NHL 09 Preview

[wildhockey19]

Re: NHL 09 Preview

Not to sound like a homer, but with a newly revamped fighting system I hope that it follows that the "true" fighters are much better at it then any other player. By that I mean if Boogaard were to square off with Ian Laperriere (to bad he's a puss and has public said that he has no intention to ever do so) the fight shouldn't last 30 secs. Just hoping that the fighting system is much like the deking system where the true skilled players at is excel much more noticably than the others. Peace!

[meh]

Re: NHL 09 Preview

if they make somebody like donald brashear (or the other scrubs) a 35 or so for an overall rating- then I'll get really excited about the game. What this game needs is variation between the stars and scrubs.

that is an interesting point and i think that covers most sports games - are the top players that far enough apart from the average everyday players in how the game rates them?

is 89 OVR to 70 OVR a big enough gap to warrant a star over a basic player (just for illustrative purposes)

maybe a radical overhaul of the ratings sytem is a way off yet, but that would most probably add another dimension when factored into the AI/Gameplay development

[Splitter77]

Re: NHL 09 Preview

that is an interesting point and i think that covers most sports games - are the top players that far enough apart from the average everyday players in how the game rates them?

is 89 OVR to 70 OVR a big enough gap to warrant a star over a basic player (just for illustrative purposes)

maybe a radical overhaul of the ratings sytem is a way off yet, but that would most probably add another dimension when factored into the AI/Gameplay development

by spreading out the ratings more, it would make for a much more realistic game.
Not just for overall ratings, Im talking passing, shooting, etc.
When somebody like brashear tries a cross-ice pass, I want that thing off target at least 50% of the time, and picked off as well, whereas if somebody like lidstrom or thornton makes that pass, its almost perfect 80-90% of the time.

You get my point, but hopefully they make a total overhaul of the ratings

[meh]

Re: NHL 09 Preview

by spreading out the ratings more, it would make for a much more realistic game.
Not just for overall ratings, Im talking passing, shooting, etc.
When somebody like brashear tries a cross-ice pass, I want that thing off target at least 50% of the time, and picked off as well, whereas if somebody like lidstrom or thornton makes that pass, its almost perfect 80-90% of the time.

You get my point, but hopefully they make a total overhaul of the ratings

Yeah definately, something that generally gets overlooked (usually by the inclusion of sliders) - if the individual players are more diverse in their abilities, then the game will adjust and play with the benefits/handicaps each player brings

Something that hopefully gets looked into at somepoint

[baa7]

Re: NHL 09 Preview

maybe a radical overhaul of the ratings sytem is a way off yet, but that would most probably add another dimension when factored into the AI/Gameplay development

I've been doing that with NHL 08. When I have an hour, I take one team and lower the ratings of most players all the way down to the minimum (50). The few stars on the team I lower ratings here and there, but not as much. HUGE difference in the gameplay. The thing is, it also fixes some aspects of the programming. For example, the CPU doesn't pass tape-to-tape all the time. Plus scrubs have a tough time scoring on the higher difficulty levels, which doesn't happen with default ratings. I'm thinking of doing this with NHL 09 and making a roster available, the game plays so much more realistically IMO.

[bigwill33]

While the new ratings would be nice, you have to remember that EA is trying to sale a game to everyone on the market. A lot of people that buy these games would get frustrated if their team was filled with 50 overall rated players and such.

Honestly, and not to sound like a homer here, I think it works pretty well the way it is. In my franchise the people who score goals do more than the scrubs on my team. Even online you see the star players generate most of the offense, even though goons and 4th liners can make those passes you are all talking about at times.

Bottom line is this, these players are all in the NHL for a reason, nobody should be rated a 35 unless they put me in the game haha. When you play a game you notice a clear difference between Sidney Crosby and a Georges Laraque, and that is what is most important.

Besides, be careful what you wish for. It wasn't all that long ago that EA gave superstars a special rating for dekes and moves, and it was just crazy stupid and unrealistic.

[sabresfan]

Re: NHL 09 Preview

Haha, I think I would like a 35 overall. He may suck compared to most NHL players, but you know he's still one of the best 1000 or so hockey players in the world right now.

What I really want is for the game to not have all the Euro players as free agents so every team but mine ends up with way overpowered forwards and goaltenders who would never come close to making the NHL like that in real life. You need to either lower their ratings or lock in the contracts.

[Splitter77]

Re: NHL 09 Preview

While the new ratings would be nice, you have to remember that EA is trying to sale a game to everyone on the market. A lot of people that buy these games would get frustrated if their team was filled with 50 overall rated players and such.

Honestly, and not to sound like a homer here, I think it works pretty well the way it is. In my franchise the people who score goals do more than the scrubs on my team. Even online you see the star players generate most of the offense, even though goons and 4th liners can make those passes you are all talking about at times.

Bottom line is this, these players are all in the NHL for a reason, nobody should be rated a 35 unless they put me in the game haha. When you play a game you notice a clear difference between Sidney Crosby and a Georges Laraque, and that is what is most important.

