The NCAA College Football video game is an American video game series that was developed by EA Sports. It allows players to compete against the current Division 1 FBS College teams.
It also served as a college counterpart football game to the Madden NFL series. This game was created in 1993 and was released by Bill Walsh College Football.
It was then acquired by EA along with licensing rights to the NCAA name, which were officially rechristened to the series and released as NCAA Football 98.
In July 2013, the NCAA announced that it was not going to renew the licensing contract for the game due to the ongoing legal dispute that regarded the use of a player’s likeness in the game.
However, the contract still covered the use of the NCAA name and all the related logos. Up next we’re going to tell you more about these NCAA games.
Yearly Releases of the Game
Bill Walsh College Football
This was released in June of 1993 on the 4th generation of video game consoles such as the Sega Genesis. The game featured the top 24 college football teams from 1992 and they were also 24 of the all-time greatest teams since 1978.
There were no actual players named on the official team, or any logos used, the colleges were listed by the city, and the players identified by the number. The play modes included playoffs, exhibition, and the all-time playoffs.
There were 68 classic college plays available and this included student body, wishbone, and triple option. Other features included the automatic and manual-pass catch mode, the reverse angle replay, and the four weather conditions.
There were also three different quarter lengths – 5, 10, and 15 minutes. Bill Walsh’s endorsement was supposed to parallel John Madden’s endorsement of NFL Football.
At the time, Walsh was the head coach for the Stanford Cardinal Football team.
Bill Walsh College Football ’95
This one was the second installment of the NCAA college football franchise. It featured 36 division I-A teams, customizable seasons, windowless passing modes, and 1-16 weeks with complete statistical tracking throughout the seasons.
Players had to choose either a playoff system or a bowling game with fictional names such as Palm Bowl, Maple Bowl, Redwood Bowl, or Pecan Bowl.
This game also provided 36 new plays and formations which included veer, wishbone, 4-4 D, and Tee Offense.
College Football USA 96
The series was renamed as College Football USA 96 because it was the first version to feature all the division I-A teams. This was also the first series to have real bowl games – Sugar, Orange, Rose, and Fiesta.
The players would play an entire 11-game season before they could advance on to the bowl games.
There were 400 plays to choose from and a new passing mode would allow the players to select from five different receivers on each play.
The other features and options in this series included; three different game lengths, through player modes, injuries, substitutions, fake snaps, dives, hurdles, interceptions, blocked kicks, and laterals.
NCAA Football 98
This game was released in 1997, and it featured the University of Florida Quarterback, and Danny Wuerffel, who was the Heisman Trophy winner on the cover.
It was the first game in the series to feature a multi-season Dynasty Mode that allowed the players to take control of the team for four seasons and also recruit players who would fill out the roster vacancies in order to carry the name and the logo for the NCAA.
Conclusion
The NCAA college football video game seems to have been discontinued for the time-being, but fans are eagerly awaiting the decision of what’s going to happen to the franchise next.
There has been one advancement – the NCAA Board of Governors has moved towards allowing student-athletes to be compensated for using their image and likeness in the games.