NHL 11: A Game Harder Than Its Hardcore Fans (Kotaku)

[Steve_OS]

Kotaku's Owen Good has posted an entertaining NHL 11 read. Is the game harder than its hardcore fans?

"A friend visiting me recently is a lifelong NHL fan with season tickets to the San Jose Sharks. He doesn't play video games, but he was intrigued when he saw NHL 11 on my desk, a couple days before release.

"Oh, wow, you got this?" he said. "What's that like? Can I play it?"

"Sure," I said, opening the case and handing him the manual. "There are the controls."

The 17-page manual devotes four pages to the controls. After three minutes Scott uttered two words that communicated he'd given up on the idea.

"Don't feel bad," I said. "I barely know how to play it either."

[TripleCrown9]

Re: NHL 11: A Game Harder Than Its Hardcore Fans (Kotaku)

Excellent read. Very valid points.
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1.03.01

[cepwin]

Re: NHL 11: A Game Harder Than Its Hardcore Fans (Kotaku)

Interesting read indeed! Tnx for sharing! I'm not sure if I'd call them inaccessible but you definitely have to put time in and get some understanding of the game in order to succeed. NHL 11 is definitely *not* pick up and play. Thinking of a game like FIFA it can get even more complex than NHL due to various types of passes (and knowing when to use them) and learning all the "tricks" that real Soccer players use in order to get past their opponents to create chances. Madden added gameflow as it is even more complex with numerous sites dedicated to strategy...and if you don't understand playbooks and game planning you're at a disadvantage.
A related genre that has these same issues is Racing sims. I am trying to master this genre and Ive read books and watched videos on real racing to try to learn the necessary things...again *not* pick up and play.
All this being said, I'll admit I personally like the sports sim game and race sim genre's precisely *because* of the challenge.

[bigsmallwood]

Nice write up! Sometimes, games can be too complex...

[Dazraz]

Really good read. Thanks.

I think when gamers play a sports videogame what they are ultimately hoping to have is a recreation of the real sport. This means that individual players within a game play within their real life limitations. After all, no matter how good you are with your stick skills in a game, you shouldn't be able to pull off moves that a playing would not pull off in real life. EA have created Personality+ on their FIFA game this year to address this.

As for the difficulty of playing games I think that developers need to cater for both markets. Their are extremely talented gamers out there who have amazing skills with controllers who can carry out complex moves with annoying consistency. However maybe games could have an option whereby a single button on the controller is used to carry out any skill moves with the AI determining what move that may be based on the situation & the skill sets of the players involved.

[bruinsftw2k]

Re: NHL 11: A Game Harder Than Its Hardcore Fans (Kotaku)

I never use 50% of the controls. One of my friends won't play unless I let him use the 94 controls but I think using those puts you at a disadvantage because you cannot use board play but I think the computer still does.

[sharks]

Re: NHL 11: A Game Harder Than Its Hardcore Fans (Kotaku)

Honestly I think the controls are intuitive enough that if someone took the time, they could learn them.

I actually want the level of control to be more complex. I don't feel it's deep enough especially on defense.

[ramenite]

Re: NHL 11: A Game Harder Than Its Hardcore Fans (Kotaku)

A related genre that has these same issues is Racing sims. I am trying to master this genre and Ive read books and watched videos on real racing to try to learn the necessary things...again *not* pick up and play.

Off topic from NHL:

From a sim racer, there's one book you have to read. "Going Faster. Mastering the Art of Race Driving". It also takes A LOT of practice to be quick. Ignore things like setup, and just practice race lines, etc.

[cepwin]

Re: NHL 11: A Game Harder Than Its Hardcore Fans (Kotaku)

Yep ramenite....I have that one and I've also watched the video multiple times. :-) It is an excellent book! Yes, at this point I usually try to find a setup I can drive and then just practice the race line and learn the corners. Which sims do you run?

[TreyIM2]

Honestly I think the controls are intuitive enough that if someone took the time, they could learn them.

I actually want the level of control to be more complex. I don't feel it's deep enough especially on defense.

That's what I believe. As long as the controls are intuitive, being complex should not be an issue unless a person is just the type who wants everything in life to be easy. Not to mention, doesn't NHL and Madden have simple control setups, anyway, for those who prefer not to use the "complex" control setups? This article, to me, is silly, when it comes to using NHL 11 as an example.

[RealmK]

Re: NHL 11: A Game Harder Than Its Hardcore Fans (Kotaku)

Great example of the current general "have it easy" society we currently live in. The controls in NHL11 are intuitive, thats the key word right there. It takes only an hour if that to grow accustomed to what does what, and obviously practice will improve your skills over time.

[bruinsftw2k]

Re: NHL 11: A Game Harder Than Its Hardcore Fans (Kotaku)

Great example of the current general "have it easy" society we currently live in. The controls in NHL11 are intuitive, thats the key word right there. It takes only an hour if that to grow accustomed to what does what, and obviously practice will improve your skills over time.

I agree, at first I did not like the shoot stick because it was hard to get used to but after playing 10-15 games after it first game out, it was like second nature and it was like, why didn't they use this from the beginning. Sure NHL 11 uses every button, but you don't have to use all of them to be good at the game.


As long as they give the option for both controls, I think everyone is happy.

[ramenite]

Re: NHL 11: A Game Harder Than Its Hardcore Fans (Kotaku)

Yep ramenite....I have that one and I've also watched the video multiple times. :-) It is an excellent book! Yes, at this point I usually try to find a setup I can drive and then just practice the race line and learn the corners. Which sims do you run?

rFactor mainly. The league I was in used it exclusively. I have them all, with the exception of iRacing. My wheel died, and I haven't gotten around to getting another one. I'm more rFacotr, LFS, and nKP, than something like grid, or Need for Speed. Although I am looking forward to GT5.

And don't even worry about setups. A setup will behave differently from someone just learning to drive, to just learning the track, from a decent driver, to a quick one. As far as differences in time from one setup to another once you learn to drive? Maybe a second.

[ramenite]

Re: NHL 11: A Game Harder Than Its Hardcore Fans (Kotaku)

Great example of the current general "have it easy" society we currently live in. The controls in NHL11 are intuitive, thats the key word right there. It takes only an hour if that to grow accustomed to what does what, and obviously practice will improve your skills over time.

Yes, and it's simple things you can do. For instance, on a power play. Get it down low from the point by banking it off the boards to get around a defender. The board play that now makes dump & chase a worthwhile thing to do. Or forget about the elaborate moves you can do, you can not at least open up the goalie and put the puck through the wickets.

And none of that stuff requires anything more than either a button press, or a couple moves on the skill stick. The one thing I wish I could find though, is some sort of list with ALL the moves you can do. Every once in a while I'll do something by accident, and wouldn't know how I did it. Like I had Crosby kick the puck to his stick and then roof it on a goalie.

[TUSS11]

The controls are definitely intuitive, to us video game players. But to someone who's not familiar with the 360 or PS3 controller, it exponentially increases the learner curve. That's why his friend was able to pick up the Wii hockey stick and be successful instantly. The Wii controller is less abstract when it comes to replicating specific motions, so new-comers can literally "pick up and play".