NHL 15 - The reveal all of you (just me) have been waiting for!

[Scott_Arm]

I wonder if there just isn't much profit in it for others to bother. When we had the NHL license many years ago it was already hard enough negotiating with the leagues for a decent deal, and then even harder after that to turn a profit. Hence it was inevitably dropped. I figure maybe EA is one of the few companies willing to hold on to NHL games even if they aren't very profitable just to complete their sports franchises.

The odd thing is, as far as I know, that NHL is selling more each year. The cost of producing the game has probably gone up, but I'm sure they're very economical about it. Ultimate team is popular, and that is a micro-transaction game. Maybe it helped from sinking the franchise. The season ticket thing and micro-transactions for stat boosts are also popular amongst the most hardcore players. They're definitely trying to get the average spending per customer well above the $60 price tag. The whole deal is probably not hugely profitable, if at all.

My guess is EA doesn't have exclusive rights, it's just that no one else wants to pay for licenses to the players and teams.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Actually, why aren't there generic sports games? They used to abound in the 16 bit era. Have gamers become so shallow that a sports game without licensed real-life names isn't worth bothering with?

 

[Scott_Arm]

Actually, why aren't there generic sports games? They used to abound in the 16 bit era. Have gamers become so shallow that a sports game without licensed real-life names isn't worth bothering with?

Pretty much. Sports gamers are a special breed. From my experience, they aren't people that play a ton of games. They mostly play sports titles and one or two other games. In general, they don't even seem to like sports so much as they like particular teams. If you can't wear the right jersey, they're not playing it. I've bared witness to many arguments over which team jersey our virtual hockey team was going to wear, because of rivalries and all that nonsense.

 

[AlNom]

It's too bad. I really enjoyed NHL Hitz...

 

[Scott_Arm]

These in-game (replay mode, I'm guessing) views of the arena are actually pretty awesome.

http://www.easports.com/nhl/news-updates-gameplay/article/nhl-15-arenas

 

[upnorthsox]

All those Red Wing fans....ick. They'd look better in 480i

 

[London Geezer]

Wow. I couldn't give a flying fk about this sport, but that looks gorgeous.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

It's EA, you probably play the entire match from this camera angle

 

[Renegade_43]

Looking like a pretty big step up for the NHL series.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Looking like a pretty big step up for the NHL series.

I wonder if it has destructible teeth?

 

[Renegade_43]

Haha that would be awesome. It sucks having no blood rules in sports games.

New trailer is amazing!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jEgFzpsPMA

 

[Scott_Arm]

The trailer is pretty amazing. Graphics look crazy.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

The collision physics and animations are fantastic!

 

[Scott_Arm]

Looks like NHL14 with a huge graphical update, especially the crowd. The player animations don't look like they've changed much.

 

[expletive]

Looks like NHL14 with a huge graphical update, especially the crowd. The player animations don't look like they've changed much.

EA ninjas got the video but too bad about player animations, thats where I was hoping this new gen would really improve, felt the same way about the new Madden trailers.

 

[djskribbles]

Some of the modeled faces look nothing like their real-life counterparts IMO. Kane, TJ Oshie, Subban and Ovechkin look decent, but everyone else looks off (Nash, Bergeron, Datsyuk, Tavarez). Everything else looks great, though I haven't played an NHL game in a long time.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Some of the modeled faces look nothing like their real-life counterparts IMO. Kane, TJ Oshie, Subban and Ovechkin look decent, but everyone else looks off (Nash, Bergeron, Datsyuk, Tavarez). Everything else looks great, though I haven't played an NHL game in a long time.

Yah, I wonder if that's just because they're using placeholders until the game is finished. The previous games have done a pretty good job of getting the stars right.

 

[rockaman]

It's quite funny... one thing I always remember about this forum is Scott and hockey haha.

I'm looking forward to this too, was blown away by the trailer. Normally don't like anything EA, but when it comes to their NHL games and Sims games I'm all ears.

Just looks pretty much perfect and dare I say "next-gen"

 

[scooby_dooby]

Looks like NHL14 with a huge graphical update, especially the crowd. The player animations don't look like they've changed much.

Too bad there's not a lick of gameplay in that entire trailer

Still stoked for this though, good to see they are at least trying to do something significant for the new consoles.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Here's a good QA session with the games producer.

http://www.easports.com/nhl/news-updates-gameplay/article/nhl-15-q-and-a-with-rammer

You can deke while turning, deke animations are new, group goal celebrations are in.

Interesting answer

What resolution and framerate will the game be on Xbox One? On PlayStation4?

Both consoles will run at 60 FPS.