NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

[Ryan97]

Re: NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zPbD2bAwStc

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6fYkBoxrDoE

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0zDIBOfG23Y

Same crap different year. We have heard all of this before. They have a format that works an they will stick to it. Don't expect anything much different then we already have.

We need a massive AI overhaul. It's been years since this game was even remotely challenging.

Always been a great party game though. But nothing more.

[RoyalBoyle78]

Re: NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

I want this game now.

[Zobitembois]

Re: NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

We're so hopelessy craving for a good hockey video game that even NHL 15 can seduce us with its fake tits and make up.
And the morning after, when we'll wake up from our first night spent with NHL 15, we'll see it without make up, without the nice lights of our local videogame shop, and we'll find it disgusting. And we'll all say to ourselves like one person : "
I was just getting over my conflictual relationship with NHL 14 and I just fall, again, in the same trap. "

[drog1602]

Re: NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

I'll say the same thing I've said about the last couple versions, they need to address neutral zone pressure as a priority. That being said, I enjoy the game warts and all, as I've also said many times. I get that it's easier to be negative all the time, I also get that it's easier to hate on EA since they generally haven't done themselves many favors over the years and not just with sports games, but I am not going to pick apart the game every year and act all dramatic about it because despite the issues it has, I still get a vast amount of enjoyment out of it since it's reboot last gen.

It may not improve leaps and bounds every cycle, but reality? No sports game does, MLB The Show and NBA2k included. These guys have 10 months pretty much to get a game done and shipped from year to year and that goes for all the yearly sports titles. I don't expect them to reinvent the wheel every single year, and if people looked at it realistically, they shouldn't either.

My biggest issue with the game is CPU neutral zone pressure, I don't know how many times I need to repeat that before people get that I don't think the game is perfect or flawless by any means. That being said however it is the best hockey title all around including the past few iterations of 2k's game, the one thing that would make it near perfect is NHL2k3's AI, or at the least something comparable to it. If that doesn't happen year one on the current gen systems, sure it'll be a tough pill to swallow, even still I don't think personally I'll have a hard time finding sliders that still allow me to enjoy the game.

EA NHL AI has been this way for a long time though. I look at The Show or NBA2K and see the larger improvements in a shorter time period, that gets frustrating. I think we all want the best hockey experience we can get, last year was a step backwards for the AI for me. I found myself play NHL13 more, that should never happen.

[DoubleDizzle]

Re: NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

if you really want to show EA that they need to get better defensive AI or neutral zone pressure, or a complete overhaul, DON'T BUY THE GAME! hit them in the pocketbooks.

but, i can almost guarantee that all of us will buy the game, like we do every year, and they'll continue to dish out a mediocre game because they have no competition.

i'm a fan of the mediocre game, personally. i enjoy it every year and don't get caught up in the drama of 'FIX THIS EA, it's not sim' garbage. it's really the only game i play from Sept-Mar, then i trade it in before the trade-in value drops. the $30 it costs me to play it for 6-7 months is totally worth it - $5/mth! i don't know if there's anything i'm paying $5/mth for that could cause me as much frustration as it seems to for you guys.

[DoubleDizzle]

Re: NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

redshirt_EA said it - a guy reviewing the game on a financial website is going to have way more influence on the game than any hardcore gamer posting in the OS forums. hit them in the pocketbooks to really make an impact.

[SwinginAs12]

Re: NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

On a different note, Marchy's face looks spot on at 49 seconds. Good to see he finally has an authentic face.

[PensDynasty87]

Re: NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

I for one get plenty of enjoyed hours out of the NHL series games. I like most people have issues with the game, esp 14 but I'm not one to ridicule ea's product year in and year out. Instead of being negative I just play the damn thing and try to adjust things as I can. After all it is only a video game and the only hockey game at that. Yes neutral zone ai needs fixed, hell there's a lot of things that need fixed but unless one of us gets a job with ea or they finally start listening to people, it's just gonna be the same game for atleast a couple years, with new features as they say. But as I said I'm still gonna get enjoyment out of 15 and prob 16. Will boycotting the game work, maybe but it's not gonna stop the casual gamer from buying the game.

