Is it Time to Stick a Fork in the NHL 2K Series?

[VanCitySportsGuy]

Re: Is it Time to Stick a Fork in the NHL 2K Series?

The NHL2K series has been going downhill since 2K6. I use to be a huge 2K fan but EA blows it out of the water now.

The EA series feels right (really nice controls) while everything feels off in the 2K series (skating, controls, menu's, etc...).

I prefer the consumer to have choices so I hope the 2K series doesn't go away.

You can't blame poor sales on the marketing this season. 2K brought Ovie to Vegas and New York. I saw a lot of commercials for the Wii version and events were on the various sport stations.

When EA brought out the skill stick in 2007 version, this was the first nail in the coffin for 2K.

[kerosene31]

Re: Is it Time to Stick a Fork in the NHL 2K Series?

You can't blame poor sales on the marketing this season. 2K brought Ovie to Vegas and New York. I saw a lot of commercials for the Wii version and events were on the various sport stations.

I disagree on marketing. While 2k got their product "out there" they did little to tell the die hard hockey fans what they were buying. The Wii version has little in common with the PS3/360 version. As a 360 owner, I was slightly offended that they didn't tell me more about the non-Wii version. (nothing against the Wii, but clearly it is a different product).

On the other hand EA showed us countless videos and blogs on gameplay changes. We all say vids of "hardcore passing" months before release. When the NHL10 demo dropped, we had a very good idea what we were getting. EA almost bombarded us with too much info at times.

Yet with 2k10 we had little info on actual gameplay plus no demo. Yet again the only real info was word of mouth from players. The only reason I bought 2k9 and 2k10 was personal recommendations from people on this forum. The only reason I got these recommendations is that I was in the 2k forum asking numerous questions and showing interest. How many hockey fans bothered to do that? There certainly were some, but not very many.

Marketing is telling people about your product, not that it just "exists". That's where 2k failed badly.

[hyacinth1]

Re: Is it Time to Stick a Fork in the NHL 2K Series?

The NHL2K series has been going downhill since 2K6. I use to be a huge 2K fan but EA blows it out of the water now.

The EA series feels right (really nice controls) while everything feels off in the 2K series (skating, controls, menu's, etc...).

I prefer the consumer to have choices so I hope the 2K series doesn't go away.

You can't blame poor sales on the marketing this season. 2K brought Ovie to Vegas and New York. I saw a lot of commercials for the Wii version and events were on the various sport stations.

When EA brought out the skill stick in 2007 version, this was the first nail in the coffin for 2K.

You can use Skill Stick in 2K's game. So not sure what you're getting at.

I just checked the NHL 10 forums and can't believe all the fanboyism towards EA's game. I was in that same boat, where I just had played EA's game from 08 -10 and was very happy with it. Until someone told me to try 2k since it was only 20 bucks, I still resisted but then finally gave it a shot. I am glad it did. I can say that while EA's game has more modes and options, ON THE ICE, 2k beats out EA's gameplay. But there is a big asterisk to that last comment, it beats it out With the RIGHT SLIDERS. And that's the problem with 2k all along. Every 2K game I played after their great 2k5 year, was a slider fest, which I hate. I gave up on 2K after NFL2K5 and NHL2K5 and only went back this year to NHL2K10 since it was cheap to get. I am glad I did, bec it's a terrific game to play,and I like it having it along to compliment NHL10.

But from a casual gamers prespective, NHL10 I can sit back and relax and play, don't have to really worry about sliders or settings. With 2K, it took me like 2 weeks to get the sliders i wanted right, so the game plays like I want it to play. it was a frustrating 2 weeks, but when I got it right it plays really good. But I can see from someone who wants to relax and play, why they would go for NHL10 over 2k.

[Dalsanto0026]

Re: Is it Time to Stick a Fork in the NHL 2K Series?

I'm not surprised.

