It’s broken, Paul.

But anyways… you can’t even compare the two anymore, these two games aren’t even fighting for the same markets spots exactly.

NHL 10 is *only* available on PS3 and XBOX 360.  Not on any other platform, and EA has stated they no longer have any interest in any other platforms.  It looks like a very good game, but they’ve lost gamers form 2 platforms now and I can’t imagine that’ll give them momentum going forward (another chance for 2k SPorts to close the gap yet again).

NHL 2k10 is available on Wii and PS2 in addition to the other two above, with a lot more effort being put into the Wii version this year (because last year’s game was just awful to play and look at—I picked it up as the “free” game in a “Buy 2, Get 1 Free” deal last year).  The Wii version is an interesting implementation and idea… but the Wii is horribly underpowered and the graphics and framerate suffer badly as a result.  That said… the PC version of NHL 09 last year was a port of their PS2 version with PS2-ish graphics and if they’re done right, PS2-ish graphics can be very good and fine to play with.  I had a blast with NHL 09 for PC.

Given the 2k Sports Wii offering, and the fact that 2k Sports was smart enough to give the PS2 version another go, they’re going to outsell the EA offering overall by a lot probably (because many still haven’t upgraded to a PS3 or 360 given the terrible economy.

At some point one of these two companies needs to get back into the PC market, and I’d like to see someone tackle the portable market as well (PSP, DS—as popular as the DS is and as many DS’s that are sold out there, it boggles me that there are no sports game for it.  Especially when FIFA 09 for DS is a great game and implemenetation to a portable).

Competition is good and healthy, and both games are good right now.  Unfortunately not many people can actually play them, because both companies are getting cheap and lazy in terms of pollinating across platforms… and we as gamers and hockey fans lose out.

Posted by Primis on 09/24/09 at 07:14 AM ET

When you say broken, what do you mean?  I just tested it again, working fine on my end.

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 09/24/09 at 07:15 AM ET

...but they’ve lost gamers form 2 platforms now and I can’t imagine that’ll give them momentum going forward (another chance for 2k SPorts to close the gap yet again).

Yep, I bought the EA brand the last 3 years but not this year. I told him if he wants I’ll get him the 2k10 game instead. He was a little upset & confused at first as to why they didn’t make it anymore. So I explained it and seemed alright with it after that..
Now I geuss it’s PS3 for Christmas

Posted by Lindas1st from New England on 09/24/09 at 07:53 AM ET

This is a no brainer. NHL10 is vastly superior. NHL 2K10’s players look choppy, and pretty much have a weird shape i find. Having played both games, you have to go with NHL10.

Posted by Airdom from Montreal on 09/24/09 at 08:02 AM ET

This is a no brainer. NHL10 is vastly superior. NHL 2K10’s players look choppy, and pretty much have a weird shape i find. Having played both games, you have to go with NHL10.

You miss the point though.

Which is that it’s *not* the clear-cut favorite (even if it’s a little better) because it’s just plain NOT AVAILABLE on some systems, meaning on some systems the 2k Sports one is the only choice, or there’s no choice at all.

I don’t blame EA for not messing around with Wii (although they sure didn’t seem to have many problems in getting Madden on there, did they?).  2k Sports is gutsy in a way to tackle that platform knowing the graphics on it are vastly inferior and that using the Wiimotes for control makes it very difficult and a high learning curve.  EA abandoning the PS2 and PC though is just plain stupid, especially since the PC is the single longest-running platform for them (they’ve made NHL games for it dating back to the original NHL ‘94)..

And Paul, just to let you know it’s still not loading for me on Firefox.  I get the player window, but no content or anything and the timer reads “0:00” no matter how long it sits there.  If you hit Play it doesn’t do anything.  Anyone else having these issues?  It maybe only work on IE, or you need a plugin?  Embedded videos always work for me here on KK, so I’m a bit perplexed…

Posted by Primis on 09/24/09 at 08:45 AM ET

video doesn’t play on my mac. just as nhl 10 won’t play on my wii, nor will it play on my mac running bootcamp. bummer.

Posted by some kid from brooklyn on 09/24/09 at 08:46 AM ET

It’s working for me.

That guy just called 2K sports’ game a 3rd line grinder. Wow, LOL!!!

Posted by Lindas1st from New England on 09/24/09 at 09:33 AM ET

I totally blame EA for abandoning PC/not trying on Wii. Their strategy from the get go was an absolute failure. For whatever reason they decided their job was to push next gen systems instead of pushing software. I know not everything can be done graphically or even physics wise on the Wii or lower end PCs that can be done on the 360 or PS3, but that didn’t mean it was impossible for them to scale it down for those systems.

I’m trying to convince EA to start developing on PC/Wii for next year’s game though. I’ve given the suggestion to a couple of devs on their team.

Posted by bcrt on 09/24/09 at 09:34 AM ET

I know not everything can be done graphically or even physics wise on the Wii or lower end PCs that can be done on the 360 or PS3, but that didn’t mean it was impossible for them to scale it down for those systems.

