Women's Olympic Ice Hockey Stars and New NHL Legends Join Roster for EA Sports NHL 13

[Steve_OS]

Four-time Olympic Medalists Angela Ruggiero and Hayley Wickenheiser become First Ever Female Athletes Added as Playable Characters in EA SPORTS NHL Franchise

NHL Hall of Famers Doug Gilmour and Jari Kurri Added, Along with NHL Legend Dominik Hasek

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA) announced today that for the first time ever in a professional league simulation sports video game, EA SPORTS NHL 13 has added female athletes as playable characters. Former Team USA superstar Angela Ruggiero will join former Team Canada great Hayley Wickenheiser, both four-time Olympic Ice Hockey medalists, as playable legends in NHL 13. NHL Hall of Famers Doug Gilmour, Jari Kurri, and NHL legend Dominik Hasek will also be added to the roster of legends which includes the likes of Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. The NHL 13 demo is available for download now via Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. Promising the biggest year on year innovation to the franchise on this console generation, NHL 13 will be available on September 11, 2012 in North America and September 14, 2012 in Europe.

The addition of women’s hockey legends as playable characters within the EA SPORTS NHL franchise is the continuation of a commitment that the development team made to create greater representation for women’s hockey beginning with NHL 12.

“With the release of NHL 12 we added generic female characters in our Be a Pro mode based on a request from a 14-yr old female fan who emailed our staff because she felt underrepresented as a hockey videogame fan,” said Dean Richards, General Manager, NHL, EA SPORTS. “This year we are very excited to continue our effort of creating a more representative experience for female hockey fans by adding two of the greatest female athletes to ever play the game in Wickenheiser and Ruggiero to NHL 13.”

“The EA SPORTS NHL franchise took a big step last year by including female characters to create a more inclusive experience for female hockey fans,” said Hayley Wickenheiser. “I’m excited to be a part of NHL 13 and hope that the addition of women’s hockey legends will encourage greater participation in hockey from young women everywhere.”

Legends Integration in NHL 13

Legends in NHL 13 will be integrated across several modes:

• Be A Legend – gamers will experience the glory of playing their entire Be A Pro career as a legend as they attempt to shatter the most impressive records in hockey, achieve legendary milestones and complete legends tasks.
• Legends teams – Play as the legends team, Team Ruggiero or Team Wickenheiser, which are comprised of legends and current NHL greats in head-to-head play – within Play Now, Online and Battle for the Cup modes. Players on Team Ruggiero and Team Wickenheiser were selected by each athlete, respectively.
• Hockey Ultimate Team & Be a GM – Gamers will have the ability to add legends to any team roster in Be a GM mode, or collect ultra-rare legends cards and use them within their Hockey Ultimate Team experience.

Headlined by all-new True Performance Skating, and supported by an innovative new A.I. system dubbed EA SPORTS Hockey I.Q., NHL 13 will deliver a revamped gameplay experience that accurately captures the speed, creativity and strategy of NHL hockey. In addition, NHL 13 will also deliver new experiences that connect hockey fans to their friends and the real world of hockey with the all-new GM Connected and NHL Moments Live modes.

[Pezell04x]

Meh, I never play legends modes. Does anyone actually play them?

[ComaFaction]

I'd be interested if they really blew out the mode, with classic teams, or at least a much larger roster of legends. NBA2k got it right with legends, imo.

[liberaluser]

EA creates real female athletes for NHL 13 yet doesn't even bother to make appropiate character models for them. They just recycled the same ridiculous wide model they use on the male skaters. Pretty insulting.

And where did Angela's god given breasts disappear to? EA thinks it's great to give video game girls ridiculous proportions yet won't even accurately represent a real woman's womaness. SMH.

[gopher_guy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Pezell04x

Meh, I never play legends modes. Does anyone actually play them?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but these Legends are not a 'Mode', correct?

Everyone always calls it the Legends Mode, but it's just a playable team in the game, right? Or is there an actual game mode that I have missed? lol

[gopher_guy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Steve_OS

“With the release of NHL 12 we added generic female characters in our Be a Pro mode based on a request from a 14-yr old female fan who emailed our staff because she felt underrepresented as a hockey videogame fan,”

This kinda made me chuckle. Dozens and dozens of people clamor for fixes to things that are broken, without more than a peep from devs.

Devs: "14 year old girl wants something? GET IT DONE, DAMMIT!"

[FBeaule04]

Quote: Originally Posted by gopher_guy

This kinda made me chuckle. Dozens and dozens of people clamor for fixes to things that are broken, without more than a peep from devs. Devs: "14 year old girl wants something? GET IT DONE, DAMMIT!"

Maybe we should ask our girlfriends or wifes to send a message to EA asking for changes. Maybe my wife should say to the Devs. that hearing me cursing every two words is bad for young kids development.

I think we might have something there!

[Pezell04x]

Quote: Originally Posted by gopher_guy

Correct me if I'm wrong, but these Legends are not a 'Mode', correct? Everyone always calls it the Legends Mode, but it's just a playable team in the game, right? Or is there an actual game mode that I have missed? lol

In 12 there was an actual mode. You had to unlock legends through earning a specific achievement (I think, I never cared enough to do it) and then it was essentially Be A Pro with a legend and you could pick any team to play on.