[Russo]

Re: NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

It's 2014. It's unacceptable to say "this is the first instalment in the next-fen series" to defend EA for a poor game. The video I posted plays like NHL last gen with a makeover. Am I really going to notice the concession stand guy or face paint on a fans face? No, worry about what's on the ice between the boards. Same with Madden, all these peripherals features to give an authentic NFL experience. The actual gameplay mechanics suck and are outdated.

The problem with the NHL series is that EA has the wrong staff pitching ideas for this game whether its lack of budget or creativity, they're being lazy. I don't care about all the hours and work they put in...the end result looks dull and they need to change their thinking hats. I mean, their NHL 15 trailer has ridiculous looking hits especially the one with Kadri warping around the defenseman looking like a rag roll and the skating still looks lame (still gliding on ice)

Look where FIFA is today. FIFA 14 is a spectacular game. A solid foundation to improve on where NHL 07 engine got old, and fast (like by NHL 10...)

[canucksss]

Re: NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

if you really want to show EA that they need to get better defensive AI or neutral zone pressure, or a complete overhaul, DON'T BUY THE GAME! hit them in the pocketbooks.

but, i can almost guarantee that all of us will buy the game, like we do every year, and they'll continue to dish out a mediocre game because they have no competition.

Very True except that second paragraph. I did not buy last year... and I dont regret it after reading all the comments both from both sides. If ever there's not much improvement in AI's defense or modes that I like to play, I will buy this game...only around March or April where there's second hand game. Also, by that time, people here already have the right Roster and Slider working. Since usually, it takes 3-4 months after the release where EA will address the issues of their game.

[JimmyDeicide]

Re: NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

Footage of 2 dude bros, locked on pro, default sliders of an alpha build 5+ months from being finished and gold. Let's judge how the game is going to play without slider tweaks and without even finished being made. GREAT IDEA!

Which is how 95% of people play the game and why we get the same rehashed **** every year with bigger hits more fights bigger dekes because thats what the NHL is like, all fighting and big hits and people knocking the crap out of each other between whistles.

[SpectralThundr]

Re: NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

Which is how 95% of people play the game and why we get the same rehashed **** every year with bigger hits more fights bigger dekes because thats what the NHL is like, all fighting and big hits and people knocking the crap out of each other between whistles.

If you're playing online only against the masses of casuals are you surprised that's how they play? My experience with NHL since 07 has been the opposite but I play offline with sim sliders and play as realistically sim as a video game will allow.

[actionhank]

Re: NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

It's 2014. It's unacceptable to say "this is the first instalment in the next-fen series" to defend EA for a poor game. The video I posted plays like NHL last gen with a makeover. Am I really going to notice the concession stand guy or face paint on a fans face? No, worry about what's on the ice between the boards. Same with Madden, all these peripherals features to give an authentic NFL experience. The actual gameplay mechanics suck and are outdated.

The problem with the NHL series is that EA has the wrong staff pitching ideas for this game whether its lack of budget or creativity, they're being lazy. I don't care about all the hours and work they put in...the end result looks dull and they need to change their thinking hats. I mean, their NHL 15 trailer has ridiculous looking hits especially the one with Kadri warping around the defenseman looking like a rag roll and the skating still looks lame (still gliding on ice)

Look where FIFA is today. FIFA 14 is a spectacular game. A solid foundation to improve on where NHL 07 engine got old, and fast (like by NHL 10...)

