Anyone else notice?

[KingAlfie]

In the gameplay videos the goalies looked sort of the same as last year and the goal celebrations were usually 1 or 3 people celebrating, anyone else notice?

[CellFish]

Honestly, the goalies don't look much different from last year to me either. The actual gameplay is different though and the goalie moves (their saves) are entirely different.

[Flexxer27]

I saw this on the another 2K blog
and I think a GREAT post as well.


VeNOM2099
post Aug 20, 2009 - 04:17 PM
Post #27
So I made the video and uploaded it to youtube. Here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LT3yF9-iztc&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.2khockey.net%2Fforums%2Finde x.php%3Fshowtopic%3D20066%26st%3D15&feature=player_embedded


BTW, I realize this is a crappy video - I was nervous, this is the first time I made a video where I'm there describing things (I think I said "magically" like six times in a row at one point), so all you critics can bite me! tongue.gif

Also, I didn't have a lot of time at the end of the vid, where I'm showing the goal on Leclaire where the puck bounces off the ice, but I wanted to comment on his positioning and his reaction which, again, were very sound and realistic. He's a foot or two above the goalie area. He's down in butterfly with his blocker out, he's not trying to do some bull**** save animation which is how 90% of the goals get scored in NHL 2K9 and EA's hockey: where the goals go in because the Goalie chose the WRONG ANIMATION instead of the shot actually beating him cleanly.

So there you have it. You can compare this to the 2K9 vidoes that were posted, but I'm sure you won't find the goalies behaving or moving at all like the ones in 2K8.

[macpuck]

Very interesting. I feel somewhat justified in my opinion that 2k8 was the best video hockey game I ever played ... although I admit I probably didn't appreciate the goalie animations as much as I should have. Hopefully, 2k10 will be as good or better than 2k8 in this regard.

[CellFish]

I do remember the goalies being absolutely fantastic in NHL 2K8. It was one of the reasons that I played NHL 2K8 a whole lot more than I did NHL 08. I just didn't play online at that time (except once against that maggot Gamespot Martin) because I figured it was populated by a bunch of a-holes.

[stoney0ne]

god 2k8 was an awesome game



the negative reviews it got where so out of line

[CellFish]

A lot of great games get negative reviews... what bothers me is that just the other day, I wanted to purchase NHL 2K9 for the PS3 and I was told by the clerk that I should go for NHL 09 instead. See, I live in the mecca of hockey, Montreal. I wouldn't be crazy to estimate that EA gets its higher regional sales for NHL products here in Quebec to be honest. To have a clerk say that NHL 09 is better regardless of my reason for buying 2K9 is just crappy. My reason for buying 2K9 was that I sold my 360 version, I wanted a distraction for a few weeks while I wait for 2k10 to come out and the game was selling for 20$. Besides, I wanted some practice before 2k10 comes out since that's the one I will be purchasing and practice in 09 to me is worthless.

Either way, I really hate that in Quebec, 2k isn't even a chance. You're basically not cool unless you get the one with the b3tt4h gw4f1x.

[stoney0ne]

that not a montreal only thing


ive sent my wife to buy me games (almost as good as sex, such a cool thing for a girl to do)... and she comes back with nothing.. ill say what happened?



she will say "well i told them what i wanted, they told me i should get this other game, i got confused so i didnt buy anything"

[Flexxer27]

A lot of great games get negative reviews... what bothers me is that just the other day, I wanted to purchase NHL 2K9 for the PS3 and I was told by the clerk that I should go for NHL 09 instead. See, I live in the mecca of hockey, Montreal.

The exact same thing happened to me when I went to buy NHL 2K9. I was made to feel
like I was making a big mistake here in the mecca of Hockey, Toronto.

Toronto Vs Montreal

it never changes. ;)

[CellFish]

It's just really sad that the EA zealots try to force their opinion on others. I've noticed that the 2k players, even if they prefer 2k's games, at least give the competition a shot.

Either way, anytime someone tells me 'don't buy this one, buy that one' I get into a very very heated debate and they shut up.

