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NHL 13 News Post




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

Game: NHL 13Reader Score: 8/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / Xbox 360Votes for game: 23 - View All
NHL 13 Videos
Member Comments
# 41 johnnyg713 @ 05/18/12 04:48 PM
I'm hoping for more stick control. I feel you should be able to do way more moves with the stick. I want to have puck handling skills that compare to FIFA's freedom with the ball. Also more celebrations. Skating down the bench to pound fists with the team, etc.
 
# 42 infinityBCRT @ 05/18/12 04:49 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by misterkrabz
$79.99???? Ouch. They priced me out.
That's for the Collector's edition. Regular version is still the standard $60.
 
# 43 savoie2006 @ 05/18/12 04:59 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by johnnyg713
I'm hoping for more stick control. I feel you should be able to do way more moves with the stick. I want to have puck handling skills that compare to FIFA's freedom with the ball. Also more celebrations. Skating down the bench to pound fists with the team, etc.
Only if they make playing D as fun and effective. Offense overpowers the game already.
 
# 44 Therion7 @ 05/18/12 05:10 PM
Hmm. Intrigued by the skating but I've got a funny feeling that the title is going to be "deja vu all over again" once that hour or two of "hey, the animations are slightly different!" wears off. The game will live or die for me by the CPU AI visibly showing some variations between players and styles. It's all very well to say that the AI is smarter or the skating makes a difference but it needs to be evident on a player through team basis.

Team-specific presentation? That will be nothing more than a "set your favourite team" option on launch, then a backdrop change in the frontend. Something FIFA, MLB, Madden have been doing for years now.

Refined on-ice presentation? The goal celebrations back from NHL 11 probably. Well, I hope so anyway!

Still holding out hope for customisable season length as that might be included for the sake of online Be A GM.

Cautiously optimistic, but some new anims in the same old inaccurate rinks, shrouded in the same black veil of a frontend will get tiresome before Bill and Gary give us the same old schtick about "absolute lasers".
 
# 45 hollywood_cpm @ 05/18/12 05:23 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by murph17
Seriously. When are they going to realize what a goldmine idea this would be. Take the old assets, use the current teams/players (licensing), and spend a few weeks figuring out online play. $10 ($5 would be even better and sell more). Cash checks. Done.
Completley agree. I'm shocked it's not an Xbox Live game yet. I don't want just the new teams/players though. Give me the 94 teams and all the old players too.
 
# 46 murph17 @ 05/18/12 05:58 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by hollywood_cpm
Completley agree. I'm shocked it's not an Xbox Live game yet. I don't want just the new teams/players though. Give me the 94 teams and all the old players too.
i hear ya. ultimately that's what i would want too. but it would cost them and be a real pain in the butt to license all the old players again. since they already have the current NHL and NHLPA licenses, it would be a lot cheaper and quicker this way.
 
# 47 andrew165 @ 05/18/12 07:29 PM
all of this looks great my only other hope is that they have finally change the stanley cup celebration as the current one is four or five years old
 
# 48 hollywood_cpm @ 05/18/12 08:57 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by murph17
i hear ya. ultimately that's what i would want too. but it would cost them and be a real pain in the butt to license all the old players again. since they already have the current NHL and NHLPA licenses, it would be a lot cheaper and quicker this way.

argh you're right. I totally forgot about the individual licences needed for all non-current NHLPA players - see Legend Teams this year - that would be a massive undertaking and likely impossible.

Oh well current rosters NHL 94 ftw!
 
# 49 BlueNGold @ 05/18/12 09:17 PM
I hope that the new skating shows a difference between the good, great, and bad skaters. With over 1000 new animations I'd like to think that will be the case.
 
# 50 hollywood_cpm @ 05/18/12 09:23 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueNGold
I hope that the new skating shows a difference between the good, great, and bad skaters. With over 1000 new animations I'd like to think that will be the case.
What i'd really really like to see is different skating styles. I might be too hyped on the news but to me watching Hall skate in the trailer reminded me of how Taylor Hall actually skates. Very wide stance and arms more to his side than out infront of him. I'm hoping they have multiple skating styles to really add some realism much the way the 2k NBA games have different shooting styles.
 
# 51 MizzouRah @ 05/18/12 11:07 PM
They have my attention, now I want to see some in game footage.
 
# 52 Simple Mathematics @ 05/19/12 01:00 AM
Well smack my *** and call me Judy!

Looks like the devs got pissed at my "No NHL 13 info yet..." thread. Well in that case... "There have been very little BaGM improvements over that past few years"

Hope it works! But in all seriousness, this is GREAT NEWS!

Quote:
Originally Posted by andrew165
all of this looks great my only other hope is that they have finally change the stanley cup celebration as the current one is four or five years old
PLEASE give us the ability that's mentioned in the NHL 13 Community BaGM Wishlist thread. Let us skate around with the cup with no time limit. Let us decide when the celebration ends. Let different buttons do different things like hold it up, pump it up and down, kiss it, pass it to a teammate, etc.

