
The secret online feature for NHL 09 has now been officially revealed as being the EA Sports Hockey League. This will be somewhat of a combination between Be A Pro mode and Online Team Play.
Along the lines of an MMO, you’ll be able to create your player and improve him through the EASHL. Teams will comprise of up to 50 users, individual and team stats will be tracked, and this will be a ranked online mode. Only two team members will be required to compete together in order to count a game, but up to the six that is allowed through OTP will be able to join in at once. Basically there could be several games for a single team taking place at once, and it allows for a lot of flexibility in being able to get into games and contribute for the team as well as build up your player.
Head over to Gamespot for an interview with producer David Littman that provides greater detail on this exciting addition to NHL 09.
July 22, 2008 at 1:10 pm
WOOOOOOOW!!!!
July 22, 2008 at 1:14 pm
hopefully they will get this 2 run smoothly unlike NCAA & NASCAR
if ur NOT 1st ur LAST
July 22, 2008 at 1:15 pm
and just like every other ea sports online feature it won’t work and they
won’t fix it
July 22, 2008 at 1:19 pm
[quote comment="29756"]and just like every other ea sports online feature it won’t work and they
won’t fix it[/quote]
Pretty bad that EA is leaving a bad taste in just about everyone’s mouth right now. They did it to themselves.
This feature-if it works- will be amazing.
July 22, 2008 at 1:28 pm
so awesome…
pasta do you know if we will be able to create more than one player for this mode?
July 22, 2008 at 1:38 pm
THAT WOULD BE COOL TO WORK YOUR WAY UP TO THE BIG SHOW AND EARN A CALDER TROPHY AS A ROOKIE…..MAKE AN ALL-STAR TEAM…….BECOME AN HART TROPHY………BECOME AN EVENTUAL HALL-OF-FAMER!!!!!!!!!!
July 22, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Prediction: Epic Fail
Given EA’s track record, it is a great plan but they will fail on exectution.
July 22, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Sounds good.
July 22, 2008 at 2:13 pm
You re absolutely right.
July 22, 2008 at 2:37 pm
I’m pretty sure that EA’s online work on NHL last year was really solid. NHL is developed by EA CAnada, not EA Tiburon. EA Canada seems to put out quality games as last year NHL 08 was routinely called the best sports game of the year.
July 22, 2008 at 5:01 pm
holy crap that’s awesome
July 22, 2008 at 5:42 pm
“I’m pretty sure that EA’s online work on NHL last year was really solid. NHL is developed by EA CAnada, not EA Tiburon. EA Canada seems to put out quality games as last year NHL 08 was routinely called the best sports game of the year.”
True. The last time NHL really disappointed me online was 05 or 06 where it was on the old XBOX. More recently, EA Canada has done fairly well online.
July 22, 2008 at 7:24 pm
EA Canada is solid. This feature is gonna be great. Hopefully it will get more people interested in the game because it is the best sports game going right now.
July 22, 2008 at 7:40 pm
i’ve never bought an NHL game, but I am sold on this game. can’t wait to create a goalie.
July 22, 2008 at 8:37 pm
why can ea canada make such good strides with online play like be a pro mode for fifa and now this, and then tiburon has the fiasco that is ncaa football so far, why cant the two combine
July 23, 2008 at 7:46 am
Maybe I don’t fully understand the feature, but isn’t this pretty much the exact same feature that most FPS games have had for a long time?
It’s called clan support. Or do I not get it?
July 23, 2008 at 8:43 am
EA’s NHL games are the SHIZZZZ……I am am not even that big of a fan of the sport, but the games ROCk!
July 23, 2008 at 12:31 pm
yay! let’s get all the kids who love to play WOW to like sports games by turning them into MMORPGs, and forgetting about the croud that created the sports gaming industry in the first place (sarcasm).
then, lets divert endless amounts of resources to these areas of the games, which will likely be broken out of the box, while we leave gameplay, stat engines, and full game experience on the shelves fore next, next, next gen, where we will actually transport your mind into the actual body of a real life NHL player!
i cannot wait…
for this to bite the industry in the a$$.