Power Up: Grid games are going to college
The pace of life slows down appreciably in the summertime and so does the flow of new video games. Thankfully, a pair of college-football titles shipping later this month will stir up some excitement among fans of sports and music games. NCAA Football 2010 rushes into stores on Tuesday for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation Portable, while Black College Football Xperience (BCFx): The Doug Williams Edition takes the field on the 360 on July 20.
The pace of life slows down appreciably in the summertime and so does the flow of new video games.
Thankfully, a pair of college-football titles shipping later this month will stir up some excitement among fans of sports and music games. NCAA Football 2010 rushes into stores on Tuesday for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation Portable, while Black College Football Xperience (BCFx): The Doug Williams Edition takes the field on the 360 on July 20.
While the EA Sports college gridiron title is always a blast, a legal cloud hangs over the series this year. Three former college quarterbacks have sued game publisher EA and the NCAA for the alleged use of their likenesses in the game. The three plaintiffs, who include former Rutgers QB Ryan Hart, want to be compensated just as their NFL brethren are to appear in Madden.
The players say that their depictions in NCAA Football resemble them in every way except that they are unnamed. For example, game characters share their real-life counterparts' jersey numbers, height and weight, and skin tone, and even possess on-field abilities modeled on actual college players. Consider this a modern, video-game twist on the old "are college football players really amateurs?" debate.
On a more positive note, NCAA Football 2010 features improved artificial intelligence as well as enhancement to the play-calling and team-building systems. Legal worries notwithstanding, the much-anticipated college football game is sure to be a best-seller once again.
This year, however, I'm even more excited about the first truly unique football game to come along in some time. This month marks the console debut of Black College Football Xperience: The Doug Williams Edition. Created by Nerjyzed, a minority-owned developer in Louisiana, BCFx looks at football from the perspective of 36 historically black colleges and universities such as Grambling State, Jackson State, and Southern University. Williams, of course, is the former Grambling State QB who led the 1987 Washington Redskins to a Super Bowl championship, the first African American quarterback to win the big game.
What sets BCFx apart from other football offerings is that music is as much a part of the game as touchdowns and interceptions. In addition to its football action, BCFx contains a pair of innovative rhythm games. An interactive Halftime Challenge mode lets your band's performance build late-game momentum for your team. Meanwhile, the game's Drumline Challenge offers players the chance to use a drum pad or standard controller to match beats with drum cadences and band tunes. The game also features an interactive Legacy Museum in which players can learn about the rich gridiron history of historically black colleges and universities. The bottom line on BCFx? If you find yourself getting bored with each new season's incremental changes to the basic X's and O's of NCAA and Madden, you'll want to try this game.
Power Up:
NCAA Football 2010
EA Sports.
Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 $59.99 PS2, PSP $39.99
Rating: E (all ages)
On the Web: http://ncaafootball.easports.com
BCFx: Doug Williams Edition
Aspyr Media.
Xbox 360. $39.99
Rating: E (all ages)
On the Web: http://www.bcfxgame.com/