And the celebration should not stop here. Let us have a parade (sort of like in Madden, but 100 times better). Make it so that winning the Stanley Cup is actually awesome!
 
# 53 bwiggy33 @ 05/19/12 03:17 AM
Well I won't lie this was quite the surprise after just getting home from Las Vegas. There is no way that I'm going to over hype any of this news because the past few years I've done that and nothing has changed. I love hearing about the skating being completely redone and it seems as though the presentation is getting an upgrade as well. It also seems as though team strategies and gameplay styles will be redone as well.

The one thing that we are all still looking for is the player separation. I don't see it yet. Maybe the skating engine will help with this, but until they get rid of the unrealistic moves that the skill stick has, which every player in the game can do, this game will continue to play the same every year no matter if they completely overhaul the skating or not. They just have got to figure out a way to separate players and I'm still not sure that all of this overhauling will do that. Hopefully it will.

I'm also extremely happy I don't play any EASHL or Ultimate team because then I would probably be tempted to buy the special edition. It honestly sounds like the biggest waste of 20 dollars but it will definitely save people money who are into spending their money on EASHL boosts and Ultimate team packs.
 
# 54 Vikes1 @ 05/19/12 03:44 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueNGold
Hoooooly ****.

I'm ready to put in a pre-order. Fully in on this even after the first press release.
Yep BNG...I'm not even going to try to fool myself. I'll be in line on 9/11.

Besides...my son and youngest daughter would be well...pissed, if I didn't get NHL each year. Yep, even my 20 year old daughter loves playing the game.

Psssst...don't tell her I let her win all the time!
 
# 55 Vikes1 @ 05/19/12 04:35 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by savoie2006
Everything "sounds" great, but how it will play out? First there was Adaptive AI, when helped but wasn't great. Then there was Anticipation AI, which I'm not exactly sure what it did. Now there's Hockey I.Q.... this be the one.
Agree Savoie.

Although ya...I'm more than sure I'll be buying. But, I'll be going by history not hype.

Personally, I feel the upgrades the last several years have been fairly decent, but imo...didn't really live up to the hype machine. Including the things you mention above.

I'm as always looking forward to the new coming game. But yeah...really reserving any real thoughts that something truly "Revolutionary" is headed our way. But man....sometimes it's good to be wrong. Hopefully this is another one of those times for me.
 
# 56 SinisterAlex @ 05/19/12 04:48 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by BaylorBearBryant
Kind of disappointed with the lack of EASHL improvements.
They will be announcing much more from now until early July. June/ July is when they usually talk about the online portion of the NHL game.
 
# 57 JamieLeeWV @ 05/19/12 07:13 AM
It all sounds good. But will there be any improvements to make the game feel more like a tv presentation? as every game felt the same in the NHL 12.

And what about new commentary? I am sick of bill clement! What about Mike Emerick and pierre mcguire inside the glass? that would be cool

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
 
# 58 TDKing @ 05/19/12 09:41 AM
I was very happy to hear about Online be a GM, now I'm wondering if they did it right and completed the mode or just half azzed it like Madden did a few years ago. So instead of being happy i can't help but wonder what will be missing from the mode.

I'm also wondering about customization of my online BaGM, two big needs for me would be custom sliders and of course a customizable season length 20/42/82 ! I am leaning more toward a buy now but waiting to hear and see more.
 
# 59 EpicGingy @ 05/19/12 10:15 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by JamieLeeWV
It all sounds good. But will there be any improvements to make the game feel more like a tv presentation? as every game felt the same in the NHL 12.

And what about new commentary? I am sick of bill clement! What about Mike Emerick and pierre mcguire inside the glass? that would be cool

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2
Do you know how much I jumped for joy when Pierre Mcguire left TSN? Having him in NHL 13 would make me mute commentary.

On to the game now. All these improvements sound good in theory, but whether or not they actually work is another question. New AI, skating engine, improved BAGM and BAP (which I need since I make BAP's), all these things are needed.

What I also need is the simulation engine for BAP improved. On Pro your team destroys, from Edmonton to Columbus, when you switch it on All-Star your team almost never scores. Neither is fun or realistic.

As others have said: team and player seperation! It's key, and I would rather they kept old presentation to work on this. Purely aesthetic things don't really matter unless they REALLY REALLY SUCK. NHL's isn't great by any stretch of the imagination, but I can live with it.
 
# 60 TDKing @ 05/19/12 10:36 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by EpicGingy
As others have said: team and player seperation! It's key, and I would rather they kept old presentation to work on this. Purely aesthetic things don't really matter unless they REALLY REALLY SUCK. NHL's isn't great by any stretch of the imagination, but I can live with it.
This is a must have !!
 


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