Users Online Now: 1259  |  October 6, 2008

NHL 2K9 (Hands-Off) First Look

This is a discussion on NHL 2K9 (Hands-Off) First Look within the E3 2008 Coverage forums.

Go Back   Operation Sports Forums > The News Desk > E3 2008 Coverage
Register Chatroom FAQ Members List Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read


Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 07-15-2008, 10:15 PM   #1 (permalink)
Senior Editor
 
ChaseB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: PA
Posts: 1,050
Comments: 270
Votes: 5
PS Network: Slizeezyc
NHL 2K9 (Hands-Off) First Look

NHL 2K8 got too complex. There was too much going on. When I picked up the controller I didn't even know how to shoot!

In so many words, that's how Jeff Thomas, VP of sports development at Visual Concepts, summed up NHL 2K8. This year though, the series is now at Visual Concepts (best known for the stellar NBA 2K franchise), and the VC guys are all about bringing the "fun" back to the NHL 2K series.

Right off the bat some might be worried that "fun" doesn't mean "sim." It's something I worried about as well, and while I won't really know whether "fun" doesn't mean "arcadey" until a later date, Jeff Thomas assured me that this is still a sim series at heart. So when I inquired further about certain problems from NHL 2K8 that could be considered "fun" but "arcadey" (see: checking, final scores), he said that the checking would be toned down, and that there wouldn't be anymore 12-10 final scores.

Jeff went on to explain that "fun" means things like simplified controls that still have depth for the more experienced players. (If you liked the control scheme last year that will still be an option as well on 360/PS3.) It also means having presentation and gameplay elements that are fun to see and partake in. For example, there's an all-new fighting engine this year. Also during the playoffs you'll notice that the NHL players grow nice thick beards as the playoffs progress. Or if you win the Stanley Cup, then you can skate around holding the Cup above your head or pass the Cup off to a teammate; then when you're done celebrating you can take a team photo at the end to commemorate your Stanley Cup victory. Or it's something a little more silly, like being given the opportunity to drive the Zamboni during an intermission.

Now when it comes to Wii controls, Mark Thomas discussed how the folks at Visual Concepts spoke with Nintendo and one of the things Nintendo said was, don't get obsessed with the motion control. Visual Concepts took Nintendo's advice to heart. So what that means is you'll do things like check another person by pushing the Wii Remote and Nunchuck forward, or shoot by swinging the Wii Remote one way for a wrist shot, and another way for a slap shot, but you won't have to do insane things like make line changes by waggling your Wii Remote back-and-forth five times.

To give a more practical example, when it comes to passing you have a few options. You can either pass the more traditional way, or use the user interface and do point-to-point passing. Basically, that means there's a little cursor on the screen that you control by pointing the Wii Remote at different parts of the screen. This method allows you to chain passes together quickly by pointing at the various players.

The VC guys have also made sure that everything you can do in the 360/PS3 versions control-wise, is possible to do on the Wii version. In fact it seems like the Wii version will have everything the 360/PS3 versions do, except online play.

On the 360/PS3 front, while I didn't see anything besides the trailer, the game does look great graphically in the trailer. Visual Concepts totally redid the graphics engine this year and it seems to be paying off. Also everything will be happening in real time this year, so no more cut-scene-type moments after goals etc. And if you guys are sad about not having anymore 360/PS3 NHL 2K9 impressions, at least I can say that VC did promise that a demo will be releasing for the game in a few weeks.

At the very least it seems like Visual Concepts wants all you hockey fans back (shocker there). If the demo does release in a few weeks I would take that as a sign that they are proud of this new product, and want to give gamers a chance to realize that there's two viable hockey game products on the market.

Biggest Positive: Seems like they didn't over-waggle the control scheme.

Biggest Negative: No online play for the Wii version.

Biggest Question: Will "fun" truly mean not "arcadey"?
Game: NHL 2K9 Reader Score for game: 7.5 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / Xbox 360 Votes for game: 8 - View All

ChaseB is online now   Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
Old 07-15-2008, 10:20 PM   #2 (permalink)
Lets go Mets!!
 
catcatch22's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posts: 2,504
Comments: 58
Votes: 2
Re: NHL 2K9 (Hands-Off) First Look

I may have to get 2 hockey games this year. I can not wait for the demo.
__________________
Games that I am currently playing
Xbox 360 - EA Sports - NASCAR 08
Xbox 360 - Konami - Pro Evolution Soccer 2008
Xbox 360 - EA Sports - NHL 2008
catcatch22 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-15-2008, 10:23 PM   #3 (permalink)
Pro
 
bateman11's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 967
Comments: 94
Votes: 1
PS Network: rose2kobe24
Re: NHL 2K9 (Hands-Off) First Look

Live hands off, coming next?

