Game On – The Rivalry Begins With NCAA 13 ~ Giveaway

I am the coolest aunt ever. (Duh!) My nephew and niece are visiting for the summer, and while The Suburban Mom is typically not very exciting to a 12-year-old boy, I do believe I was able to impress the unimpressible. He played it cool, but I saw a gleam of excitement when I told him that I bought NCAA 13 and was planning game night for him. Yep, that’s what it takes to impress a boy in case you were wondering. (Check out my shopping trip for NCAA 13 here.)

My nephew accepted my husband’s challenge, and when game night arrived it was Game On!

But I had one more surprise up my sleeve for E – his face on the game cover. Through the You’re Covered app, gamers can create a custom game cover with their favorite team and their face on the player. My plan was to use an old picture of my nephew to create the cover before he arrived, hand him the game and see if he noticed. But when I went to create the cover, I discovered that you can also use your web cam to put your face on the cover. I decided that was even more fun, so I scrapped the original plan and set everything up for E to make his cover when he arrived.

The web cam option was great, and I highly recommend this option because you can position your head just so to make a really cool football star. Plus it’s fun!  One you snap the perfect picture, the cover can be saved as a PDF and printed right from your home computer. I am thinking about making another cover with my hubby as a football player for the back cover of the game. Or maybe I will make a cover staring me!

But the big question is — what did everyone think of the new NCAA game?

Did I mention my nephew was impressed? “The graphics are awesome!” he exclaimed as the video started up.

Being the rookie player, E didn’t notice the differences between NCAA 12 and NCAA 13, but my husband, the veteran, did. Here are a few of the highlights:

Heisman Challenge—Win it for your school as you play as one of 10 former Heisman Trophy winners under center, in the backfield, or split wide, see if you can utilize his legendary skills for your favorite college team in a quest to match his award-winning historical performances and win the Heisman Trophy once again. (No Gator greats included in the list.)

An All-New Passing Game—A revolutionary passing system brings added authenticity to the Quarterback position from ball trajectory to play action pass to the option. Enhanced receiver control puts you in position to make a play on the ball and new read and react defensive coverage delivers greater realism on the gridiron.

Reaction Time—Great players see and feel the game differently. With Reaction Time, the game slows down during key moments, increasing your on-field awareness and opening up more opportunities as you sense things before they happen. (This sounds cool!)

Dynamic Dynasty—Recruiting goes deeper than ever with the addition of dynamic recruiting pitches. For the first time ever, your recruiting grades can change each week based on your performance in Dynasty mode. In addition, Gameday Saturdays come to life with live studio updates and enhanced commentary by Rece Davis.

We decided that grilling steaks would be the perfect accompaniment to the big game. So in between the action on the big screen we prepped some grub for the weary players. (It’s tough work playing a video game after all!)

While she was preoccupied most of the night playing with her other cousin, my favorite little cheerleader did make a short appearance. I asked her who she was rooting for and she said “Daddy & E because I want them to both win!”

Unfortunately the game had to be paused when it came time for dinner, and while the players intended to return to their game dinner ran over and soon it was time to go. Ultimately it was decided that the game was a draw, and plans were made for a rematch soon.

NCAA 13 fans can keep up with all the excitement via the EA Sports NCAA Facebook page and Twitter.

How would you like to host your own NCAA 13 game night?

Giveaway – One lucky winner will receive their choice three prizes – a $50 Walmart gift card, OR winner’s choice of one of the following EA games Madden 13, FIFA 13 or Medal of Honor, or NHL13, OR an autographed football from Hall of Fame safety, Ronnie Lott! How’s that for an awesome giveaway?!

To Enter:

1. Customize a cover at www.easports.com/yourecovered
2. Submit a photo of any ONE of the following: You or your child holding a personalized copy of NCAA Football ‘13 OR A screen grab/photo of the printout of a customized NCAA Football ‘13 cover OR A screenshot sharing the customized NCAA Football ‘13 cover on your Facebook wall.
3. Upload your photo to any public photo sharing site (flickr, instagram, imgur, Twitpic, TinyPic, etc) and submit it to the inlinkz linky below. If you have any trouble check out these instructions.

NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND NECESSARY, A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING.NCAA Football 2013 You’re Covered Sweepstakes (the “Sweepstakes”) starts on July 16, 2012 at 12:00:00 A.M. EST and ends July 31, 2012 at 11:59:59 P.M. EST. Click on Official Rules for details on entry instructions, odds of winning, prize details, restrictions, etc. Open only to legal residents of the 50 U.S./D.C. and 18 years or older as of time of entry. Residents of P.R. are ineligible. Void in P.R. and where prohibited. Sponsor: Electronic Arts, Inc., 209 Redwood Shores Pkwy., Redwood City, CA 94065.

Disclosure – I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community.  This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Electronic Arts, however, all thoughts and opinions are my own. #CBias #SocialFabric #NCAAfootball13