I'm going to keep cracking at this, but yes, frames per second do make a difference and yes, you will notice it and feel it.

I hope some people who try both versions hit this thread before long.

[greekjgg]

I was just at Best BUy to pick up my copy. They had it playing on ps3 to a 50 inch samsung dlp which was exactly my tv at home.

I wasn't playing it, but my first impression was that it looked like the madden 07 version of ps3, just using college players, etc.

It it looks like that, and they add some new features in it, then I will be ok with that.

The field did look a little funny though, almost like it was more realistic looking in madden 07.

I picked up APF 2k8 too, and the back of the box does say 1080p.

[becomingwater]

Originally Posted by JTK

Ported from 2k8 thread:




I do and I'm noticing it now on NCAA 2008. You will too and so will just about everyone else. It's not refresh rate it's actual frames per second. 60 vs. 30 makes a big difference, even on less than cutting edge hardware.

I was in the store this morning and there were two Ps3 owners who had bought the game at midnight last night and played theirs and then went over to a friend's house who had the 360 versions of the game. To their angst and chagrin, they reported a "night and day" difference in terms of controls, responsiveness, and "fluidity."

Obviously I didn't want to believe this, despite the earlier 1up article in the back of my mind, so I picked up my two football games this morning for the PS3.

I'm about an hour into NCAA 2008 right now and believe me: I'm the LAST person who wants to notice anything wrong here, but I've noticed a certain sluggishness and lack of responsiveness to the controls that I don't care for at all. It's noticeable. It's cost me on several plays where normally anyone would get it done.Keep in mind: I'm used to playing these games on PS controllers anyways, so it's not like I have any serious learning curve here.

There's a certain "crispness" I'm used to with these games that I'm not feeling right now.

FWIW, on the PS3, you only get 720p as well whereas the 360 versions go all the way to 1080i and p. And 60 fps instead of 30.

I'm going to keep cracking at this, but yes, frames per second do make a difference and yes, you will notice it and feel it.

I hope some people who try both versions hit this thread before long.

mine looked great on a 65 inch.

I did not see a difference on my friends copy. It will not make a difference if its at 100 fps your eye will see a difference in speed but not quality. You probably saw it on a better tv, thats why it looked better.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by greekjgg

I picked up APF 2k8 too, and the back of the box does say 1080p.

This game does 1080p. NCAA does not on PS3.

So far, only Madden has now been confirmed for 60fps on PS3, refuting the earlier 1up article. NCAA is only 30fps and I haven't seen any news on 2k8, so I'm still assuming it is only 30fps as well, unlike its 360 counterpart.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by becomingwater

mine looked great on a 65 inch.

I did not see a difference on my friends copy. It will not make a difference if its at 100 fps your eye will see a difference in speed but not quality. You probably saw it on a better tv, thats why it looked better.

You misunderstand. Appearance isn't the problem. It's how the game controls, responds, and feels.

There's a lack of crispness and responsiveness to the controls for me. The game looks and sounds great. My TV is still considered a reference monitor in many circles to this day.

[blueyeboy]

I've been playing the demo on my Xbox 360 and it's A LOT better than my copies of NCCA 07 and Madden 07.

Dang it's sooo smooth in motion at 60 compaired to the the others at 30. I'm really surpised that EA released it that way.

[becomingwater]

Originally Posted by JTK

You misunderstand. Appearance isn't the problem. It's how the game controls, responds, and feels.

There's a lack of crispness and responsiveness to the controls for me. The game looks and sounds great. My TV is still considered a reference monitor in many circles to this day.

I played 07 on my 360, so maybe thats what im seeing. I love the controls. they are smooth for me. Sorry if I misunderstood ya. I am fine with mine.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by blueyeboy

I've been playing the demo on my Xbox 360 and it's A LOT better than my copies of NCCA 07 and Madden 07.

Dang it's sooo smooth in motion at 60 compaired to the the others at 30. I'm really surpised that EA released it that way.

I'd love to see if you get a chance to compare both versions of NCAA 2008.

Originally Posted by becomingwater

I played 07 on my 360, so maybe thats what im seeing. I love the controls. they are smooth for me. Sorry if I misunderstood ya. I am fine with mine.

We're talking about the new game, 08, not 07.

Anyways your description kind of matches my issue here. I feel like the game is "slow" and lacking in crispness, so I suspect that may very well be the fps issue.

YMMV

[becomingwater]

Originally Posted by JTK

I'd love to see if you get a chance to compare both versions of NCAA 2008.





We're talking about the new game, 08, not 07.

Anyways your description kind of matches my issue here. I feel like the game is "slow" and lacking in crispness, so I suspect that may very well be the fps issue.

YMMV

The last time I played NCAA was the 07 version on my 360, then I play 08 on my PS3, and I saw a huge difference in gameplay and it was smooth to me.

[Monkey]

30fps to 60fps is a big thing to me as well. It effects gameplay as well as how good a game looks in motion. I'm always bummed a little when a game opts for motion blurr or something else to cover for its low framerate (like PGR3, bummed to hear PGR4 is going that route as well after the dev's said they could have had PGR3 at 60fps if they had 4 more months).

