Ot: Nhl 08

I don't know how many of you play or have played EA's NHL 07 but i enjoy it for the xbox 360 minus some of the bugs that come with just about every game. But here's a early report on 08 looks like they are improving the skill stick, defense, and skating enjoy.

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/794/794764p1.html

I hope they add some of the features that they didn't put into 07 for the 360, like season mode, fantasy draft.

NHL series by EA lacks competition. When you play longer you always find some situation where you can easily score. Many situations are ridiculous. For instance computer never scores against you when there is a breakaway. Next you can always can get rid of oponent by rotating in circle with a player.

What makes me most angry is that there is no really tough difficulty level against computer where he can beat you. I started dynasty mode with flames and won almast all games. only in the finals against colorado I lost 2 matches.

I hate all these new games. I want to go back to the directional pad instead of that damn analog joystick. It is soooooo much easier to control the players with the directionals.

NHL series by EA lacks competition. When you play longer you always find some situation where you can easily score. Many situations are ridiculous. For instance computer never scores against you when there is a breakaway. Next you can always can get rid of oponent by rotating in circle with a player.

What makes me most angry is that there is no really tough difficulty level against computer where he can beat you. I started dynasty mode with flames and won almast all games. only in the finals against colorado I lost 2 matches.This is so true I find the 2k sports games more of a challenge.

I hate all these new games. I want to go back to the directional pad instead of that damn analog joystick. It is soooooo much easier to control the players with the directionals.The old saga game were fun but its so hard to play a good trap.:shakehead

They must improve the online game. Now it's just way too laggy, the EA servers suck, No "cooperative" play, No online season play..

¨NHL07 skill stick made the NHL gaming fun again. I couldnt never think about going back to old NHL game controls.

Unless they improve the goaltending, I'll be sticking with 2K.

I had NHL 07 for the xbox and the joy stick controls made a lot more sense on there than it did on the 360. Although the idea of correct form for a slap shot is a pretty intriguing idea and I like the idea that you can do more one-on-one against the defender. It was way to easy to score in 07 though, I hope they fixed that.

I had NHL 07 for the xbox and the joy stick controls made a lot more sense on there than it did on the 360. Although the idea of correct form for a slap shot is a pretty intriguing idea and I like the idea that you can do more one-on-one against the defender. It was way to easy to score in 07 though, I hope they fixed that.

Guess you havent played 07 on 360 online?

'07 was the only NHL I hadn't bought besides NHL 97 throughout the whole NHL series.

NHL games just became lame. They aren't even close to how real hockey is. Madden isn't that close, but it's a lot closer than NHL games. There's no real strategy and there is always a cheesy trick to be found or sometimes it's just too easy to score or some bs.

NHL 2k7 was better than NHL07...if they make some needed improvements in both, I will try them both and then keep my favorite. I don't need to kick it off my skate blade, go around a defender, and then have to memorize Street Fighter II controls to go top-shelf. How about just making the defense better? How about not getting knocked down on every single hit? How about realistic odd-man rushes? Goalie saves were pretty good in NHL 2k7, so they got that right. And you can actually score with defensemen and the tipped goals and rebounds off off pads were spot-on.

Can't wait to see what they come up with next.

NHL 2k7 was better than NHL07...if they make some needed improvements in both, I will try them both and then keep my favorite. I don't need to kick it off my skate blade, go around a defender, and then have to memorize Street Fighter II controls to go top-shelf. How about just making the defense better? How about not getting knocked down on every single hit? How about realistic odd-man rushes? Goalie saves were pretty good in NHL 2k7, so they got that right. And you can actually score with defensemen and the tipped goals and rebounds off off pads were spot-on.

Can't wait to see what they come up with next.

LOL, so true. How often do you see a player in the NHL doing that? The fact is, with most players if you try to skate up the ice by yourself you should get stripped of the puck with ease. Also, if you try to go through the whole team you should lose the puck easily too. I always remember going up the ice with one guy and scoring a goal with that one guy all the time. It's very rare that an NHL player would just skate through a whole team to score a goal, but it happens a lot in NHL games.

