NCAA Football 12 Patch Now Available (PS3)
It took nearly two months for the patch to arrive and attempt to address several of the severe issues in NCAA Football 12 – but it is here now for the PS3 expected out Friday morning for the Xbox 360. Broken new features like Custom Playbooks, player tendencies changing in edited rosters, problems in Online Dynasty, and console freezes are just some of the highly publicized issues that were discovered. Essentially this patch is intended to address problems that shipped with NCAA 12 rather than improve the gameplay or fix coach progression – which may instead be dealt with through a “tuning update” at some point.
EA Sports also sent news that a server side update had been pushed out to fix two problems in Online Dynasty. Occurrences of game results changing after advancing weeks and “transfer failed” errors when attempting to advance were widespread and fixes are now said to be implemented. Early word however is that the “transfer failed” stumbling block remains an issue for many dynasties.
Unfortunately new issues with no-huddle and the Custom Playbooks have already been encountered so everything promised will have to be followed up on. Continue to check out the details of what the patch is supposed to deliver.
•Custom Playbooks
With this Title Update the missing play issue that led to a number of problems when using Custom Playbooks has been fixed. Not only is the issue fixed, but you will not need to recreate your playbooks! Any existing playbook will have the fix applied, and you will be able to continue using that playbook without issue.
•Tendencies
As with the Custom Playbooks resolution, the fix to the issue of edited player tendencies changing will not negate any previously edited roster file. The fix will be applied to both those existing files, as well as any new roster file that is created.
Madden NFL 12 General Impressions
The Madden franchise has been held back over the last few years due to a number of factors – not least of which has been the change in focus and direction that seemingly happened with the release of every iteration. Madden NFL 12 though has made the wise decision to concentrate on providing the authentic NFL experience. Whether that be directed at those who are used to watching on TV or others who spend game-days in the stadiums there is something of which that will emotionally connect to every NFL fan.
While there is still a long way to go to achieve the complete vision this represents the first time in a long while that there seems to be entrenched confidence about where the franchise is headed and what is really important when it comes to reaching the respective goals. Madden NFL 12 has its share of flaws but what is does right far outweighs any gripes which thus far have been minor in scope. This is no NCAA Football 12.
•Make sure to check out the other articles posted today including extensive looks at Franchise mode and Superstar mode, gameplay videos and screenshots, and the Xbox 360 loading time analysis. Online impressions and the full ‘Hits and Misses’ review will come next week!
Gameplay
For those who have played NCAA Football 12 the gameplay will feel somewhat familiar but Madden 12 comes across as bigger, more physical, and plays much more refined – like it has been reigned in a bit. Where NCAA is wide open Madden feels slightly more restrictive but the players have the ability to break out of that and create some exciting moments. Fun factor is very high and games have been exceedingly satisfying.