Well I own a Wii and 2k9 for it.  It sure makes fighting fun in the game, but I didn’t really *get* more out of it with the Wiimotes.  Also the game commentary is terrible, and all the players looked the same (my understanding is that 2k10 has players look different from one another now, but still, yeesh).  I’m curious to see how 2k10 works with lifting player’s sticks and such, but I don’t know that I’ll buy it.

In fact, I had way more fun playing NHL 09 on PC and immersing myself in the Be A Pro mode (starting as a 4th line Center for the Thrashers and ending the season centering Kovy and Little, and winning the Cup as captain).  However, since there’s no PC NHL 10, I now will have to settle for downloading updated rosters and hoping someone comes up with a creative mod for it (too bad the AHL/ECHL/IHL/CHL mod was abandoned).

Hockey fans deserve better than this though…

Posted by Primis on 09/24/09 at 09:54 AM ET

I totally blame EA for abandoning PC/not trying on Wii. Their strategy from the get go was an absolute failure.

I don’t defend them abandoning the PC (makes no sense to me at all), but from watching those godawful commercials for NHL2k10 on the Wii how can ANYONE blame EA for not sh*tting up their game to take advantage of a crappy gimmick console?

2K10 looks like absolute garbage on Wii, so to me EA comes out looking great.

Posted by Garth on 09/24/09 at 10:00 AM ET

The 2k games haven’t changed in years. They had an edge on EA in like 03 or 04, can’t remember and have been shitty since then. Since EA updated the franchise they have been tweaking a great system for the last few years. NHL 10 is amazing, it feels like real hockey, no more coming in sideways from the blue line and getting a wrist shot goal everytime. Cycling the puck, batting at rebounds and polished gameplay makes this game the best in the series. I can completely understand ditching the Wii port. I used to work at a videostore and the we would bring in 10 copies for Wii and they wouldn’t even make up their original cost in rentals.
Either way try em both out. Some prefer the arcadey mini games and bullshit the the 2k series offer, and some prefer fantastic simulation NHL. I, clearly, prefer the EA game.

Posted by Tikan on 09/24/09 at 10:52 AM ET

What’s EAs incentive to make a game on the Wii, however?  This year’s Madden game sold 67,000 copies on the Wii and that’s brutally abysmal and Madden is their king of all sports games… So what, exactly would the lesser-selling NHL product do?  EA would be better off throwing their money down a well.  Adding to that is the graphic inferiority the Wii has compared to PS3 and the 360 so you’re just playing a more clunky PS2 level game.

Not making stuff for the PC is a cruddy company decision but what can you say?

Posted by HockeyJoe from Upstate New York on 09/24/09 at 12:30 PM ET

@Garth: Look at NHL 2005 on Gamecube. It looks GREAT. Wii is twice as powerful so they should be able to make it look as good as that. 2K’s game doesn’t even look as good as EA’s last gen offerings.

@HockeyJoe: The thing is EA has barely put any development effort into their Wii titles. They are lucky that the Wii Motion has made an interesting control scheme for Tiger Woods but they’ve essentially been using the code from the PS2/Gamecube games for most of their Wii games (except the new ones they created, Grand Slam Tennis and EA Sports Active). Hate on 2K all you want, but they’ve done a loving job with NHL 2K on Wii and the sales show. I think they sold something close to 800,000 copies of NHL 2K9 last year.

Posted by bcrt on 09/24/09 at 01:51 PM ET

@brct: I’m talking more about 2K10’s gameplay on the Wii, not the graphics.  I haven’t really seen the graphics on the Wii version beyond the gameplay shown in the commercial.

I’m talking about the fact that EA’s big sell is the immersive experience and it’s just ridiculous to be swinging your arms around trying to take the shot, trying to lift a stick, trying to make a hit.  I’d rather EA concentrate on adding the cool little features and details they have added to the regular console versions (like the boardplay and the little goalie moves) than trying to adapt it to the wiimote.

The inherent difficutly with the Wii is that any game you’re developing for the 360 or PS3 you have to really rework the game and completely rethink the gameplay to add it to the Wii.  Which is why I find it odd that they’ve dropped the PC because I can’t imagine they would have to change it up too much for the PC.

Posted by Garth on 09/24/09 at 03:02 PM ET

The 2k games haven’t changed in years. They had an edge on EA in like 03 or 04, can’t remember and have been shitty since then.

Actually they had a big edge on EA’s titles until about 2k7…  I owned and still played 2k6 up until about a year ago and it still is a great game, and at the time far superior to EA’s arcadey controls and physics.  Then EA went more back to its roots, got its physics correct, and then added Be A Pro and 2k’s been playing catch-up ever since..

Posted by Primis on 09/24/09 at 03:08 PM ET

@Garth: 2K10 offers classic controller support, if you use one it plays exactly like the 360/PS3 versions as far as I know (other than having worse graphics obviously).

Posted by bcrt on 09/24/09 at 07:36 PM ET

Not going for the Wii is one thing, but that raises the biggest question in EA’s favor… Why should EA pursue the PS2?  In case you haven’t played any of the NHL games on PS2 since NHL 07, they are all simply remakes of NHL 06 with new rosters and shy attempts at new features… I remember the only real difference in 07 on PS2 was the X button did a spin-o-rama… ooo yay… Same general gameplay, same player animations, same ridiculous goaltending.  I can almost guarantee you that EA has pushed the envelope on the abilities of the PS2 and isn’t willing to spend the time and/or money to re-tool NHL10 on a dated system.

