NHL 08 and NHL2K8 discussion

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So the NHL 08 cover boy has been named and it's... Eric Staal? Meh. I know, I know, I'm a Hurricane fan, I should be jumping and pissing my britches. Sorry, just never liked Staal. He's always struck me as lazy and petulant. Hell, he's Canadian, what do I expect (smooooch to all my Canuckian homies).

Lots of information coming out about NHL 08 and it's all sounding good, with words in the direction of "better controls, better AI, smoother graphics." Also is talk of the appearance of the AHL!

And in the other corner is NHL2K8. Where we've heard... crickets. Truly the tide has turned.

Will NHL 08 have online leagues?

trowan wrote:

Will NHL 08 have online leagues?

Ain't that the million dollar question? Dunno.

I'm only buying one, and that'll be the one that has the most opportunity for play with youse guys.

Lemming-like, I will follow the herd's purchase decision, and it seems CF is at the front of the pack. Don't let us down, CF.

SwampYankee wrote:

I'm only buying one, and that'll be the one that has the most opportunity for play with youse guys.

Lemming-like, I will follow the herd's purchase decision, and it seems CF is at the front of the pack. Don't let us down, CF.

This is heady stuff. I pray that I am worthy of your trust.

I should note that the AHL is not only represented in NHL 08, but you can also fully play games in the AHL. Given that NHL 07 is the only game in history that had me actually pursuing trades and switching around lines and matchups, I'm actually curious and relatively excited with this development.

NHL 07 was an excellent title and, even moreso, an excellent building block upon which to deliver something truly extraordinary. If NHL 08 delivers on its promises -- and, considering that they pretty much did that this past year, I'm leaning towards giving them the benefit of the doubt -- it could be the hockey title we've all been waiting for.

If they implement online leagues.

Minor leagues? Cool.

Stupid not having a 360.

Vector wrote:

Stupid not having a 360.

Maybe, maybe not. Scheduling, game invites, and missed games online are a hassle when things in terra firma come up.

Some images I found elsewhere:

IMAGE(http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/9295/crosby08yr9.jpg)
IMAGE(http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/1007/ccmprotackskatewithwirebf0.jpg)
IMAGE(http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/9748/brindamourcompmb3.jpg)

The really captured the camel-headedness of Rod the Bod.

I have 2 burning questions that have not yet been officially answered.

A) Will NHL08 be coming to Wii, and if so, what will be the Wiimote functionality? I can see some potential for effective use of the wiimote, especially for deking.

B) Will the PC version of NHL08 be "Next Gen?" NHL 07 on the PC was infamously (in the circles i frequent, at least) equivalent to the XBOX version of the game rather than the XBOX 360 version, to the dismay of everyone. Are they even releasing an XBOX or PS2 version of NHL08? If not, the PC version will probably have the 360 functionality, which will finally give me a reason to pick up that 360 controller.

Either way, can't wait. Worst case scenario is that my friend finally caves and gets a 360, and I play the hell out of this game regardless.

From GameSpy:

'...

NHL 08 (X360)
Publisher: Electronic Arts Developer: EA Canada
Genre: Sports Release Date: September 11, 2007
ESRB: Rating Pending More Info on this Game

By Patrick Joynt | June 12, 2007
The ice starts heating up early as EA talks hockey with us.

Spiffy Iffy
Skill stick; better physics; more depth and authenticity. Nothing playable yet; can it deliver on promises?

David Littman played professional ice hockey before he became a producer at EA Canada, so maybe that's why when he promises a focus on authenticity and depth in this year's NHL 08, he's easy to believe. Talking with him at EA Canada, he told us that this year's game is going to expand the available skill set, add depth, and really improve on the core fundamentals of shooting, defense and AI. The game is still very early, so we don't have a preview build to take home and play yet, but we are hopeful that 08 can live up to EA's promises.