I prefer 2k7. I have it for PS3 and minus the excessive hitting, and the lack of difficulty on harder settings, it's a pretty good hockey game. EA's version has always seemed to be more "arcadish" whereas 2k's has definitely tried to adapt to being more realistic IMO. I have always gone with EA until I got 2k6 on Ebay for like 4 bucks and the game play blew me away compared to 06. I literally have not touched EA's version since then, not once..

2k is definitely lacking in some key areas, like the Franchise mode is rather thin but it's gettin there. Plus who doesn't love the true-to-life goal horns? That alone is so much better than EA's imitation ********. haha

Seriously people.. Try NHL07 on 360 online against people ranked in the top 100 in the world. There are plenty of oddman rushes and superb defense. No crazy hitting etc either.. The game is totally different online than playing alone against the machine

Unless they improve the goaltending, I'll be sticking with 2K.

I completely agree. The goaltenders for 2k7 are capable of making some sick saves. In NHL 07, the goaltenders are sub par at best, and on the 360 they let in the eastiest goals. Has anyone else have the goaltender make the initial save, the puck knock up into the air, then roll down his back into the net?

Seriously people.. Try NHL07 on 360 online against people ranked in the top 100 in the world. There are plenty of oddman rushes and superb defense. No crazy hitting etc either.. The game is totally different online than playing alone against the machine

Well I obviously won't be but, if that's it's strongest point then what good is it? Plus when you play against people online, more often than not, they use the scoring exploits in the game against you. To me online is fun to an extent but when you want to play a franchise or whatever I'd rather leave that up to the AI most of the time.

Also on 2k you can make it so one-timer difficulty is hard so that all of your goals don't come off them, and you actually have to work to score goals most of the time. I like EA's idea of the skill stick and all, but in some regards it's almost too much of a pain in the balls to have to use it every time.

Well I obviously won't be but, if that's it's strongest point then what good is it? Plus when you play against people online, more often than not, they use the scoring exploits in the game against you. To me online is fun to an extent but when you want to play a franchise or whatever I'd rather leave that up to the AI most of the time.

Also on 2k you can make it so one-timer difficulty is hard so that all of your goals don't come off them, and you actually have to work to score goals most of the time. I like EA's idea of the skill stick and all, but in some regards it's almost too much of a pain in the balls to have to use it every time.

The player animations (skating, shooting) really look awful and unrealistic in 2k series. I like 2k because all the options but.. 07 360 online there are no real scoring exploits because you can defend against all of them. All you need to do is be really good. 95% the time I play 07 I play it online. It's the most fun and most realistic hockey game so far online against good players. It's fun playing people ranked in top 10 of the world and beating them. All the taunting with the microphone etc etc.. All im saying dont diss 07 for 360 ifyou havent played it online more than couple games or even at all because you seriously dont know what your missing. It makes 2k series feel so dull

Ea has nothin about nhl 08 on their site but they have pretty much every other 08 game on their already and ign the only place i can find any info on it Anyone else know any sites that have info on it?

I completely agree. The goaltenders for 2k7 are capable of making some sick saves. In NHL 07, the goaltenders are sub par at best, and on the 360 they let in the eastiest goals. Has anyone else have the goaltender make the initial save, the puck knock up into the air, then roll down his back into the net?

Yup. In 07 (at least on the 360), you're best off just blasting the puck from the blue line ad nauseum and just hoping it trickles in. You actually have to make the goalie move in 2k7.

Yup. In 07 (at least on the 360), you're best off just blasting the puck from the blue line ad nauseum and just hoping it trickles in. You actually have to make the goalie move in 2k7.

