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With all due respect to the foundation that Big Perm has laid down in the form of Coastalbeat’s Game On video game reviews, it’s time for a changing of the guard.

Insight into video games may not be the reason most people click on Coastalbeat.com, but this is still Southwest Florida: For all the theme nights and untalented DJs that pepper restaurants calling themselves “clubs” at night, even the most nocturnal among us can enjoy a night in and a night to ourselves.

Besides DVD’s and VH1, there is always a golden refuge entertainment in the form of video games that can keep you occupied well into the night. (Sometimes to the point that you look at the clock while playing and realize you have to be up for work in three hours.)

That being said, I have taken it upon myself to pick up where Big Perm left off, and bring you the reviews you can’t get elsewhere.

Real-talk and the genuine insight can be the difference between you picking up the new Resident Evil franchise, or dropping that $60 bucks on shots for those cougars eying you from across the bar.

And the first game to go through the Game On gauntlet is NCAA Football ‘08.

For those of you who need a brief background, EA Sports, arguably the most successful sports games manufacturer today, has had the market cornered on sports games and specifically football games with the widely popular Madden NFL Football and its little brother, NCAA.

What has surprised and disappointed most, however, is that since the adaptation to “next generation” consoles like the XBOX 360 and PlayStation 3, their games have been wildly underachieving across the board. They lack depth and are marred with bugs. What’s the deal, EA Sports?

To be fair, the game has grown significantly on the 360 and PS3 since last season’s meager offering. First, I was struck by how real the players looked and moved. The lighting on the players looked so authentic at times (no matter how cliché this is going to sound) I didn’t realize it was actually a game.

That’s about where the awe and amazement ends.

The game presentation looks good, as does the game-play, which is pretty smooth, but the 360 model has a higher frame-rate than the PS3, which basically means that things moving on the field seem much more natural. Scenes after plays on the PS3 can be a little bit choppy, for example.

In the short history of next-gen games, the problem that EA Sports has had is that while their ‘current gen’ games on the PS2 and regular XBOX work fine, albeit with lesser graphics, there is always at least one fatal flaw in their next-gen counterparts.

This season that flaw is turnovers. I remember before I bought the game, I looked at YouTube videos that people posted of their performances in it. One match between the University of Southern California, and some other top ten team had USC intercepting the ball 10 times. 10 TIMES! Last season in their biggest win against the weakest opponent on their schedule, Stanford, USC only picked off two passes in a 42-0 win.

Fumbling also seems to be a chronic problem with players in the NCAA Football ‘08. Don’t think that just because Tim Tebow was the second best rusher on the championship Florida Gators last season, as a quarterback you can go all willy-nilly with his video game likeness. If you choose to, make sure the door is closed. As far as making him run on the field though – head for the sideline because he will fumble when hit.

Other little things irked me as well and have for the past couple of next-gen football games. The camera angle is fixed and is close to the line of scrimmage, which is good when you’re running the ball. But if you want to make a pass out to the flats, you have no idea if a cornerback is squatting low in zone coverage, or if a linebacker followed your running back out there, because the camera doesn’t zoom out!

Despite my complaints, it’s a really solid game. The franchise mode and campus legend features are as deep as they have ever been, and the best thing about NCAA football games is that they are great pre-cursors to Madden. My opinion? Leave the cougars at the bar tonight, and challenge the boys to a tournament.

Happy Gaming!

Rating for NCAA Football’ 08: 3.75 out of 5.00