Is this what having the exclusive license for all football products means? Someone save us gamers.
I really want this game to work and want to play it, so I resort to the logical next step and call EA technical support. After a few minutes wading through an automated telephone support system, I finally get connected to "Jennifer," -- who sounds like Jennifer is probably not her real name, nor does she sound like she's anywhere on the same continent as anyone at EA that had anything to do with the making of this game. Unfortunately, it turns out, she's never heard of this problem. She offers that I check the disk for scratches (I just took it out of a shrink wrapped box and it hasn't left my 360 since last night when I bought it, I assure her). She suggests I should try to play the game on another Xbox 360. Not having a stack sitting around here, I let her know that's also not really a workable solution. She finally suggests I delete the game save file -- oh no, a whole eight hours of rabid gameplay and stats production lost -- and if that fails, return the product to the retailer or via EA's warranty department. Great. ********************************************************************************
All in all, the game visuals run smoothly; running and option plays seem to execute way too easily; pass control is wobbly; teammates don't seem to get tired no matter how much you abuse them; stadiums still seem pretty lifeless (if pretty) as players on the sideline all pretty much look like escapes from the same clone factory; and the stats and ESPN.com news interface is clunky (and enjoys a few typos). The commentator dialog is actually decent --- a nice surprise since in the 360 version of Madden 2007, the commentator was as lifeless as Marilyn Manson likes his/her dates, even though the PSP version of the same title included Coach Madden's lovable commentary. So far from my play of primarily the Campus Legend mode, NCAA Football 2008 seems to have been polished in some areas -- it actually feels a lot less tedious to try and maintain your GPA now while practicing and chasing that coveted college football trophy we all love and cherish, and visuals are much smoother. But, very much like it's bigger cousin, the Xbox 360 version also breaks so many things that in the end it seems like an above average muddle with three steps forward and two or two and a half back. Were this not the only NCAA pigskin game in town, or on its first or second iteration, it would be forgivable. But considering that there are so many great ideas between the two EA football franchises over the years, it's sad to see them never quite get it together and make that near-perfect football game on the Xbox 360. Maybe next year?