NCAA 2005: Now with Bullshit!
Ok. This blogging experience is completely new to me, and as such, the Sunday update schedule has already been thrown off by a day. Let’s just say that from now on, if you check this blog once a week, there will most likely be something new.
I was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. This isn’t just The South, this is the epicenter. And we really, really care about college football down here. Lets put it this way- when Bear Bryant, the beloved coach of the University of Alabama, died in 1983, we got out of school. Seriously.
Of course, I hate Alabama. I grew up an Auburn fan, and there is a really deep dislike of the University of Alabama, the town of Tuscaloosa, and even the revered Bear Bryant deep in my psyche. I really do hate them. I’m not going to list all the reasons, but if you are outside and reading this trying to figure out if I’m just throwing some cliché-ridden nonsense at you, I’m not. I really fucking hate them.
So it’s always great to play some college football of the video game variety. I have taken teams like Ball State and UAB (our local school here in Birmingham) and built them up expressly for the purpose of scheduling Alabama and beating the shit out of them in their own stadium.
Naturally I was excited when the first previews of NCAA 2005 starting hitting the net.
And there are some things that I can’t wait to see- EA finally sucking it up and getting on the Live bandwagon is a good thing. It isn’t even worth repeating that Live rules. It is kind of funny how everyone predicted utter destruction for the Xbox but now there really isn’t even a discussion to have- maybe we could have one about the PS2 controller being better, but I’m not even sure I can have that one anymore.
Shit I just digressed. Anyways, Live rules, EA knows it. It’s all good. But wait, and let me just quote from a preview on IGN:
“Homefield Advantage does a great job of recreating the benefits of having a massive crowd behind you. When on defense, the home team player can try and bring the crowd into the game. Tapping the "Homefield Advantage" button repeatedly increases the pumpitude of the crowd. In a giant house known for rabid fans, like Wisconsin's Camp Randall Stadium, this can cause your opponent's controller to rumble frantically and the screen to shake like an epileptic bobblehead.”
Well that sounds neat. Right? WRONG. Let’s see, I go buy NCAA 2005, throw it in, get my beloved UAB Blazers and jump on Live to find a game. What am I greeted with? 4000 jackasses with Tennessee or, God forbid, Florida fucking State waiting on me. And they all want to be the home team. And before EVERY play, they are jamming the “fuck with Chris” button like mad. Why wouldn’t they? They will- they'll break the button.
Maybe I’m overreacting- maybe they threw in some kind of limit to the amount you can do this. The IGN article doesn’t mention it- it goes on to talk about how the visiting team can lose their confidence, not hear audibles, etc. It just gets worse.
Why?
Why make it even more impossible for some little team to beat a bigger school? One of the best games I have ever heard (no TV for it) was last year when Northern Illinois beat Alabama. At Tuscaloosa. On Homecoming. Heh.
My point is that it appears they are actually trying to make the football game less fun. What use is it to have this hometown advantage shit? The preview blathers about the glory of the college game and how it is different from the pro game. I agree- and I even see the “realism” in the idea that the hometown team has an advantage- but I don’t see how the implementation I’ve read is going to be ANY FUN AT ALL.
I hope I’m wrong, or more importantly, I hope you can turn it off.
I was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. This isn’t just The South, this is the epicenter. And we really, really care about college football down here. Lets put it this way- when Bear Bryant, the beloved coach of the University of Alabama, died in 1983, we got out of school. Seriously.
Of course, I hate Alabama. I grew up an Auburn fan, and there is a really deep dislike of the University of Alabama, the town of Tuscaloosa, and even the revered Bear Bryant deep in my psyche. I really do hate them. I’m not going to list all the reasons, but if you are outside and reading this trying to figure out if I’m just throwing some cliché-ridden nonsense at you, I’m not. I really fucking hate them.
So it’s always great to play some college football of the video game variety. I have taken teams like Ball State and UAB (our local school here in Birmingham) and built them up expressly for the purpose of scheduling Alabama and beating the shit out of them in their own stadium.
Naturally I was excited when the first previews of NCAA 2005 starting hitting the net.
And there are some things that I can’t wait to see- EA finally sucking it up and getting on the Live bandwagon is a good thing. It isn’t even worth repeating that Live rules. It is kind of funny how everyone predicted utter destruction for the Xbox but now there really isn’t even a discussion to have- maybe we could have one about the PS2 controller being better, but I’m not even sure I can have that one anymore.
Shit I just digressed. Anyways, Live rules, EA knows it. It’s all good. But wait, and let me just quote from a preview on IGN:
“Homefield Advantage does a great job of recreating the benefits of having a massive crowd behind you. When on defense, the home team player can try and bring the crowd into the game. Tapping the "Homefield Advantage" button repeatedly increases the pumpitude of the crowd. In a giant house known for rabid fans, like Wisconsin's Camp Randall Stadium, this can cause your opponent's controller to rumble frantically and the screen to shake like an epileptic bobblehead.”
Well that sounds neat. Right? WRONG. Let’s see, I go buy NCAA 2005, throw it in, get my beloved UAB Blazers and jump on Live to find a game. What am I greeted with? 4000 jackasses with Tennessee or, God forbid, Florida fucking State waiting on me. And they all want to be the home team. And before EVERY play, they are jamming the “fuck with Chris” button like mad. Why wouldn’t they? They will- they'll break the button.
Maybe I’m overreacting- maybe they threw in some kind of limit to the amount you can do this. The IGN article doesn’t mention it- it goes on to talk about how the visiting team can lose their confidence, not hear audibles, etc. It just gets worse.
Why?
Why make it even more impossible for some little team to beat a bigger school? One of the best games I have ever heard (no TV for it) was last year when Northern Illinois beat Alabama. At Tuscaloosa. On Homecoming. Heh.
My point is that it appears they are actually trying to make the football game less fun. What use is it to have this hometown advantage shit? The preview blathers about the glory of the college game and how it is different from the pro game. I agree- and I even see the “realism” in the idea that the hometown team has an advantage- but I don’t see how the implementation I’ve read is going to be ANY FUN AT ALL.
I hope I’m wrong, or more importantly, I hope you can turn it off.
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