Is it Time to Stick a Fork in the NHL 2K Series?

[Scottdau]

Re: No NHK 2k11?

Oh well, games come and go! I still I have hope, but I am cool either way.

[Money99]

Re: No NHK 2k11?

Oh well, games come and go! I still I have hope, but I am cool either way.

I hope I can have the same attitude.

But with 2K out of the way, it just means EA has little reason to improve itself.
I'm not saying they'll take the easy way out but it's human nature.
Just look at Madden. I have a hard time believing that game would be where it is if 2K was still making football games.

And look at the basketball games. NBA Live has come a long, long way because of 2K.

And their Triple Play series was absolute garbage. Because of High Heat and The Show, EA brought their 'A' game in making the MVP series.

Who's to say EA's hockey series won't suffer the same problems?

All I know is, when there's no competition, the games suffer greatly.
When there is competition, the games are never better. Just ask basketball fans.

[Jamin23]

Re: No NHK 2k11?

I hope I can have the same attitude.

But with 2K out of the way, it just means EA has little reason to improve itself.
I'm not saying they'll take the easy way out but it's human nature.
Just look at Madden. I have a hard time believing that game would be where it is if 2K was still making football games.

And look at the basketball games. NBA Live has come a long, long way because of 2K.

And their Triple Play series was absolute garbage. Because of High Heat and The Show, EA brought their 'A' game in making the MVP series.

Who's to say EA's hockey series won't suffer the same problems?

All I know is, when there's no competition, the games suffer greatly.
When there is competition, the games are never better. Just ask basketball fans.

If there is no competition for any game the developers become lazy at improving their game. You can look at any game that there is not competition. MLB 2k, madden, ncaa basketball etc. Competition gets both developers to make the game the best they can. I'm not a big hockey fan, but for the nhl gamers sake I hope nhl doesn't vanish because it would be a bad situation for gamers. I think that if they continue to improve the game, more people will look at 2k as an option. Having a chose of games is always good.

[Scottdau]

Re: No NHK 2k11?

I hope I can have the same attitude.

But with 2K out of the way, it just means EA has little reason to improve itself.
I'm not saying they'll take the easy way out but it's human nature.
Just look at Madden. I have a hard time believing that game would be where it is if 2K was still making football games.

And look at the basketball games. NBA Live has come a long, long way because of 2K.

And their Triple Play series was absolute garbage. Because of High Heat and The Show, EA brought their 'A' game in making the MVP series.

Who's to say EA's hockey series won't suffer the same problems?

All I know is, when there's no competition, the games suffer greatly.
When there is competition, the games are never better. Just ask basketball fans.

I guess I look at it this way, I almost think it is more fun looking at all the videos and getting all excited for the game to come then to actually play the game. So if there is no more 2K hockey I will be cool. I love this game and I think I could play this game for 2 years and then maybe some miracle EA NHL will be sim and less..... Or maybe not!

[Jamin23]

Re: Is it Time to Stick a Fork in the NHL 2K Series?

It seems like games are just vanishing these days. First NCAA basketball, now NHL. MLB 2k could be next. I hope that doesn't happen because that is my only chose for baseball. It's very unfortunate that this is happening to games this day and I hope that those games are able to come back in years down the road.

[Blzer]

Re: No NHK 2k11?

I think I am a jinx. The first year I ever bought College Hoops ended up being their last year making it. Now this is the first year I have ever bought 2k hockey and look what happens. sigh. At least I was able to buy it at full retail and give a little extra money to the company that deserves it.

Can you do me a huge favor and buy Guitar Hero: Lady Gaga for me when it inevitably comes out?

And their Triple Play series was absolute garbage. Because of High Heat and The Show, EA brought their 'A' game in making the MVP series.

Are you implying that The Show (which wasn't even titled that back when) was dominating the baseball market on the PS2 back in 2002? Forget that they weren't even on PS2 until the next year, do you remember MLB 2004?

If anything, Acclaim was giving it a run for its money. Even WSB 2K3 was admired for its simplicity.

This just reminds me how great NHL 2K3 really was, even with its simplicity. NFL and NBA 2K3 didn't hold a candle to WSB and NHL that year, but they stepped up two years later to probably their top years while baseball and hockey went down for the count with Kush on board.

[Eddie1967]

Re: Is it Time to Stick a Fork in the NHL 2K Series?

