NHL 14 News: Cover Vote, Pre-Order Bonuses and More - Wiggy's Blog

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Wiggy's Blog

NHL 14 News: Cover Vote, Pre-Order Bonuses and More Stuck

Posted on May 30, 2013 at 04:12 PM.

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Heading into the third round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the four favorites to win it all are the only remaining teams. Detroit put up more of a fight over Chicago than I thought they would, but PIttsburgh and LA seemed like locks to me. I was actually surprised that the Rangers didn't pull off the upset, but Boston established the early series lead and never looked back. Then again, the Rangers being ousted means we get to see Torterella upset (and fired), which always makes for a good time.

With NHL 14 just around the corner (and with it likely being shown at E3), take a look at these NHL 14 news items:

Cover Vote Down to Two (Goalies!)

The NHL 14 cover vote is down to two, and they're both goalies. Either Martin Brodeur or Sergei Bobrovsky will join the likes of Mike Richter and John Vanbiesbrouck as goalies who have graced the cover of an EA NHL product. Kinda crazy that they beat out both Pavel Datsyuk and John Tavares, but it'll be nice to see a goalie on the cover. I wonder if it means they'll gin up some feature for goalies in the game.

The cover vote final four was also shown in NHL '94 format, if you haven't seen that video. Ah, memories.

Pre-Order Bonuses

NHL 14 announced it's pre-order bonuses, with EB/Gamestop, Best Buy/Future Shop, Amazon, Origin and others getting unique incentives for you to buy the game at their store.

EB / Gamestop: EA Ultimate Pass (24 HUT gold packs over 24 weeks), FatHead sticker sheet, and two "additional waves" of unannounced content

Amazon: Both the Warrior and CCM player packs, consisting of boost items and equipment for Be-A-Pro and EASHL

Best Buy / Future Shop: Easton player pack, consisting of boost items and equipment for Be-A-Pro and EASHL

Origin: Goalie boosts for your Be-A-Pro and EASHL goalie character

NHL 14 Enforcer Engine Details

In case you missed it, EA posted a little article about some "Easter Eggs" from their previous trailer, where they clarified the following four things about fighting in NHL 14:

1) All of the fighting takes place in third-person
2) There are post-fight celebrations, so you can taunt and work up the crowd.
3) Everyone on the ice, including goalies and refs, are live, so they will jostle and shove as you fight.
4) Damage to the fighters (black eyes, lumps, bruises) will last for the entire game.

Expect to see more about the enforcer engine in early June.

NHL 14 vs. Next-Gen Consoles

I'm curious: are any of you in the OS community considering not getting NHL 14 because of the fact that next-gen consoles won't be backwards compatible? With the game shipping (likely) about two months before the new machines are out, do you think it might possibly hurt sales? Will you keep your old system hooked up to keep playing it, even if you buy a new machine? What about the fact that there will be no next-gen hockey till next year? Let me know what you think, OS!

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Comments

# 1 believeinnow @ May 30

I see you missed the new NHL 14 screenshot they released with Cover Vote finalist Martin Brodeur. The EA SPORTS blog did a post on him and included a new image. According to their facebook page, they'll have an article with Bobrovsky up and chances are, there will be an image of him too.

# 2 GlennN @ May 31

I'll be holding onto my 360 for awhile to see how the new consoles shake out, but for the first time since NHL 10, I'll pass on the pre-ordering. For me, NHL 10 was the peak of the series. There has been very little change of note (I only play BeAGM mode, so that is all I am referring to). This time, I'll wait and see if there are any real changes before I plunk down my $60. I've had buyer's regret too many times in the past few years!

# 3 JoedicyMichael @ Jun 1

The fact that everyone is live is soooo cool! Can they also break out a fight too??

# 4 gamerk2 @ Jun 2

Should be quite clear now the cover vote is rigged.

# 5 enice128 @ Jun 6

I wasnt goona get nhl 14 for that simple reason of then NO hockey till the next gens come out. But now i dont know if i can live w/o NHL for an entire year! Hmmmmmm....now what! i sold my 360 to fund the ps4 when i trade in my ps3 after the mlb season is over & stop playing this years copy of the show. Decisions, decisions!!!