By Coyt Wisdom
Reporter
EA Sports’ NCAA College Football series was a childhood staple for some. They grew up playing it while acting as a team’s head coach in the dynasty game mode or creating a player for the road to glory mode.
However, the series went on a hiatus after the 2014 edition was released. It was shelved due to player image and likeness disputes. However, since NIL has now become a factor in college athletics, it has allowed for the anticipated video game series to make a return.
According to an article published by 247 Sports the video game series should make its return next year. EA Sports has since moved the release to 2024. However, some are concerned that the return of EA Sports’ College Football might be too similar to the Madden series, which is also published by EA Sports.
The Madden video game series has been popular for decades. However, the series has also adapted to the current age of video games, which is online play. Madden features a game mode called Madden Ultimate Team (MUT) the game mode allows the player to build their online team by earning players that have a higher overall rating than others.
Alexander Smith, a video game player said the MUT system is difficult when it comes to earning players through the video game.
“You essentially have to grind to even be competitive, let alone to have a good team,” Smith said.
The system is similar to opening a pack of cards. There is a slight chance of earning a rare player in these card packs. However, there are two ways to earn these card packs in MUT. A player can earn the packs through the game mode or they can purchase Madden points to earn card packs.
There are also players that play Madden consistently, but they remember playing the original NCAA Football series.
Johnathan Tran, Madden coach for OU Esports said he remembers playing the original NCAA Football series growing up, however, playing online was not a factor for him. He said he preferred the dynasty mode and the career mode.
“I would always be OU, or when I got tired of playing as OU, I would take a one-star school,” Tran said. “And challenge myself to try to turn them into a national championship winning team.”
Tran said he also enjoyed the aspect of recruiting in the dynasty mode.
“I think it made it so much more fun, because you created your own college football world after a couple of years of recruiting,” Tran said.
Regarding adding a mode similar to MUT in the upcoming college football game, Tran said he is not interested in that mode, but he thinks EA Sports will add it to the video game.
“I know EA and I know they are going to implement ultimate team mode for college football, but I don’t think that would be a mode that I would be interested in playing,” Tran said.
According to Tran, when the original college football series was released on a yearly basis, EA Sports would hold video game tournaments on campuses for the college football video game. He said he hopes they bring the tournaments back when the video game is released next year.
Players will have to wait and see what new modes and returning modes the new entry will have in the revived college football series in 2024.