This week we received a wealth of information from the powers that be at EA Sports about their upcoming release, NCAA Football 11. This is easily the best week thus far as far as the sheer amount of information that was released. For those of you who may have missed one or all of the features released by EA this week, this article will detail them all.


Monday
On Monday EA announced that this year’s game will feature a revamped locomotion system, releasing this ESPN article and this blog. The system allows the NCAA team to make ratings actually matter in NCAA 11. In years past, speed was just about the only attribute players had to worry about. This year, that’s not the case. Acceleration will actually play a role in NCAA 11. One example given is a guy with 99 acceleration and 90 speed racing against a player with 90 acceleration and 99 speed. In the past, the 99 speed player would have easily won both the short and long distance race. This year, however, the 99 acceleration player will gain an early lead before the 99 speed player will overtake him as they both max out their speed attribute, just as you would expect to happen. This will be a key change this year as EA finally creates this realism in NCAA for the first time.




The new locomotion system includes so much more than just acceleration, however. Players will now lean into turns and their agility will determine how much speed is lost when they change directions. No more turning on a dime and instantly going back to full speed within a fraction of a second. Players must now carefully consider the route they take to the ball. Once a player’s momentum is maxed out, they can easily be caught out of position by a misdirection play or a cutback by the ball carrier. Players can now utilize the right stick to lean into turns and put their heads down while accelerating, maximizing the efficiency with which they move the player around the field. And finally, EA now has a motion capture that shows a clip of up to 49 yards of one running animation, so players won’t be seeing the same animation loop again and again on a long run. It’s a small thing, but it’s details like this that really bring the game to life.




The revamped locomotion system is a huge gameplay addition, as there is nothing more basic in a videogame than the way the players move. It certainly will make the gameplay feel and look more organic and realistic than it has in years past, and this is a very welcome addition that EA has included.




Tuesday
On Tuesday, art director for NCAA 11 Jean Adams confirmed that the Arkansas facemasks shown in the ESPN article from Tuesday are their correct color, white, in the game rather than black as the screenshots showed. Adams also released this screenshot, showing several of the facemasks that have been added to NCAA 11 including the popular Revolution Speed.




Thursday
Thursday was the biggest day in recent memory as far as the amount of information that we found out about the upcoming game. First, EA announced via their facebook fan page that Syracuse’s mascot, Otto the Orange, will be in NCAA 11.




The big news began to come out later in the day as EA announced that Tim Tebow will grace the cover of all versions of the game this year. The box art itself was not released, however. Along with this news EA released videos from the covershoot with Tebow, including one where he is shown playing the new game. Visible on screen during this segment is the ESPN score bar that they used for telecasts of last seasons bowl games. This likely means is the presentation will be receiving more attention from EA this year including more ESPN integration.





What all this could entail is not clear yet, as EA did not officially announce the feature and it is not clear whether the clip showing the ESPN score bar was included intentionally or was an accident. Many fans have been hoping for years now that EA would include a college gameday scene and a weekly wrapup in addition to ESPN style graphics and overlays in game. We will likely find out in the near future just what all the feature will include, but it looks promising for those who have long wanted EA to up the ante on what can only be described as presentation that has gotten very stale over the past few years.





Friday
On Friday, EA concluded the week by announcing that Cal’s mascot will also be in the game this year.


What a great week to be an NCAA fan. We found out two of what are likely to be some of the biggest additions to this years game and they are things the hardcore audience has been asking for in droves over the past few years. Considering that it is only the beginning of April and there are still over 90 days until release, it is also promising that we are finding out this information so early. It could mean that EA has even more big features to announce as we get closer to the release of the game. What do you think about the addition of locomotion and ESPN style presentation? Let us know in the forums, and be sure to check back for all the latest news as we get ever closer to the release of NCAA Football 11.