Heartbreak for Vancouver's Canucks

The foremost goal this year is to be the "most authentic game on the market," going so far as to include the actual practice drills the NHL teams use. So, while big-head mode is gone, you will get to practice with things like the sweet-shot shooting drill seen in the all-star skill competition. Demoing it, Littman showed us the precision of the two-stick shot control, using the left thumbstick to aim and the right stick to draw back and deliver the shot. Like Tiger Woods, the straighter and cleaner your pull and push on the thumbstick, the straighter your shot. Practices like that, drawn from the experience of the former pros on staff and the pros brought in to consult, are part of what could make 08 exactly as realistic as its creators promise.

The controls are getting an upgrade, with the skill stick being upgraded from merely a source of canned animations to a real source of control over your player. Similar to the goal for NBA Live 08 to have defense playable on the perimeter as well as the post, Littman wants you to have real moves against all the defensemen, not just the goalie. One example is being able to do slow crossovers or really slap into a turn, depending on how hard you push it. That gives you a lot more opportunities to set up defensemen, amongst other options.

While Littman did say that 07 had plenty of moves to apply to the goalie, and that 08 will as well, the dream is to make sure that you can generate real tension from your player trying to get the puck past the one man in your way. "That one-on-one play... that's where you see some magic." Improved AI will make sure that those controls are worth learning, with Littman promising, "They're going to be tough to beat this year." That's one of the easiest things to overpromise and underdeliver, so we'll see how the AI shapes up when we get a playable build.

Major focuses for improvement also include a drift to a more "analog" skating system and a drastic improvement to the skating and checking physics system. Instead of skating being an on/off system, either "a hundred percent or zero percent," players will have a much greater range of energy on the ice. Your players aren't going to be giving it their all or simply stopping, but will give the right amount of energy at the right time. In addition, when someone gets hit, that energy doesn't just go away when they hit the ice. They'll keep moving realistically, possibly being knocked out of a play as they scramble to get up. These aren't huge changes, overall, but building on NHL 07 to achieve a truly great hockey game doesn't require huge changes.

Lastly, Littman admitted that last year's online experience was "jittery." The team is looking to nail online this year and make online as solid an experience as offline. Roster updates aren't likely to happen every time a team makes a trade, even with the next-gen machines' abilities to do hot-updates. However, if there are more moves than usual, we could see extra roster updates this year. Overall, Littman delivered goals for NHL 08 that are similar to what we have heard from every EA sports team this year. And when Littman promises us the world for NHL 08, he's easy to believe.

...'

I am excited for these games, I will wait to the ultimate decision that everyone makes before buying but chances are I will end up with both which is exactly like this year, but I love my Hockey

Major focuses for improvement also include a drift to a more "analog" skating system and a drastic improvement to the skating and checking physics system. Instead of skating being an on/off system, either "a hundred percent or zero percent," players will have a much greater range of energy on the ice. Your players aren't going to be giving it their all or simply stopping, but will give the right amount of energy at the right time. In addition, when someone gets hit, that energy doesn't just go away when they hit the ice.

Good to hear - I couldn't stand what EA previously tried to pass off as skating physics.

If you guys aren't keeping up with the goings-on with both titles this year, you're missing out on a battle of leviathans. EA really did something last year and 2K hasn't failed to notice (to their credit, 2K had been doing pretty good things for a while and it's just that EA finally decided to jump in with both feet last year). Now, both titles this year are truly striving for our dollars with some sweet innovations.

2K hasn't had to play catchup in a while. With NHL07's "Skill Stick", they had to do something. And they did, somewhat aping the feature but throwing their own twist in the mix with additional deking mechanics. They've also completely beefed up the graphics and animations.

EA hasn't been idle, and they've listened to the complaints about the shortcomings last year. They've promised 60FPS and smooth animations, a skating engine with more subtlety and depth, and improved defensive controls, all weaknesses in NHL07. Perhaps most drool-worthy is the create-a-play and AI improvements. Create-a-play is what it sounds like. You can record actions for your players triggered by being in certain locations on the ice. No longer will the current "play" be a mystery, you'll have complete control. Want to cycle? Create a cycling play along the half-boards and trigger it... when you do the play will be overlaid on the ice so you'll know what to expect from your AI partners. And the defense will (supposedly) learn from your patterns. Go to the well too often and the defensemen will adjust accordingly, closing often-used passing lanes or taking players out of the play. Gawd, I want it now.