Everything is purely speculation right now but if it did happen, I would keep playing 2k10 for the foreseeable future. I think EA has the inferior product and just like the horror that madden has become over the years, EA would have no reason to improve their hockey series at all.

[NFL2102]

Re: Is it Time to Stick a Fork in the NHL 2K Series?

Is it Time to Stick a Fork in the NHL 2K Series?
No

Is it time to retool the series and advertise your product better?
Yes

[Goffs]

Re: Is it Time to Stick a Fork in the NHL 2K Series?

Damn....I was hoping for a pc version of hockey when 2k11 would roll out....its unfortunate if its true....

I have a feeling we will be having the same discussion for mlb and nba series in the near future.......

[jyoung]

2K Sports definitely did this to themselves with their poor handling of the NHL series on next-gen consoles.

We are 5 games into the console cycle, and not a single innovation has been made with regards to 2K's hockey franchise.

The best they've been able to do is create poorly implemented versions of stuff that EA came up with in the year before.

Forget about marketing (EA NHL actually has less) or limited development resources (do we really think that its much better at EA?), new ways to play the game (skill stick) and new online modes (EASHL) are why people have shifted away from NHL 2K over to EA NHL; EA has been the leader this generation, while 2K has simply been the follower.

I feel it's only a matter of time before the same thing happens to MLB 2K and NBA 2K.

Both are getting surpassed by companies who are putting a lot more innovation into their product than 2K is.

MLB will be next (maybe as soon as next season), then in another 3 or 4 years, I wouldn't be surprised to see NBA 2K go, too.

[bcgudely]

Re: Is it Time to Stick a Fork in the NHL 2K Series?

This looks pretty bad. I knew it couldn't have been good when they decided against patching the PS3 version. I guess I'll enjoy 2K10 for the rest of the year, and just hope that NHL 11 takes steps in the right direction..

If it doesn't, I guess I'll be doing what I've done with football games.. ignoring them.

[EnigmaNemesis]

Re: Is it Time to Stick a Fork in the NHL 2K Series?

I also worry for the future of 2K Sports as a publisher. Their existence seems like it’s being increasingly marginalized on all fronts:

• the MLB 2K games that have come out since Take-Two bid reportedly $40 million for an exclusive third-party development license -- MLB 2K6, 2K7, 2K8, and 2K9 -- have been poor, to say the least, compared to Sony’s spectacular MLB The Show series (especially the last two years);
• EA’s recent hockey games have just been better than 2K’s;
• thanks to EA’s exclusive NFL license, the company can’t even make a football videogame.

Only their highly acclaimed NBA 2K franchise remains a dependable success, and even that was challenged by a solid effort from EA this year in NBA Live 10. And with Take-Two’s recently stated preference to put out easily marketable titles for hardcore gamers (“the safest place to be is in triple-A,” said CEO Strauss Zelnick) -- games like BioShock 2 and Max Payne 3 -- I wonder if the company will continue to bother (or can afford to continue bothering) trying to compete in the sports game market, or at least in any sport other than basketball.

http://www.destructoid.com/rumor-nhl-2k11-likely-canceled-2k-sports-in-trouble--158261.phtml

[Jamin23]

Re: Is it Time to Stick a Fork in the NHL 2K Series?

http://www.destructoid.com/rumor-nhl...--158261.phtml

That really is a shame.

[LuGer33]

Re: Is it Time to Stick a Fork in the NHL 2K Series?

I've been playing NHL 2K10 the past few days and there is definitely a foundation here for a good game. It's just a shame because the only other next-gen 2K Hockey game I own is 2K8, and with the exception of the AI and some newer animations, that is still the better game. 2K8 should have been the foundation, 2K9 should have been a progression, and 2K10 should have been at the very least on the level of EA's game, if not better.

Instead they had the crapfest that was 2K9, and while NHL 2K10 is a much better game, it still can't hold a candle to NHL 10, imo. I hope this isn't the last game in the 2K series because I don't want to see EA NHL become the only hockey game on the market... I think the team can and will still innovate, but I also know they play NHL 2K, see what they like and what they can add to their own games, etc, so it would be unfortunate to lose that competition...

[Vikes1]

Re: Is it Time to Stick a Fork in the NHL 2K Series?

I really hate to see NHL2K go under.

I love having a choice. And that having a choice, brings better games for the gaming public. If NHL2K does fold...I sure hope EA Canada keeps moving it's game forward, as they have the last few years.