EA’s engineering towards using the right stick as of NHL 07 on 360 was never transferred to the PS2 due to it’s old hardware.  It isn’t even worth it to try as I’m positive sales for EA NHL games for PS2 were near bottom feeding.  In fact I know ONE person who purchased NHL 08 on PS2… ONE.  So again, why in the world would EA sports come out with a game that’s simply just a roster updated version of dated NHL games?  EA is simply cutting down on it’s costs to create a game that isn’t even close to the prime product created on 360 and PS3.

As for 2k10, I haven’t played it yet, but as of recent years with both NHL and MLB, I can’t see it being nearly as good as NHL10. 

Not meaning to sound biased, because it’s really just the truth, NHL 10 is quite possibly the best hockey game I have ever played since NHL 94.  The defensive additions to the game such as the ability to engage in trench battles, the new fight engine and the closest thing to realism in “Be A GM Mode” are awesome.  Not to mention the graphics are great, gameplay engine is obviously the same, but is improved in terms of graphic detail and more realistic game flow.  NHL2k10 has HUGE bounds to make in order to come close to what even the old NHL 07 offerred.  To this day, a 2k hockey game has yet to impress me more than what NHL 07 still brings to my 360. 

In a short, raw comparison of the two, EA consistently comes out with important, but simple details of the game.  In 07 they utilized the right stick for shooting.  Awesome.  In 08 they made defensive AI improvements.  Great.  In 09 they added the one handed deke and much smarter goaltending.  Good… I admit, EA began to lose ideas and it was apparent.  But in 10, they added the fight engine, and board battles.  Superior.  I’ve wanted the ability to tie up players on the boards since the beginning of my NHL gaming experience.  The 2k series on the other hand is HUGE on details… but not necessarily the ones that matter and they often over complicate it.  I remember in 2k7 they had a button to catch an aerial puck… seriously?  While EA columns player stats into offense, defense and athleticism into fairly general categories such as shot power, discipline, deking and faceoffs, I remember 2k games having a ridiculous amount of stats, like how good a player’s backhand is or reverse skating speed as well as other vague stats like “anticipation.”  Totally unnecessary. 

Word of advice to 2k: Bring the new ideas, but remember just keep it simple enough to be enjoyable and not a painful chore to learn, much less master.

Posted by chad from minnesota on 09/26/09 at 09:44 PM ET

I just picked up NHL 2K10 for the 360 (I already own NHL 10 and play the @#$% out of it). The menu system is complete garbage. The graphics I honestly think aren’t bad, I like that they seem to have more overall contrast than NHL 10 and the way they did the ice with the readerboard reflections is sick.

That said, I played as the Hawks against the Oilers. The controls were throwing me for a loop because I’m used to the NHL 10 way of things, so more often than not I was out there waving my stick around instead of plastering someone into the glass. The game had an arcade-style feel to it, and by the end of the first period, the score was the Oilers leading 6-1. Yes, 6-1. Give me a freaking break, the first game I played on NHL 10 I think I lost 2-1 but it was by no means a blow out. I didn’t even play the other two periods, I shut the 360 off and put NHL 10 back in. The confusing controls (and even worse menu system) were the cappers for me. I have no problem with arcade-style hockey as the NHL Hitz series I really enjoyed.

I won’t commend 2K studios for releasing this (or 2K9) on the Wii, and here’s why. Both games look absolutely terrible and are nothing more than direct ports of the crappy PS2 games. If you’re going to develop a game for the Wii, try making it for the Wii and not porting some mediocre piece of trash to it and calling it good. I don’t like that EA abandoned the Wii and PC either, but I will give them props that at least instead of playing the role of the lazy developer in releasing a sub-standard port, they just said “no”. I had 2K9 on the Wii and I traded it in - it looked like crap, the controls were the very definition of gimmicky and very unresponsive. If you aren’t going to try very hard to make a good game, don’t try at all.

And for the record, there isn’t anything either of these two games do in terms of processing or graphics that any modern PC can’t perform reasonably well at.

Posted by Tom from Seattle on 02/01/10 at 02:47 PM ET

The controls on the ps3 for this game are horrible, all the buttons default to line changes, I almost stomped my ps3 on the ground for such stupid controls. Maybe I feel this way cause I’m getting older and don’t have time to waste getting to know such obscure controls, I expect to play a game that anyone can play with moderate ease, none of my friends want to play this game, they just get frustrated with the controls. The developers play the game day in day out and so everything is easy for them, so they just keep making the controls harder thinking it’s adding to the game and it’s removing all playability. I’ll never buy another NHL game from EA, especially when I heard they dropped support for the PC. EA is simply marketing old technology which new rosters, go out and buy a hockey stick instead of buying to marketing bull crap.

Posted by 2cents from Canada on 03/07/10 at 06:31 PM ET