EA’s NHL 09 kicked off hockey season early

While the National Hockey League’s 2008–2009 season starts on Saturday (October 4), for many fans the season unofficially began on September 9 with the release of Electronic Arts’ NHL 09.

“We feel it’s one of the most authentic sports games ever made,” lead producer David Littman told the Georgia Straight at EA’s Burnaby campus.

Littman called this latest version the best installment of the NHL series. Last year’s NHL 08 garnered seven sports game of the year awards and comparisons to popular and acclaimed series like Madden NFL and Tiger Woods PGA Tour.

EA Sports Hockey League, a new feature of this year’s game, allows six-on-six games to be played on-line. Littman said the goal is to “bring hockey fans from around the world together”. As he spoke with the Straight last month, he watched six NHL players-cover boy and Calgary Flames defenceman Dion Phaneuf, Los Angeles Kings defenceman Drew Doughty, Minnesota Wild goaltender Josh Harding, L.A. Kings centre Patrick O’Sullivan, Anaheim Ducks right-winger Corey Perry, and San Jose Sharks centre Jeremy Roenick—play a game against members of the media.

The six-on-six experience is just one part of the game, Littman said, noting that gamers can use the character they’ve created to form or join a team that can compete in the on-line league. “We want to give players the feeling of stepping on NHL ice and being a superstar,” said the former professional hockey player, who had brief stints with the Buffalo Sabres and the Tampa Bay Lightning as a goalie.

While he’s pleased with NHL 09, Littman confessed that NHL 07 “wasn’t great”. The only reason that edition got noticed, he said, was the then-new Skill Stick System, which allows players to use a joystick rather than buttons to control their hockey stick-an innovation he compared to the introduction of one-timer shots in NHL ’94. For NHL 08, the developers made improvements to the offensive features of the Skill Stick.

Littman said that for NHL 09, the development team concentrated on defensive uses of the Skill Stick, allowing players to lift an opponent’s stick and initiate stick-on-stick contact. “It’s difficult enough trying to get body-on-body contact, or puck-on-stick contact,” Littman said, “but stick-on-stick contact was really tricky.”

Roenick told the Straight that he believes younger players-many of whom are skilled at EA’s NHL series-are bringing their skills from the video game onto the ice.

“It helps with hockey sense,” the veteran player said earlier the same day at Burnaby 8 Rinks, where his hockey moves were being captured by cameras for next year’s edition of the game. Gamers can see the effects of head-manning the puck (passing it to a rushing forward) and one-timing it, and their knowledge of these tactics can lead to success on the ice.

Littman said he agrees with Roenick: kids are learning how to play hockey by playing hockey video games. In particular, Littman said, hockey simulators can teach players about positioning.

As for possible developments in future installments of the series, Littman suggested that the boards are one part of the rink he’ll be looking at. “We’ve got great hits but no board play,” he said. He wants the game’s power forwards to be able to move the puck along the boards with their skates, and the defence to be able to pin them on the boards. “And we don’t think our fighting is up to par,” he added.

At one point during the players-versus-media game, Phaneuf took a penalty. Littman laughed because the image on Phaneuf’s monitor was of his virtual self looking out at the ice from the sin bin, a view the Flames defenceman is familiar with. “I love watching these guys play the game,” Littman said.