The loss of the college video game

Why do College video games no longer exist?

photo from AL.com

photo from AL.com

No doubt that adolescents and even some adults enjoy video games. Whether it be sports, first-person shooter games, action-adventure, etc. video games have taken a stronghold on the world today. With new graphics and high definition picture, video games can almost seem like the real thing, and the industry continues to grow and grow.

Unfortunately, some of the games that many of us grew up playing have died and gone away. The most popular of the vanished bunch are NCAA sports.

For over 20 years, from the beginning of the play station and Xbox era, EA sports developed some of their finest video games through the world of college sports. Heck some people even say that college sports in general are better than professional sports (nonetheless the video game), but we’ll leave that for a different discussion. Many people are now wondering why EA sports stopped making NCAA video games and if they’ll ever come back.

“NCAA football was one of my favorite games,” said Kyle Service. “Mainly because I’m an Ohio State fan, and it was always fun to play with guys like Terrelle Pryor and Devier Posey. I used to buy the new game every year on release.”

Terrelle Pryor throws a pass to Devier Posey in NCAA Football 11 (photo by ESPN)

The problem, as many people thought, was not the difficulty of creating a plethora of new players every year for hundreds of schools; it wasn’t keeping up with the new uniforms, new styles of game play, or developing the motions of the game that each sport had; but it was based on the simple premise that athletes believed they were being exploited by the NCAA.

Four years ago, it was announced that it would no longer produce any more college video games after many college athletes sued because the game maker and the NCAA were using them for profit. Players who were in the games for the past decade of the production of the college basketball and football games were paid off as part of a settlement (the median payout was about $1,000 with a total of nearly $60 million).

“I do believe that college athletes should be paid for all they do for the NCAA,” said senior Mark Klusman, whose brother was an offensive lineman for the University of Louisville. “If you think about it, the athletes are the ones doing all the work, yet they receive none of the credit.”

Denard Robinson on the cover of NCAA Football 14 (photo from Gamestop)

Certainly no one can deny the fact that for decades the NCAA has been exploiting student-athletes for tens of billions of dollars in their “non-profit” organization, but as an avid fan of NCAA sports I say to put aside your differences and give the people what they want.

Even two Alabama residents are going to try to raise $850,000 on Kickstarter at the beginning of September to begin making their own game by 2019.

I still believe that there is a possible compromise that can be met because the video games not only made the audience happy, but the producers were also happy, considering the amount of money they made. For example, NCAA Football 14 was the number one selling game in July of 2014.

Basically, in order for a college video game in the future to happen, someone like Sony or Microsoft would have to step in, but it has to be done on the likeness and approval of the athletes. There have been some rumors that another game is in the works, but the future doesn’t look good for a game to be produced anytime soon.