News Post

Could NHL 2K Go The Way of College Hoops?

05:58 AM - December 3, 2008 by Steve_OS

Pasta Padre looks into why the NHL 2K series may be finished. What do you think?

Quote:


	"2K Sports has generally supported their more prominent titles with at least a patch and a handful of roster updates throughout the year. NBA 2K9 has already received a significant patch and effort has been made to provide more roster updates than in the past. On the other hand the lesser-regarded 2K titles have gone largely ignored post-release, one recent example being Prizefighter which did not receive a patch."

Game: NHL 2K9Reader Score: 7/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS2 / PS3 / Wii / Xbox 360Votes for game: 15 - View All

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Member Comments

# 1 BigBlue @ 12/03/08 08:02 AM

This saddens me. 2K Sports is the only company that can compete with EA Sports in terms of the QUALITY of its sports games. However, ever since the NFL license went exclusively to EA, 2K had no choice but to go after the MLB license, effectively putting EA out of the Baseball market, and thus reshaping the landscape of sports videogaming.

It's a shame that 2K could not put more focus on All-Pro Football (allowing full customization, roster and slider sharing along with its wonderful on-line gaming experience), and the MLB game which has too many flaws to rival The Show. Now, the NHL game is in danger of losing to EA's 'improving' game. I certainly hope that this doesn't happen as, many critics agree, 2K's gameplay engine is far superior to EA's.

If 2K's games go away, we'll be stuck playing ARCADE hockey, ARCADE College Basketball, and ARCADE football that is EA's games. Not me. I'll stick with my current library of 2K's games for as long as possible.

BigBlue

# 2 Fiddy @ 12/03/08 08:26 AM

i hope it does get shut down. nba has been great for years, mlb not so much. been hit or miss with mlb over the past few years. but at least people buy that game.

bye bye nhl 2k series, you will be missed...

# 3 BigH2k5 @ 12/03/08 09:03 AM

Unfortunately, it would appear that the NHL2k is indeed in peril of going the way of the dinosaurs

# 4 rudyjuly2 @ 12/03/08 09:22 AM

I've always been surprised that NHL had two games made for it. The sales numbers are so low that it would seem hard for one company to make money let alone two.

# 5 mercalnd @ 12/03/08 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rudyjuly2


	I've always been surprised that NHL had two games made for it. The sales numbers are so low that it would seem hard for one company to make money let alone two.

I believe EA makes money on it mainly due to their worldwide audience. DrJones, formerly of EA, once said in a thread that EA's NHL series actually sells more in Europe than in North America. I don't know what kind of following NHL 2K gets in Europe though.

I wouldn't be surprised to see NHL 2K disappear though. The lack of a PS3 patch last year, combined with no roster updates after December, the announcement that they won't patch 2K9 and the fact theat we're still waiting on a roster update for 2K9 as well are all clear signs that the NHL series is extremely low in the priorities of 2K.

# 6 asu666 @ 12/03/08 11:23 AM

This would be sad because 2K9 was better than 09 imo. I thought VC made some good upgrades and the only thing I felt was really missing was the menu option to lock the camera to the great side view. I hate having to pause and change the camera before each game.

# 7 rudyjuly2 @ 12/03/08 11:58 AM

I just realized that a comment on the Blog actually shows up on the forums in the corresponding thread. Never knew that.

# 8 buzzguy @ 12/03/08 12:23 PM

Really, really too bad if NHL 2K dies off. I like 2K9, and have high hopes for a 2K10, if it ever comes to pass.
Some of the comments on the blog are really interesting. I agree with the one guy who lamented how sports games are "dying" because of the high-costs of game and hardware development. If Madden becomes the only sports game in town, I'm gonna have to change all my gaming habits.

Anyone else have a feeling we may be headed for another video game crash; (1000's of crappy wii shovelware + the expensive of making true next-gen games + lack of competitions in key genres = ?????)

# 9 wurstman3000 @ 12/03/08 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mercalnd

Quote:

I've always been surprised that NHL had two games made for it. The sales numbers are so low that it would seem hard for one company to make money let alone two.