NHL2K didn't stand a chance against EA's game.
It's the abundance 2K's bugs and glitches that drives so many people away, their NHL franchise just wasn't as polished as it needed to be to compete with the competition.
No game is without these flaws but with EA's hockey title they don't spoil the overall experience.

[Sabresfan2630]

Re: Is it Time to Stick a Fork in the NHL 2K Series?

I hope it doesnt end.

[Flyermania]

Re: Is it Time to Stick a Fork in the NHL 2K Series?

I just checked the NHL 10 forums and can't believe all the fanboyism towards EA's game.

I think you'll find that in any forum....this (2k hockey) forum is no different.

I was in that same boat, where I just had played EA's game from 08 -10 and was very happy with it. Until someone told me to try 2k since it was only 20 bucks, I still resisted but then finally gave it a shot. I am glad it did. I can say that while EA's game has more modes and options, ON THE ICE, 2k beats out EA's gameplay. But there is a big asterisk to that last comment, it beats it out With the RIGHT SLIDERS.

I would offer that with some minor slider adjustments that NHL 10's gameplay is top notch. Sliders make a huge difference no matter what game you are playing. 2k's is definitely good and much improved over 2k9, but the total lack of boardplay and the CPU's lack of dumping and cycling the puck makes it an unrealistic representation of the sport for me personally.

[VanCitySportsGuy]

Re: Is it Time to Stick a Fork in the NHL 2K Series?

I agree that one of the weak points of the marketing was that they didn't start earlier like EA. Not releasing a demo just showed me they weren't confident in their product.

I just disagree with the people that said 2K didn't market the game at all. As for the Skill Stick in 2K, I don't find it as smooth as the EA skill stick. There's also probably a lot of people out there that don't mess with the controls and didn't even know 2K has a skill stick option.

I like to see competition but if 2K goes away, I'm not going to lose any sleep.

[tabulaRasa]

Too bad, I mean, it´s not like EAs sales were really affected when their NHL series got owned by 2K , 2k3-2k6. 2K sold decent then, but the problem is that EA sales aren´t affected when EA put out mediocre games in the sport divsion. EA fans are just more loyal. NHL from EA is good this generation though, it´s just that 2K can´t afford an off year it seems, unlike EA.

We all know that competetion is good for game development. So it would suck.

BTW, pastapadre isn´t really the source of non-EA material.... really the opposite

[dan77733]

Amazing how since the EA/NFL deal was announced five years ago that 2K sports and Visual Concepts may be at the end. Whats worse is the fact that if VC and 2K are done, any slim hope of an NFL 2K return would be gone. Sad day for us 2K fans.

[StormJH1]

I'm a little worried about the immediate future of hockey gaming b/c the EA NHL product, which has been clearly superior for at least 3 years, has become a little bit stale. I don't want a "competitor" like 2k Sports to leave, but the sad truth is that EA doesn't view 2k hockey as a true competitor anymore.

There are two primary reasons why gamers want "competition" in sports titles: choice and evolution. Both of those applied to the NFL game b/c both NFL 2k5 and Madden 2005 were quality products.

But can anyone point to a single innovation by 2k hockey that resulted in an innovation in NHL 08, 09, or 10? I can't. 2k8 had a great franchise mode, but NHL 09 made essentially no changes in this regard. 2k9 had a great fighting engine...NHL 10 scrapped their old fighting system and used something more like a poor man's version of Fight Night (which I don't really care for). Yes, NHL 10 finally did implement board pinning, but if that was such a big concern of EA's, why didn't the "competition" spark them to throw in board pinning after ESPN Hockey or 2k5 were released?

You could argue that the most significant innovations in this genre (most notably the skill stick) came out of the individual creativity of a design team thinking outside the box. That's because of one important axiom, which is unfortunate, but true:

"Competition" ONLY works when the underdog company has a larger budget.

