News Post

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

05:44 AM - January 17, 2012 by 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?

Member Comments

# 1 Dazraz @ 01/17/12 07:43 AM

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.

# 2 mike24forever @ 01/17/12 08:14 AM

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.

# 3 SmittyD81 @ 01/17/12 09:17 AM

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.

# 4 shogunofharlem3 @ 01/17/12 11:42 AM

(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.)

Nope, nope and nope.

I don't understand the draw of old players, we have create a player, can we not just create them and use them in a season? Ya, we don't get their face or what not, but playing Bobby Orr isn't going to get me to buy a game.

I think what 2k needs to do is go back to what separated them in 2k5 (for example). Game play aside, which was outstanding. Online league functions with a website you could check the standings and such. That aspect of the game has regressed since 2k5 in all their sports games.

2k10 has the first online coop franchise. It's incredible! Now, expand on it. Allow up to 6 players per team. Mix it in with the Frachise BLogs and allow line changes and such to be made from the pc.

They need to market the game promoting its strengths and not just what they want people to hear. "Is Party Now" Huh? 2k10 is a great simulation albeit a bit clunky before the new rosters/goalies/ sliders. Why didn't they market Coop Franchise? Team Up? 2k Share (which is an incredible feature)? Franchise Blogs? Online Leagues?

Instead they chose to market Zamboni riding, mini games, etc. That part always puzzled me. I could go on and on, and I probably will at some point. They just need to figure out what they want to do. But 2k10 has gained some momentum 2 years old and many are enjoying much much more than a flashy on the outside, shallow on the inside (much like my prom date years ago...what a looker...but she coulnd't add 2 and 2) NHL 12.

# 5 superbus @ 01/17/12 01:00 PM

Classic players didn't make NBA 2K great; all it did was make an already amazing game legendary. Even without MJ, NBA 2K11 would have been the greatest sports game of all time, arguably.

No, what the NHL games need to do is make THE most realistic game on the market. That's what 2K did right; they made a basketball game that actually plays like a basketball game. To gain the hockey market, they're going to need to buck the trend and give us a game that plays literally like NHL hockey does. That means they're going to have to do a few things to piss off the luddites (properly penalize head shots, charging, checking from behind, de-emphasize the one-timer, etc.), but if you make a game that you can play, and enjoy, while being as close to the NHL as possible AND keeping the sense of speed that they have, then you'll begin to take on EA's franchise.

Gamers want choice in this regard; the NHL series has fallen off, and NHL '12 is pathetic, especially their Looney Tunes-like checking system. 2K fell off because they went the wrong direction.

# 6 shogunofharlem3 @ 01/17/12 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Segagendude


	Reading user reviews of 2k10, seems they had issues with the overall feel of players on the ice.......i.e. they were "skating on concrete". Presentation also was lacking, at least commentary-wise. Forget about legends. Get the basics down first before adding Gretzky and Orr. I'd like to see what 2k could do with the hockey series, but alas, it may never happen, at least on PS3 and XBOX. (I have no interest in the Wii)

Very true. Out of the box the game was gross. Goalies were weak. Skating very muddy. Just played poorly out of the box which is what many people play with for their duration with the game.

The message board guys, the slider, roster, goalie editors are the minority. Play 2k10 now, download the newest community rosters by TS0elliot and Fiddy with goalie edits I did. Try some of the great new slider sets and how they feel with the new rosters.

Imagine that game out of the box. Impressions would have been much much different. My brother and a few buddies have 2k10 and hated it until I showed them how to tweak sliders and such. We found a set we liked and game was good. Now we play coop franchise with the new rosters / goalies and the game is great!

That has to be a main concern is the out of the box sliders need to be decent. Many people I know played it once and shut it off. If it wasn't for my persistance with them they would have gone to EA, even though they hated it. That is where 2k Share can be huge, but it can't be a hidden menu, it needs to be in your face of what you can download, why you should and when you can.

# 7 savoie2006 @ 01/17/12 07:53 PM

Well first of all, I think with the exception of the goalies, the graphics and player models in 2K10 looked great. I think EA's models are a bit on the big side, while 2K's were a bit on the skinny side, but neither was awful.

I think what 2K needs to do is perfect their controls and animations first. There were alot of cool animations in the game, but alot looked awkward as well. Next beef the Presentation up to the same level of NBA 2K. Then beef the rest of the game, Franchise and add a My Player in the same vein. Even if they can't have other leagues like the AHL and such. If their depth everywhere else is there, it won't matter. Lastly, aggressively market and support the game. This was a BIG killer for the series before. One small thing they could do if all else is top notch, is make the game "sim" out the box. On ALL previous NHL 2K games, it played AWFUL out of the box, which turned alot of people away automatically. Not EVERYONE wants to tweaks sliders till they are blue in the face.

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