by By Max Olson, Daily Nebraskan; SOURCE: U. Nebraska , University Wire

It's the classic matchup. The Cornhuskers are taking on their Game of the Century opponent, the team with the top-10 ranking and the reigning Heisman Trophy winner.

It's Nebraska-Oklahoma.

It's also a video game.

Husker fans who are chomping at the bit to see NU take down OU will have to stick to hitting the sticks with "NCAA Football 10" for now, since the real-life Sooners don't come to town for another four months.

EA Sports' latest edition of the popular college football video game aims to capture the atmosphere and feel of playing on Saturdays. The game hits retail shelves July 14.

The game's attempt to recreate an authentic college football setting includes real stadiums and playbooks all the way down to mascots and even marching band formations.

"We're really trying to represent what Nebraska's about, so you'll see the stadium and you'll see the Sea of Red and everything about Nebraska," game designer Ben Haumiller said.

The re-creation of a stadium is a difficult task that designer Russ Kiniry said can take up to four weeks.

EA sends designers out to colleges to take hundreds of photos of their stadiums and the surrounding area. The designers then return to EA's offices in Orlando, Fla., to piece things together.

The "NCAA 10" rendition of Memorial Stadium is almost an exact replica. The giant North Stadium video screen, the press boxes, the doors players run through at the end of the Tunnel Walk - it's all there. Oldfather Hall can even be seen off in the distance.

"Our stadiums are insanely detailed," Kiniry said, "We joke about how you can go in there and see the fire extinguishers in the tunnels. It's pretty cool."

Haumiller said EA reaches out to the universities represented in the game to make sure everything is accurately portrayed.

"We contact the schools and do get feedback from them in terms of how the uniforms and stadium looks, and we try to incorporate their feedback," he said.

The game's toughest critics when it comes to stadiums and uniforms, though, are the gamers.

"If we get something wrong, they're going to let us know through the message boards and every other way," Haumiller said. "They do a great job of letting us know what we got right and also what we got wrong."

The designers went to the message boards this spring and asked college football fans for facts and memorable games from each school. The input they received appears during load screens before games.

"These guys are a valuable resource," Kiniry said. "Who else knows about college football than the fan of the school, right? We go straight to the source."

The addition of marching bands is new to "NCAA 10," but Haumiller said EA wasn't able to get the Cornhusker Marching Band's formations onto the game and hopes to do so for next year's title.

"That's one of the new additions we have to kind of complete the atmosphere and make you feel like you're at a game on Saturday," he said.

One of the most important - and contentious - features of the "NCAA Football " franchise each year is its use of college team rosters.

Because NCAA bylaws prohibit the use of the names and likenesses of college athletes for commercial purposes, EA can't put actual named players on the game.

"A lot of what we try to do is hit on themes," Haumiller said. "The expectations you're going to have when you're playing with a team, that's what we're trying to emulate."

Though the Nebraska football team on the game doesn't feature a player named Ndamukong Suh, NU's 70-man roster on "NCAA 10" does include a player named "DT #93" who is a 6-foot-4, 300-pound senior defensive tackle from Oregon. Sound familiar?

Gamers can easily give "DT #93" his real name, and the addition of the EA Locker online feature in last year's game let users quickly download rosters full of named players that were created by other devotees.

Because of this possibly veiled use of real players, former NU quarterback Sam Keller filed a lawsuit against EA Sports and the NCAA in May. In his suit, he alleges that EA intentionally bypasses the NCAA name and likeness rules by permitting gamers to upload named rosters.

Haumiller insists the game doesn't contain real players and merely attempts to "recreate what they play like."

"We can't use real players and we don't," Haumiller said. "We try to give you what you would expect to see if you were using that team. While we do know that there are fans out there that will name players, it's nothing that we can be a part of or are a part of."

Using real coaches, though, is a possibility, and NU fans could see a virtual Bo Pelini pacing the NU sidelines in next year's game.

"Adding real head coaches is something that is on our list of elements we would like to add," Haumiller said. "We are in the process of investigating the possibility of adding real coaches."

Haumiller and Kiniry are already working on what's next for the "NCAA Football " franchise. Recreating the college football experience is a yearlong process that doesn't stop until the game hits the stores.

"It's really weird to shift our focus from trying to finish a game to, 'What are we going to do next?' But we feel rejuvenated each time and like having a fresh slate," Kiniry said.

"There's really no downtime for us."

(C) 2008 Daily Nebraskan via UWIRE

Copyright 2009 Daily Nebraskan via U-Wire
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