That's why games like NHL 08, EA Skate, and EA MMA have succeeded or are likely to succeed in the future. When the underdog also has a smaller budget (as does 2k/Visual Concepts), they get caught playing catchup and trying to copy what's good about the superior game, rather than doing what they should be doing, which is innovating and offering something new. EA can keep throwing out their product without so much as adding something as simple as playoff beards and it will do just fine.

[savoie2006]

Re: Is it Time to Stick a Fork in the NHL 2K Series?

EA has and always will have a large fanbase.They have a very loyal fanbase. Even when the games were nothing but arcadish gameplay. As for innovation from 2K. If it wasn't for what 2K did last gen, EA may have never stepped it up like it has current gen. The ball is now is 2K's court and it's up to them to step it up. Based on 2K10, it appears that is finally starting to happen. I just hope it's not too little too late. If only Visual Concepts would have been over the series this entire time.

[Flyermania]

Re: Is it Time to Stick a Fork in the NHL 2K Series?

I agree that 2k10 was a huge step in the right direction of the series, but ultimately it all comes down to sales. And 2k10 did not sell a lot of copies on the 360 or the PS3 unfortunately. It's really too bad that 2k chooses not to market the game (in comparison to their competition as well as how they used to market the series), especially with so many low-cost social networking options. Ultimately that choice may be the end of the series.

[Lisa_Bonami]

Re: Is it Time to Stick a Fork in the NHL 2K Series?

I think the BEST business move for 2K Sports would be bought out by Microsoft.

This would give 2K the marketing muscle with MS dollars

They could also rerelease an NFL product immediately (Isnt it just a 3rd party exclusive NFL license?)

They could also incorporate the NFL Fever, NHL Rivals, NBA Inside Drive teams into the 2K Sports teams. All those games had potential back in the day but just needed some more senior sports talent (2Ksports perfect fit)

2K Sports would also reap the benefits of Microsoft's superior motion capture technology to provide more polished and lifelike animations into their games

And Microsoft could even benefit by now turning NBA 2K basketball into an Xbox 360 exclusive title (if they chose to do so to try and now create a countering sports system seller that directly compete's with Sony's PS3 MLB the Show system seller)

It could be what you call a WIN/WIN situation for BOTH parties and we could also benefit immensely as well

[StormJH1]

Re: Is it Time to Stick a Fork in the NHL 2K Series?

I think the BEST business move for 2K Sports would be bought out by Microsoft.

This would give 2K the marketing muscle with MS dollars

They could also rerelease an NFL product immediately (Isnt it just a 3rd party exclusive NFL license?)

They could also incorporate the NFL Fever, NHL Rivals, NBA Inside Drive teams into the 2K Sports teams. All those games had potential back in the day but just needed some more senior sports talent (2Ksports perfect fit)

2K Sports would also reap the benefits of Microsoft's superior motion capture technology to provide more polished and lifelike animations into their games

And Microsoft could even benefit by now turning NBA 2K basketball into an Xbox 360 exclusive title (if they chose to do so to try and now create a countering sports system seller that directly compete's with Sony's PS3 MLB the Show system seller)

It could be what you call a WIN/WIN situation for BOTH parties and we could also benefit immensely as well

Interesting, but Microsoft doesn't seem to have any interest in putting out first-party sports titles. Not since Inside Drive or whatever that XBox basketball game was. It's really unfortunate for 360 gamers b/c we could use a strong alternative to MLB 2k9, but we don't know what happens behind closed doors...maybe they get leverage with EA by not pissing them off and flooding the market with first-party sports titles to compete with EA's.

[Radja]

now that i had a chance to play this, they need to continue with the series. it really plays a great game of hockey post patch & with original 6 sliders, at least for someone who hasn't played the real thing.

it makes you work for goals and such. there is a place for both hockey games. my bro-in-law loves nhl 10 for the be a pro mode. he doesn't play the single player modes. but i do and the nhl 10 mode was at one point broken so it would not be worth it for me to purchase.

i hope this sticks around because next year could be epic if it does.