[Bruins fan 4 life]

While I live nowhere near what might be considered a hockey meca (on the beach with one rink) I have received the same treatment from local gamestop employees regarding the hockey games. I even had one clerk tell me just as recently as late May that 2k was getting out of the sports gaming business altogether because they can't compete with ea. Mind you this wasn't a young high school/ college-age part-timer, the clerk was an assistant manager. Unbelievable! You would think a proprietor of video games would want to have as many successful video games to sell as possible.

I just don't get it.

[CellFish]

I can't stand store clerks myself. They usually don't know much but act like gurus. I remember one guy trying to convince me that the Wii was going to have better graphics than the PS3 and 360.

[ChrisSousa]

While I live nowhere near what might be considered a hockey meca (on the beach with one rink) I have received the same treatment from local gamestop employees regarding the hockey games. I even had one clerk tell me just as recently as late May that 2k was getting out of the sports gaming business altogether because they can't compete with ea. Mind you this wasn't a young high school/ college-age part-timer, the clerk was an assistant manager. Unbelievable! You would think a proprietor of video games would want to have as many successful video games to sell as possible.

I just don't get it.
I live in Oshawa(just outside of Toronto) and the workers at EB/Gamestop don't care for sports games so I dont get "oh you should get EA instead" lol

[Xboxing2006]

I saw this on the another 2K blog
and I think a GREAT post as well.


VeNOM2099
post Aug 20, 2009 - 04:17 PM
Post #27
So I made the video and uploaded it to youtube. Here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LT3yF9-iztc&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.2khockey.net%2Fforums%2Finde x.php%3Fshowtopic%3D20066%26st%3D15&feature=player_embedded


BTW, I realize this is a crappy video - I was nervous, this is the first time I made a video where I'm there describing things (I think I said "magically" like six times in a row at one point), so all you critics can bite me! tongue.gif

Also, I didn't have a lot of time at the end of the vid, where I'm showing the goal on Leclaire where the puck bounces off the ice, but I wanted to comment on his positioning and his reaction which, again, were very sound and realistic. He's a foot or two above the goalie area. He's down in butterfly with his blocker out, he's not trying to do some bull**** save animation which is how 90% of the goals get scored in NHL 2K9 and EA's hockey: where the goals go in because the Goalie chose the WRONG ANIMATION instead of the shot actually beating him cleanly.

So there you have it. You can compare this to the 2K9 vidoes that were posted, but I'm sure you won't find the goalies behaving or moving at all like the ones in 2K8.

Great vid. 2k8 did have the best goalies of any hockey game yet. The only problem I had with them was that they were a bit too weak defending close shots except when you just crossed right in front of the net and they were a bit too strong with shots from far away.

[Flexxer27]

An interesting incite has risen here.
All over our countries people are being brain washed by EA when picking 2K.

Whats behind this all?
Is it simply that the store owners/employee's are way to familiar with EA and lack 2K experience?
Is it the blind leading the blind (EA's media influence) ?
or
Is it that EA has some sort of vendor pay off to push EA over 2K?

Interesting!

How about an in store poster that reads:
Don't listen to the EA drone behind the counter NHL 2K10 RULES!
*LIVE THE GAME!*

[NTq]

2K was the better game up until 2K9. I bought both last year and thought 09 was the better game (the OTP is what really did it, plus a few others) However, i'm excited by what I hear about 2K10 & i'm looking forward to the demo (the 10 demo is out, 2K needs to get theirs out too) When I found out last year that visual concepts was taking over, my faith was renewed because VC is a big reason why all-pro and nba are two legit sport games.

[NTq]

I saw this on the another 2K blog
and I think a GREAT post as well.


VeNOM2099
post Aug 20, 2009 - 04:17 PM
Post #27
So I made the video and uploaded it to youtube. Here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LT3yF9-iztc&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.2khockey.net%2Fforums%2Finde x.php%3Fshowtopic%3D20066%26st%3D15&feature=player_embedded


BTW, I realize this is a crappy video - I was nervous, this is the first time I made a video where I'm there describing things (I think I said "magically" like six times in a row at one point), so all you critics can bite me! tongue.gif

Also, I didn't have a lot of time at the end of the vid, where I'm showing the goal on Leclaire where the puck bounces off the ice, but I wanted to comment on his positioning and his reaction which, again, were very sound and realistic. He's a foot or two above the goalie area. He's down in butterfly with his blocker out, he's not trying to do some bull**** save animation which is how 90% of the goals get scored in NHL 2K9 and EA's hockey: where the goals go in because the Goalie chose the WRONG ANIMATION instead of the shot actually beating him cleanly.

