Topic: September in July

[NWR_DrewMG]

NCAA Football 12 is here, and I'm reminded why I still pay for Xbox Live.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/blog/27201

The college football season formally begins in September. Annually, however, I begin my celebration around the second week of July as the new EA Sports NCAA Football game hits the shelf for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The franchise hasn't been seen on a Nintendo platform since 2008's NCAA Football 09: All Play for Wii, but even as a Nintendo-centric gamer, that's never stopped me from picking up the newest NCAA game on day 1. I've done it every single year since 2001's NCAA Football 2002, which launched by happenstance on the day I bought a PlayStation 2.

Conventional wisdom says that each year, the only real value you get for your $60 investment is a roster update and a few layers of polish. Is that true? Maybe. But what that line of thinking leaves out is that those who buy a sports game every year are buying that game due to their love of the sport rather than their love of the video game. In July, I've been without college football for 7 months, and I'm 2 months away from getting it again. Some might call it withdrawal. When the video game launches in July, it's a way of quenching a thirst for my favorite autumn pastime, and getting into the mindset a few months early. It's cathartic. 

This year, the biggest draw for me is that my favorite team has switched conferences and will be playing a whole new schedule with teams they've rarely, if ever played, before. Without the new version of NCAA Football, I wouldn't be able to play through this new real-life fantasy scenario. It's a dream come true to have your team meet up with a whole new list of opponents, rather than the same-old, and the NCAA Football 12 game for Xbox will let me do that.

Primarily though, the big draw is the Online Dynasty. You control a team, your friend (or friends) control a team, and you co-exist in the same fantasy football world, playing a game of football when such a thing would occur on the schedule. it's like if you and your friend were both playing Wind Waker, and happened across an island at the same time. More than anything, it's a way of sharing the game you love with your friends; trash talk and high fives included.

This year, I am playing a Dynasty online with 4 other people, the most I've ever tried. Included among them is J.P. Corbran, better known here at NWR as Insanolord, and I can't wait to see how the two of us stack up as rivals Penn State and Nebraska. We tried a game online earlier today, and he bested me 10-3 in an amazingly defensive competition. I look forward to a revenge game in our dynasty.

Sports gamers are a weird breed; two obsessions that otherwise would not meet are thrown together in a venue where the computer can crunch all the numbers, and simulate all of the pomp and circumstance. It's a blast every year, and I can't wait to dig into NCAA Football 12. Go Big Red.

[Ceric]

Hey, this is the Wii version correct?  I didn't see a mention in the story.

[xcwarrior]

I agree this series should be on Nintendo platforms. I owned both Madden 2004 and NCAA 2004 on GCN so I could import rosters and played like 30 seasons of each game.
 
 2006 I bought the same thing on my PS2, but I don't like the PS2 controller as much as GCN's so we got through maybe 2 seasons.
 
 I haven't bought Madden or NCAA since on a current gen platform. When I saw NCAA 2008 was junk on Wii, I was sad. I don't own 360/PS3, so those aren't options and NCAA isn't on PC. EA really needs to get their act together and make NCAA for other platforms.
 
 I may pick up Madden for Wii this year finally if it gets good reviews purely because they put a Browns player on the cover. Won't be the same though not importing a college draft every season.

[NWR_DrewMG]

Ceric, there is no Wii version of the game.  That's why this is a blog post, and not a review or impressions.  We don't officially cover Xbox 360 games on the site, obviously, but the blog is here for us to wax poetic on whatever subjects we feel like.

[Ceric]

Ceric, there is no Wii version of the game.  That's why this is a blog post, and not a review or impressions.  We don't officially cover Xbox 360 games on the site, obviously, but the blog is here for us to wax poetic on whatever subjects we feel like.

Me confused then because I thought there was an article on how this year their was going to be NCAA 12 for the Wii.

Edit:
I figured it out.  Their was an article on NCAA but, it mentions NCAA 12 and I got it confused.