I don't think it's unacceptable at all. The year doesn't matter. Finding a way to produce a product for two completely different systems does.
They have to make sure the things they make for the most part will still work on an older system, because there are a lot of people who don't have next-gen systems yet.
Look at it this way. What would you do? Throw out what could be 1/3 of your total sales to focus just on next-gen, or split your team up and accomplish less on both systems development?
I've played FIFA 15 on PS4 and it doesn't feel much different from what I've seen on my PC version, which didn't get the new Ignite engine.
EA's job is still to make money, so they're going to do what they can to maximize sales, and if that means waiting another year to drop last-gen systems, that's what they're likely to do. It's not an excuse, it's the reality of it all. I've been pretty critical of EA, but there are some things that i think people get too mad about.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zPbD2bAwStc

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6fYkBoxrDoE

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0zDIBOfG23Y

Same crap different year. We have heard all of this before. They have a format that works an they will stick to it. Don't expect anything much different then we already have.

We need a massive AI overhaul. It's been years since this game was even remotely challenging.

Always been a great party game though. But nothing more.

The surprising part is how much of those goalie animations are still in NHL14...also, i will say, i'm so glad they got rid of the "instant stop" after scoring a goal. Lordy it looked awful.

[pm83]

Re: NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

One thing that concerns me is that will we ever see truly new next-gen NHL? When thinking about earlier transition from old-gen (Xbox, PS2) to next-gen (Xbox360) the leap with NHL07 was a big one. It was really a new game. A fresh core to build series for years to come.

So what's the situation now when we are on the edge of next transition? With NHL15 it seems that we will get updated NHL build on that same "old" core. Trailers we've seen have some sweet new stuff but at the same time a lot of that "old" on 'em. This can be seen when looking those linked videos of 07 to 10 for example.

To me NHL07 is still "the game" when thinking about latest releases of EA. I know it sounds odd because when you compare 07 to 14...well yeah. But there's a good reason behind it. And the reason is that 07 was truly a new game. It really hooked me from the start by it's never-seen-before-demo. Forums were filled with hyped hockeyheads talking about Canes going against Oilers in this amazing shootout. It looked new and it felt new.

With NHL15 we won't be getting that fresh new feel. And who knows how long they will build on this core now that they've made transition with it instead of creating something totally new?

[SpectralThundr]

Re: NHL 15 Video, Screenshots & Blog Featuring the Superstar Skill Stick

One thing that concerns me is that will we ever see truly new next-gen NHL? When thinking about earlier transition from old-gen (Xbox, PS2) to next-gen (Xbox360) the leap with NHL07 was a big one. It was really a new game. A fresh core to build series for years to come.

So what's the situation now when we are on the edge of next transition? With NHL15 it seems that we will get updated NHL build on that same "old" core. Trailers we've seen have some sweet new stuff but at the same time a lot of that "old" on 'em. This can be seen when looking those linked videos of 07 to 10 for example.

To me NHL07 is still "the game" when thinking about latest releases of EA. I know it sounds odd because when you compare 07 to 14...well yeah. But there's a good reason behind it. And the reason is that 07 was truly a new game. It really hooked me from the start by it's never-seen-before-demo. Forums were filled with hyped hockeyheads talking about Canes going against Oilers in this amazing shootout. It looked new and it felt new.

With NHL15 we won't be getting that fresh new feel. And who knows how long they will build on this core now that they've made transition with it instead of creating something totally new?

I disagree with this. You're getting all 30 arenas this time out, not 1 generic with just a different center ice logo slapped on. You're getting NBC commentary and presentation, complete with outside arena shots, greenscreening of Doc and Edzo and Ferrero between the benches. 2 refs and 2 lines men finally in an EA NHL game. Refinements to an already solid skating engine from 14, better looking and behaving puck physics that have never graced this series. better crowds and crowd reactions to what's happening on ice among other presentation enhancements. If that isn't enough to make it feel fresh from last gen, then people really need to lower their expectations.

What did people honestly want them to do this gen still needing to put out a game on 360 and PS3 at least for another year? Toss out everything and start over? On a limited budget compared to Madden since that is their flagship and always will be.

I'm really starting to get the idea that people just do not look at current sports game development realistically at all. They have this pedestal or heights that their expectations are at going into this gen without really understanding that the hardware itself is already ho hum compared to a high end PC in the first place. Never mind the realities of how much these games costs to produce and market at this point.