Demo for NHL 09 Coming Today to PS3

The demo for NHL 09 will be available on the PS3 later today (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.

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.

Tiger 09 and NHL 2K9 Demos Available

The Tiger Woods 09 demo is out for both the 360 and PS3. It contains three different holes to play, feedback and custom drills with Hank Haney, and the opportunity to try out the new club tuning feature.

The NHL 2K9 demo can be found for the PS3 and should be following on the 360 as early as next week. It offers a three minute period with the Detroit Red Wings facing the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Does Tiger Woods feel like an advancement from last year? Does NHL 2K9 really come across as having been built from the ground up? Feel free to leave your thoughts on both of the demos in the comments.

NHL 09 Hockey League Trailer

A new trailer has been released for NHL 09 featuring the recently announced EA Sports Hockey League. This offers a progression and combination of the Be A Pro and Online Team Play modes within a giant league environment, all while playing for a created team and attempting to improve as an individual similar to an MMO.

Continue on to view the trailer in which producer David Littman discusses the Hockey League feature along with gameplay footage from the unique camera perspectives.

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NHL 09 Introduces EA Sports Hockey League

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.

NHL 2K9 coming to the Wii

2K Sports today announced that NHL 2K9 will be released on the Wii in the fall with a likely date of September 9th. 2K9 was already known to be on the way for the 360, PS3, and PS2 featuring Rick Nash as the cover athlete and will be built from the ground up after the studio move to Visual Concepts.

“It’s our goal this year to bring the fun back to hockey video games,” said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. “NHL 2K9 for Wii includes the full feature set as available on other platforms, and added Wii Remote controls and other exciting features specific for the Wii console will allow dedicated fans the opportunity to fully enjoy and embrace NHL hockey in a brand new experience.”

I’ve been surprised to see that neither EA nor 2K had taken hockey to the Wii before now, though I anticipated an arcade style game to be the first one rather than one of their sim titles. Visual Concepts will handle the Wii version also which is reassuring to hear.

The idea of a hockey game on the Wii should have pretty wide appeal as long as the controls are responsive and simple. Just as running the option sounds fun for NCAA Football, hitting the puck with the Wii remote seems like a natural fit.

What could NHL 09’s mystery feature be?

Ever since the barrage of information that has come for NHL 09, whether it be from the initial media previews or the more extensive community event reports, much of the talk has surrounded the “massive” feature (as labeled by Gamespot) that is being kept under wraps. With so many new features and improvements already known it’s almost hard to imagine what else they could’ve added that would be so significant.

Thanks to IGN we know that it is an online feature, and one that has “never been seen in a sports game before”. So a few possibilities that would seem excluded would be a basic spectator mode or online franchise. The game already has full online team play and online leagues. I wouldn’t expect it to be EA Sports World related considering how the support for Madden and NCAA have turned out to be such a disappointment. From asking various attendees of the community event who know what the mystery feature is, this is very much a big deal, and not the typical media hype that leads to a letdown.

The feature may be revealed in early-mid July as another embargo date seems to have landed then. Leave your thoughts in the comments on what you think it might be or what online feature you would like to see included in the game.

NHL 09 Community Event Info

The NHL 09 community event was held back at the start of April, and with the embargo having been lifted the first reports have made their way out. A lot more is discussed than what was recently profiled by Gamespot. Included are gameplay related improvements, Be A Pro details, EA Sports World integration, custom sounds (similar to how they are used in NCAA Football 09), a new fighting system, and much more. I’ve linked to several write-ups below.

Console Sports
Crash The Net
The Breakaway
5WG

Building on what many labeled as the best sports game last year, the list of improvements and new features for this year are certainly extensive, with more apparently to come next month including the “massive” feature referenced by Gamespot.

Dion Phaneuf is the NHL 09 cover athlete

The Calgary Sun has revealed that Dion Phaneuf of the Calgary Flames will be the cover athlete for NHL 09. The first news on the game was released the other day however the cover remained a mystery until now. Apparently EA Sports has chosen Phaneuf, a defenseman, to spotlight the improvements that have been made to checking and defensive plays.

As one of the top-scoring defencemen in the NHL, as well as being widely regarded as the league’s hardest hitter, Phaneuf was deemed the perfect choice for this year’s version of the game, which will feature more realistic checks and deeper defensive controls.

NHL 09 will also feature a new tutorial mode to teach players not only the game’s controls, but hockey strategies in general. Littman said it’s a way of helping newcomers get into the action without dumbing down the game for veteran players.

First look at NHL 09

Gamespot has posted up the first NHL 09 preview, trailer and screenshots which you can check out here. Among the features discussed are the arrival of Be A Pro mode, control enhancements, furthering of create-a-play, expansion of Online Team Play, and a “mystery” feature which is supposed to be “massive”.

One of the most intriguing aspects of Be a Pro mode in NHL 09 is the different types of roles you’ll be able to serve when creating your player. Not only will you be able to play as a goalie, but you’ll also be able to choose different types of roles as a regular skater, from a grinding, checking defenseman to a speedy, shot-taking sniper. As a result, when you’re on the ice with your team, your coach will have different expectations of you depending on your role. It’s these individual expectations that will form the basis for how your performance is judged in the game and how your player progresses as a result.

Seeing that EA Canada has introduced Online Team Play and Be A Pro in their FIFA and NHL titles I highly suspect we’ll be seeing a superstar type mode in NBA Live 09 as well.

Just added in the trailer which you can watch by continuing on.

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NHL 2K9 cover athlete announced

For the first time in recent memory 2K Sports has beaten out EA Sports with the first announcement around one of the upcoming releases. The looming potential of an EA buyout hangs overhead but the production of 2K’s titles continue as normal in the meantime. Rick Nash of the Columbus Blue Jackets has been chosen as the cover athlete for NHL 2K9. Even more important than the cover is the news that Visual Concepts, the highly regarded studio behind the NBA 2K and previously NFL 2K/APF, has taken over development of the franchise from Kush/2K LA. That can only bode well for the the quality and resources behind it.

Visual Concepts has taken over the development duties for NHL 2K9 and are building a brand new experience from the ground up with the ultimate goal of creating an addictively fun sport simulation of the NHL that will be available this fall.

Nash was selected first overall in the 2002 NHL Draft and is one of the most exciting and dynamic young players in the NHL. In only his second season, at the age of 19, Nash became the youngest player in NHL history to win the “Rocket” Richard Trophy by co-leading the League with 41 goals scored. Now an established superstar in the NHL, Nash was also a member of Team Canada at the 2006 Olympics, and was named MVP of the 2007 World Championships. His deep level of involvement and work with Visual Concepts, alongside his background as an experienced gamer, provides an invaluable contribution and influence to the overall development process for creating the most fun hockey experience available.