Yeah I've seen videos on youtube of people shooting from their own net and scoring (one of which was against Marty) and I can't say that has EVER happened to me in either of the 2k series' I've owned thus far. It's extremely hard to shoot from the point because the shots will get blocked, or will get deflected wide. Mostly all the goals I tend to score come from using manual aim and just knowing where to put the puck and getting inside of the hash marks and banging in rebounds and such.


As I said, 2k does lack in areas, but to me it puts forth the greatest effort to provide as much realism as possible from the arenas designs and horns, to goaltending, and I think the defensive abilities are pretty on par too with the ability to use your stick to poke check while skating backward and lay it on the ice to block passes and shots.

that's because 2k7 went for realistic while 07 targeted the fans that just want to score and win. Even at the hardest difficulty in 07 i dominate which isn't fun but you score. The only reason i don't have 2k7 is b/c i'm a EA sports loyalist all sport games i buy except baseball b/c there is no MVP anymore are from EA. so i don't want to go against my favorite sport game company

I can't wait for this.

NHL series by EA lacks competition. When you play longer you always find some situation where you can easily score. Many situations are ridiculous. For instance computer never scores against you when there is a breakaway. Next you can always can get rid of oponent by rotating in circle with a player.

What makes me most angry is that there is no really tough difficulty level against computer where he can beat you. I started dynasty mode with flames and won almast all games. only in the finals against colorado I lost 2 matches.

The last one I bought was '06. It's cheesy. In that edition, you had to be a defensive god to keep the puck out of the net, because the goalies sucked beyond
mere sucking. Supposedly, they fixed that.

But, yeah, it's basically a puzzle game. Once you figure out the way to score, you are never going to stop scoring. It doesn't matter who you have out on the ice.
You're going to score.

The trophy presentations were cool, though, and the banner raising.

And, I also forgot the playoff "bug" where everyone pulls a Torterella against you.
You play the hero line until they die. Makes it more interesting, I guess, but realistic?

i have both nhl2k7 and nhl ea 07, my thoughts:

one of the things i love about the 2k7 is the farm teams, its wicked fun drafting players and then watching them develop.. speaking of which the drafting in 2k7 is a much better system than ea

2k7 also has a ton more options, little games that you can play in the lounge, they have records you can try to break, they have all the current nhl trophies that you can attain, ea just has dynasty mode, so in that regard it was really thin

as far as gameplay goes, playing the offense on ea is really fun but like others have said its a bit too easy to go around defenders with just one guy, they could tweak that a bit... the goalies in ea are fackin terrible, every few games my goalie lets in a goal where the puck rolls down his back, and there other big problems with the goalie ai, cant think of them at the moment... i think 2k7 gameplay is solid, there isnt many big flaws, and few big problems, one thing they could add is more dangles and dekes

[QUOTE=RangerSteve;9513732]I completely agree. The goaltenders for 2k7 are capable of making some sick saves. In NHL 07, the goaltenders are sub par at best, and on the 360 they let in the eastiest goals. Has anyone else have the goaltender make the initial save, the puck knock up into the air, then roll down his back into the net?[/QUOTE With the EA games I miss on purpose in shootouts to make it seem more real and the computer players never use a deke.

NHL series by EA lacks competition. When you play longer you always find some situation where you can easily score. Many situations are ridiculous. For instance computer never scores against you when there is a breakaway. Next you can always can get rid of oponent by rotating in circle with a player.

What makes me most angry is that there is no really tough difficulty level against computer where he can beat you. I started dynasty mode with flames and won almast all games. only in the finals against colorado I lost 2 matches.

The Flames are way over rated on the game and almost unbeatable

Why are the arenas in these NHL games so far off as compared to the other sports games. In the EA games all the buildings are the same cookie cutter shape inside. The 2k games have the color of the seats wrong in some buildings.

In EA's NHL 99 they had empty seats in some of the arenas were teams were having problems drawing the Devils were more full than Buffalo and the Isles.;)

Is the "ROCK" going to be included in any of the new games?

It sucks... If the 2K series had EA's presentation and graphics, then it would be the best hockey sim out there.

