EHM FE, will it make hockey more popular in the US?
 

Lets assume this is a great game. Lets assume that this game sells well in the US. Do you think the popularity of the game will generate more interest in hockey, to a non hockey fan.

I moved to Texas about 4 years ago, long time Philly / South Jersey person. Anyway, my friends down here weren't into hockey very much, till I sat them down and played NHL by EA. That peaked their interest a bit, but to take it a step further, I got some of them to watch some playoff hockey with me. Quite a few of them became hooked.

IMHO there is no sport that is more exciting during the playoffs then hockey, I hope the league doesn't strike and games like EHM might draw in more people. What do you guys think?

No

It would depend entirely on how many people actually purchase the game but it could certainly increase interest in the sport. I liked soccer before CM but that game did make me more interested in watching more games on t.v then before. Plus I think the NHL really can't afford to not play next year if they want to regain any ratings or they will continue to be out drawn from even the Travel Channels World Poker Tour.

Yeah, CM more then anything got me interested in Soccerr abroad. I'm pretty much hooked on the English Soccer league setup now.

I agree with Suicane.

I think hockey fans might buy the game. I don't think the game will make more hockey fans.

I think it could, but the impact is probably going to be fairly limited. Using the soccer example, its appeal in the US has, for years, been driven by the fact that any kid could play, regardless of economic status, and even that hasn't translated into a boom for MLS.

It gained a higher profile when the men's team had their great run in the World Cup a few years back, but again, soccer ratings over here are barely a blip compared to baseball, basketball, football - and, I'd venture to guess, hockey.

CM hasn't changed that, except among the die-hard computer nerds who like those sort of games, and share them with those they know who may enjoy them as well.

I think EHM will have a similar effect over here. Folks who like that sort of thing will bug their friends, but it isn't going to cause any nationwide phenomenon the way an EA console game might.

HDTV is the thing that has the highest chance to increase the popularity of hockey in the US. Watch a hockey game in regular TV and then one in HDTV. It's a world of difference. Almost enough to make me pay the small fortune and buy one.

See you're just wrong here. Playoff Hockey has nothing on the NFL. The NFL will always be more popular than hockey, baseball, or basketball. The game might peak interest in hockey, but it won't cause a revolution.

I don't think so, based on past Hockey games. If anything EA's NHL Franchise will affect popularity. Thinking back to an earier game, if none of the versions of Wayne Gretzky Hockey made hockey uber-popular in the US, then I don't see any other computer game having an effect.

Actually, I think playoff hockey is much better than playoff NFL. Football is my favorite spectator sport by far, but I would gladly watch a hockey Game 7 over any NFL playoff game you could give me, unless it involved the Lions.

Cue the joke about the Lions and NFL playoff games.

Well I can understand that since the Lions haven't made the playoffs since dinosaurs walked the earth and I'm guessing that you're a Red Wings fan? that you would rather watch hockey. I'm kinda biased too since the Sharks only have been around for like 13 years and this is the first time they have made the western finals and my favorite football team, the Niners, have 5 superbowl rings.

Even so, the Niners suck right now, and the Sharkies are really good, but I would still rather watch the Niners any day since I've been loyal to them longer than the Sharks.

Okay, the phrase "unless it involved the Lions" is totally unnecessary in the above statement.

Come on, the Lions made the playoffs a few years back, I remember the Eagles putting up about 60 points on them, so it's unfair to imply that they havn't the playoffs recently. :)

Do you need to grow up with the game in order to enjoy it? That's the argument I've heard bantied about many times and of course, most children in the US grow up with football, baseball and basketball. It's kind of hard to appreciate hockey if you never have ice.

Although every kid grows up with soccer...

right. from seeing EHM, I think it's the kind of game that a semi-serious hockey fan is going to enjoy the most, whereas CM seems to appeal to sim fans who aren't necessarily soccor fans.

that said, seeing a hockey sim just isn't my cup of tea, and hockey is by far my favorite sport. I just don't think it's a game that translates well to numbers/stats, unlike, say, baseball or football.

well, I sort of did and sort of didn't - the first 10 years of my life were in SoCal...no ice there.
then I moved to Canada, and really got immersed in the culture of the game - the midget games, the pickup pond games or schoolyard games, HNIC every Saturday night, everyone wearing their team jackets everywhere. It was pretty powerful, and unlike anything I've seen in the US for ANY sport.

still, the biggest grabber for me for hockey was in my early 20's when we started a fantasy hockey league for something to do during baseball's offseason (we picked that over basketball basically because we thought the stats would be easier to tally - there weren't any non-baseball fantasy leagues around at the time). Within a couple years, we dumped the baseball league - we were hooked by hockey.

I think the NFL should make a rule that when someone puts up 60 points on you, you get regulated to the CFL.

Short answer:no

Long Answer:no,no

Why would someone who's not a fan of real life hockey buy a computer simulation of it??

I know of many non soccer fans that bought CM,Mostly because it is the best text sim available.

I was a non-soccer fan when I first bought CM. As bbor said, CM had features that were head and heals above anything offered in other SMGs. Through playing CM I developed an appreciation for soccer. Although I'm not fanatical about the sport, I still catch important games when I can.

No SMG will create a fan who is closed minded about the sport to begin with.

Like me. And I became a soccer fan because of it.

Ok, soccer may be different because people in the US know so little about it. Most of them don't really have an opinion about it one way or the other. I could see where people would buy CM because of its reputation, and also to see what all the fuss is about soccer all over the rest of the world.

Americans are more familiar with hockey, and they either like it or they don't. I just don't see how a hockey sim could change that.

Actually, as I said, spectator-wise, I am a bigger football fan than hockey fan, and for that matter, I own Lions season tickets. I also have been to a grand total of 2 Red Wings games in the last five years. So, overall, I enjoy watching football more, but still would take playoff hockey over a playoff NFL game.

I feel the same way. Football is my favorite sport, but there is nothing more exciting to watch than playoff hockey... especially a game 7.

GO FLYERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EA NHL gets lots of non hockey fans playing it.