So there you have it. You can compare this to the 2K9 vidoes that were posted, but I'm sure you won't find the goalies behaving or moving at all like the ones in 2K8.

The Goalies in 2K8 are far surperior to any other nhl game. EA spent a lot of time on 10 to get the goalie right and it looks good in the demo (on higher difficulty) I want to play the 2K10 demo and hope it's back to 2K8 standards. The thing I don't get is when you have something soo good (goalies in 2k8) why change it? My only guess would be because it was done by Kush and they own it or osmething?

[Bruins fan 4 life]

The Goalies in 2K8 are far surperior to any other nhl game. EA spent a lot of time on 10 to get the goalie right and it looks good in the demo (on higher difficulty) I want to play the 2K10 demo and hope it's back to 2K8 standards. The thing I don't get is when you have something soo good (goalies in 2k8) why change it? My only guess would be because it was done by Kush and they own it or osmething?

I agree with the general consensus that 2k8 has the best goalie animation/reactions of any next gen games. As far as your assertion that the goalies in the 10 demo look good so far, I'm not quite sure about.

I will concede that some of the new blocking animations are stellar but it's when the goalie tries to play the puck that I've noticed some very suspect playing. For example, and I don't even know if can explain this correctly but I'll try, I was in ot playing as Detroit and I was on a pk. I cleared the puck out of my zone on a hard slap and the puck rebounds out of the corner and glides towards the back of Fleury's net and he comes out to play it. Simple enough right? Apparently not. With no pressure Fleury gathers in the puck behind the net and passes (I guess?) to no one in particular the puck rebounds off the boards behind the net, hits the back of his right skate and, voila, into the net. Scott Norwood of the Buffalo Bills would have felt sorry for Fleury after that.

Thats just one example of many I've witnessed that makes wonder about the goalie's play in 10. I know it's hard to make definitive quantifying statements solely based on a demo, but like I said, so far the goalie play in 10 seems a little suspect.

[SlapPat]

An interesting incite has risen here.
All over our countries people are being brain washed by EA when picking 2K.

Whats behind this all?
Is it simply that the store owners/employee's are way to familiar with EA and lack 2K experience?
Is it the blind leading the blind (EA's media influence) ?
or
Is it that EA has some sort of vendor pay off to push EA over 2K?

Interesting!

How about an in store poster that reads:
Don't listen to the EA drone behind the counter NHL 2K10 RULES!
*LIVE THE GAME!*

I believe what you wrote really reveals a hot topic. I'll give my opinion on the matter.

I think the reason why the video game culture is so much in favor of EA's titles is because their hockey games are better "video games" than 2K's. Now if you pardon my english I'd like to explain myself. What we want, as 2k players, is not a simple video game. I mean, if you feel like playing NHL 2k8 or any other NHL 2k game, chances are you are not in the mood for any other kind of video gaming. We want hockey simulation, nothing else. And the game is pretty much built for that, it's a great hockey experience, but does it look like a great video game as a whole? I, myself, think it would much better fit in the Hockey Hall of Fame than in any kind of videogame prize list.

I'll add that if the real sport were to disappear (I don't know how this could happen... let's just say Bettman gets an extension on his contract), EA's titles could still be played, while 2K's, being too much driven by the real hockey experience, would lose all its relevence. To support my position, I will give you a concrete example: I played lots of EA sports games without giving a d@mn about the actual sport. But here's what 2k6 did to me: it made me watch the game on television AND start to play hockey in reality.