Some videos:

NHL08

Create-a-play feature discussion.
Create-a-play interview

NHL2K8

Their new stick features

So when are the demos coming out?

Well I'm like Swampy, I'll buy the one for the 360 that everyone here decides on for league play here.(side note, hopefully the league for this will not start till APF2K8 league is over. I doubt I can do both at the same time.)

NHL 08 looks and sounds fantastic so far. I haven't heard much from 2K8 except that they ripped off EA's skill stick, which is a good thing. We'll see.

I said skill stick.

NHL 08 will feature online leagues. Oh my. This year's race sure is warming up.

ColdForged wrote:

NHL 08 will feature online leagues. Oh my. This year's race sure is warming up.

I just read that, it's great news

I am excited for both but I wish we would hear more about 2k8

ColdForged wrote:

NHL 08 will feature online leagues. Oh my. This year's race sure is warming up.

It's also running at 60 fps. I'd say it's probable that I'll go with EA's game. A 100% probability to be precise.

This is awesome news Coldie. It makes me wanna fingerbutt you!

ColdForged wrote:

NHL 08 will feature online leagues. Oh my. This year's race sure is warming up.

This is good news, however it is their first attempt and my not be smoothe or very functional at first. 2K still has some problems with their on-line leagues after all this time. I guess we'll just wait and see (and just throwing gobs of money at it as EA is sure to do is no guarantee).

In the latest Gamespot "On-the-spot" show they had David Littman talking about NHL 08. They're adding "online team play" mode where 6 machines can connect over the network and play together in any format, so 3 on 3 or 5 on 1 with the rest being AI controlled. Hot damn.

ColdForged wrote:

In the latest Gamespot "On-the-spot" show they had David Littman talking about NHL 08. They're adding "online team play" mode where 6 machines can connect over the network and play together in any format, so 3 on 3 or 5 on 1 with the rest being AI controlled. Hot damn.

I'm leaning towards EA.

Yeah, as much as I dislike EA, NHL 07 was the better game, IMHO. If only because of the cool use of the right stick which was very 2k-esque.

DSGamer wrote:

Yeah, as much as I dislike EA, NHL 07 was the better game, IMHO. If only because of the cool use of the right stick which was very 2k-esque.

Huh?

Mr.Green wrote:
DSGamer wrote:

Yeah, as much as I dislike EA, NHL 07 was the better game, IMHO. If only because of the cool use of the right stick which was very 2k-esque.

Huh?

The 2k games, of late, have been very cool about the way they use the right stick. In basketball you can shoot with it. In baseball you hit with it. In NHL 07 you basically use it to control the hockey stick and to shoot. It's well done and makes the game more fun and immersive IMHO.

The 2k games, of late, have been very cool about the way they use the right stick.

Well not the hockey ones and those are the only ones real men care about.

Mr.Green wrote:
The 2k games, of late, have been very cool about the way they use the right stick.

Well not the hockey ones and those are the only ones real men care about.

That was what I was getting at. With regards to using the right stick well, EA actually got it right whereas 2k didn't.

NHL 2K8 Hand's On

Finally Some information about 2K8, though I am still leaning towards NHL 08, NHL 2k8 is sounding really good now, it's looks like it will be a hard decision.

Lothar wrote:

NHL 2K8 Hand's On

Finally Some information about 2K8, though I am still leaning towards NHL 08, NHL 2k8 is sounding really good now, it's looks like it will be a hard decision.

Why did they make it sound like controlling the puck with the right analog stick is an invention? This sounded more like an advertisement than a preview but still, it looks promising. I think I like how they still have a shoot button even though you move the puck with the right stick. I'd have to try it to see how it plays but with NHL 07 I often shot the puck when I just wanted to deke. The button-combos to execute special moves on a breakaway could be pretty fun too. The graphics and animations look very smooth.

The first movie in the preview shows a superb garbage goal, which is synonymous with 2K hockey to me. This made me roll my eyes up to the back of my head though.

Anyway, looks good.

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