Sounds like a pretty cool way to get sued.

EA still holds exclusive rights to the NFL. Their settlement bans them from extending their exclusive deal with the NCAA. After 2014 there will be a 5 year window where a company could make a licensed NCAA football game. I doubt someone does it though because EA will still own the market.

I can’t believe how bland Madden/NCAA/EA is. I mean, it’s not a ‘horrible’ game, but it’s certainly not good. I’d say average at best. The thing that irritates me is the price of the games. There changes year to year is so minimal, I’m not sure why they even bother putting out a game year to year.

The changes the ‘do’ make, are virtually all cosmetic, and they don’t fix the actual football part of the game.
It’s not Madden, but I’ve been playing NCAA for a month now as a few RTG players; mostly OLBs. It’s ridiculous.
If you place yourself where you’re supposed to be based on the play, you’ll never make a play. Seriously…never. I played an entire season this way – playing how the play is drawn up – and registered a whopping 6 tackles as a LB. They should take a page out of the NBA2K series where you get points for doing what you're supposed to in the given play. As it is, virtually all points are based on tackles.....which is hard to get unless you're free-lancing.
The only way you stand a chance is to assume the play is going away from you and line up based on your own football knowledge. The play calling is a joke; the same 10 plays over and over and over again. And reeruned situational play calling, such as a 3-4 when the offense has less than a yard to go for the endzone/goaline.

Since these are both made by EA, I’m nearly certain that Madden has a lot of the same issues.

It's true to life, they employed Paul Hackett as the brains behind the playcalling!

At least this year there is a new engine. I can tell a difference. They made some minor tweaks that I like. I won't be able to truly grade the game until I can see franchise mode. So far, just based on the gameplay, its an improvement over years past.

hmmm. Good to know. Didn't realize there was a new engine.

Yeah they talked about it for a couple years it seems. I thought last year was supposed to have it, but it didn't. So I thought they were full of shit and would just keep the same engine for a long time. Luckily there's a new engine and I like it better than the previous one.

So far though, I kinda like NCAA 13 better, but I've only played the Madden demo. Once I start a franchise with the Chiefs, I'll be able to tell how much I like it. For the record, I NEVER like NCAA better.

Just played the demo. I like the new feel of the gameplay.

Seems like same old Madden to me from the gameplay demo. I saw a couple new animations, and my ball carriers went a bit further after being hit, but I was still able to rape the CPU with the same plays Ive always been able to do it with.

They NEVER catch on to your bread and butter plays. You can still change every receiver's route within 1.5 seconds to literally destroy the defense that lines up in front of you.

They say there's 20 new trajectories for throwing the football, and there might be, but I didnt even need to use them while destroying the computer while playing as both the Giants and 49ers.

Not only that, but the few times I did actually have a challenge (albeit from cheap fumbles forced by the CPU in order to get the football back), I was still able to run up the score ridiculously within the final minutes of the game when the CPU is in full comeback playcalling. For instance, one game I was leading 16-6 with 2 minutes left, and the final score ended up being 34-6 because I took two picks back to the house doing nothing more than calling a dime cover 3 defense over and over and over.

Unless theyve done some massive, epic changes to franchise mode, Ill be skipping this one. Its just another year of Madden with a couple new bells and whistles.

I'll have the season pass in a few hours and my buddy actually has the game already. He bought it off ebay for 70$ sent over night. He said he has played about 15 games so far and its more polished than the demo as far as the physics engine and stuff. Guys still do weird stuff like fall over each other after plays once or twice a game but runs a lot smoother. He's been using the Bill Walsh legendary playbook and said it fits KC good. Can't wait to play later.

The Kinect integration is pretty amazing. It might be the biggest single advance in the core gameplay in five years. There's nothing like yelling out audibles and hot routes. It's faster than the controller, too.

meh, first time I almost got a sack in the demo (and every time I almost get a sack) the QB still does that thing where as you are sacking him, he pops the ball up in the air about 3 feet away and it's just an incomplete pass.

It's one of the most frustrating, annoying things about Madden and it's still there.

This game is gonna suck just like all of the other madden's.

I finally broke down and got a PS3 and college football last weekend. Last year was the last time they made Madden for PS2. I am really enjoying the game. I started a dynasty with Arkansas and made Marty Schottenheimer my coach LOL. I just made him up. All of the extra recruiting and stuff is really cool. I think the game looks great but I am not sure it plays as well as the PS2 versions did. I feel the same way about Madden. I played last year's with a friend. It was really hard to get off a play action pass for example. The play calling and everything is cool. maybe it just takes some getting used to?

The thing that really blew me about NCAA away is the flow of the game. For example, I got an interception and there was no pause in the game. The screen just quickly jumped the cornerback and I was already in second gear. That's pretty cool and it must have a helluva engine.

I hate that shit. I also hate how you can never get fumbles off sacks. I played a game where I had like 9 sacks and no fumbles. I can't get my guys to try to strip the QB, even when I always press the strip button.

Toys R US is selling this game for $44.99 if you pre order it online with free shipping