Now I'd like to make it clear that I do not believe that 2k is ALL about simulation and that Ea is a pure no-brainer entertainement. But when you think of how bad it feels when 2K tries to bring the "fun" in its games, and of how sort of fake EA's attempts to bring simulation in the gameplay are, you realize that each of these companies does something best, but only one really reflects the ideals of today's gaming industry. I like to challenge these ideals : I choose 2K. What do you think?

[NTq]

I agree with the general consensus that 2k8 has the best goalie animation/reactions of any next gen games. As far as your assertion that the goalies in the 10 demo look good so far, I'm not quite sure about.

I will concede that some of the new blocking animations are stellar but it's when the goalie tries to play the puck that I've noticed some very suspect playing. For example, and I don't even know if can explain this correctly but I'll try, I was in ot playing as Detroit and I was on a pk. I cleared the puck out of my zone on a hard slap and the puck rebounds out of the corner and glides towards the back of Fleury's net and he comes out to play it. Simple enough right? Apparently not. With no pressure Fleury gathers in the puck behind the net and passes (I guess?) to no one in particular the puck rebounds off the boards behind the net, hits the back of his right skate and, voila, into the net. Scott Norwood of the Buffalo Bills would have felt sorry for Fleury after that.

Thats just one example of many I've witnessed that makes wonder about the goalie's play in 10. I know it's hard to make definitive quantifying statements solely based on a demo, but like I said, so far the goalie play in 10 seems a little suspect.

I've only played the demo 4 times and haven't seen anything too buzzard yet. Not sure if the difficulty sliders would effect that.

[stoney0ne]

I believe what you wrote really reveals a hot topic. I'll give my opinion on the matter.

I think the reason why the video game culture is so much in favor of EA's titles is because their hockey games are better "video games" than 2K's. Now if you pardon my english I'd like to explain myself. What we want, as 2k players, is not a simple video game. I mean, if you feel like playing NHL 2k8 or any other NHL 2k game, chances are you are not in the mood for any other kind of video gaming. We want hockey simulation, nothing else. And the game is pretty much built for that, it's a great hockey experience, but does it look like a great video game as a whole? I, myself, think it would much better fit in the Hockey Hall of Fame than in any kind of videogame prize list.

I'll add that if the real sport were to disappear (I don't know how this could happen... let's just say Bettman gets an extension on his contract), EA's titles could still be played, while 2K's, being too much driven by the real hockey experience, would lose all its relevence. To support my position, I will give you a concrete example: I played lots of EA sports games without giving a d@mn about the actual sport. But here's what 2k6 did to me: it made me watch the game on television AND start to play hockey in reality.

Now I'd like to make it clear that I do not believe that 2k is ALL about simulation and that Ea is a pure no-brainer entertainement. But when you think of how bad it feels when 2K tries to bring the "fun" in its games, and of how sort of fake EA's attempts to bring simulation in the gameplay are, you realize that each of these companies does something best, but only one really reflects the ideals of today's gaming industry. I like to challenge these ideals : I choose 2K. What do you think?

i have a saying for new people that join my league


i want hockey fans that play video games.... not video game fans that play hockey

[nmuwildcat]

I see a lot of similarities to 2k vs EA that I did six years ago when EA muscled the NASCAR license from Papyrus. EA made a decent video game for the casual Nascar fan (Nascar 99, 2000, Thunder 2001, 2002)... but never could tap into the elusive "Simulation" market that Papyrus had with their game. Even NASCAR drivers admitted that they used the Papyrus version during down time to experiment with driving lines because it flat out FELT like the real track.

But EA got the exclusive license, tried to put out ONE version of their game for the PC that passed as "simulation," sold practically zero copies of the game, and gave up effectively killing the Nascar simulation market.

As it is, there are still modifications and add-in programs that are available that have allowed Nascar Racing 2003 to still be relevant today. Copies of the game long out of print are fetching well over their original sale price on ebay.



It's the same pattern that they did with the NFL, similar to what they've tried to do with the NHL and failed, and flat out failed and lost the MLB license with such moves.