Hate to admit it, but NHL '03 had the best player control of them all. Just the graphics did a little bit of sucking.

It sucks... If the 2K series had EA's presentation and graphics, then it would be the best hockey sim out there.

Yeah I agree. But I do think the Arena models are good...and I'm sure they're probably gonna make one of the new arena for 2k8 because they could easily use the model used to present it to the public to generate it.

The question still lingering for me is...goal horn. Seems stupid but I'm a fan of realistic ones in the game (which 2k does) and I'm curious if we're going to change for the new arena or not.

Goal horns realism? Colored seats? This is what makes a difference for some of you? Wow. The thing I hate is all the crap before/after the game that you skip through anyway. You watch it once, and that's it. GET RID OF IT. I want to see PP/PK% on the season during my man advantage. I want to see who is on a hot streak during my game. I want to get an injury report/scratches right before the game. I want to see replays on all good plays. I don't need to see stats for "one-timer goals." I don't need to see passing stats. Give me what's on during a real hockey game -- all the other filler crap is just that. Crap.

Anyway, as far as online play goes, I played online against some fanboy, he was up 5-2 in the third, I came back and won 6-5 in OT. He called me a *********, told me to stop cheating, and then turned off the game. And before we even played, he went into the options thing and changes stuff around to suit his style of play.

So as far as online goes, I don't need to play some pimply-faced lowlifes who get a kick out of cheating in games to make it worth my while. The single player should be good enough on its own. It's like the kid in the Saturn who gets in the right lane when I'm in my Mustang (I'm in the left) at a light, the lanes merge ahead, and even before the light turns green, he starts moving up, eventually moving halfway into the intersection before revving his 160 HP engine and managing to get in front of me when the light turns green. Yeah, he won. These are the same guys playing NHL, Gears of War, etc., online all day and all night, exploiting every cheat/trick in the book and thinking they're cool.

And before you reply. Yes, I have issues.

Goal horns realism? Colored seats? This is what makes a difference for some of you? Wow. The thing I hate is all the crap before/after the game that you skip through anyway. You watch it once, and that's it. GET RID OF IT. I want to see PP/PK% on the season during my man advantage. I want to see who is on a hot streak during my game. I want to get an injury report/scratches right before the game. I want to see replays on all good plays. I don't need to see stats for "one-timer goals." I don't need to see passing stats. Give me what's on during a real hockey game -- all the other filler crap is just that. Crap.

Anyway, as far as online play goes, I played online against some fanboy, he was up 5-2 in the third, I came back and won 6-5 in OT. He called me a *********, told me to stop cheating, and then turned off the game. And before we even played, he went into the options thing and changes stuff around to suit his style of play.

So as far as online goes, I don't need to play some pimply-faced lowlifes who get a kick out of cheating in games to make it worth my while. The single player should be good enough on its own. It's like the kid in the Saturn who gets in the right lane when I'm in my Mustang (I'm in the left) at a light, the lanes merge ahead, and even before the light turns green, he starts moving up, eventually moving halfway into the intersection before revving his 160 HP engine and managing to get in front of me when the light turns green. Yeah, he won. These are the same guys playing NHL, Gears of War, etc., online all day and all night, exploiting every cheat/trick in the book and thinking they're cool.

And before you reply. Yes, I have issues.

I enjoy the goal horns for the simple fact that it adds to the realism, and the atmosphere. Just for the record.

I agree with you 110% though about everything else. Thus far I've played online 18 times, and my record is 8-8-2. One of my matches was against the aforementioned "top players in the world" and I got beat 14-2. The thing that pissed me off about it though was that the goals were either one-timers or he would basically just skate into the goalie and use the manual dekeing to push the puck in past the post.

I probably should have quit, but it was like my 2nd game ever and I didn't want to screw up my rating for when I actually want to play. When I play, I play like it's a real hockey game. I try not to one-time every shot, I try to cycle the puck, shoot from the points, the hash marks, and whatever else. You're right though, who wants to play the guy that's just going to use exploits to be the best and have a record of like 179-2-5. Good for you, you played nearly 200 online games...congratulations on accomplishing the most irrelevant feat imaginable.

