EA NHL series should release in November

[jake19ny]

Not sure this really needed it's own thread but I'm curious to hear others thoughts on this.

I think EA should delay it's release of the NHL series until mid November. If your an offline gamer this game is utterly unplayable until then thanks to the rosters just being a total disaster. They have to wait for contracts and agreements to be signed and if you want to play season mode or BeaGM you can't even thinking of starting until then. I know offline and HUT is all that matters to them but a delayed release may help in that regard also. I think EA should have the game basically ready to roll as usual in September and then spend the next two months doing extensive testing and ironing out bugs and fine tuning simple missing things as well as add much needed detail to rosters. In addition to getting the rosters solid They can add more real faces or do a better job with generic selections, add the new goalie gear they always seem to miss, etc. Let's face it clearly the game releases incomplete or barely tested due to the constant gameplay tuners attempting to address AI issues offline and online.

In addition to the above EA only releases Madden two or three weeks prior to the NHL series. Football is just underway and the Baseball season is winding down heading to the playoffs. The casual hockey fan isn't even thinking about hockey when this series comes out and us die hards are overwhelmingly disappointed by the initial release due to many unresolved year to year issues and the things I mentioned above. They may also see better first month sales numbers due to the upcoming holidays and a more polished product. I for one would rather wait then get the half finished product we get every year that requires a couple patches, a half dozen gameplay tuners, and 2 months for a halfway decent roster.

Thoughts?

[Fiddy]

Not sure about November, but a first week (or end of first week) of October release date would be fine with me. Right when season starts.

[TDKing]

If they release in November game won't be playable till January. They should release in July, lol.....
Or maybe you can just wait to buy it.
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[sweetjones]

Not only this, but they should release every other year. That way a lot of this ish wouldn't exist. I wouldn't mind.

[AdamJones113]

From a fan perspective, this makes a lot of sense. However, I'd agree with Fiddy's opinion. The game needs to have traction and "substantial" (read: normal) sales before hitting the holiday sales mark. I think an end-of-September, immediate-beginning-of-October release makes sense, but then you realize that NBA 2k, a far superior game, releases around then, which could knock the steam from NHL's release.

I wouldn't mind the later release, especially if it meant (at least for one cycle) more time for development. However, the September-October junction is a junction between two quarters of EA's fiscal year. There might be a reason for releasing all the sports games in one quarter—I don't know, just a thought.

[canucksss]

I would rather them not release the product if they will give this kind of releases issues, ex. tuner etc. But, yea I agree with Fiddy and TD. Both have grEAt sense...based on EA's history regarding NHL franchise.

[jyoung]

The Tuesday after the NHL's regular season starts would be a good time, since EA can't put any of the rookies into the game until they all play a shift in real life.

[phillyfan23]

Im not sure it will make a difference because the development cycle will still be a full year.... Now its september to september....then u just make it nov to nov....what they need is a bigger dev team who can solely focus on the offline portion of the game.


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