Sports games, racings games, first person shooters, actions games are all ideal games for having better framerate for gameplay and better looking in motion. Slower games like a Zelda or something really don't need it as much as they are much slower paced. Granted I'd still like 60fps on them but just isn't as valuable on those kinds of games.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by Monkey

30fps to 60fps is a big thing to me as well. It effects gameplay as well as how good a game looks in motion. I'm always bummed a little when a game opts for motion blurr or something else to cover for its low framerate (like PGR3, bummed to hear PGR4 is going that route as well after the dev's said they could have had PGR3 at 60fps if they had 4 more months).

Sports games, racings games, first person shooters, actions games are all ideal games for having better framerate for gameplay and better looking in motion. Slower games like a Zelda or something really don't need it as much as they are much slower paced. Granted I'd still like 60fps on them but just isn't as valuable on those kinds of games.

I don't have the frame of reference on this like these guys that have played both 360 and PS3 versions to know what 60fps would look like and feel like on NCAA 2008.

That being said: Would someone still notice something anyways or what?

[Monkey]

I haven't played them either to be honest as I'm not a Football game lover. I think it really depends on the game. For some game it isn't too drastic while others a bit more noticeable.

Last years Madden they said the PS3 version had better physics, player interaction, etc compared to other versions so I'm wondering if there are other factors as well that are causing a trade-off. Or it might just be a sloppy port. Hopefully a solid 30fps, that would be better than 60fps with lots of framerate issues like the demo's 0f 07 Madden and NCAA football games on live had.

As long as the game is fun to you that's the key.

[JTK]

Originally Posted by Monkey

I haven't played them either to be honest as I'm not a Football game lover. I think it really depends on the game. For some game it isn't too drastic while others a bit more noticeable.

Last years Madden they said the PS3 version had better physics, player interaction, etc compared to other versions so I'm wondering if there are other factors as well that are causing a trade-off. Or it might just be a sloppy port. Hopefully a solid 30fps, that would be better than 60fps with lots of framerate issues like the demo's 0f 07 Madden and NCAA football games on live had.

As long as the game is fun to you that's the key.

Indeed.

[Blus Brother]

I just bought the PS3 version and runs fine to me - but I dont think it looks any better than last years PS2 version to be honest. Not next gen IMO. But I do like how the time passes in the game(changing from day to night during the game). Actually had to edit this post - the game is starting to grow on me playing through one game. First off they are using some kind of blur effect, I guess to simulate real life(the farther away something is, the blurrier it is. Cloud cover changes as well as the lighting through the course of the game. As I believe that was not the case for all previous versions. I have noticed no frame rate issues as of yet.

[Amon37]

Originally Posted by JTK

FWIW, on the PS3, you only get 720p as well whereas the 360 versions go all the way to 1080i and p. And 60 fps instead of 30.

That's because the 360 scales all games, it's still only rendered at 720p

[JTK]

Originally Posted by bosels11

I just bought the PS3 version and runs fine to me - but I dont think it looks any better than last years PS2 version to be honest.

No way! I had the Xbox 360 07 last year and it looks a touch better than that. Both last year's and this year's next game look a hell of a lot better than the PS2/Xbox 1 versions.

Not next gen IMO. But I do like how the time passes in the game(changing from day to night during the game). Actually had to edit this post - the game is starting to grow on me playing through one game. First off they are using some kind of blur effect, I guess to simulate real life(the farther away something is, the blurrier it is.

I've seen this. I actually don't mind that.

Cloud cover changes as well as the lighting through the course of the game. As I believe that was not the case for all previous versions. I have noticed no frame rate issues as of yet.

I'm still not even sure I'd know what a "frames per second" issue would really even look like without a frame of reference. I'm trying to be very careful with my language in this thread.

Originally Posted by Amon37

That's because the 360 scales all games, it's still only rendered at 720p

Ok.

I guess it doesn't mean anything if the back of the game boxes specify: 480i, 720p for the PS3 version and pretty much everything on the back of the 360 game version? It's just scaling?

Anyways, I have seen a little bit of that blurr done in the background for long crowd shots and such and that doesn't bother me at all. Hell, if that's all there is to it to "cover up" any so-called frame issues then that's nothing to me.

I'm just trying to get my personal bearings in this game and trying to figure out why, to me, things just don't feel as snappy, quick, crisp, and responsiveness as I feel I'm used to.

Granted, I haven't played one of these games in several months or so, so maybe I'm just out of practice... *shrugs*

[supersix4]

played both today owning both systems and knowing the 360 would offer more fps than the 3 version I choose that one and the 2nd or 3rd post was right it really is aTON smoother on a big tv via the 360 no lag just smooth, feeling more responsive... glad I picked that hopefully I'll start being able to buy more games for the ps3

[JTK]

Originally Posted by supersix14

played both today owning both systems and knowing the 360 would offer more fps than the 3 version I choose that one and the 2nd or 3rd post was right it really is aTON smoother on a big tv via the 360 no lag just smooth, feeling more responsive... glad I picked that hopefully I'll start being able to buy more games for the ps3

Roughly how much time did you spend with both games and what kind of TVs, please?

Any and all specifics appreciated.

You're not the first person that's said this, fwiw.

BTW: Where are the reviews for these games?

[Blus Brother]

Have a question on this game - on previous games you were able to watch every game(if you so wished) without controlling a side. So far that doesnt seem to be the case with this one, when I try it says I must choose a side. Does anyone know if you can watch a game as a nuetral?