NHL 15 Screenshots - American Airlines Center & Rogers Arena

[SpectralThundr]

Quote: Originally Posted by spidertour02

I highly doubt that the quality of the crowd in the nosebleeds is the same as the quality of the crowd right against the glass. The reason it's dark in the upper areas of every arena is so that they can hide the lower-quality models of the crowd and save CPU resources.

I already suggested this is the likely reason. Apparently people would rather the game run at 30 FPS so they can bitch about that instead.

[bigwill33]

It may in fact be due to framerate concerns/issues, but until EA and their NHL producers come out and confirm it to be the case then it is simply all speculation by us.

EA are the ones touting the 19,000 fans. They are the ones releasing these pics, and only these pics. There is nothing more we can do other than point out what is good and bad in them. We don't have a clue as to why anything is the way it is yet and speculating is just unfair at this point. Unless it comes from someone who worked on the game it is not fact.

Opinions on the good and bad are fair, especially when it is all you have to go on. But a hall of fame play-by-play broadcaster once told me that speculation from anyone other than a pure expert is unfair to anyone and everyone else involved because it is not derived from truth. Meaning, in this instance, unless we know for certain the framerate is affected by the lighting it is not just to presume that is the case. But what we can say for certain is that in our opinion it is too dark compared to real life in most of these arena shots.

[socalbeast08]

i hope chicago has the united center or i wont buy nhl 15.

[SpectralThundr]

Quote: Originally Posted by bigwill33

It may in fact be due to framerate concerns/issues, but until EA and their NHL producers come out and confirm it to be the case then it is simply all speculation by us. EA are the ones touting the 19,000 fans. They are the ones releasing these pics, and only these pics. There is nothing more we can do other than point out what is good and bad in them. We don't have a clue as to why anything is the way it is yet and speculating is just unfair at this point. Unless it comes from someone who worked on the game it is not fact. Opinions on the good and bad are fair, especially when it is all you have to go on. But a hall of fame play-by-play broadcaster once told me that speculation from anyone other than a pure expert is unfair to anyone and everyone else involved because it is not derived from truth. Meaning, in this instance, unless we know for certain the framerate is affected by the lighting it is not just to presume that is the case. But what we can say for certain is that in our opinion it is too dark compared to real life in most of these arena shots.

EA, Take Two, or any other publisher would never come out and say "We did this because frame rate" It would piss off MS and Sony who are considered partners in some sense of the word.

I think people forget that we as gamers are spoiled with the access we have to previews, information, direct forums to the developers and all the gaming news sites that have sprung up with the internet and social media getting to the point it's at.

You aren't entitled to know every single reason a design decision was made be it for NHL or any other game.

Which is why I say people come off as entitled these days, personally I'm old enough to remember pre internet entirely where the only information you got was either from one of the few monthly publications at the time, most of which are no longer even published due to how much the industry and how we access information has changed in recent years.

Seriously, people honestly don't know how good they have it now.

[Morry83]

Quote: Originally Posted by hogfanhw81

Too many fans in the AAC! They rarely (if ever) sell out. Seriously though as others stated it looks spot on.

Ohhh, get outta here. Have you even been to a Stars game recently?

[bigwill33]

Quote: Originally Posted by SpectralThundr

EA, Take Two, or any other publisher would never come out and say "We did this because frame rate" It would piss off MS and Sony who are considered partners in some sense of the word. I think people forget that we as gamers are spoiled with the access we have to previews, information, direct forums to the developers and all the gaming news sites that have sprung up with the internet and social media getting to the point it's at. You aren't entitled to know every single reason a design decision was made be it for NHL or any other game. Which is why I say people come off as entitled these days, personally I'm old enough to remember pre internet entirely where the only information you got was either from one of the few monthly publications at the time, most of which are no longer even published due to how much the industry and how we access information has changed in recent years. Seriously, people honestly don't know how good they have it now.

It's not being spoiled, it is called marketing. And it advanced rapidly in the last decade due to competition.