It's fun once in a while for a change of pace..and honestly thus far from what I have played online...the only game that didn't have massive loopholes is Madden. But I also haven't played that online extensively either.

I just hope they do more to work on the presentation, and in terms of 2k7 working on the crowd because it's pretty unenthusiastic. One-timers reallllllllly need to stop being an easy way of scoring, and it'd be nice to have all-star voting/game/competition and a more intimate franchise. Not just trading, signing, and drafting. It should be more like madden where you have to manage the team, have the option of building a new stadium/relocating, etc.

The goal horn was just something that adds to the realism...I also wish they'd make Mature versions of the game. Because I know 2k Sports recorded the chatter of players at the Sharks practice and I think it'd be cool to hear some in-game stuff, maybe some profanity, and more importantly the occasional blood. Butttt likely none of that will happen. haha

the franchise mode in 2k7 gets extremely boring after a while . How come 2k7 has no create a player, create a team, or play in european leagues modes. Putting those things in 2k7 would make me never try Ea sports hockey games ever again

when they can get the graphics to look like the shootout mode during the entire game I'll get excited... and at more than 20 fps... bump it up to 60 fps at 1080 and make the movements more fluid with the shootout quality and bring back the defensive AI and Dynasty mode from 2004 on the pc and you've got a great game.

2k7.

2k7.

Congratulations, you like poorly made videogames. :handclap:

I don't think its amazing, but whats so poor about it?

Congratulations, you like poorly made videogames. :handclap:

Yeah, NHL 07 was much better. Ooooh, I like graphics and seeing cool locker room animations! And I like how I can deke four players, do a spin-o-rama, and then do a lacrosse-style goal! That is so fun! Yeah, go EA!

Yeah, NHL 07 was much better. Ooooh, I like graphics and seeing cool locker room animations! And I like how I can deke four players, do a spin-o-rama, and then do a lacrosse-style goal! That is so fun! Yeah, go EA!

Uhh......I can't do a lacrosse style goal in NHL 07 on the 360

EA has accquired AHL rights this years so that means ALL 29 AHL teams will be in the game including every single AHL player/prospect...:handclap:

To me it comes down the gameplay on the ice, all the other bells and whistles don't matter. 2k7 does a much better job of making the on ice mechanics feel like a game of hockey. The AI is better and the goalie physics are vastly superior. The defensive AI and positioning is solid and they can be a challenge when you have the right settings. NHL 2k7 has online leagues, create a team, create a player etc for the 360.
Its all there and you can customize the game to how you feel directly what hockey should play like. Thats not to say it doesnt have its fair share of problems and some minor bugs.

Being loyal to a company doesnt make any sense either unless your employed by them. If a company makes a great game of the sport you love what reason would you have not to buy it. I'm looking forward to what both 2k Games and EA bring out for 2008. I wan't to see what these next gen consoles can really do.

Did I mention that EA made Jim Hughson sound dumber than Gary Thorne when they used him? "I think he needs a brain straightening NOW!"

Seriously people.. Try NHL07 on 360 online against people ranked in the top 100 in the world. There are plenty of oddman rushes and superb defense. No crazy hitting etc either.. The game is totally different online than playing alone against the machine

like me ;) if any of u guys wanna play me that'd be awesome! my tag thingy is adonas17

how many of you play nhl07 on xbox live?

oh and to put my 2 cents in to the 2k7 vs. nhl07... 2k7 sucks balls! seriously, i read on ehre that it was soooo much better than nhl07 so i went out and bought it and it sucked...i had to go back and return it, i just told them that i accidentally bought the wrong one for my brothers bday... nhl07 is way better!

To me it comes down the gameplay on the ice, all the other bells and whistles don't matter.

bells and whistles like animations, graphics, models, sounds.... minor things.

