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As the years have passed, it’s become staggering how life-like the EA Sports NCAA Football video game series has gotten. Whether it’s picking a program, designing it from the ground-up, customizing playbooks, or whatever other weird college football fetish your little heart desires, it seems like the good folks at EA have fans across the country covered.
Apparently though, EA Sports is hardly resting on its laurels when it comes to the 2014 edition of this game. According to a recent article from the Charleston Daily News’ Mike Casazza, the company fully plans on stepping its game up, specifically in terms of the accuracy of college football recruiting. To which we ask: As head coach of your imaginary football program, how will you handle de-commitments, academic woes and coaching changes impact recruiting within your program?
That’s because in the Sunday edition of the Daily Mail, Casazza detailed how EA Sports reached out to West Virginia director of football operations Alex Hammond and coordinator of recruiting operations Ryan Dorchester to help consult with the new game. There they detailed the differences in the new version of NCAA Football, and what gamers can expect to see in the coming months.
Here’s an excerpt of what Casazza wrote on the subject:
Expect recruiting to be more realistic. That was the only goal Hammond and Dorchester had. They found it odd a player never de-committed. They noticed variables like academics, coaching changes and the success of a season weren't factored into the process. They didn't think junior college recruits were represented in ways that explain their value.
Once they had a list, Hammond and Dorchester created had a PowerPoint presentation that opened their meeting and explained their position. When the Mountaineers were done representing themselves, EA Sports people started firing off questions. The meeting went for hours, pausing once for lunch, when the conversation was again mostly about recruiting and how WVU would advise EA Sports to do it better.
Honestly, the article goes into much greater detail than we’re willing to provide here at Crystal Ball Run, but whether you’re a gamer or not, we definitely do encourage you to check it out. Give it a skim, if only to see how detailed the folks at EA Sports get, and how seriously they take the product they put on the shelves.
And while we’re here, I might as well admit this: While I’ve never been a “video game guy” before, with what I read in this article I might have to at least consider it going forward.
For one, it sounds like fun.
And beyond that, let’s all get serious for a second: It sure beats scouring police reports all off-season, right?
Follow Crystal Ball Run on Twitter @CrystalBallRun.
