When football season ends, it always a bit of a bummer. Luckily Electronic Arts has always been there to cheer us up with the latest version of Madden NFL Football, to tide us over until the first kickoff of the season. EA has had a stranglehold hold on the football genre for years. The nail in the coffin for anyone else trying to get some sweet NFL gaming action essentially came when the gaming monolith inked an exclusive licensing agreement with the NFL. Until EA’s contract runs out in 2012, game developers have had to get creative if they wanted to get a piece of that pigskin pie. Most have turned to college football, giving gamers a chance to play with actual teams with realistic stats. Oh wait, EA has that on lock too with their NCAA Football series.  So one devloper has made the move to tap into a demographic that has been repeatedly overlooked –the raucous and highly entertaining world of HBCU football.

This month, Louisiana-based game studio Nerjyzed Entertainment will be releasing Doug Williams Black College Football Experience (BCFX). The game’s release will be setting a lot of firsts. It will be the first console video game to be produced in Baton Rouge. It’s also the first sports game to be built on the Unreal 3 engine. For those of you that aren’t in the know, the Unreal 3 engine powers many of the blockbuster games we play today including Gears of War andGears of War 2. Like minblowing graphics and physics? Thank the folks over at Epic Games.

BCFX plays like a standard football game, you pick a team and take them through the season in pursuit of the Black College Football National Championship. While the football gameplay should provide a solid, satisfying performance it’s the added features that will make this game stand out from the crowd. In an effort to create the pomp and circumstance that comes with a HBCU football game, Nerjyzed gives players the opportunity to get to channel their inner Nick Cannon “Drumline-style.” When the game goes to halftime, players can control their teams’ band in a Rock Band-esque rhythm-based mini game that can be played using the Rock Band drumpad. Another cool feature is Classic Mode that let’s players take the gridiron at teh Bayou Classic and the Labor Day Classic.

In an effort to get BCFX into as many hands as possible, it’s being retailed as a bargin game retailing for a mere $39.99. Nerjyzed is thinking outside the box and bringing a gaming experience that’s more performing a sweet juke move and running the ball into the infield for that glorious touchdown. It’s also about the things that make HBCU football unique. It’s about the pageantry of the dancers and the band, it’s about old school rivaleries. If you’re a Grambling State fan, the thought of going head to head against a Southern University fan has  got to get your engine running. The same goes for diehard North Carolina AT&Ter versus North Carolina Central.

Hitting store shelves July 20, Doug Williams Black College Football Experience is currently available for preorder atGamestop.com.