NHL Series from EA is a Model for Post-Release Support

[RaychelSnr]

Four years and one console cycle ago, EA’s NHL series was a total mess. As a product, it was getting outsold by its chief competitor, NHL 2K. As a brand, it had grown so stale and predictable that even the series’ die-hards were beginning to question their loyalty to what had become an inferior, outdated hockey franchise.

After taking off the '06 hockey season (at least on this generation of consoles) to re-evaluate its approach to the genre, innovations like the "skill stick" (NHL 07) and the EA Sports Hockey League (NHL 09) quickly transformed the NHL series from a tired has-been into one of sports gaming’s most-respected franchises.

But aside from the above-mentioned innovations, a key reason for NHL's rapid turnaround has been the outstanding post-release support from its developers.

Read More - EA's NHL Series is a Model for Post-Release Support

[Myloman]

I know I had issues with puck cover when playing goalie and Redshirt responded to my concern quickly and they had a fix for the problem in the next tuner set. Though with that said I feel like sometimes fans need to really dig for information that should be readily available like what all the attributes do for your online BaP, but overall the NHL support is very well done.

[DJ]

Good article. EA takes a lot of flak for its sports titles, but the folks that work on the NHL series have really done a remarkable job turning a mediocre product into one of the strongest sports titles on the market today.

I am hooked on this game and appreciate all of the efforts of the game developers to keep us updated on changes and producing the tuner sets, patches and roster updates in a timely fashion.

[wsu_gb23]

The EA hockey series and it's team are highly underrated. In my opinion they are the best development team around. They have perfected the gameplay and it is easily the closest interpretation of a sport in a videogame. NHL 10 should be the sports-game of the year.

[savoie2006]

Re: NHL Series from EA is a Model for Post-Release Support

The EA hockey series and it's team are highly underrated. In my opinion they are the best development team around. They have perfected the gameplay and it is easily the closest interpretation of a sport in a videogame. NHL 10 should be the sports-game of the year.

Have you not played MLB The Show? That's the one game that stands in the way of NHL being the outright Sports Game Of The Year. That said, I agree with everything said in the article. It is amazing to me how much this series has taken a turn for the better, compared to what it was last gen. It didn't happen overnight, even once they released NHL07. There was still ALOT of work to be done, but each year since then the game has progressively gotten better and you can't ask for much more than that.

[Vikes1]

Re: NHL Series from EA is a Model for Post-Release Support

I agree the EA Canada developers have done...and continue to do a solid job with their NHL series.

Another thing I appreciated was the way they went about the interaction with us...the customer. No grandiose statements were made [to my knowledge] of what to expect from the latest release. Pretty much just straight forward info on what was done to improve the games playing experience. To where I felt as though I was being informed...rather than simply being sold.

Still playing and enjoying NHL'10' nearly daily. And really looking forward to reading whats planned for '11'. Very refreshing to say...great job EA. [Canada]

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

This is why I'm torn on EA, they do an EXCELLENT job with this series. Maybe it's just Tibouron (sp?) I should direct my disdain for.

[wsu_gb23]

Have you not played MLB The Show? That's the one game that stands in the way of NHL being the outright Sports Game Of The Year. That said, I agree with everything said in the article. It is amazing to me how much this series has taken a turn for the better, compared to what it was last gen. It didn't happen overnight, even once they released NHL07. There was still ALOT of work to be done, but each year since then the game has progressively gotten better and you can't ask for much more than that.

I have played the Show plenty, every one since 2005, it's a solid series, just a bit overrated. That game is way too hyped. I do enjoy it though. That being said, I have had more fun playing NHL 10 than any sports game now and before it.

[nyj721]

maybe the guys behind this series should be given the keys to ea

[LuGer33]

Great read, and very true.

[H to the Oza]

I never noticed how all the cover athletes wear red jerseys

[johnnydangerously]

@ H to the Oza

And their teams all start with "C". Odd!

[bowlerguy92]

Accept for the fact that: Chat still hardly works online (three years in a row), you lockup if you idle anywhere in the online section of the game, you don't get credit in ranked games if the team quits even 1 second before the game ends, the "pro shop" sometimes takes minutes to open, and player cards don't unlock correctly online resulting in pointless play working towards nothing. Thanks EA, you guys do provide great support.

[aBiNeR1]

Curious, is EA Sport's post-release support supposed to be a model for sports gaming or the gaming industry as a whole?

[acarrero]

EA's Fight Night 4 also had great post-release support. I have not played the NHL series, but Fight Night had numerous patches where they clearly listened to the OS community making changes to gameplay, they had numerous add-ons (like new boxers, though you had to pay for most), and included features like boxershare which added to the experience. EA is doing a good job of post-release support with some of its titles and it's a great new thing for gaming.