The only reason they sell well is because they've been around so long and have the marketing machine behind them. They could release MLB's MVP 2005 with a roster update for 2009 and they would likely sell more copies than 2k's MLB 2k9 and Sony's The Show. :(

[Savoie06]

i want hockey fans that play video games.... not video game fans that play hockey I'm somewhere in between the two. I love the sport of hockey more than any other, but really only know the basics. I sort of have a grasp on the strategies and such, but not as much as a true diehard. I enjoy video games alot as well, I'm not as critical and picky about the "authenticity" as most are.

[Bruins fan 4 life]

An interesting incite has risen here.
All over our countries people are being brain washed by EA when picking 2K.

Whats behind this all?
Is it simply that the store owners/employee's are way to familiar with EA and lack 2K experience?
Is it the blind leading the blind (EA's media influence) ?
or
Is it that EA has some sort of vendor pay off to push EA over 2K?

Interesting!

How about an in store poster that reads:
Don't listen to the EA drone behind the counter NHL 2K10 RULES!
*LIVE THE GAME!*

I'm not a conspiracy theorist or an alarmist by nature so I don't think there is a deliberate movement afoot here. I think it's more of a perception becoming reality type of thing, which leads to an ea brainwashing of sorts.

Memo to store clerks, offer good, solid advice if asked but try not to push one product over another. If you do that, my question then becomes, if this game isn't worth buying, why did you buy it to put on your shelf?

[macpuck]

Most clerks in these places note that EA outsells 2K by a wide margin in hockey and so they ASSUME that EA makes a better product. And Madden is a big deal in most of these stores, so that's probably another factor in the attitudes we encounter. In the play/n/trade near here, they had a Madden tournament the night before it came out and then a midnight "party" to pick up copies. There must have been 30-40 people in this tiny, little store when I went by. EA definitely has some juice; I just wish they made more realistic, entertaining games. I'm not really a football guy but I bought Madden myself, for the first time. A week later, I'm not so sure EA has caught up to NFL2k5 yet ... but they rule the cash register.

[SlapPat]

A lot of great games get negative reviews... what bothers me is that just the other day, I wanted to purchase NHL 2K9 for the PS3 and I was told by the clerk that I should go for NHL 09 instead. See, I live in the mecca of hockey, Montreal. I wouldn't be crazy to estimate that EA gets its higher regional sales for NHL products here in Quebec to be honest. To have a clerk say that NHL 09 is better regardless of my reason for buying 2K9 is just crappy. My reason for buying 2K9 was that I sold my 360 version, I wanted a distraction for a few weeks while I wait for 2k10 to come out and the game was selling for 20$. Besides, I wanted some practice before 2k10 comes out since that's the one I will be purchasing and practice in 09 to me is worthless.

Either way, I really hate that in Quebec, 2k isn't even a chance. You're basically not cool unless you get the one with the b3tt4h gw4f1x.

D@mn it just happened to me too in a Québec city Ebgames. I came to pre-order my NHL 2k10 copy and I realized that even if I asked for 2k10, it was written 2010 on the receipt. I went back to correct this right away before I forget and have a heart attack on September the 15th (notice that the last image I would ever lay my eyes on would be that of Patrick Kane exhibiting his mouth guard). Well, look at it the way you want, I think I deserve better.
And so one of the guys said (*sensitive 2k fans, don't read this), and this is a translation, " Well, we assumed... I mean EA's hockey games are simply better now so ("y sont juste meilleurs"), if you tell us about a hockey game, unless you really specify which one, we assume you're talking about EA sports. " I even saw in their eyes that they were expecting me to change my mind and keep the doomed receipt I had. Cellfish, I agree with you : this is crappy. I mean, they could AT LEAST ask the customer if he's allergic to scoring glitches before pushing Electronic Arts' hockey games.

[CellFish]

I won't say that EA's NHL product is bad. It's very good. They've done a good job and been a true competitor to 2k. Had they not developed such a great game, 2k would have no reason to offer us true incentives to buy their product. Real competition only makes both products better. However, as flawed as the series might be, some of us simply prefer 2k's gameplay and have no interest in screwing around with EA regardless. YES, I love Be a Pro. YES, I love online team-play and I hope that 2k10 offers me something that has both. However, even if it doesn't, I STILL prefer 2k.