Besides, be careful what you wish for. It wasn't all that long ago that EA gave superstars a special rating for dekes and moves, and it was just crazy stupid and unrealistic.

i remember there were players ranked in the 30s in nhl 92 and 93 for sega. Thats why those games were so damn good.

[Eddie1967]

Re: NHL 09 Preview

Seperate line changes, along with fully controlable stick lifting, and defensive sweepchecking more along the lines of how it is in NHL2k. A new fighting engine, more types of penalties including pucks over the glass and checking from behind etc. Thats not even mentioning the 75 or so new goalie animations including desperation types of saves, no more lock on hitting, its now all physics and momentum based. One handed dekes that only star players can pull off with any regularity. a dedicated dump with forechecking options for how many guys you want to send in behind the puck. And to top that all off added presentation like breakdowns of what you did right or wrong during replays. I think you owe it to yourself to at least give the game a chance this year, you may be suprised.

My pal RealmK(lol), I will probably give it a chance this year.. I have to admit it does sound like it's going to be a great game. The last hockey game that I truly loved was EA's nhl 2004. If only one game could truly put it all together, animations, presentation, FIGHTING, line changes, board play, etc. I would be in hockey video game heaven. 09 is starting to sound like a must buy.............

[Eddie1967]

Re: NHL 09 Preview

From Littman's blog entry:

WOW, Sounds great.

[ianlast]

Re: NHL 09 Preview

I've been doing that with NHL 08. When I have an hour, I take one team and lower the ratings of most players all the way down to the minimum (50). The few stars on the team I lower ratings here and there, but not as much. HUGE difference in the gameplay. The thing is, it also fixes some aspects of the programming. For example, the CPU doesn't pass tape-to-tape all the time. Plus scrubs have a tough time scoring on the higher difficulty levels, which doesn't happen with default ratings. I'm thinking of doing this with NHL 09 and making a roster available, the game plays so much more realistically IMO.

Interesting...so does this make it possible to play 15-20 minute periods with realistic stats?

[ianlast]

Re: NHL 09 Preview

i remember there were players ranked in the 30s in nhl 92 and 93 for sega. Thats why those games were so damn good.

Haha, so true. Shawn Chambers rating of 1 overall in NHL 93 FTW.

Seriously, though, my guess is that fringe players being rated 70-75 overall (as opposed to 30-40 overall back in the day) is an NHLPA thing, they probably don't think it's great for the image of their members to have them rated that low. Just speculation, but it seems logical.

[bigwill33]

Haha, so true. Shawn Chambers rating of 1 overall in NHL 93 FTW.

Seriously, though, my guess is that fringe players being rated 70-75 overall (as opposed to 30-40 overall back in the day) is an NHLPA thing, they probably don't think it's great for the image of their members to have them rated that low. Just speculation, but it seems logical.

I think it is just the way ratings work now. I mean a player that is a 62 and in the minors is pretty close to a 30 back then. Players that are about 70 and in the NHL on these games would probably be rated in the 50's back then.

So that means the gap between 95 and 62 is probably roughly equal to the gap between 99 and 30 back in the early days of the series. It is just how they have tweaked the ratings over the years that makes it look different.

On the scale they use now a player rated in the 30's couldn't even be on the same ice as the 90+ players, it would just be cheese city and no fun to anyone.

[ianlast]

Re: NHL 09 Preview

On the scale they use now a player rated in the 30's couldn't even be on the same ice as the 90+ players, it would just be cheese city and no fun to anyone.

True enough...but one of the things I loved about NHLPA '93 is that, if you had some plug rated in the 30s or 20s (the then-expansion Lightning and Sens had several in the 10s and single-digits ) out on the ice, you were forced to play more conservatively. You knew Mike Peluso and Link Gaetz would never score, so your best bet was to just hang back with these guys, and maybe pick some fights.

With NHL 08, for all its great gameplay, I just never get that feeling. I play with the Wild alot, and I never feel that having Derek Boogaard out on the ice is a liability (which it is in real life). Heck, I've even scored some goals with him, just parking his fat *** in front of the net and feeding him a one-timer. In real life, Derek Boogaard is too ungainly to even keep up with the play and get in a position like this, much less fire off a onetime shot.

[catcatch22]

Re: NHL 09 Preview

See in my opinion ratings are not the problem, defense is. In all sports video games besides basketball and baseball. Defense in relation to time is not accurate. Defense is alot easier to play in Hockey for a NHL player than offense is. However in almost every hockey game I have played no one has made it that way for sake of keeping people from having to play 20 minute periods to score at a normal rate.

The only thing that needs to be adjusted for hockey games is to make the players play better defensively and be worst offensively. However it's offense that sells.

When you watch a game and see a highlight reel offensive move or pinpoint accurate pass lead to a scoring opportunity, it happens in a sea of several many possesions. In Football and Hockey games the possesions needed for success offensively is far less.

In the old days there just wasn't much moves offensively you could do and defense was much easier to play. Most players were rated strictly based on offense.

Now the games give the offense so high an advantage to give reaslistc results and scores in less time than a full 60 minute game in football or hockey.

Too many players are rated to high offensively and too low defensively.