I believe EA makes money on it mainly due to their worldwide audience. DrJones, formerly of EA, once said in a thread that EA's NHL series actually sells more in Europe than in North America.

To support that: EA had an NHL game this year for PC, but no NBA.
And if we look at mygamercard.net, we see 20500 times NBA Live showing up on cards of a total 2,something million registered 360 users but about 60000 times NHL 09 (NBA 2K9: 51000; NHL 2K9: 5447).

Quote:

Originally Posted by mercalnd


	I don't know what kind of following NHL 2K gets in Europe though.

Abit worse than in the states. I track mygamercard.net data for a comparison of 09 and 2K9, also differentiating for some countries, in this thread:
http://2ksports.com/forums/showthread.php?t=183889

That suggest a share of 8% on 2K9 of combined worldwide sales and rents of both games, if the ratio of that site holds true for the whole sales/rents (nov. 7th).
USA: 9,7%
Canada: 3,9%
Finland: 5,5%
Sweden: 2,3%
The best result is in Germany with 14,6%, but you could get it very cheap here some weeks after release.

# 10 Steve_OS @ 12/03/08 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rudyjuly2


	I just realized that a comment on the Blog actually shows up on the forums in the corresponding thread. Never knew that.

You lost me, what?

# 11 rudyjuly2 @ 12/03/08 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve_OS


	You lost me, what?

I never posted my initial comment in this thread. I left a comment on your blog/news post on the front page. When I checked this thread I saw that my comment from that area also ended up here. Does that make sense? I didn't realize they were linked together.

# 12 original6 @ 12/03/08 01:31 PM

Personally, I don't see how the lack of a roster update or patch indicates the series is headed to an end. This title has always lacked support. Sure, roster updates used to be more timely. However, I think due to the underwhelming number of copies sold (*assumption) they probably are not allocating any resources towards those efforts.

If 2k hockey does go by the wayside, it will be a shame. I've had my beefs with them since Kush had taken over, but this latest effort shows great promise and I'd hate to see it go to waste.

# 13 CarryTheWeight @ 12/04/08 01:26 AM

2K9 has so much potential this year and is proving to be a fun game. It gets a lot of things right. If this is the last year of 2K Hockey than I'll be royally pissed. There's so much I'm looking forward to in 2K10.

Sure, hockey games may be a risky proposal these days since the NHL is still not as popular as it was pre-lockout in the States, but I thought both titles sold like hotcakes north of the border...maybe it's not as notable as I thought.

It'd be more painful to see the 2K hockey series go simply because both hockey titles have always had their strengths and are in good competiton year in and year out. We've all seen how stagnant the EA games have become creatively without competition. I'd hate to see it happen for hockey gaming.

# 14 mercalnd @ 12/04/08 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CarryTheWeight


	Sure, hockey games may be a risky proposal these days since the NHL is still not as popular as it was pre-lockout in the States, but I thought both titles sold like hotcakes north of the border...maybe it's not as notable as I thought.

You have to take into acount that Canada only has a population of about 30 million people, which is roughly 10% of the US population. This limits the number potential sales despite the immense popularity of the sport.

# 15 StormJH1 @ 12/04/08 04:16 PM

As a fan of EA's NHL series (well, at least 08 and 09), I don't want NHL 2k to go away, but if it does, it will largely be 2k's own fault. I played 2k7 and thought "Okay, this looks alright...same gameplay, but slightly upgraded HD graphics." Then NHL '08 came out and perfected the shot stick and improved the A.I., and there was no competition. I've downloaded demos for 2k8 and 2k9, but honestly, that game is so far behind EA's game visually, it's not even close. And even in its heyday, the heralded "simulation" gameplay of 2k did nothing more than frustrate you until you caved in and opted for the same boring 1-timer goal with your centerman over and over again.

Less competition is always bad for games, but what 2k has been doing on the 360 and PS3 could hardly be considered "competition."

# 16 OddyOh @ 12/05/08 03:23 AM

EA needs 2K around for competition. Otherwise they won't hesitate to fall back into their old habits. Plus the more hockey games, the merrier.

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Could NHL 2K Go The Way of College Hoops?