EA Sports Goes Back to College

Electronic Arts brings college football to Xbox 360™ for the first time with NCAA® Football 07, with cover boy (and Heisman winner) Reggie Bush. The new game brings unprecedented visual fidelity the college game, capturing the atmosphere of the campus experience. Kendall Boyd, producer of the game at EA's Tiburon Studio, took a timeout to talk about the college gridiron game.

The high-definition graphics bring every college stadium to life and makes the players look more lifelike. While the original Xbox® game's stadiums were built with 5,000 polygons, the Xbox 360 stadiums sport a whopping 125,000 polygons.

"Momentum is a big part of the college
game. The pendulum can swing back with
a big play from the other team."

"A member of the team spent six months last year traveling to 119 stadiums, taking digital photographs at different times of the day of every section of every stadium," said Boyd. "He took 360 degree pans of each stadium. If you sit in a particular seat at Clemson's Death Valley stadium, you can find it in this game."

Real-Life Environments
Each campus in the game includes about two miles of real-world real estate surrounding the stadium. This means that when playing on the field at Ohio State, you'll see the dorm room buildings off to the side. Boyd said GPS data was used to accurately map each campus. Each stadium also includes landmarks like The Rock at Death Valley. The scoreboards and signs throughout the stadium reflect the real schools, as well.

Even mascots get the full three-dimensional treatment.

Beyond the detailed stadiums, the fan sections come to life with a fully animated 3-D crowd. Within this crowd, each section behaves with unique artificial intelligence. The student sections of each stadium will feature fans wearing the appropriate school colors, who react with elation or disappointment to the on-field drama. The alumni section of each stadium is mixed with school colors from both teams, and this crowd reacts appropriately to each play, with some cheering at a touchdown and others sitting down.

Student Athletes
Electronic Arts has also raised the bar on the in-game players. While the Xbox version of NCAA Football 07 features players with 2,500 polygons, the Xbox 360 game boasts 25,000 polygons per player. Boyd said this provided a huge palette to paint more details into the teams. The uniforms now include all of the tiny details that each school has added.

"We worked with Rydell, the maker of the football helmets, to get the correct specifications for all of the schools," said Boyd. "The helmets include all of the little stickers for each school. Details like scuff marks and the reflection of the stadium are all possible now with Xbox 360."

The same level of detail has been applied to the school bands. Every stadium will feature 3-D marching bands from both teams, complete with the appropriate fight songs and music. Even the mascots are now 3-D interactive personalities. No longer relegated to cut scenes, the school mascots now dynamically react to the on-field action with advanced A.I.

The Playbook
The additional memory of Xbox 360 allowed EA SPORTS™ to increase the number of plays in the game. Boyd said there are 21 new formations and 300 new plays per team, which adds to the depth of this game.

"Momentum is a big part of the college game," said Boyd. "The new momentum meter icon pops up throughout a game after a big offensive or defensive play. As teams perform big plays, the meter fills and the game begins to sway in their favor. The pendulum can swing back with a big play from the other team."

Mini-Games
In addition to the standard college football games, rivalry games, and college bowl games, EA Sports has added three new mini-games to the mix. Tug of War is a quick game that starts the action on the 50-yard line and gives each player a chance to score. As you move back and forth up and down the screen, an on-screen meter measures who's winning.

Big hits come in big games.

There's also a Bowling game, which has nothing to do with the college bowl series. Rather, this mini-game gives each player two frames per try and sets them up on the 10-yard line. A touchdown on the first try is a strike, while a touchdown on the second try is a spare. Score three strikes in a row and the Hokie mascot comes onto the field. There are even authentic bowling sounds to add to this 10-frame game.

The third game is the Option Dash, which introduces you to the run option that is so prevalent in the college game. Use the option to run up the score when you have the ball.

Build a Dynasty
In NCAA Football 07, alumni can build a dynasty out of their football program over the years. Utilizing Xbox 360, this mode allows pigskin fans to manage every part of a college program, including customizable schedules, hiring and firing of coaches and staff, and in-season recruiting.

The player models are fantastic, all the way down to the helmets.

New recruiting menus offer all the relevant information in a streamlined format for easy access. While in Dynasty mode of the game, the pictures and 3-D environments and customized pictures from the actual school are incorporated into the gameplay, immersing you in that 3-D campus.

The game will expand during the season, as EA Sports plans to offer new content like jerseys, school-specific gamertags, and mascots via Xbox Live® Marketplace. You can also take the action online to compete against alumni and friends.

Article by John Gaudiosi