As many of you know, I am not a huge sports video game fan (that honor belongs to our resident Sports Dude, Freshguy). Frankly I hardly watch any sports these days except for Basketball and Football playoffs. As for Soccer and Hockey, I have a very tough time watching a game but playing either sport is far more entertaining. Last Year I played some NHL 2K7 over XBOX LIVE with a friend from Florida. I found the game easy to pickup and I was scoring by the 2nd period. Getting used to performing Body Checks and Goalie Control took me a bit but soon I felt very comfortable with the game often pushing online matches into O.T.

Today 2K Games announced that the latest iteration of the NHL 2K series NHL 2K8 is now available in stores (September 12th). To kick off the launch of 2K8 we have some details on the game which we gathered during a Developers Q&A with 2K and Devs from Kush and Visual Concepts over a week ago. Prior to the call 2K requested 3 to 5 questions from us and others that attended the call. We happily provided the questions and attended the call at the scheduled time. Being that I work closely with engineers in my “day job” I found this group of programmers and engineers to be very charismatic and enthusiastic and in-fact they “talked” extensively to EVERY question asked during the call. Generally you receive one or two line answers during many of these sessions but these particular Devs seemed eager to discuss their accomplishments which we find completely “awesome”.

NHL 2K8 Dev Team

Ben Bishop - Producer, Visual Concepts
Scott Krager - Project Manager, Kush Games
Colin O'Hara - Lead Designer, Kush Games
* Visual Concepts and Kush Games are both 2K Sports studios

The call opened with introductions and a few questions regarding XBOX360 and PS3 development. This is the one topic Devs are probably asked about the most.

Question (unknown source): Which is easier to dev for, 360 or PS3?

Answer (Devs): Most of the team has been developing on 360 for a year more than PS3. Memory is challenging on the PS3 as the Memory is managed differently.

The team was careful to avoid bashing PS3 development which is probably a good thing as we all KNOW the PS3 is more difficult to dev for then 360 which in turns requires more time to become comfortable with development. The EA Dev and others are all in the same boat. Roughly a year or so from now Development should be more equal.


Question (unknown source): Differences between 360 and PS3 versions?

Answer (Devs): The 360 version has 2K reel-maker which is the ability to Save Replays, Edit and upload the Replays to XBOX LIVE. Then of course Custom Soundtracks are supported which is an XBOX 360 exclusive feature. The most compelling feature for the PS3 version is support for “Six-Axis” which can be used for Body Checks and Goalie Control.


Question (HIDEF.com): Any future plans to incorporate something like “MLB The Show” into a future hockey release? “The Show” was quite possibly one of the best sports games I (Freshguy) have played ever just based on the road to the show feature which follows a player’s career from the minors up to the big leagues.

Answer (Devs): We are considering implementing the feature in the future.


Question (HIDEF.com): Any contract plans with Minor League Hockey Franchises in this one or the next?

Answer (Devs): As for Minor leagues, we are considering this feature as well but in the meantime we have our custom minor league teams.


Question (HIDEF.com): Why has there been a move in sports games over the last 5-10 years to sacrifice the enjoyment of the game itself to gain in realism and authenticity?

Answer (Devs): We (the team) attempt to balance and make the game accessible to all who play. The team feels they do their best to create a realistic game without sacrificing the realism that the hardware demands.

The team seemed a little bothered by this question which we took as a DAMN good sign as this means they consider the fun factor to be number one priority followed by realism. We all love realism but realism should never equal boredom and difficulty.


Question (unknown source): How hard to achieve 60 frames per second?

Answer (Devs): For NHL 2K6 XBOX 360 launch, 60 frames per second was the goal but was not possible with the pressure and the limited development time. For NHL 2K7 and NHL 2K8 we had more development time and have hit that goal with NHL 2K08. Both XBOX 360 and PS3 versions run at both 60 frames per second.


Question (unknown source): New changes from last year?

Answer (Devs): The Pro-Stick feature allows for more control over the stick and puck including Deke (jukes) and defensive handling by way of the Analog Stick. We have also added tons of new Poke check animations. Animations will vary depending on puck position on the Ice in relation to the player and his position. Signature Moves are included for Hockey Superstar Players but there are requirements for signature moves and not all players have signature moves. NHL 2K8 features authentic Hockey Equipment and Jerseys.

Poke checks no longer ruin the flow of the game and player lighting has been redone. Unique models for gloves, helmets, pads and more. 2K8 also features Higher Resolution textures for Faces and AA is supported along with Self Shadowing. This year players actually look vastly different from one another instead of sharing common models. Animations number in the Hundreds and include a Real-Time Crowd. Last we added Full Screen Replay and a new Action Replay Camera.

As you can see, the team has made significant changes to this years version of the game which makes us all HAPPY!


Questions (unknown source): How did you motion capture Superstar moves?

Answer (Devs): We had a specific moves list and asked the players to perform them over a 7 to 8 day period. Many of players such as Speeza provided input on certain moves they would use in certain situations which we found to be invaluable.


The remainder of the call featured other questions but we were not in a position to record the entire call (and I suck at transcription) but I can honestly say that this Development Team really enjoys working on the NHL 2K series and made us feel really good about this year’s version of the game. Freshguy and I look forward to playing this years game far more than last years game, and that is saying a lot coming from a Non-Sports Gamer.

__________________
Editor - www.hidef.com

"True adaptability involves changing ones self to meet ones environment, not changing ones environment to meet ones needs" - Species8472