Breakaway From Reality and Slapshot Online with “NHL 2005”

By Louis Bedigian

“Before NHL 2005 is finished, we are already looking at what we think NHL 2006 should be.”

You know your enemy.  He doesn’t have big horns.  He doesn’t carry a giant axe.  He doesn’t have the ability to stop time and dodge a bullet.  And even though he can’t ignite a flame, you’ll swear he’s on fire when it comes time to take him on.

Your enemy is not some anime fantasy come to life.  He’s a real person with real abilities, and he is determined to stop you at all cost.  Your enemy…

Is an NHL goalie.

As we skate closer to the new hockey season, the master of sports video games is putting the finishing touches on NHL 2005.  Packed with all your favorite players, lifelike graphics, and an overhauled skating engine, NHL 2005 is sure to be one of the hottest sports games of the year.  Senior Producer Dave Warfield tells us why it’ll be the best hockey game yet.

NHL 2005 includes an overhauled skating engine.  How has this changed the experience of the game?

Dave Warfield: The biggest change to skating in hockey games ever is based on the fact that players do not skate in full stride all the time, they accelerate to speed and coast. While coasting players have more control over their puck and stick handling, and are more maneuverable. The other big change is that it makes Speed burst a weapon to use strategically, you can't just skate around at full speed, you wait for your opportunities then burst, catch your breath and burst again. The combination of these changes to the skate engine with improved backskating make NHL feel very different than in previous years.

Wings are good.  Birds use them to fly, and no barbeque is complete without ‘em.

Likewise, NHL hockey wouldn’t be NHL hockey with the Wings.

What is the open ice control system?  What makes it innovative?

DW: Open Ice Controls innovation is the ability to control multiple players at the same time. While skating with the puck, you can switch control to another player, skate him to open ice, or drive to the net, simply by pressing "pass" the CPU controlling the puck carrier will pass the puck to you, or press "shoot" and the CPU player will take a shot on net where you can screen the goalie or attempt a deflection.

The other part of these controls is the Open Ice support, this allows you to ask a teammate for help. When you have the puck he can come in and help create some room (open Ice) for you, of course you need to be careful as you can get an interference penalty if you miss-use it. When you don't have the puck it calls another teammate to double team a player, or pick up the loose puck when you have someone pinned on the boards. 

Now that EA Sports is on Xbox Live, I assume that the Xbox version will be playable online.  If that's the case, could you tell us about the online features?

DW: Xbox Live is supported by NHL 2005, you will be able to play head to head against your friends, use the EASO Matchup service to find someone to play against, and see how you compete in leaderboards and tournaments that are part of EASO.

Will those online features also be included with the PlayStation 2 version?

DW: Both Xbox Live and PlayStation2 are supported online, as well you can play the PC version online.

EA is king when it comes to realistic graphics and gameplay.

One of EA's trademarks is having several different play modes in each sports game.  Which modes are being designed for NHL 2005?

DW: The main feature for NHL 2005 is the World Cup of Hockey, this re-enacts the tournament structure including the top 8 hockey nations and all the actual venues in both North America and Europe. On top of an improved Dynasty Mode, Multi-player Season mode, Play Now games and the 3 Elite Leagues we have added a new mode called EA SPORTS Free4All, this is a game designed for you and 3 friends, Half the rink, 1 goalie, and every man for himself. 

When do you finalize the game's NHL statistics (player stats, which teams they play for, etc.)?  When is your cutoff date?

DW: We typically will lock the rosters on July 1st, and update the rosters (via online) at the start of the season.

Is it hard to decide who should be the cover athlete?  Does it result in any arguments? :)

DW: There is a lot of discussion every year about who should be on the cover, we usually end up with a short list, then look at the players traits, is he a gamer, will he be a good spokesperson for our game, and does his style match the key features that we are focusing on for that year. Markus Naslund has been an EA SPORTS gamer for many years, before he even came to Vancouver, he is a great spokesperson for the sport and our game, and his style of play is exactly what Open Ice is all about… find your Open Ice and take advantage when you have your opportunities.

Besides being the cover athlete, in what way is Markus Naslund involved with the game?

DW: Markus has been involved with the NHL team for many years, he will give us feedback on what he likes or what he thinks needs improvement. He is also key in connecting us with other players, whether they have feedback or are looking for their copy of the game. We will continue to sit down with him going forward to provide an even more authentic level of realism to the sport.

My opponents, they really suck

And no they cannot have my puck

NHL 2005's in-game players look pretty realistic.  How were these detailed images created?

DW: The details of the players have increased dramatically, this was done in a combination of ways, you start with taking detail away from the things that no-one can see or will notice, and apply the extra polys and detail to the elements that you see the most, the players. We have a team dedicated to just creating player faces and heads, and have people that work specifically on the player models and jersey and equipment models.

Once NHL 2005 is finished, how long will it be before you begin working on NHL 2006?

DW: Before NHL 2005 is finished, we are already looking at what we think NHL 2006 should be, some people have no bugs and they will start prototyping some stuff for next year. As soon as people start coming back from their much-needed vacations they will jump right into NHL 2006.

Awesome!  It’s great to hear that you guys are so dedicated to the series.

Thanks Dave for a great interview.