What a 2K Hockey Game Could Learn From Its NBA 2K Brethren

[Steve_OS]

Gamespot offers their opinion on what 2K Sports should do, if they ever bring back their NHL series.

Quote:

If 2K decides to bring back its franchise, it should look at what made NBA 2K12 such a great game. The biggest highlight for that game was the inclusion of classic players and teams. While NHL 12 featured a dozen NHL Legends, it was fairly restricted. It required a lot of investment from you to unlock those athletes and didn't immerse you into why they were so fantastic. What 2K should do is copy the formula from their NBA’s Greatest. Focus on a handful of the greatest hockey players to ever lace up a pair of skates, and feature the teams they played on. And showcase those great players! Being able to re-create the period of hockey in which they played would be fun. Imagine the days when the goalies' pads and protection didn't make them look like sumo wrestlers, when wearing a helmet was optional and mullets were the norm. Showing off Maurice "The Rocket" Richard in black and white, along with a static radio broadcast and highlighting why he and the Montreal Canadiens were so incredible, would be an excellent history lesson for newcomers to the sport as well.

What do you think 2K Sports needs to do?

[peigone]

Quote: Originally Posted by Steve_OS

What do you think 2K Sports needs to do?

Next-gen animations, QA and actual bug testing would be the first step, the lack of which is what killed the series.

[Dazraz]

I would love to see 2K return with a Hockey game. I always felt that at it's core the NHL 2K was a pretty sound game. It was let down by below par visuals & far too many bugs. If 2K released a Hockey game that enjoyed the presentation & polish of it's NBA counterpart then we would have something special indeed. That said I don't see a release any time soon. EA's game has a strong following despite the fact the game has only seen moderate improvements in the last couple of iterations (still no proper Broadcast Cam) & many of these fans would be hard to convert.
Whether you're biased towards EA or 2K I think the series badly needs some competition as Hockey gaming is not of the level of quality we're getting from our Baseball & Basketball sims. Not to have a poke at EA but they are a company with a reputation for sitting back somewhat in the abscense of opposition. I think it is fair to say FIFA would not be where it is today if it wasn't for Pro Evolution Soccer.

[peigone]

Quote: Originally Posted by Dazraz

EA's game has a strong following despite the fact the game has only seen moderate improvements in the last couple of iterations

Which could explain why EA hasn't pulled the plug on their game as well. Maybe they don't put a lot of development money into the series for the purpose of keeping costs down, knowing there's not much of a following for hockey games in the first place. After all, 2K killed their series because they were losing money -- through faults of their own making of course, but that's beside the point.

[mike24forever]

How about the fact that when I play NHL 2K10 I feel like I am always fighting with the controller to get the players to do what I want. The samething happens in NBA 2K12. Players get stuck in animations and to me, It feels like the controller locks up. If 2K were to release a new hockey game, they need to fix what I mentioned above, better player models and graphics, shrink the goalie helmets and implement a commentary system like NBA 2K12.

[peigone]

Quote: Originally Posted by mike24forever

shrink the goalie helmets

Ha-ha! Although the NHLPA would fight that, they're all for keeping goalie gear as big as possible -- player safety first!

[SmittyD81]

This is going off the subject just a bit, but 2k REALLY needs to make a new football game. That has been realistically in higher demand than a hockey title.

[peigone]

Quote: Originally Posted by SmittyD81

This is going off the subject just a bit, but 2k REALLY needs to make a new football game. That has been realistically in higher demand than a hockey title.

Very very true, excellent point.