Thursday, July 20, 2006

NCAA 2007 (PSP Version): Stay Away

There is apparently a bug in the PSP version of NCAA 2007 that can only be described as crippling. Thanks to Jesse Leimkuehler for alerting me to this.

As reported in various forums, in the PSP version of a game, the ball is spotted at the point where a runner first makes contact with a defender, NOT where he actually gets tackled.

Here's an example: let's say you're on the 50 yard line. You run the ball wide on a pitch. The first time a defender touches you is at the 45. You break a tackle at the 45 and take it all the way for a touchdown.

Oh, wait--no you didn't. The ball will get spotted at the 45.

Oh, yeah. That's a bug.

IGN actually changed their review as originally posted after discovering that the build they were given for review was not identical to the shipping version. Here's the addition:
With all of these positive tweaks aside, it's that much more dismaying to discover that the running game this year is completely broken. For some reason during a running play, the game will inaccurately spot the ball at the point of initial contact rather than the actual yardage gained, where a player's knee goes down, or where your momentum stops. This can result in random subtractions of yardage. For example, running the ball for an eight yard gain might only be registered as a two yard gain if you were touched shortly after you passed the line of scrimmage. This flaw renders the ground game practically useless, which isn't particularly accurate to the sport, nor is it fair to those schools that rely upon the ground game.

In other words, the PSP version is a coaster. Avoid it at all costs.

If you're wondering why the other versions of the game apparently don't have any crippling bugs--well, we got lucky. The schedule for these annual release games is nightmarish, no one manages it well, and getting a team sports game without a huge bug is the exception instead of the rule.

With the exception of the Winning Eleven series, where quality is obviously a higher priority.

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