NCAA Football 2005 E3 2004 Preshow Impressions

EA Sports will bring its next college football game, NCAA Football 2005, to E3 2004. The new game will have an all-new "home-field advantage" feature, as well as improvements to the single-player dynasty mode.

As we've mentioned in our previous coverage of the game, one of NCAA Football 2005's most prominent new features will be home-field advantage, which can give your team a significant advantage on the field. Home-field advantage will essentially be an ability that you'll be able to use only a very few times within a single season. The ability essentially simulates what it's like to play a game at a stadium at which all your university's fans have gathered to show their support. When you have home-field advantage, you can actually press your console controller's shoulder buttons rapidly between plays to get the crowd going--the faster you press the buttons, the louder the crowd gets and the stronger the advantage you'll receive (press the buttons fast enough, and your opponent's controller will actually vibrate using force feedback to simulate the thunderous cheers in the bleachers).

When you have home-field advantage, your players will be far more composed on the field. This is represented by one of two different meters that will be displayed for each player (one of them indicates that player's level of composure; the other displays that player's overall skill level). Having home-field advantage means your players will be less prone to errors or turnovers on the field. Even the game's all-new recorded commentary will take note of this and other events on the field--you may hear sportscasters noting that players "look especially confident" if they have home-field advantage or that "they seem unsure of themselves" if they don't.

In addition, NCAA Football 2005 will have an enhanced dynasty mode that will keep track of "program integrity." While it might seem like a good idea to push your star players to the top, doing so while those players are skipping classes could cost them their scholarships and their place on your team--and it could also cost you the championships. In the meantime, if you continue to commit errors on the field with certain players, their rankings will drop over time and cause them to be less effective on the field as well.

NCAA Football 2005 will have a number of enhancements that are clearly intended not only to improve on last year's game, but also to distinguish it from the Madden NFL series. The new game is scheduled for release later this year on the PS2, the Xbox, and the GameCube.