NHL 15

[tfrizz]

I suppose we'll never get a PC version again, either. Like Skyrim, there are so many things that the modding community can bring to a PC NHL game. NHL 09 still has a pretty decent modding community, just the online component isn't great.

Nope. EA discontinued the PC versions of all their sports franchises except FIFA 3-5 years ago. Sales were horrible - NHL 08 and NHL 09 each sold about 10,000 units worldwide, which marked the first time the franchise hit the 10,000 mark on PC. In comparison, NHL 09 sold a combined 980,000 copies on console (PS2, PS3, and Xbox 360). Prior to that, even console sales were low registering it at only about 500,000 copies sold for NHL 08.

Franchise sales peaked with NHL 11 selling 1,280,000 copies, followed by NHL 10 and NHL 12 at 1,200,000... and they've dropped quite rapidly. NHL 14 just barely cracked the 800,000 mark and I'll be absolutely shocked if NHL 15 hits half that given the split market (prev/next gen), the total absence of changes in the prev gen version (new commentators & rosters aren't worth $65), and the backlash over the exclusion of EASHL from the next gen version.

[FLPensFan]

Someone else needs to get a hold of the NHL game rights for awhile, in my opinion. EA continues to do just enough, and is never really "ground-breaking" with what they provide year over year. I have typically stayed away from NHL online modes, but have recently been playing online in NHL 14. It's disappointing to know that, after years and years of making the game, there are always those one or two moves that if you can perfect you can score every time. I have success with long shots where you fake/deke to the short side to get the goalie moving that way, then snap a wrister in the opposite corner. Others seem to have success with the annoying pass the puck into the net.....half deke, press pass button because the goalie sits there like a turd.

EA has taken some steps in the right direction, but it is baby steps at best. Competition is good. When everyone gets exclusive deals, there is no need to make big changes or even release a non-buggy product. No competition, so everyone will buy the only game available for their sport. EA has done it with Madden too. I recall one year buying Madden to discover that punting was flawed. You could NEVER return a punt. EVER. The defensive team's flyers were always on top of you. If you didn't call for a fair catch every time, you had a 25% chance of fumbling, and a 50% chance of losing yardage. Never patched. I stopped buying Madden for about 5 years after that......

[tfrizz]

Someone else needs to get a hold of the NHL game rights for awhile, in my opinion. EA continues to do just enough, and is never really "ground-breaking" with what they provide year over year. I have typically stayed away from NHL online modes, but have recently been playing online in NHL 14. It's disappointing to know that, after years and years of making the game, there are always those one or two moves that if you can perfect you can score every time. I have success with long shots where you fake/deke to the short side to get the goalie moving that way, then snap a wrister in the opposite corner. Others seem to have success with the annoying pass the puck into the net.....half deke, press pass button because the goalie sits there like a turd.

EA has taken some steps in the right direction, but it is baby steps at best. Competition is good. When everyone gets exclusive deals, there is no need to make big changes or even release a non-buggy product. No competition, so everyone will buy the only game available for their sport. EA has done it with Madden too. I recall one year buying Madden to discover that punting was flawed. You could NEVER return a punt. EVER. The defensive team's flyers were always on top of you. If you didn't call for a fair catch every time, you had a 25% chance of fumbling, and a 50% chance of losing yardage. Never patched. I stopped buying Madden for about 5 years after that......

The problem is that the market isn't strong enough to support competition. 2k dropped their NHL franchise because it wasn't selling.

[Idoit40fans]

Yeah and without competition, there isnt much incentive to improve.

[Chefpatrick871]

No EASHL on next generation, I'll be keeping my 360 for a little while longer.

[André]

There are things to criticize, for sure, but overall I think the whining can go too far. These past few years there have been like five annoying things with the games, but say a hundred that have been great. In general the games have reached a great level. Do FPS games innovate more? Nah. RPG's? Nah. Diablo 3 was Diablo 1 even though there are 15 years between them. Alot of games are awesome with steady upgrades in development even if there are no ground breaking innovations. I include NHL in those.

And this year we could see a huge leap. EASHL will come back later, that's a shame, but I think the outrage goes too far.

[Mr. Colby]

'14 sucked i feel like they only improved fighting but then forced you to fight like 3x a game

Do I have to get an Xbox one to get all the new features? Will '15 on xbox360 just be '14 with a new cover and new rosters?

[mikey287]

Looking at the game play in the videos (small sample, I know), the gameplay looks just as bad as it's been...is there any reason to think the actual game is different, even with improved presentation?

[Idoit40fans]

There are things to criticize, for sure, but overall I think the whining can go too far. These past few years there have been like five annoying things with the games, but say a hundred that have been great. In general the games have reached a great level. Do FPS games innovate more? Nah. RPG's? Nah. Diablo 3 was Diablo 1 even though there are 15 years between them. Alot of games are awesome with steady upgrades in development even if there are no ground breaking innovations. I include NHL in those.

And this year we could see a huge leap. EASHL will come back later, that's a shame, but I think the outrage goes too far.

I think its amazing how many people buy the same game every year. What are you talking about with FPS and RPGs? Do they release games with the same world/map every year and slightly different character models? Ignoring story, which is arguably the most(in my opinion the only) important thing in an RPG. Its still way more change. No one is talking about innovations, they're talking about repackaging the same game year after year with some tweaks. Most of the year to year changes are not even things that would be expansions/DLC in other games, they're what would be released as patches/game updates.

Dropping out EASHL is literally the exact equivalent to dropping the reason most people get COD games.

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

I actually didn't know what EASHL was until this thread. I just thought it was some card collecting game or some ****. Always avoided it.

[Idoit40fans]

I think its a waste of time, i dont care for online games in general and sports are just miserable because its nothing but finding one thing to exploit. Tons of people primarily play that though.

