This hits the nail on the head. I've heard many people complain that NHL 11 isn't as good as NHL 10. I can point to one single thing as the cause. They made the game more realistic. It's much harder to go through an entire team deking your a$$ off and scoring highlight reel goals. A lot of people don't like it because that's what makes the game fun for them and other people love it because then when are able to do that it makes it that much more special.
Do people really want to play a game against a computer team that employs the trap and spend the game dumping and chasing and really having to work work work for maybe a goal or two? I don't think so in probably about 95% or the people out there.
I love the fact that now you have to make nice plays to score as much as you have to make nice dekes.
There does have to be a fine balance between realism & fun gameplay. Most individuals can usually mess around with the sliders to find a medium they are happy with. I think the best way developers can make a game feel realistic is in the broadcast presentation. This is one the key reasons the NBA 2K & MLB the Show series stand out. For me the lack of presentation is one of the weakest areas of NHL 11.
I have to disagree with your theory of playing full 20 minute periods. No amount of meddling with the sliders will give you realistic shot/goal stats over this length of time.
I love the title of this article and, personally, I think a 100% realistic game would be miserable. Think about it, there would be teams in the game that you would never want to play as because they wouldn't have a chance of winning. A single game would take hours to play. Don't even get me started on reviewing the fine print of EVERY single 100% realistic contract that you have with EVERY single one of your players. The games are convoluted and complicated enough already. Don't take out the ever shrinking bit of fun thats left in there.
Solid read but I disagree that you need to play full length games to get full length results or realistic gameplay. I never sim games in any of my dynasties or franchises but I also don't play full length games and I still get solid, realistic gameplay. Realism doesn't just pertain to full length games. And those gamers who call for more perfection have every right to. Perhaps some go about it the wrong way but there is nothing wrong with a gamer asking for more from his/her game.
Great article and very, very well written Stephen !. I will definitely be coming back for more.
Just a side note. You mentioned your "slider guruness" and I was wondering what you're currently using and if you can hook a brother up with some advice, or maybe even the settings themselves?.
Great article and very, very well written Stephen !. I will definitely be coming back for more.
Just a side note. You mentioned your "slider guruness" and I was wondering what you're currently using and if you can hook a brother up with some advice, or maybe even the settings themselves?.
Thanks,
Jonathan
They are on the slider forum...
and thanks for the kind words.
They are in the EA NHL Sliders sub-forum and are entitled "OBG's Organic Shooting Sliders" or something...
I like my games to be as realistic and authentic as they can be so that I may, within the limitations of a console, enjoy the experience of actually being in the game. I'll never be a basketball player like Kobe, so I want to control him and do the exact same things that he does in the NBA, for example. And by that, I don't mean leaping 50 feet in the air, doing a front flip and then dunking the ball. Like I said, I like realism and authenticity.
To me, it's all about being able to faithfully emulate the sports that I watch in real life. On the other hand, I don't go to the same extremes as some people on here, that like to control all the teams in the franchise modes, replicate the trades that occur in real life and such. They have every right to play the game in whichever fashion they choose to, obviously, but personally, the in-game universe is where I draw the realism line.