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NHL 09 Q&A: EA Sports Hockey League Revealed

By Brian Ekberg, Shanker Srinivasan, GameSpotPosted Jul 21, 2008 11:22 am PT

We chat with EA Sports' David Littman about the future of online hockey in NHL 09.

Game On!

Check out the footage of Be a Pro mode from NHL 09.

Over the past couple of years, EA Sports has made no bones about upping its online game. In addition to introducing online team play in last year's NHL 08 and NBA Live 08 (in the latter case via a patch), the developer is branching out even further with efforts like the EA Sports World Web site (which looks to tie together EA Sports games with social networking). You can expect that trend to increase, and the next place you'll see it happen is in the upcoming NHL 09. In May, during EA's spring press event in Vancouver, developers for the annual hockey series promised a new online feature in NHL 09, one they were keeping under wraps until just the right time. Consider now the right time, as EA has finally lifted the curtain on the EA Sports Hockey League. In this exclusive chat with NHL 09 producer David Littman, we've got the first details on the EASHL.

GameSpot: Tell us about the development of the EA Sports Hockey League in NHL 09. What was the goal with the EASHL feature, and what was the toughest challenge you ran into when developing this feature?

David Littman: When we came up with this idea, it was directly related to the fact that everybody on our team at one point or another wanted to be a professional hockey player. Some did play high-level hockey, but others, who are big hockey fans, wanted to get that experience as well. So we took our online team play experience from last year and discussed taking the next logical step--a full six-on-six [game] but with an environment where everybody is a unique player in the world.

Anyone can be a hockey pro in NHL 09, even scrubs with absolutely zero skill.

More to the point, we want to make the people sitting at home into superstars. Instead of wearing someone else's name on the back of your jersey when playing online, it is your name on the back. Your team is trying to win the EASHL Championship and you will feel the pressure to perform for your teammates. With our performance tracker feature, you are graded on how well you play hockey, not on how well you play a video game. The leaderboards show the real names of people instead of their gamertags. This is the first step for people to become the next sports superstars. In a few years, we want there to be SportsCenter-style highlights and interviews with our gamers.

The EA Sports Hockey League is an extension of both our new six-on-six online team play and our Be a Pro mode that we created this year. With the online team play portion of our game going to six-on-six this year, we really wanted to focus on the idea that it's you that is trying to be the star. To accomplish this we took what we did with the offline Be a Pro mode, where you are trying to become an NHL legend, and decided to bring that created user online so the users can have the opportunity to be the best of the best in the EA Sports Hockey League. As I mentioned earlier, we feel it is a natural and important evolution of online team play.

Each club in the EA Sports Hockey League can have up to 50 members, but all games can have two to six players per club playing in a game. Everything a club or player does will be tracked and listed on the EA Sports Hockey League leaderboards as well as your individual performance tracker screen in your game.

The toughest challenge was the technical requirements to make the six-on-six experience a good one for the user. We want it to be a fun and immersive experience for everyone playing.

GS: How will prospective EASHL players meet and join teams online?

DL: Users will have the ability to create clubs that can have up to 50 players. A team must recruit players to their teams. This will be done through three ways: Friends is obviously the easiest way, as you can call up or message a buddy to invite them to play on your team. Another way is the ability to view the EA Sports Hockey League leaderboards and see player statistics and grades and then invite players who you feel would be a good fit for your team. You can invite anybody on the list, though some players could already be on teams. The final way is to talk to people online through our lobbies and recruit players to your team.

GS: Will you be able to create EASHL leagues? How will they work? How many teams will be able to participate in an EASHL league?

DL: The feature will have one league, the EA Sports Hockey League. All teams created are part of this league. The league runs off of the ranked ladder system where the best teams will be on top, but the ladder has been separated into divisions so you can see teams that are close to your team's skill level. You can go up and down divisions based on your team's performance. Getting into the first division is a big accomplishment for a club. In terms of points, you earn more by playing with more players in a game and by beating better opponents as opposed to beating low-ranked clubs with only two users from your club participating.

The EA Sports Hockey League will track the best players and teams in the world.

GS: Will there be a free-agency pool that already-formed teams can recruit from? Will you be able to see stats from a free agent's previous games? Will free agents age or improve their attributes as they play?

DL: The free-agent pool is anybody that is not assigned to a team. These players can play ranked online team play matches with their created Be a Pro characters to accumulate statistics and grades so you can see how good they are in the EA Sports leaderboards. Players not on teams can still improve the same way as the players on a club by playing games and performing well. They will earn online hockey cards giving them points to purchase attributes for their characters.

