NHL 13 Delivers Major Innovations That Will Change the Way You Play the Game

[Steve_OS]

Click here for a higher resolution NHL 13 screenshot.

True Performance Skating and Hockey I.Q. Create Innovative New Gameplay Experience

GM Connected and NHL Moments Live Provide All-New Experiences that Connect Hockey Fans
to Their Friends and the Real-World of the NHL

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) announced today the key features for EA SPORTSTM NHL®13, promising the biggest change to the franchise since the introduction of the Skill Stick in NHL® 07. 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. NHL 13 will be available on September 11, 2012 in North America and September 14, 2012 in Europe.

“The NHL team has been a leader when it comes to innovation in the sports videogame category on this console generation by redefining player control with the introduction of the Skill Stick, creating connected experiences such as the EA SPORTS Hockey League and introducing real world physics to the team sports category,” says Dean Richards, General Manager, NHL, EA SPORTS. “With our feature set in NHL 13, hockey fans and sports gamers have a lot to be excited about as we are again going to deliver major innovations that will change the way you play the game.”

NHL 13 delivers an innovative new gameplay experience, accurately capturing the speed, creativity and strategy of today’s NHL through:

• True Performance Skating – A game-changing innovation for the franchise that adds physics-driven skating and over 1000 new animations. True Performance Skating authentically replicates the explosiveness, momentum and top end speed displayed by today’s NHL players. True Performance Skating combined with the Skill Stick, finally gives gamers access to the entire toolset of an NHL player, delivering unprecedented control and unlocking a level of creativity never before possible in a hockey videogame.
  
• EA SPORTS Hockey I.Q. – An innovative new A.I. system that governs the behaviors of players, goalies and team systems. In previous NHL games, players were only aware of skaters in their immediate proximity and goalies could only react to the player in control of the puck. With EA SPORTS Hockey I.Q., all players are now fully aware of every other player on the ice, resulting in quicker, smarter and more true-to-life decision-making. EA SPORTS Hockey IQ also delivers the deepest and most customizable set of real-world hockey systems and strategies ever for the franchise.

NHL 13 will deliver new experiences that connect hockey fans to their friends and to NHL hockey with:

• GM Connected – The ultimate fantasy league with friends. GM Connected takes the franchise’s most popular offline mode, Be a GM, and allows you to play with and against your friends in your own 30-team NHL. Whether you are a hardcore sports gamer or a hockey fan that moonlights as an armchair general manager, the mode offers unrivaled accessibility and depth by allowing players to manage, play or coach on the road to building your team’s legacy. GM’s can also take their experience with them with a mobile companion app, ensuring that they never miss a single moment.*
• NHL Moments Live – Rewrite or relive history as you replay some of the most thrilling moments from today’s NHL. NHL 13 evolves the concept introduced by other sports games, introducing each scenario with real-world NHL footage to bring players closer to the intensity of the moment. Moments from the 2011-12 NHL season will ship on disc and new moments from the 2012-13 NHL season will be added as and when available throughout the season.

Fans of the franchise can expect several other improvements and innovations in NHL 13, such as:

• Team-First Presentation, which customizes your NHL 13 experience based on your favorite NHL team
• The addition of Customizable EA SPORTS Hockey IQ allowing players to create and record their own player and team strategies to a level never before seen in the franchise.
• Improvements to core offline and online modes, including Hockey Ultimate Team, Be a Pro, EA SPORTS Hockey League, a refined on-ice presentation, and more.

NHL 13 Stanley Cup® Collector’s Edition Available for Pre-Order

Celebrate over 20 years of EA SPORTS NHL hockey with the first ever collector’s edition on this console generation. With Stanley Cup-inspired digital offerings, the NHL 13 Stanley Cup Collector’s Edition includes:

• Exclusive collectible Stanley Cup® tin featuring an embossed Stanley Cup image
• Two Stanley Cup® Theme Hockey Ultimate Team packs featuring randomized player items from the Western and Eastern Conference Champions
• Gold Jumbo Hockey Ultimate Team Pack (Regular) featuring 24 randomized items, including an exclusive Wayne Gretzky Hockey Ultimate Team Legend and six other rare items
• A CCM Boost Pack featuring the all-new CCM RBZ stick (For use in Be a Pro and EA SPORTS™ Hockey League)
• A 10% discount on a one-time purchase at shop.NHL.com
• A complete copy of NHL 13

MSRP: $79.99

Visit the EA SPORTS NHL 13 website for more details and other pre-order offers.

*App not available in France, Gibraltar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Libya, Morocco, Serbia and Montenegro, and Syria

[Fiddy]

first..



now, please for the love of god have this stuff translate well gameplay wise.

anything is better than what we have been playing the past so many years.

they just gave us a full plate today, hopefully we get more detail on certain things from here on out weekly.

sounds promising..

(crosses fingers)

my fav is the GM Mode online.. finally, will be able to play a season/franchise with all of our EASHL team members. i even like how it gives you the option to play or just coach. just hope this works out the gate and has no issues like what the NCAA Dynasty mode had last year.

[OddyOh]

Don't care about NHL Moments, rest sounds good...but it always sounds good this time of year.

[blinkfan77]

WOW! I can't WAIT to see gameplay footage.

[wildthing2022000]

I hope this means teams will play differently rather than the same team in different colors. I didn't play 12 after the monotony of 11 in which all the teams played exactly the same way.

[DJ]

This sounds great, now we need to see it in action. I'm hoping this means we will see a major difference between stars and grinders, and also see a difference in the way teams play the game.

Team-first presentation sounds similar to NCAA Stadium Sounds, at least the way it reads. Anything to bring more life to the game, I'm all for it.

[ch46647]

ALL NEW PHYSICS DRIVEN SKATING ENGINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Online BE A GM MODE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great day to be a hockey fan!!!

EDIT- I really didn't think NHL would be porting their franchise mode (Be a GM mode) online but looks like they did it! Hopefully Madden does the same this year with franchise mode!

[BlueNGold]

Hoooooly ****.

I'm ready to put in a pre-order. Fully in on this even after the first press release.