NHL 09: Developer Commentary MMO Mode part 1

PS3,Xbox 360 Release Date: September 9, 2008 Playing sports games online has always been the same deal: one-on-one, each player controls all of the players on their given team. EA Sports, specifically its Vancouver branch, is changing that classic paradigm by delivering what they're calling sports gaming's first Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) mode, branded as EA Sports Hockey League in NHL 09. And no, you won't be leveling up your tree elf or designing the interior of your player's apartment. Hockey League takes the popular acronym and simplifies it to fit within the framework of a sports game. Using a similar camera angle as we've seen from the Superstar and Captain Your Country modes of other EA Sports properties, players control only one player on the ice. Your five teammates are controlled by other players located around the globe, making for the first true six-on-six hockey experience. I recently got the chance to visit the massive Vancouver campus and was given the keys to an early build of EA Sports Hockey League and a group of willing participants from the EA development team. The result was some of the best hockey action this side of NHL '94. The Hockey League is all about creating your own unique player and building their cred online by performing well in your selected role. Immediately upon booting up NHL 09 players will be told to create a player. The initial setup won't be as deep as what's offered later in Be A Pro mode, but it will get the basic height, weight and hair color out of the way. My customized player had already been setup for me, complete with blond hair and all. For those starting from scratch, the next step would be picking a public team to join. To expedite the process I was already placed on the EA Canada team, along with five other players. Oh, and don't worry if you can't form an even team of six as the game only requires three human players per team. The rest can be controlled by the AI. Assigning positions to our team seemed to be a bit of a free-for-all thanks to a "first-come, first-served" approach. The list of positions is presented and then players need only hit A (X on PS3) on their personal favorite to select it. There doesn't seem to be a system in place for the GM to override anyone's decision. Luckily I was able to nab the right wing spot before anyone else could jump on it. http://xbox360.ign.com/article...

Author: NextGenSports
Length: 06:49
Views: 31069
Tags: 09  360  EA  NHL  ps3  Sports  xbox