NCAA Football 09 Wii info and videos

I finally picked up a Nintendo Wii just recently (Boom Blox is currently my favorite game across any of the three consoles) so look forward to some coverage of sports titles on the Wii going forward. The first on the docket is NCAA Football 09. For the first time the NCAA Football series is on the Wii and it would appear to be an offering with a lot of potential (outside of the omission of online play which Madden 09 on the Wii has).

This is the first game that will tout EA Sports’ new “All-Play” for their Wii games which is the furthering of the “Family Play” initiative started last year. The idea behind it is to create an environment where the games aren’t too intimidating or confusing for newcomers. It will offer options for simpler controls while making the games quicker to play. Apparently the Wii titles will be receiving more attention as they’ll be designing the games completely to tailor to the unique experience that the console offers instead of just taking ports and tacking on motion controls and mini-games.

IGN has released the first details on what to expect from the game along with Gamespot adding the first three gameplay videos in the form of mascot games. Continue on for a recap of the info and to view the videos.

Players will continually receive coaching help from the game, as it suggests plays that should be run or defenses that should be effective against your opponent. While you can follow these suggestions, you aren’t bound by them, and you can actually choose to disregard the game suggestions in favor of choosing your own play that you want to run.

Makes a lot of sense fitting in with the “All-Play” ideal. Go with a game’s suggestion (novice, quick) or make the choice yourself (experienced).

One facet of Family Play tried to make it much easier to play with either the nunchuck or the Wii-mote and nunchuck combo. All-Play retains this set up, but makes a couple more intelligent decisions through the game.

It sounds as though in some ways you’ll be more in a support role, meaning the game will make some decisions to assist you but ultimately will still need you to execute. I’d expect that some areas of this will be optional as well.

Adding to this accessibility is a new mini-game based on the system of motivation teams experience after a touchdown. Once a player scores, they’re given a set number of seconds to pull off their best gestures with the Wii-mote and Nunchuk. The larger the gestures made, the more of a boost you receive from the crowd (which is indicated by a moving icon that slowly fills the screen). Raise it high enough, and you can receive larger stat increases for a while that can sometimes make the difference in a close fought game.

The game is extremely easy to pick up and get used to, particularly if you wind up playing the NCAA Football Mascot game that will be included.

In the videos below my initial impression was that the graphics looked slightly better than expected and the brisk pace could contribute to a more enjoyable experience. Outside of that and some of the added on-screen visuals it is difficult to get much more out of the videos. The IGN preview didn’t really go into many specifics on the control options or features so hopefully more on those will be discussed soon.