After the intro scene you have to decide what your favorite team is. I, of course, chose Florida State. Next up is my first game: Florida State versus Florida in Doak.

The First Game...
It's tough to say how much and if the game has made of the quantum leap that has been so hyped. I think many of the game's changes will be seen the 30th or 40th game. But after the first game, I can say what everyone has been saying so far: the Rollout Camera is fantastic. I was able to see a few diagonal passing lanes I wouldn't have dreamed about last year.

Chris Rix was deadly on Varsity. He at one point nailed eight straight passes before Greg Jones dropped a four-foot pass. The interior passing seems to be a little better than last year. It seems like the quarterback will fit the ball into a passing lane instead of always giving the receiver a pass they will have to run under. I was able to get a few post route passes this way.

The running game seems about the same. The game does have a few new animations, as boasted in our interview and others, both running and tackling. I was still able to have huge success running the HB Counter play, but the draws were also pretty good. Jones had about 80 yards on the game. I can't say the holes opened up anymore or less than last year. It's still too early to tell.

I noticed a few slowdowns in the cut scenes and even during a few gameplay instances. Hopefully this doesn't happen too often, like in High Heat Baseball.

The biggest change so far, is the special teams play. EA really makes special teams play...special. I have a feeling my days sending back a punt blocker early to act as my lone wedge blocker are gone. I think. I was able to bust some seriously long punt returns and kick returns with an awesome looking wedge. There's different punt return plays instead of just the one generic PUNT RETURN. Same goes for punting...there's a tight and spread punt formation.

The announcing is about the same...from what I've heard. Nessler's mid-play commentary is pretty decent, but it's still nothing when compared to watching a real game. Is it an added element? Yes, but it's a little weird to hear Nessler go from mellow to really excited saying "There's an opening!" then go back to a laid-back, "he gains 7 yards on the play." Maybe this will grow on me.

I was only playing on Varsity, so...we'll see how things progress. I won the game easily 49-7. I should have bumped up another level at least, but I wanted to check out all the new features.

Northern Illinois HB wins Heisman...
Huh? What? He, who did what?

I went through and simmed a season and HB #32 from Northern Illinois won the Heisman. Although I know this player (can't think of his name) is a great player and I believe is the top returning rusher in the nation, him winning it is sort of weird. And so too is the 2nd, 4th, and 5th place finishers - ALL WASHINGTON Huskies players. WR #1, WR #10 and QB #3, who I know number one is Reggie Williams and the QB is Pickett, but this is obnoxious. Maybe one of the two, but not both and some guy I don't even know. The last guy in the Heisman is the running back from Kansas State.

Weird....

At least some awards have names like Maxwell, Bednarik, Groza and Thorpe.

As simming for the Noles, FSU went 7-6 with a loss to Florida, 48-46. Ouch! We're playing in the Gator Bowl against Notre Dame. No. 1 Washington and No. 3 Texas are playing for the National Championship. Shall I say controversy? Yep. Because No. 2 is Miami. It's cool though because the Sports Illustrated covers both point this out. Very nice. I just hope that stuff like this doesn't happen all too often so the covers can correspond. Texas ends up winning the national championship. One other cool thing to note is that school AND national records are not denoted with special pop-up screens.

Off to the Off-Season
You can convince underclassmen to stay. They have a leave/stay gauge. I let Xavier Beitia go. I only took a quick peak at recruiting before simming it, but arm strength and accuracy is a grade, not pinpoint or canon. Nice touch.

The fastest scrambling QB I saw was only in the 4.5s. That's not good. The elite scrambling QB only ran a 4.6. That's disappointing.

Background Info:
Kicking off the 2004 sports videogame season, NCAA Football 2004 relives the intense rivalries, pageantry, and spirit of college football. Celebrate the history of college football with classic teams like the 1924 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, or replay one of the 20 greatest college football games from the last two decades.

NCAA Football 2004 features new pre-game tunnel presentations, EA SPORTSÔ Talk in-game chat (PlayStation 2 broadband only), and the joy of ripping down the goalposts after an emotional victory over your biggest rival. No other college football game delivers the spirit, atmosphere, and emotion of college football rivalries like NCAA Football 2004.

Key Features:

• College Gameplay: New features include new playbooks with trick plays and mass substitutions, improved AI with zone coverage, block and release, and bump and run, greatly improved kickoff and punt return AI, user-controlled celebrations, and new cameras angles with Rollout Cam and Play Action Cam. New animations include sideline tackles, catches, stumbles, and passing.
• College Atmosphere: An atmosphere overflowing with pageantry, tradition and excitement includes 20 new mascots. Storm the field in a new post-game celebration following a big upset and rip down the goalpost. Upgraded stadiums include a new pre-game tunnel presentation and an authentic team entrance from Notre Dame.
• EA SPORTS Online Competition (PlayStation 2 only): Global login that works across all EA SPORTS titles allows you to create up to four user names, and Messenger finds, manages, and messages your friends while playing. Track online performance with Online Top 100 and stat leaders. EA SPORTS Fair Play feature prevents cheating, and EA SPORTS Talk allows talk in-game (broadband only).
• Deeper Dynasty Mode™: Get Dynasty rankings and fresh covers and stories each week on a magazine cover; other new features include new Maxwell, Groza, and other player awards, a new coaching contract system, and new recruiting tactics.
• Improved graphics and presentation: New details include historic player models including styles from the 1920s through 2002, players, coaches, and referees with more emotion reflected in all new facial animations, and player detail down to dreadlocks, forearm pads, weather-based accessories, and more.
• New College Classics Mode: Rewrite history as you replay one of the 20 greatest games of the last two decades by taking over in a key game situation.
• Over 150 New Teams: Play as one of 36 new 1-AA teams including teams from the Southern, Big Sky, A-10, and Gateway Conferences. Over 100 new Classic Teams include 1930 Notre Dame and 2002 Ohio State.
• My NCAA®: Write your own page in NCAA Football history: track your most memorable games ever with Greatest Games, and track new career and school records in the Record Book. The trophy room features all-new individual player awards, more Bowl games, rivalries, and conference championship trophies. Campus Challenge is now available in two-player games so you earn more credits.
• New EA SPORTS Bio: Memory card based tracking/rating system recognizes and rewards gamers for playing multiple EA SPORTS titles.
• Sound Enhancements: Improved TV commentary including stat banners and more from the broadcast super team of Kirk Herbstreit, Brad Nessler, and Lee Corso

Related Link: Madden Mania