BFCX - Black College Football Xperience - Sometimes you find great things you're not even looking for.

Well, it's no secret Malcolm and I are HUGE football fans; and to that end I wanted to post about a game soon to hit consoles that doesn't have Madden in the name. No, it isn't Head Coach '09, or Blitz - The League - II.

Truth is, I linked the bookmark to the game on my Desktop computer; which is in pieces right now. I'll get it back up soon enough, so don't worry; besides, that's not my point.

I thought it would be very easy to find this game by searching Google, Gamestop, IGN, you name it. I don't know what's happened; but when I do find it, I will post it.

This search however turned something else up. Apparently there is a game being developed (for PC's) that I'm not sure about it's ability to sell; not because of it's take on a part of football that certainly has a rich history, but because I don't know if it will whet the appetite of football gamers.

The game is called BCFX or "Black College Football: The Xperience."

I reviewed their website: BCFX and did not find a way to paste any of the game trailers in our site. The best I can do is direct you to the website itself. The game is due to drop November 23rd 2008. (Just in time for Turkey Day! A time I religiously spend watching any/all football games!!! oh and hanging out with loved ones too. lol)

I actually heard about this game from an NPR show a long while back (sometime last winter) on esteemed journalist, author, and emmy winning radio & television corrospondant Michel Martin's show.

I am posting a link to the interview because it is an audio interview with the CEO of Nerjyzed Game Studio (Developers for this game) Jacqueline Beauchamp who makes the case for why this game will succeed.

Michel Martin's Interview of Nerjyzed Game Studio's CEO

Now, people who frequent this site know that when it comes to sports; we have a few different types of gamers. We all love sport video games; but some of us like the game-play, some of us like online rivalry/competition, and some of us are more into the simulation/management aspects. So we all come to games looking for it to hit at that sweet-spot which allows the gamer to blend the percentile of what we individually like, into the sports game.

This game actually goes further than this. It's promise lies in being able to bring the unique feel of the rich history of Black College Football into the game. Among other things, it brings the halftime marching band competitions into the fold. I'm not sure how it works; but I get the feeling that the player also gets to fire up the crowd musically as well as control the marching band.

At first I thought; well that seems to take a person who's interest is in football away from the game itself. But as I had time to think about it I thought, the intention here is not so much getting away from football as it is adding another part of competition for the gamer.

I struggled with this for a bit because I had trouble seeing how music and dancing/marching control would entice a person wanting to score touchdowns or sack a QB.

Then I remembered way back to the early '80s (yes, I'm getting old dang it.) and Nelson and I (and others) spent all kinds of time playing a game on the old Commodore 64 called Breakdance from the then hugely popular gaming studio Epyx. Now this may sound funny or silly today; but that game was a hell of a lot of fun. Yes, now we all look back and shake our heads when someone brings up parachute pants or says electric boogaloo; (actually - no one ever says that anymore lol) but back then, it was in style.

Back to my point, we individually spent hundreds of hours mastering how to move our joysticks in order to make our dancer get bonus points and extend the songs. The game allowed for two competitors to dance at once; each one upping each other until someones hand either cramped into a claw; or someone hit a move the other didn't have down yet.

Again, I don't know how BCFX is going to handle this part of the game; but suddenly it doesn't seem to me to be so far fetched an idea anymore... Especially when putting it in the context of the atmosphere of a big school rivalry between two Black Colleges.

One of the biggest events each year in the city I live in now (Indianapolis) is the Circle City Classic This year it will feature Alabama A&M University vs. Tuskegee University on Oct. 4th 2008 at the brand new home of the Colts: Lucas Oil Stadium. The games are always sell-outs and you'd be hard pressed to find many events as fun to be at.

Obviously I have many questions about this video game as I've never played it; and I don't know if Madden fans will eat this up or not. The proof will be in the pudding so to speak. What it all comes down to is if the game is fun to play, it will sell; if it is is cumbersome, people will be disappointed.

One other thing I know. Neither Madden, Head Coach, or Blitz II have PC entries this year. Where there is a vacuum, well... you know what happens.

I don't own a console; so this - and the other game I can't seem to find or remember the name of will be my choice for something more than a statistic based text football Sim. EA Sports might not miss my money; but I sure hope I will be pleased after purchasing this game! I was disappointed EA abandoned PC users this year; however, this shake-up might just be what the "sports medicine" doctor ordered!


Additional Note: I apologize for not being able to give proper credit by labeling all parties mentioned in this post; Google Blog limits the amount of hypertext that can be entered for characters included in the label category. I had to make some hard decisions on what to cut so that I may best promote what this post is about. If I had my way I'd have included the following as labels.

Alabama A&M University, Tuskegee University, Circle City Classic, Indianapolis, Lucas Oil Stadium, Colts, NFL, EA Sports, Madden, Head Coach 09, Blitz - The League -II.

I hope readers and interested parties from the aforementioned Universities, The city of Indianapolis, The Colts, and places of business understand I did my best with the limitations at hand.