bit-tech Shopping: Electronic Arts NCAA Football 08 (PS3)

• 480i (SDTV)
• 720p (HDTV)

Rating: 6

Time with product: 3

Strengths: lots of modes, solid controls

Weaknesses: choppy frame rate

Summary: NCAA Football 08 is a solid football game. There are plenty of modes available to keep you busy. The game play is great and the controls are solid. The graphics aren?t that bad, but they could be better. Unfortunately the game suffers from frame rate issues. There are times when it would get choppy and slow down which ruins the pace of a sports game. I recommend this game to any college football fan.

Rating: 6

Time with product: 3 Months

Strengths: Graphics are decent. Fun game, able to keep track of a lot of stats for all the teams. Campus Legend Mode is a great feature.

Weaknesses: Not really many weaknesses. Graphics are decent always can improve.

Summary: The all-new Campus Legend mode and a completely enhanced Dynasty Mode recruiting system allow you to put your coaching prowess and integrity to the ultimate test. It all boils down putting it all on the line to lead your program all the way to the BCS National Championship Game? The all-new My Shrine plus exciting new plays like the Statue of Liberty and Hook and Ladder, NCAA Football 2008 is everything that?s great about college football.

Rating: 6

Time with product:

Strengths: Graphics are pretty good, gameplay is also good

Weaknesses: Improvement in graphics can be achieved

Summary: Games are finally getting better. I expect graphics and gameplay to improve in the future. This was my second football game. I got this game because it was on sale and I was able to get it for really cheap.

Rating: 8

Time with product: 1 Weeks

Strengths: Better graphicsBetter gameplay

Weaknesses: Not 1080pOnly 30 fps

Summary: It's hard to not recommend this game because it's always my favorite game every year. Also, it really doesn't have much competition if you love college football. But, I bought a PS3 for the 1080p capability, and I'm getting annoyed that all EA games only have 720p graphics. That said the graphics are good but not as much of an improvement as I had hoped.I like the new menus for choosing plays. But, it's really annoying that the controls have been reset to something different AGAIN. What irritates me is that I have to set each control back individually since there are no simple presets.

Rating: 4

Time with product: 3 Days

Strengths: Someof the graphics look vageuly next-gen.

Weaknesses: Some of the gex don't. Gameplay is clunky, head-to-head mode makes for lots of telegraphed plays, fewer options and '06 or '07 versions.

Summary: I'm a huge college football fan, and I wasnt' terribly upset that NCAA 07 wasn't released on the PS3 -- figured it woudl be rushed, lacking, and unimpressive.Unfortunately, '08 is out and that's my assessment of it. Graphics are better-than-PS2, but far from next-gen (the crowd animation reminds me vaguedly of the old-school arcade game "Mat Mania", funny but inexcusable. Actions don't feel fluid, and player motion looks rtoo fluid (the players look like their movement is taken straight from NHL '07... Which doesn't look great on turf). Environments are quite non-interactive, custom team creation has disappeared, and I get this sneaking susupicion I'll be tired of this one by the time the kickoff classic is playeds this fall.Head-to-head play telegraphs your plays to your opponent, and trying to slect 1 out of, say, 105 plays (the RB number from one of the big-ten school offensive playbooks) from a formation (after taking the time picking the formation) without getting a delay of game... Button mashing *in between plays* to *select plays*? PS3-worthy it ain't.I'm guessing that this game won't be a spectacular success and the price will drop fairly quickly. At the current $60 I just can't recommend it -- maybe at $29, but not at double that price. AHd this been a release title, I could have cut it more slack becasue of the time pressures and such involved... But for a game that launched in mid-July 2007, the quality nowhere justifies the price tage (or the title of a "next-gen sports game" at any price).