
The demo for NHL 09 will be available on the PS3 later today next Thursday (generally PSN updates occur around 3pm PT). The Xbox 360 won’t be receiving the demo until sometime in early September.
The demo includes a Stanley Cup rematch of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings played through the perspective of an individual player in Be a Pro mode as well as being able to play the game the standard way.
The new Be A Pro career mode will put you in the skates of an up and coming superstar. Start in the AHL and work your way up to the NHL, with the ultimate goal of becoming an NHL legend. The new Performance Tracker will rate your play in over 60 categories so you will know exactly what parts of your game you need to improve. NHL 09 will also introduce the evolution of online team play – the EA SPORTS Hockey League. Take your created player online and join a team with friends, or scout for players. Featuring 6 vs. 6 online play and the ability to level up your player – you can become the first great name in video game hockey.
Be sure to leave your thoughts on the demo in the comments.
Update: EA has informed me that there was some miscommunication with Sony and the demo will not be out until next Thursday. However the NFL Head Coach 09 demo is up.
August 21, 2008 at 10:14 am
Ive never played a hockey game on either console so I am looking forward to this. Which one is supposed to be better, I know 2K is the better basketball game but what about Hockey?
August 21, 2008 at 10:17 am
[quote comment="32978"]Ive never played a hockey game on either console so I am looking forward to this. Which one is supposed to be better, I know 2K is the better basketball game but what about Hockey?[/quote]
The consensus last year was EA’s NHL 08 was vastly superior, and most expect that to continue this year. EA Hockey League FTW.
August 21, 2008 at 10:47 am
WTF why is the PS3 getting early demos now why can’t we get them the same time?
August 21, 2008 at 11:13 am
i cant wait til this comes out for 360. iv never bought a hockey game but this might be the first.
August 21, 2008 at 11:46 am
Pasta, it says that the demo “includes” the Be A Pro mode, so does that mean we can still jam the demo against a friend in a one period match like last year???
August 21, 2008 at 12:01 pm
I’ll double check on that. The first impression I got was that the demo is just Be a Pro.
August 21, 2008 at 12:09 pm
lame if it is only Be a Pro mode. I hope it has normal mode too.
August 21, 2008 at 12:09 pm
I played the 2K demo on the 360 today. I will say the intro was awesome. The gameplay was, uhhh, brutal. It played like a the original NHL Faceoff for the PS1.
The visuals were terrible:
1) Player models looked blocky
2) The width of the rink funneled at the end of the rink
3) The jerseys were downright ugly
4) Animations??? No comment
5) Control??? Terrible
6) Again, the intro was great….
I don’t understand how 2K is trending the wrong way. Are they losing programmers and developers? I can’t believe they spent money on this. To me, it’s unplayable.
August 21, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Thank goodness I have both systems so I can download NHL early.
August 21, 2008 at 12:54 pm
i dont really like hockey, but imma try this one out
August 21, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Pasta it was announced that it wont be out for the PS3, The’ll get it next week like the 360.
August 21, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Wow, I’d eb all over this if it didn’t take 3 hours to DL demos on my PS3. Why is my 360 so much faster?
August 21, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Again, EA with false news. They are saying due to something with EA and Sony, the PS3 demo, will not be out today like announced. So they took custom soundtracks from the PS3 users, then they say the demo is availiable today, then retract that statement. What’s next, NHL 09 delayed until Sept. 2009 or PS3 users get shaft again and the game plays at 30fps, not 60fps like it said. What else can EA Sports do to shaft the PS3 user ? Any opinions ?
August 21, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Demo not going to be out tonight according to an EA mod as others have said before.
August 21, 2008 at 1:32 pm
PS: I don’t trust that mod, its possible the news was just pulled until later today.
August 21, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Well its true, just got the news directly that the demo won’t be out till next week. Did confirm that it has both Be a Pro and standard play.
August 21, 2008 at 1:50 pm
“Did confirm that it has both Be a Pro and standard play.”
Well that’s cool! I’m a huge hockey fan being from the Buff-Roch, NY area but I am all about Madden right now and can’t get into hockey just yet…
August 21, 2008 at 1:56 pm
I won’t even try 2K’s hockey b/c I liked NHL08 so much! Can’t wait for Sept 9th. I have pretty much decided to NEVER ever touch 2K hockey, 2K baseball and 2K boxing again…good thing they leave golf alone.
…their football & b-ball is phenominal though-
August 21, 2008 at 7:09 pm
nhl 2k9 looks hott check it out on xbox live nhl 09 is going to look the same just new features hands down ea is finished with making good sports games take some pointers from 2k
August 21, 2008 at 7:39 pm
[quote comment="33044"]nhl 2k9 looks hott check it out on xbox live nhl 09 is going to look the same just new features hands down ea is finished with making good sports games take some pointers from 2k[/quote]
hilarious. i hope this is a parody of 2k fanboys.
August 22, 2008 at 12:22 am
if this be a pro mode wows me i will buy this hockey game but i dont even like hockey like that……last time i played a hockey game you couldnt even create black players
August 22, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Whoever stated 2K must be kidding. Like I stated before, the intro is awesome and that is it. I was hoping for another alternative although I live EA’s game but 2K isn’t it.
One thing I was somewhat interested in seeing was playoff beards but I have a feeling those be as ugly as the rest of the game.
August 22, 2008 at 3:17 pm
I am little foggy so my previous statement makes almost no sense. In short, the 2K demo sucked…NHL rules….
August 24, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Habs Centennial mode will be awesome!!!!
August 27, 2008 at 8:05 am
I downloaded the 2K demo last week and it was absolutely terrible. I have NHL 08 and 2K 2009 is no where near the same league. I couldn’t even get through the demo is was so bad. EA has raised the bar exceptionally high with last year’s release and hopefully NHL 09 raises bar even higher.
August 30, 2008 at 6:42 am
EA NHL 08 was unplayable on-line last year, NASCAR 09 is unplayable on-line this year … I’m going to rent NHL 09 first and check the servers, I’m about done with this poor excuse for a software gaming company … They use to be trustworthy, now lately they just put out stuff for the cash …