[tfrizz]

'14 sucked i feel like they only improved fighting but then forced you to fight like 3x a game

Do I have to get an Xbox one to get all the new features? Will '15 on xbox360 just be '14 with a new cover and new rosters?

Yes. The PS3/360 version of NHL 15 is just NHL 14 + Doc & Edzo (no Ferraro) + new rosters + "multi player" (but not 12 player) collisions. EA has made that very clear for months.

[tfrizz]

Looking at the game play in the videos (small sample, I know), the gameplay looks just as bad as it's been...is there any reason to think the actual game is different, even with improved presentation?

They've apparently re-wrote the entire engine behind the game for the current (or next, if you prefer) gen consoles, which is why the only finished game mode is HUT.

[tfrizz]

I actually didn't know what EASHL was until this thread. I just thought it was some card collecting game or some ****. Always avoided it.

HUT is the card game. EASHL is online team play + online "Be A Pro".

[shafnutz05]

EASHL is boring if you don't have a group of friends that also play. Three or four years ago, there was a group of about a half dozen LGPers (including myself) played EASHL games pretty consistently. Let me tell you, it was damned fun, especially with drinking added in.

As far as exploiting, **** every little sniveling S-head from Quebec. Seriously, F them. With their "QC" tags and their constant goal glitching, F em all.

[Idoit40fans]

I was a part of the lgp 360 eashl team for a few games, then just fell out of it.

[André]

'14 sucked i feel like they only improved fighting but then forced you to fight like 3x a game

Do I have to get an Xbox one to get all the new features? Will '15 on xbox360 just be '14 with a new cover and new rosters?

Xbox1 or PS4, yes. On current gen NHL 15 will be like 14 with new rosters.

[André]

There are things to criticize, for sure, but overall I think the whining can go too far. These past few years there have been like five annoying things with the games, but say a hundred that have been great. In general the games have reached a great level. Do FPS games innovate more? Nah. RPG's? Nah. Diablo 3 was Diablo 1 even though there are 15 years between them. Alot of games are awesome with steady upgrades in development even if there are no ground breaking innovations. I include NHL in those.

And this year we could see a huge leap. EASHL will come back later, that's a shame, but I think the outrage goes too far.

I think its amazing how many people buy the same game every year. What are you talking about with FPS and RPGs? Do they release games with the same world/map every year and slightly different character models? Ignoring story, which is arguably the most(in my opinion the only) important thing in an RPG. Its still way more change. No one is talking about innovations, they're talking about repackaging the same game year after year with some tweaks. Most of the year to year changes are not even things that would be expansions/DLC in other games, they're what would be released as patches/game updates.

Dropping out EASHL is literally the exact equivalent to dropping the reason most people get COD games.

This to me is exactly the attitude that's exaggerated. What do you want? A round rink?

Play for an hour and you'll notice significant gameplay upgrades over the years. They've done what they can while staying on the same platform for 8 years, and while being a small market game as well.

New hardware was required for a more significant leap. That's this year.

[André]

Looking at the game play in the videos (small sample, I know), the gameplay looks just as bad as it's been...is there any reason to think the actual game is different, even with improved presentation?

Can't agree.

New physics (body and puck)
New animations
New AI (the system behind it that they've explained sounds promising)
Entirely new graphics engine
New control features (even though what was already in place was complex and awesome)
New presentation

I think the two overhead gameplay trailers look awesome.

[Letang Is The Truth]

I was a part of the lgp 360 eashl team for a few games, then just fell out of it.

[mikey287]

Looking at the game play in the videos (small sample, I know), the gameplay looks just as bad as it's been...is there any reason to think the actual game is different, even with improved presentation?

Can't agree.

New physics (body and puck)
New animations
New AI (the system behind it that they've explained sounds promising)
Entirely new graphics engine
New control features (even though what was already in place was complex and awesome)
New presentation

I think the two overhead gameplay trailers look awesome.

Oh, hmm, that wasn't what I saw...I'll take a second look...the trailer I saw had the Blues and Blackhawks in it...it looked the same as NHL 13 in terms of gameplay I thought...but maybe I'm mistaken...I'm not a huge NHLer player any longer because the gameplay is frustrating to me (how the computer plays defense on your team is joke central), but I'll give it half a look...

That said, I don't play the game "right" - I play a dump and chase style usually, work the cycle, play a very passive defense...I try to win every game I play 1-0.

[Idoit40fans]

Is andre a promoter for EA Sports? Between the bizarre defense of the lackluster franchise and the annual release thread...i think its plausible.

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

does Andre work for EA?

I've been playing EA Sports games since the 90s. There has been only marginal changes in the last few yers in terms of the gameplay for all of their sports games. I would even argue that some (Madden, Tiger Woods) have regressed. And considering EA makes a quintillion dollars, that's kind of unacceptable.

If they had the 2014-15 NFL roster for Madden 07 (and I had my playstation 2 again) I would prefer to play it over whatever junk they give us next week.

[dodint]

I was going to say that if you picked up a title from NHL12 through 14 and put my at the opening faceoff I wouldn't be able to tell you which game it was. Even the announcers from NHL12 to NHL14 are the exact same bits of dialogue. That purchase was a roster update. I don't remember the Moments being in 12, but that might be because I didn't have an internet connection when I was playing it. But Moments in hockey don't work quite as well as they do in football. Hockey is too fluid for scenario based stuff like that.

They didn't even really get the NHL94 game mode all that accurate which was a downer.

[André]

Hahah. I won't deny I'm a fan boy, but will maintain even the past few years' games have been great, and that alot of other games see just as little breakthrough innovations. There have been things to complain about, yes, but many great aspects of the games can be overlooked in that whine-fest.