2k7 reminded me of playing bubble hockey on a video game... guys go up and down the ice with instant cut-backs without seeming to move at all. They had some good features in gameplay when they first came out (like pinning on the boards) but EA has added those in now too. I like photo-realistic graphics not spongebob cartoon models.

Yeah, NHL 07 was much better. Ooooh, I like graphics and seeing cool locker room animations! And I like how I can deke four players, do a spin-o-rama, and then do a lacrosse-style goal! That is so fun! Yeah, go EA!

yeah because you have clearly only played '06!:handclap:


and how can you not care about graphics?

gameplay is important, graphics r a bonus

Well yeah, but I hate the way 2k games play. The players don't even look like they are skating. Its like they are hovering from end to end. (This is just based on 2k6 by the way)

Well yeah, but I hate the way 2k games play. The players don't even look like they are skating. Its like they are hovering from end to end. (This is just based on 2k6 by the way)

Ah. You base your argument on the worst example of the bunch. Try 2k7 first, then see what's up. I felt the same way until I realized I want a good hockey game, not ridiculous gimmicks with souped-up presentation and graphics. I love EA's graphics and presentation, but the on-ice product wasn't as good as 2k7's. They both have flaws, but overall, the HOCKEY was better in 2k7, and since it has been outselling EA's version, i think people agree.

And did you see the Staal is now on the cover of EA's game this year??? He went from 2k7 to NHL 2008...strange!...I'd think Sidney would be everyone's cover boy this year, or at least someone from the Ducks (Nieds) or Ottawa.

yeah I'm still confused about the Staal thing. He didn't even make the playoffs.

i think that they should also do more work on the pregame things........such as maybe showing a quick clip of the teams in the pregame warmup, being able to pick your starting lineup before each game right at the control selection menu (not just the first line and first d pair starting every game) and choose your scratches maybe have the pregame announcer announce the scratches and starting lineup for visiting team, then showing the teams entering the ice (realistic like how each team does) and announcing the home team starting lineups and have the anthems. i think that would be very sweet if they did that.

The skill stick is so much more fun than hitting buttons. They completely revolutionized the game and made hockey the best video game sport. If you master using the skill stick, it makes the game so much more fun. There is no more constant mashing of buttons. 07 was by far the better game. 2k7 has horrible glitches. I can score every single time on that game. in 07, there were some glitches like the puck popping up in the air and rolling off the goalies back and in but for the most part, there are far fewer glaring glitches in NHL 07.

ea sports must add the last name to the datebase. i hate creating a player and just hearing the first name. I love how NHL2K7 has the last name. So if u wanna create Brandon Dubinsky or Marc Staal it will say the whole name, not like lame Ea Spots NHL 07 that just say the first name, it sounds stupid when they announce it. Goal scored by number 8 Alex lol

i think that they should also do more work on the pregame things........such as maybe showing a quick clip of the teams in the pregame warmup, being able to pick your starting lineup before each game right at the control selection menu (not just the first line and first d pair starting every game) and choose your scratches maybe have the pregame announcer announce the scratches and starting lineup for visiting team, then showing the teams entering the ice (realistic like how each team does) and announcing the home team starting lineups and have the anthems. i think that would be very sweet if they did that.

See, I wouldn't watch any of that except for the first time. Give me in-game stuff, not the before and after. Show me updated stats for players, etc.

ea sports must add the last name to the datebase. i hate creating a player and just hearing the first name. I love how NHL2K7 has the last name. So if u wanna create Brandon Dubinsky or Marc Staal it will say the whole name, not like lame Ea Spots NHL 07 that just say the first name, it sounds stupid when they announce it. Goal scored by number 8 Alex lol

Yeah but there are a ton of last names that it wouldn't be able to pronounce

Yeah but there are a ton of last names that it wouldn't be able to pronounce

Yeah naturally, but their database has at least 500 last names in it, if not more. So there is a chance.