Pucking Ridiculous: Dear 2K, You Can't Give Up on NHL 2K

[peigone]

Quote: Originally Posted by Eddie1967

I don't agree with EA's series being better

Yeah, that's my position as well. For every buggy and broken aspect of 2K's game, EA has an equally cheesy and arcade aspect to its series. The thing is gamers will put up with cheesy and arcade, but not buggy and broken.

[tabulaRasa]

Quote: Originally Posted by Money99

Same here brother. But 2K3 was developed by Treyarch. Unfortunately, they were hired by Activision to develop a Spiderman game and Kush was hired on for 2K4 - 2K9. You're always going to get a different feel after you change developers. But I still wonder what could have been if Treyarch stayed on.

Well 2k3 was great, but 2k5 was the best hockey game ever made when it came out. Total concept. Pure brilliance. So Kush did great with that and 2k6 on XBOX.

I think management ****ed up with 2k7 and onward. But think about it , 50% still bought EAs game when it sucked balls and 2K owned them.
2K had bank passing, free passing , D stick controls , dynamic goalies, EA also bought 2Ks proven PBP tandem, board play, etc WAY BEFORE ea. The lack of competetion on the next gen consoles worry me. Just look at MAdden...

[savoie2006]

I'm gonna miss playing both games this year and I really hope that 2K/VC come back rebuilt and strong on at least the 360. I'm not gonna get my hopes up though and at least EA is making steady/serious strides with their game. Can't wait to see sports games in 3D. Just imagine playing as the goalie and the puck flying at you in 3D.

[RealmK]

Quote: Originally Posted by tabulaRasa

Well 2k3 was great, but 2k5 was the best hockey game ever made when it came out. Total concept. Pure brilliance. So Kush did great with that and 2k6 on XBOX. I think management ****ed up with 2k7 and onward. But think about it , 50% still bought EAs game when it sucked balls and 2K owned them. 2K had bank passing, free passing , D stick controls , dynamic goalies, EA also bought 2Ks proven PBP tandem, board play, etc WAY BEFORE ea. The lack of competetion on the next gen consoles worry me. Just look at MAdden...

They, they being Bish, management and the PR department, lost their vision for the series and have been fumbling around ever since. The second Ben started talking about cinemotion and party games etc. and how "great" it was going to be, is esentially the same instance that I knew the series was in trouble. Fast foward a few years the series is on the verge of extinction and from the early videos of the Wii version of 2k11 looks more arcadey then ever.

Competition is a nice thing, choice between titles is a great thing. People put so much stock into competition though and its imo not as big a deal as people make it out to be. It comes down to a few things, budget for your title, developers with vision and a plan, and decent enough marketing to get the news out there. EA has had a direction for the NHL series for this gen and has continually moved forward and improved the title yearly. Granted some additions have not been huge leaps year to year, still though the title HAS improved every year since 07.

They've done this without having any competition from 2k at all as NHL2k has esentially been on a downslide since its first appearance on this gen of consoles. Now I'm sure you're saying to yourself "but Realm, 2k8 is great!" Thats all well and good, I know there's folks that loved pro control and think 2k8 was dandy, I'm not one of them and sadly a series I once held very highly has mattered less and less to me through this console generation's lifecycle.

With that being said though, its not too late and you need look no further than EA as the perfect example of that. Who honestly though at the height of the PS2/Xbox1 era that EA would turn it around, focus on the community feedback and make a more realistic hockey title that still had enough elements to cater to the casual crowd as well, all while making sure their game is above all fun to play.

All I ask of 2k is to take a page out of the EA NHL team's playbook, make a hockey game that looks next gen, and more importantly FEELS next gen with solid, responsive controls, skating, and an emphasis on authenticy and sim and those wayward fans will gladly welcome 2k's brand of hockey back with open arms.

Incidently OBG, great article, look foward to future iterations of Pucking Ridiculous.

[tabulaRasa]

Quote: Originally Posted by RealmK

They, they being Bish, management and the PR department, lost their vision for the series and have been fumbling around ever since. The second Ben started talking about cinemotion and party games etc. and how "great" it was going to be, is esentially the same instance that I knew the series was in trouble. Fast foward a few years the series is on the verge of extinction and from the early videos of the Wii version of 2k11 looks more arcadey then ever. Competition is a nice thing, choice between titles is a great thing. People put so much stock into competition though and its imo not as big a deal as people make it out to be. It comes down to a few things, budget for your title, developers with vision and a plan, and decent enough marketing to get the news out there. EA has had a direction for the NHL series for this gen and has continually moved forward and improved the title yearly. Granted some additions have not been huge leaps year to year, still though the title HAS improved every year since 07. They've done this without having any competition from 2k at all as NHL2k has esentially been on a downslide since its first appearance on this gen of consoles. Now I'm sure you're saying to yourself "but Realm, 2k8 is great!" Thats all well and good, I know there's folks that loved pro control and think 2k8 was dandy, I'm not one of them and sadly a series I once held very highly has mattered less and less to me through this console generation's lifecycle. With that being said though, its not too late and you need look no further than EA as the perfect example of that. Who honestly though at the height of the PS2/Xbox1 era that EA would turn it around, focus on the community feedback and make a more realistic hockey title that still had enough elements to cater to the casual crowd as well, all while making sure their game is above all fun to play. All I ask of 2k is to take a page out of the EA NHL team's playbook, make a hockey game that looks next gen, and more importantly FEELS next gen with solid, responsive controls, skating, and an emphasis on authenticy and sim and those wayward fans will gladly welcome 2k's brand of hockey back with open arms. Incidently OBG, great article, look foward to future iterations of Pucking Ridiculous.

Great post, and so true.
Btw, never liked 2k8s controls over EAs (09). 2K8 still had a sim approach engine wise and in prinicpal, something 2k9 onwards , atleast to me, didn´t have.

[kerosene31]

Sadly, there was a good hockey sim under the hood in 2k9 and 10. There were just too many AI problems and other issues that unfortunately never got worked out. If they had the resources to keep refining it year to year I think it could have been a fantastic game, but unfortunately I doubt we'll ever see it.

It took EA 3 versions to get from garbage (NHL 07) to a great game in NHL 10. Given 2ks limited resources, it would probably take a lot longer. They lost a few years as the series sat in limbo and they never recovered.