"Madden" gets the bulk of the general-interest attention, but EA's "NCAA Football" franchise has plenty of loyal devotees, this guy among them. "NCAA Football 10" is the best of the next-gen-console bunch. It's still a little complicated for my taste, but I grew up on Nintendo and Sega Genesis, so that's probably more a function of my age than anything else.
It plays smoothly and looks great.
I'm always interested in how the game ranks teams and players. My dad went to Penn State, so I've always been a Nittany Lions fan. I'm happy to report that they're quite strong in the game, ranked eighth overall. The top 5 is unsurprising (No. 1 Florida, followed by Oklahoma, Texas, USC and LSU). Notre Dame (I grew up in South Bend) is unranked but rated a solid B-plus, as is Tennessee (that might be a bit optimistic, I think).
Six players earn the coveted 99 overall rating (Taylor Mays, USC free safety; Jermaine Gresham, Oklahoma tight end; QB Sam Bradford, Oklahoma; QB Tim Tebow and linebacker Brandon Spikes, both of Florida; and left tackle Ciron Black of LSU), and Tennessee safety Eric Berry is right there with a 98 overall rating.
In general, it's turning into an exciting season for video games. "The Beatles: Rock Band" is getting plenty of attention. It looks great, although the $250 limited edition bundle is a bit expensive. It releases Sept. 9.
"Batman: Arkham Asylum" is getting strong pre-release attention, on a smaller scale than the Beatles game. It comes out on Tuesday.
I'm looking forward to a couple of titles coming out in late October: the turntable game "DJ Hero," and "FIFA 10" soccer.
My PS3 is going to be getting quite a workout.
