NCAA Football 08

Where have I been this week? NCAA Football 08 came out on Tuesday for Xbox 360. I picked it up at Best Buy during my New Music Tuesday trip. For those interested, during my NMT trip I picked up Yellowcard and The Rocket Summer. I highly recommend both of them.

I did not have last year’s NCAA game. I had NCAA 06 for PS2. Last year I went with Madden when I bought my 360. So I apologize in advance if some of my favorite new features were actually new last year.

The graphics are so smooth. The only times the frame-rate seems to drop is when a on-screen graphic is attempting to be displayed. The on-screen graphics are quite large and bright. They also do a poor job indicating if the stats being displayed are for the game or season. What matters is the actual game action, and that is pretty much perfect.

My favorite new things …

At the end of the games there is the Pontiac Game Changing Performance. The highlight of the most important play of the game is shown. So far I can’t really argue with the selections. Replays of each play are saved until you exit each game. You have the option to save your favorites and even post them online. I haven’t tried to do this yet but it sounds moderately intriguing.

I was browsing through the menus when all of a sudden ESPNRadio SportsCenter update started playing. It was the actual updated ESPNRadio SportsCenter audio. Last year’s Madden had the bottom line, which this game also has, but audio takes it to a whole new level.

I decided to give the mini-games a chance to try and get some Gamer Points. Turns out, they are pretty decent. The biggest flaw is that you can’t play these on Xbox Live. The games are …

Option Dash – Run the option and get points for yardage and moves. You have two minutes to get off as many plays as possible. Not terribly exciting but helped me practice running the option.

Bowling – Start each frame at the 10-yard line. Two chances in each frame with the yardage gained equaling a pin. Scoring at TD on the first play of a frame is a Strike, the second being a Spare. Get it? I am a fan of the concept. At worst its a good way to practice your goal-line offense.

Tug-of-War – My favorite of the group. Start at the 50-yard line. The team with the ball alternates on each play at the spot where the previous play ended. The winning team is the first to score. There are addition options to only allow Option, Run, or Pass plays. This game will likely drive everyone insane with the highs and lows of having a big gain only to give it all back and more to your friend.

I’m a big fan of the game so far. I miss the days of NCAA in college where we would have a bunch of people competing in the same Dynasty league. They really need to have a Dynasty mode online. I think that feature alone could sell 5 360s to my friends.