Good read on this.
__________________
PSN: rose2kobe24
bateman11 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-15-2008, 10:26 PM   #4 (permalink)
Senior Editor
 
ChaseB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: PA
Posts: 1,050
Comments: 270
Votes: 5
PS Network: Slizeezyc
Quote:
Originally Posted by bateman11
Live hands off, coming next?

Good read on this.
Check the Twitter yo, NBA 2K9 is next.

PS I'm not doing Live until tomorrow, someone didn't read my updates, gosh. I only went through some of the demo before I had to go to a meeting, so I figure it's best that I really have some more time before writing up impressions.
ChaseB is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 07-15-2008, 10:33 PM   #5 (permalink)
Pro
 
bateman11's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 967
Comments: 94
Votes: 1
PS Network: rose2kobe24
Re: NHL 2K9 (Hands-Off) First Look

Quote:
Originally Posted by ChaseB
Check the Twitter yo, NBA 2K9 is next.

PS I'm not doing Live until tomorrow, someone didn't read my updates, gosh. I only went through some of the demo before I had to go to a meeting, so I figure it's best that I really have some more time before writing up impressions.
My bad brother. Won't miss it again

Anywho, 2K9, even better. Cant wait.
__________________
PSN: rose2kobe24
bateman11 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-15-2008, 10:36 PM   #6 (permalink)
Barack Who???
 
X*Cell's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Fort Worth, TX
Posts: 7,670
Comments: 49
Votes: 4
can't wait either.
X*Cell is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-16-2008, 07:15 AM   #7 (permalink)
Qb
Boo this man!
 
Qb's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 2,449
Comments: 142
Votes: 0
Re: NHL 2K9 (Hands-Off) First Look

Quote:
Originally Posted by ChaseB
Also during the playoffs you'll notice that the NHL players grow nice thick beards as the playoffs progress.
For real? I always wondered if a hockey game would be able to do that without it looking terrible. Guess we'll find out...

Let's hope that VC can restore the series to its lofty heights of a few years ago and a demo in August would be sweet!
__________________
LET'S GO PENS!!!
GOONER FOR LIFE!
XBL GT -- King Oskar
Qb is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-16-2008, 07:32 AM   #8 (permalink)
Pro
 
RealmK's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 547
Comments: 99
Votes: 2
Granted its early with the first couple of previews just hitting, but if the only thing 2k has to show is a casual control option and a zamboni mini game the're pretty much done for when it comes to hockey.

I'm pretty amazed they haven't mentioned anything at all about graphical improvements, ai or sound/atmosphere improvements. Kinda scary that being the case so far.

Also disapointing that there's still zero screenshots or at least a trailer. For a game that's supposed to be shipping in a month and a half and going up against some pretty stiff competition in NHL 09, you'd think 2k would at least show something to set fans at ease.
RealmK is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-16-2008, 10:54 AM   #9 (permalink)
Pro
 
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 963
Comments: 11
Votes: 0
I really hope VC turns this series around...All they really need to do is improve the animations to the days of NFL2k5, improve the AI to more specific player and team ability, tone down hitting, more puck physics, and improve the atmosphere. They need to incorporate the music editor like nfl2k5 and improve commentary.
bucs44 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-16-2008, 11:04 AM   #10 (permalink)
Senior Editor
 
ChaseB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: PA
Posts: 1,050
Comments: 270
Votes: 5
PS Network: Slizeezyc
Quote:
Originally Posted by RealmK
Granted its early with the first couple of previews just hitting, but if the only thing 2k has to show is a casual control option and a zamboni mini game the're pretty much done for when it comes to hockey.

I'm pretty amazed they haven't mentioned anything at all about graphical improvements, ai or sound/atmosphere improvements. Kinda scary that being the case so far.

Also disapointing that there's still zero screenshots or at least a trailer. For a game that's supposed to be shipping in a month and a half and going up against some pretty stiff competition in NHL 09, you'd think 2k would at least show something to set fans at ease.
I clearly mention the new graphics engine in the preview.
ChaseB is online now   Reply With Quote
Reply


« Previous Thread | Next Thread »

« Operation Sports Forums > The News Desk > E3 2008 Coverage »


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On




All times are GMT -5. The time now is 06:22 PM.

Archive - Top -