It’s a little late to be asking for Christmas presents, but I still have some wishes… er, suggestions for the next cycle of sports video game titles.

Look, I spend a lot of quality hours on these games (too many, actually) and I love how far they’ve come. But no one is perfect, right? So this is what I would like from EA Sports in the new year.

Thank you, and much appreciated.

NCAA Football 11 – More game day atmosphere.

When you think of college sports, what separates them from the pros? It has to be passion, both for the players and the fans, packed into stadiums with more than 100,000 people. Emotions run high, especially during rivalry games, as students and alumni make up a large part of the crowd. And with big universities in small towns, much of the community joins the team, even drawing non-sports fans into the action. That said, I want to feel like it really is Saturday: I want big stadiums and shaky cameras during critical moments on the road (like NCAA Basketball 10), and I want a lively crowd (often louder than jet engines in real life). . life) to shut out the quarterback. Make the fans run down the field after big wins and let me feel the stadium shake. There’s nothing like a college game day experience and it’s something that will take NCAA Football 11 to new heights.

NBA Live 11 – Best perimeter defense.

I touched on this topic the other day. The offensive AI has improved a lot in NBA Live 10 and it’s a lot of fun to run various plays and sets. The pick-and-roll is effective and it’s very satisfying to hit a tailgate cutter in stride for a bucket. In general, there are plenty of offensive possessions for the basketball addict. But the defense still needs to improve, especially around the three-point line. Shooters like Mo Williams and Steve Nash open up too easily, taking down 3s like layups. Yes, there are plenty of set pieces available, but there must be a reason to use them. Please EA make it harder to drain 3 balls – it will force more offensive creativity and leave defenders less frustrated.

Fight Night Round 5 – More of a “story” in Legacy mode

The touted legacy mode brought a lot of great features to Fight Night Round 4. Having multiple titles and the opportunity to unify belts adds to your career options, along with the ability to switch weight classes. It is also a tough challenge and you are forced to face better fighters as your character advances through the ranks. But what would I like to see? How about more of a story. It’s not WWE, but boxing still has a lot of drama. What about weigh-ins and press conferences, and what about pre-fight trash talk? Above all, money should be back in the equation, along with the opportunity to negotiate the division and pay-per-view revenue. Add excitement to big rematches and use cut scenes to bring stories to life. Fight Night Round 4 is a fantastic boxing game with amazing gameplay and graphics, but a little spice would give it a bit of zing.

NCAA Basketball 11 – Export draft classes to NBA Live

This feature is available with Madden and NCAA Football, and it’s one of the best ideas out there. I grow fond of my players in NCAA basketball and want to pursue their careers at the professional level. So I would love to take my NCAA Basketball graduating players and try to draft or trade them on NBA Live. It will make exploration more realistic and enhance the value of each game. Instead of random newbies, you’ll be more familiar with new players, and since both games run on the same engine, the transition should be seamless. It seems like a natural progression to me and it is likely that we will see it soon. At least I hope so! (psst EA you will sell more games!)