Back in the 1990's you would get a double-sided postcard in the mail from EA with 2 or 3 screen shots from the game and a number to order it from along with the release date.

With the rise of the internet and competition coming into play companies began interacting and reaching out to the communities. Fan sites were abundant, I should know, I worked at one of the biggest for over a decade. What ended up occurring was more transparency than ever. Feedback was obtained making for better products. No longer were the companies guessing on what directions to take their franchises, now they had solid proof on what consumers wanted.

Taking it one step further, game developers employed people to interact with the communities (something I am also very familiar with). They still do this to an extent, as most of you know. During these interactions it was a race and a war to get your information out that you wanted and keep other things tight to your chest so that the competition can't steal your ideas. Non-disclosure agreements are very common in this industry. However, betas of the games were often given out and over the course of the early to mid 2000's there was usually ample amounts of media to find leading up to the release of a sports game.

This is no longer the case, however. Competition has died off and monopolies are common. There are still some of the behind-the-scenes dealings and interactions occurring, sure, but not anything like before. Budgets are streamlined now as a result. Having no competition means you can pick where to spend your budget more easily. The thinking appears to be that with only one game on the market per sport that there is not much of a reason to release anything other than hype trailers and a few of the very best screen grabs.

So, I wouldn't call it entitled at all. I would call it more of a scaling back from the gaming companies, simply because they can. And please never confuse progression for entitlement again. By your logic people that drive anywhere feel entitled because decades ago we all traveled by horseback or walked and got scurvy on the Oregon Trail. When progression is made there shouldn't be such long periods of mediocracy or recessions. When these things occur there is a problem with the overall system and you are not bettering yourself as a company, person, society or what have you.

[SpectralThundr]

Quote: Originally Posted by bigwill33

It's not being spoiled, it is called marketing. And it advanced rapidly in the last decade due to competition. Back in the 1990's you would get a double-sided postcard in the mail from EA with 2 or 3 screen shots from the game and a number to order it from along with the release date. With the rise of the internet and competition coming into play companies began interacting and reaching out to the communities. Fan sites were abundant, I should know, I worked at one of the biggest for over a decade. What ended up occurring was more transparency than ever. Feedback was obtained making for better products. No longer were the companies guessing on what directions to take their franchises, now they had solid proof on what consumers wanted. Taking it one step further, game developers employed people to interact with the communities (something I am also very familiar with). They still do this to an extent, as most of you know. During these interactions it was a race and a war to get your information out that you wanted and keep other things tight to your chest so that the competition can't steal your ideas. Non-disclosure agreements are very common in this industry. However, betas of the games were often given out and over the course of the early to mid 2000's there was usually ample amounts of media to find leading up to the release of a sports game. This is no longer the case, however. Competition has died off and monopolies are common. There are still some of the behind-the-scenes dealings and interactions occurring, sure, but not anything like before. Budgets are streamlined now as a result. Having no competition means you can pick where to spend your budget more easily. The thinking appears to be that with only one game on the market per sport that there is not much of a reason to release anything other than hype trailers and a few of the very best screen grabs. So, I wouldn't call it entitled at all. I would call it more of a scaling back from the gaming companies, simply because they can. And please never confuse progression for entitlement again. By your logic people that drive anywhere feel entitled because decades ago we all traveled by horseback or walked and got scurvy on the Oregon Trail. When progression is made there shouldn't be such long periods of mediocracy or recessions. When these things occur there is a problem with the overall system and you are not bettering yourself as a company, person, society or what have you.

Budgets are streamlined because the costs of making games is completely out of control and it IS entitled to expect EA to come out and say "The bowls in the arenas are darker because we want it to play at 60FPS" That has nothing to do with marketing at all. There's a huge difference between the two.

No publisher is going to do that, NONE of them. Expecting them to hand deliver every design decision and why is a ridiculous request.

[Segagendude]

Quote: Originally Posted by socalbeast08

i hope chicago has the united center or i wont buy nhl 15.

Then you just saved $60.

Unless they finally got the rights to call it the United Center, it won't be.