What would you like to see in future 2k hockey versions?

[hawks41]

Many have posted on this topic in the past, but I think now that 2k is showing it is getting the game right without possible bugs or glitches, I think it is time that we give them an understanding of what hockey fans and 2k fans would like to see in the future. Here are just a few of my thoughts:

1. Updated rosters at launch date or at the start of the hockey season. I think the they need to get the new rookies in there as well as last minute trades.

2. Referees. Last time I looked there where more then 1 ref in a game.

3. Team/player specific chants, pre-game show and visuals (example: Such as a hat trick in Detroit by a Detroit player results in octopus being thrown on the ice)

4. Attendance: Attendance should change if a team is winning or losing

5. Ice crew - need I say more

6. Better fighting engine

7. Better on ice collisions.

8. Always improving AI that learns our tendencies

9. Play creator - Yes, this is an EA first, but I know 2k can do it better

[dagman]

Multi-console online play. I can't believe EA beat them to that. :(

[FSOTG]

Multi-console online play??? What do you mean by that?

[SDonahue]

You can play 3 on 3 with 6 different consoles.

[Rising Force]

I think one feature they should add to the regular season mode is, when youre done playing your game, the system get the results for other teams in your season of the actual NHL scores in real life, rather than just randomly simulate the scores.

[AJ2K7]

the multi console is actualy you can play with 4 poeple on one team all on differnt xbox 360's or if you have a PS3 you can play all 6 players I really wish the 360 had that cause that would be really cool but 4 is pretty good

[Rising Force]

the multi console is actualy you can play with 4 poeple on one team all on differnt xbox 360's or if you have a PS3 you can play all 6 players I really wish the 360 had that cause that would be really cool but 4 is pretty good

But keep in mind on that 6 player, they will be some lag man,,,, I wonder how many people will get dropped during the game before its over:rolleyes:

[hawks41]

As I was contemplating changes, here are some additional things I would like to have in future versions:

1. Intermission highlights and scores from other games.

2. sticks have the ability to break on shots

3. better realism in hits and board crashing

4. AHL - Could even be done as a separate hockey game but with the ability to upload rosters.

[FSOTG]

I'm not 100% sure, but in the hour long phone conference, the guys from 2k8 said that you can play 4 on 4 with the 360 and 6 on 6 with the PS3 on the net.

[Snow Soldier]

attendence DOES change in 2k8 if your team is winning, losing, playoffs etc.

you can play 4 vs 4 or 6 vs 6, just two consoles though, thats a way to reduce lag. I mean it would be NICE to play with more consoles.... but i know the lag would be too bad to enjoy it.

the breaking stick thing could be cool AND annoying at the same time. I supose the frequency would be slider based and managable. BUT they'd need to write in a entirely new animation set for a player without a stick. Thats alot of effort they could spend elsewhere.

I think 2k6 had a launch day roster update for crosby and ovechkin. If they don't have the 'rights' to any major players before launch they code them in and then update them into the roster day one.

[Price]

I would like to see a demo before the game comes out. Seriously. Anyway, besides that there are some very simple but important things that every hockey game leaves out every year. Here they are.


1) Have these developers ever watched the Stanley Cup Finals? If they have then they would surely have seen that each team wears the official Stanley Cup Finals patch on their jerseys. This is a badge of honor. It means that you have arrived at the finals and this is not a regular season game or a normal playoff series at that. They had it in NHL 2k5 and 2k6 but then they just stopped. WHY?! On that same note, in the conference finals each teams arena has that same cup finals logo painted on the ice in the neutral zone. Again it signifies that you are near or are in the finals. Yeah yeah, I know people will say "who cares I'd rather have good game play" blah blah blah. Well, yes game play is the most important part for sure but little details like this are very important to a hockey fanatic.


2) Hockey is above and beyond all other sports and there are several good reasons for that. One of those reasons is that its the only one of the 4 major sports that's not played on foot with somekind of ball and another is that the ultimate goal is to win the Stanley Cup, not to be league champions. As hockey fans we all dream of winning this unparalelled trophy. Then why are all of the stanley cup celebrations in these games a bunch of cut scence crap that lasts a couple of seconds? I personally think that you should get an on ice realtime presentation and be givin the capabillity to skate the cup and pass it back and forth between your hard working crew. Im never going to win the Stanley Cup or play in the NHL but I'd love to skate the virtual cup. Casual fans can choose to skip this feature. Eevery other major sports champioship trophy is some kind of a ball on a stick with a base and there is a new one every year which makes it essentially meaningless. The Stanley Cup is very different. It has a great tradition and should be treated as such. Hockey games really need to play up on this fact and give the hockey fan the total experiance. Maybe when you win the cup and you get to see it in the trophy room in the offseason you could even zoom and scroll around the trophy to see all your players names who where on your team that particular year engraved. Certainly winning the Cup or even playing in the finals shold give your players a huge boost in experiance points. They need to add a feature called the "Ultimate Cup Experiance" or somethng like that.


3) The AI needs to get some balls. I can hit anybody or shoot the puck in the net after the whistle and nothing happens????!!!!!! If you take the liberty to cheap someone like that in the NHL you are going to pay. If you cheap shot like that there should be an immediate fight followed by a heavy penelty. Yeah you could constantly run people and drop the gloves all night but you would be short handed all game long and your players would be delt fines and suspensions so you would have to carefully pick your battles especially in franchise mode. This would add depth and reality to the game like never before because you could go out with some guy like Chris Neil and try to get guys like Niedermyer to retaliate in order to take him out of the game.


4) Im sorry but I am just not happy with the whole create a team logo situation. I mean come on we live in the computer age, why the hell do the developers not give us the option to copy over our own custom logos via the xbox 360 usb port using like a flash drive. That way we could add our own custom logos/images to the ice, jerseys, boards etc... We are also in great need of a goalie mask editor. Developers cant copy real golie mask designs but we could. They should add a feature where you can use your own custom images and design scheme and put them on your goalies mask. The goalie mask is another big area where hockey is special and this should be givin better treatment.


If there were a game with the above features along with the current titles playabillity and other features I don't think that I would ever stop playing it.