The kid and I play a lot of NHL06 on PC.  I think the whole gaming experience has tripled with XBox-360 The graphics are awesome and the play is outstanding.  Now a 45 year old playing games. Let me just say this.  Try it…

Posted by Tony from Mid-Michigan on 08/23/06 at 10:00 AM ET

I have been a hockey gamer for six years and am eagerly anticipating this year’s NHL games.  For the last four years, Sega has had a much more realistic game, with great puck physics and I have always relied on their 2k series for superior gameplay.  This year could be different with EA’s revolutionary control scheme. 

In NHL 2007, you control the players using only the directional sticks and no buttons!  The left stick controls the players skating direction and the right stick controls the hockey stick.  This gives the video game player unparalled control to create moves that are not pre-programed!  The player can move just how you want them to!  (or so we are promised) 

For years, EA had the only NHL game in the market and their product suffered because of it.  Each year, the game had an updated roster, with little change or innovation in gameplay.  Goals were pre-scripted based on a players action.  New features were rarely found.

In 2000, Sega released NHL 2K, a revolutionary new hockey game without any gameplay scripts.  The puck moved more realistic than any other game.  Goals were scores off of redirections and the goalie took on a life of his own.  Completing the same play resulted in a different result each time.  It was challenging to play and took hockey strategies to compete.

This series innovated online console hockey play and, though wasn’t the prettiest hockey game, was the most popular.  Through the years, Sega has gotten a bit lazy in creating innovative features and is using an old game engine from the Dreamcast developed game, which is starting to show its age.

Over the last few years, EA has tried to enhance their gameplay and compete and has, for the most part, failed in created a true hockey simulation… until now?

For 2007, EA developed their hockey game entirely in Canada, attempting to shed new light into the series by using developers that were hockey fans and players.

It sounds like EA finally has their puck physics on the same plain as Sega.  Shots and deflections can create goals.  The graphics are stunning and the new control scheme is promising.  They have incorporated the salary cap, 2-way and 1-way contracts into the dynasty mode for an authentic GM experience.  Early gameplay video looks impressive, though the defensive AI worries me.

Sega’s recent gameplay footage has excited me for the newest version.  It looks to be more than a simple roster update.

For someone who has been an automatic Sega 2k buyer for the last five years, for the first time in quite awhile, I might rent both games before deciding on one.

Posted by Matthew Adler from Royal Oak, MI on 08/23/06 at 11:37 AM ET

Pretty video, but the goalies are freakin’ 8 feet tall.
I’m waiting for a game where the AI is actually smart enough to get involved in a cycle, or when carrying the puck in you see an attacker, a guy breaking, and a cover man. I haven’t tried the most recent games, but it always seems like they create something that falls just a bit short of actually capturing the game.

Posted by ceb from wbl, mn on 08/23/06 at 01:59 PM ET

Supposedly, NHL 2K7 will have progressive AI that will cycle and play like a real team.

Posted by Matthew Adler from Royal Oak, MI on 08/23/06 at 02:30 PM ET

I’ve never played a 2k game, always EA since NHL 91 for sega.  I havn’t played a 2k game because I can’t afford an xbox.  I now only play on my PC because NHL games are the only ones I play, and its not worth it to buy a console. 

I have to say though if you havn’t seen the graphics for EA’s next generation head over to doubleminor.net and check it out.  Its flat out amazing.  I may need to buy an xbox for it.

I don’t like EA’s stragies in NHL06 its too unrealistic, no matter how good a player is, the faster ones are always better reguardless of their rating.  Players don’t drive the net, you finally get setup in the zone, and players go for line changes.  Shots from the point rarely go in.  Getting 20 goals with Lidstrom is unrealistic.  Thats just a few among many.  Not counting the 9-7 final scores. 

I hope NHL07 is better.

Posted by Jdunc from Flint, MI on 08/23/06 at 03:37 PM ET

Part of what made the 2k series so great is that you have to work for your goals.  Since its inception, EA has had one shot each year that was a guarantee goal.

2K has never been like that and supposedly, with the new puck physics, EA 07 won’t be either.

EA always has better graphics, but you could only tell in the cutscenes.  2k’s cinemotion, where you can customize the camera angle to get closer into the action and allow it to pivot and zoom with the game, could transend that trend.

Posted by Matthew Adler from Royal Oak, MI on 08/23/06 at 03:53 PM ET

NHL06 on PC.

Posted by Tony from Mid-Michigan on 08/24/06 at 10:20 AM ET