Bring back littman

[tgiordano]

He was very innovative at the time.

[Money99]

Quote: Originally Posted by tgiordano

He was very innovative at the time.

He sure was.
He was the one who got rid of the speed burst button. He created player roles so that snipers, danglers and bruisers played a different style on the ice.
He also got rid of CPU boosts and incorporated better AI as you moved up in difficulty.

NHL07 was fantastic in a lot of ways. I recall how if you fed a player with a poor one-timer pass, the recipient would not get off a good shot. Or, they'd be forced to accept the pass in a different manor resulting in a weak backhand, or wrist-shot.

But this is why Littman was moved to the NBA series.
NHL07 also had a producer (can't remember his name now - tall, skinny) who was moved to the Fight Night series. This guy shared the same philosophy's as Littman and the two of them kept the series on course (this was my perception of it anyway).

[GetThePuckOut]

Dean Richards?

[scitychamps87]

I feel like all Rammer cares about is keeping the casual fans engaged. But, when you don't have massive sales numbers, trying to appeal to casuals might be how you keep afloat. I'm not in gaming though so not entirely sure.

I wish the game would go back to building on its franchise modes and career modes. But, ah, 3s it is.

Sent from my XT1650 using Operation Sports mobile app

[actionhank]

I honestly don't think it matters who is heading the game. It's the same with all sports games right now...the direction is towards a more casual and fast-paced online style of play.

Rammer, Littman, it doesn't matter. It's most likely that the team has been told from EA "This is what we want from NHL 19 to consider it a success" and that likely doesn't include spending any more time than is needed on things that don't generate maximum revenue, which would be the online gameplay.

I just don't think EA has the team to split focus like that, which is why it seems things only come to Franchise mode after they can benefit online play. The team creator and player equipment customization only really came around once it was added to allow the online players to modify and create their own online teams/stadiums.

[JayhawkerStL]

I posted in another thread here about this. Of all the sports, hockey has the longest history of catering to non-fans of the sport. Hockey has the worst rating of major sports, yet hockey games outpace their popularity because video game hockey has always considered to be a blast to play.

The move to more realism has probably peeled off a fair number of sales. For many, hockey when from a must have game for any system, to a game that got overly complicated. It's why the NHL 94 controls got added at some point.

I think the faster, more violent game sells the NHL to new fans better than a more sim focused game does. If you are already invested in the NHL they don't need you playing the games. But I was a complete non-NHL fan that became interested because of those arcade hockey games.

But even the other sports benefitted from very accessible and arcade friendly versions of their sports in the 80's and 90's. Sim games do not draw in new fans, they draw in current fans. Worse, they tend to repel casual sports fans.

Pro sports cannot exist without the casual fan, the guys that just want to come out and cheer for the home team, but don't actually know the name of more than a couple of players. But when a team nails the experience, whether it be a fanatic stadium or arena presentation, or a team that is suddenly hot and everyone is going gaga over, attendance and TV ratings go up. And that increase is from people that can live without the sport.

Video games are no different. AAA sports games really should be about catering to the casual fan first, and each sport has a different way to do that.

[handheldpictures]

Here's the problem. There are those that want a "realistic" hockey game. Well if that's what you want, then go and play "real" hockey. A video game should first and foremost be designed to be fun, and Littman, in my opinion, had it nailed with NHL 10. It was fast, it was responsive, it had big hits, and was back and forth fun.

But then a guy named Ramjagsingh took over and attempted to make it more "realistic". Well we all know what happened with that approach, and 8 years later are now back to where we once were. NHL 19 has the possibility of being the best game since NHL 10 if what they're touting holds true with the RPM, since it's basically what they already had in 10. Only time will tell of course, but fingers crossed that this game will be fast and fun once again.

[actionhank]

Quote: Originally Posted by handheldpictures

Here's the problem. There are those that want a "realistic" hockey game. Well if that's what you want, then go and play "real" hockey. A video game should first and foremost be designed to be fun, and Littman, in my opinion, had it nailed with NHL 10. It was fast, it was responsive, it had big hits, and was back and forth fun. But then a guy named Ramjagsingh took over and attempted to make it more "realistic". Well we all know what happened with that approach, and 8 years later are now back to where we once were. NHL 19 has the possibility of being the best game since NHL 10 if what they're touting holds true with the RPM, since it's basically what they already had in 10. Only time will tell of course, but fingers crossed that this game will be fast and fun once again.

Well, that's a pretty ignorant view...fun fact: I do play real hockey. Doesn't mean I can't expect my hockey game to also be realistic. The two aren't mutually exclusive.

Your brand of fun is your own, and that's fine. If you want big hits, guys flying around at 50mph and 4th line grinders scoring easy wristers, that's up to you. What I want is fundamentally different, but shouldn't be a problem either.

That's why I liked the slider idea. It lets you shape the game to be more of what you want. But the sliders can't save the overall poor AI.

I don't care if people want a fun and arcade oriented game. That's awesome for them. I want hockey to be for everyone. But I don't need you to sit here and tell people like me that if I want realism, I should lace 'em up.