As an ‘official’ part of the ‘media’, I get press releases. You guys don’t hear about most of them, because, well, most of them are crap. And not crap in a good way. Things like remote controls for internet-wired microwaves.

The press announcement for the Black College Football Experience caught my eye, though, because it implicitly asks a central question: How do you compete with EA football products like Madden? Answer: Rockband-style gameplay for the halftime drumline show.

Developed by Nerjyzed (pronounced Energized) Entertainment, Inc.,

Just as an aside there, you may be trying to hard.

With BCFx – The Doug Williams Edition players are getting this fantastic, multi-faceted game experience where they get to be the hero on the gridiron, pound out beats on their drum set with the most electric marching bands on the planet and learn about a college sports culture that is vibrant, passionate and has had such great significance to the game of football as we know it today.”

It probably doesn’t say great things about the idea that the first thing I did was to check see if the press release had an April 1st announcement date (as such jokes are not uncommon) There’s a movie on the website, though, and while I confess the drumline stuff looks like it has fun potential, my design spidey sense tingles.

The game, of course, is a hybrid, which means it falls prey to the TV/VCR Combo problem. People don’t typically buy TV/VCRs because it’s inherently limiting. The quality of your VCR is tied to the quality of your TV, both elements tend to be lower quality due to the lack of focus, and you can’t replace one without the other.

Similarly, the danger that Nerjyzed (and seriously, I shouldn’t have to cut and paste a name to get it right) is that they are building two games, and doing so without the assets and experience that EA and Harmonix have. So they will probably create an inferior football game, and an inferior rhythm game. It’s possible that the two will combine to create something better than its parts, but the more likely scenario is that it will make Madden fans wish they were playing Madden, and the Rock Band fans wish they were playing Rock Band.