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78 Comments

  • _Treize_

    Posted Sep 14, 2008 2:12 pm PT

    looks awesome, one question tho, wat do u do durin line changes

  • hybrid3214

    Posted Aug 29, 2008 10:31 pm PT

    O.K. so we did get a demo and now that i have calmed down i will tell you about the demo. So i have played over 100 games in the demo (its only 1 period). the majority of them in the be a pro mode, first thing is that you can only be zetterberg or crosby in the be a pro mode which kind of sucks but i guess they dont want to give u to much in the demo. The game itself is absolutely amazing, it is so realistic its incredible. The speed has been toned down from last year so it is a lot more realistic, no more 100mph wrist shots or 60mph skating etc. vast improvement. The next thing that has been vast improved is the puck physicsm last year the puck could be flipped way up and land on the ice flat without bouncing lol. This year the puck bounces very realisticly, perhaps a touch more bouncy than in real life but nonetheless much better than last year. Another thing that has been vast improved is the A.I. wow, last years game i could beat the computer on superstar (hardest) by 6 goals almost every time. This year i played on all star(second hardest) and it was an extremely close game but i won it in a shootout. After practicing awhile i win most of the time against the computer now but it is still a hard fought battle and i occasionally still lose. I think it will be very hard to win on superstar difficulty this year. In keeping with the theme the goalies have been toned down as well, last year they saved slapshots that you couldnt even see with relative ease now because the shots r slower the goalies are worse but there are still way less goals than last year, much more realistic scores. stick lifts are excellent not to easy and you can get penalties relatively easily. poke check is vastly improved and is a lot better, defensive skill stick is ok but i dont use it much, i think it will be important in be a pro when you are a defenseman. the protect the puck button also works quite well and it good when going around the net while wanting to shield the puck. Hitting has been improved as well it is harder to hit this year no more auto hits like last year. The pace of the game is a tad slower than last year but that was much needed. shooters arent as superhumanly accurate as they were in 08 A LOT of shots miss the net especially if shooting after a deke or a one timer, hey just like in real hockey. Overall they have vastly improved the game and taken out almost all the bad things. A few bugs in the demo but those will be out by retail release.

  • hybrid3214

    Posted Aug 21, 2008 11:15 pm PT

    oh look a demo came out for ps3 today...... oh wait..... nvm EA are retards so we didnt get it.... its too bad M$ had to pay EA not to release the demo or we might of had it. Its also very sad that EA accepted the money to delay the demo for ps3. Well life goes on at least we get it next week...... maybe.... i hope..... probly not oh well at least the game comes out soon. EA should take 5$ off the cost for false advertising about their demo and because of the money M$ gave them oh well. life goes on.

  • break5

    Posted Aug 17, 2008 3:46 pm PT

    see you all online, this is a first hour purchase.

  • TheReview

    Posted Aug 9, 2008 4:41 am PT

    This looks pretty cool. I cant wait for it to come out!

  • Swedish_Chef

    Posted Jul 30, 2008 12:51 am PT

    Last year was the first time that I swore off sports games because they're simply not worth their money year to year, but finally they've added a mode that is unique and worth buying the game for.

  • Uhero41

    Posted Jul 28, 2008 3:24 pm PT

    This makes me actually want to purchase a hockey or even a sports game now! Awesome idea EA!

  • lebanese_boy

    Posted Jul 28, 2008 10:24 am PT

    Sounds nice, I can't wait to get that game.

  • sirbargearse

    Posted Jul 28, 2008 7:13 am PT

    I got to admit that after buying EVERY update since Mega Drive's (Genesis) very first EA Hockey game way back in 1991 that I actually DID NOT purchase NHL 08. Why? Just saw the demo and figured EA didn't do enough. I've played it. Yeah they did up the AI alot. Quite alot. But it just felt like a NHL 07 patch. So unless 09 makes me feel like I've purchased a whole new game I'm probably going to hold out another year... reluctantly!

  • yoporahh

    Posted Jul 26, 2008 4:07 am PT

    @ skit - agreed, they're a good company. some just believe all the sh1t they hear about the company and thats why they hate it

  • gacmyver

    Posted Jul 24, 2008 12:27 pm PT

    wow i saw the video, and the animations simply sucked so hard omg
    what a crap game

  • gamemaster-1234

    Posted Jul 24, 2008 11:04 am PT

    OK seriously THEY make the hockey game to early right after the game is out A whole bunch of hockey players arent in the roster like last year SAM GANGER WASENT IN THERE and the other bad thing is that NOTHING IS NEW and nothing is FUN MABEY the graphics are good

  • Amir29

    Posted Jul 24, 2008 8:31 am PT

    So basically instead of a patch for NHL 08 that allows us to do this, they will rerelease the same game, put "09" at the end of the title, and charge us $60? The online league is nice, but if the game itself isn't improving, I don't see why I should spend my money.

  • SkiT911

    Posted Jul 24, 2008 8:17 am PT

    NOTHING SIGNIFICANTLY NEW!!! HELLLLLLLOOOOOO! WHAT THE HELL DID U JUST READ EINSTEIN!!! Performance Tracker Systems new! In gameplay DEFENSIVE SKILL STICK YOU HOMO along with ONE HANDED DEKES! read sh*t b fore u mouth off you damn idiot! I love EA, they made and are making, some of the best games ever!

  • SkiT911

    Posted Jul 24, 2008 8:12 am PT

    YO A**Holes this is gonna be the best Video Game ever, 2K SUCKS compared to this, GameSpot has great coverage and i thank them! Anyways, back to the brainless bozos! Read the reviews from IGN, GameSpot and all other sites, it already has a 10.1! Fan boys...

  • gut_eater

    Posted Jul 23, 2008 10:00 pm PT

    After watching the most recent gameplay footage...this game looks as though it plays EXACTLY the same as 08, animations, graphics, voice-overs, and audio. I'm predicting a 7.8 on Gamespot's review this time as the game won't take leaps forward as sequels should. Other than superstar mode, there is nothing significantly new to this game at all.

  • Dethmetl

    Posted Jul 23, 2008 2:22 pm PT

    Sounds great

  • Zerosumgame

    Posted Jul 23, 2008 1:57 pm PT

    EA is so good at hypnotizing people who love hockey because they are the only game in town. Sorry I see this through a couple years ago and I am not buying it anymore. The same old franchise is getting boring year after year.

  • darkswordsman

    Posted Jul 23, 2008 1:44 pm PT

    "With our performance tracker feature, you are graded on how well you play hockey, not on how well you play a video game."

    Damn, I was good at playing video games oh well, Sounds like it'll be awesome though

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