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2008 Hockey Videogame Thread (NHL 08 & NHL 2K8 out Sept. 11)
- Thread starter FightyF
- Start date
speculawyer
Member
Yeah, I was annoyed by that. This is a good NHL 08/2K8 thread.bishoptl said:
I played some NHL 2K8 last night. I'm getting better at the controls, but it is still difficult. And they sure addressed the "one-timer-fest" issue that people complained about. It is not easy to make one-timers (unless you set it to easy) and you can make good scores by other means such as deking the goalie such that the game is no longer a one-timer-fest at all.
Pro control on the back button is kinda hard to reach. If you turn hitting power way down and use pro control, the game becomes much more like NHL 08 where you cycle the puck looking for a good opportunity.
I need some tips at not sucking at this game. I have NHL 08 for PS3. I just played LA Kings with the Canucks.
Here's the game summary:
LA(CPU):
shots: 20
goals: 5
hits: 11
faceoffs: 5
VAN(me)
shots: 35
goals: 1
hits: 30
faceoffs: 16
This is the "PRO" difficulty level, wtf am I doing wrong here? It seems like every time the CPU decides that it "needs to score", they just go into uber mode and it becomes extremely hard to take the puck from them.
Even though I shoot on net 30+ times a game, the CPU goalie, no matter how shitty, always nearly shut me out. I am mixing up the shots, 1 timers, slot shots, wrist shots etc.
Here's the game summary:
LA(CPU):
shots: 20
goals: 5
hits: 11
faceoffs: 5
VAN(me)
shots: 35
goals: 1
hits: 30
faceoffs: 16
This is the "PRO" difficulty level, wtf am I doing wrong here? It seems like every time the CPU decides that it "needs to score", they just go into uber mode and it becomes extremely hard to take the puck from them.
Even though I shoot on net 30+ times a game, the CPU goalie, no matter how shitty, always nearly shut me out. I am mixing up the shots, 1 timers, slot shots, wrist shots etc.
A question for those playing through dynasty mode in NHL08... Did anyone run into the whole -1 experience thing? You know, after the game the players get experience and it shows 3 players receiving experience? I've won my last two games and for experience it shows:
. -1 experience
. -1 experience
. -1 experience
At least something similar to that - and it doesn't mention the players names. Just the period. Is that normal or is my dynasty screwed up?
. -1 experience
. -1 experience
. -1 experience
At least something similar to that - and it doesn't mention the players names. Just the period. Is that normal or is my dynasty screwed up?
speculawyer
Member
bran said:
Uh . . . with those stats I would think you should win. It seems like the game mainly adjusts skill level by adjusting the % chance of scoring . . . more for him and less for you.
bran said:
Have you played a lot of games? Or is this just after the first few games you've played? My stats looked really similar to that when I first started and I couldn't score to save my life. Now I'm actually outscoring opponents nearly 5-1, with shots on goals being almost even with the cpu.
You're using the shot stick thing right? And aiming your goals towards the corner of the goals? Because the majority of my goals bounce off the post and in.
And who's your goalie? That might attribute to why they score so much. I'm pissed they only rated Budaj a 77, but he's been suprisingly solid for me. Once in awhile I will have the cpu score like 2 goals in 20 seconds - but that's rare and I usually don't have much trouble keeping my team in it.
Edit: Duh, I didn't read you're playing with the Canucks. So I doubt Luongo is your problem.
Guy Legend
Member
Don't know if it has been mentioned yet, but the PS2 versions of NHL 08 and NHL 2k8 both got 6.5's from Gamespot. No review scores from IGN....
speculawyer
Member
Guy Legend said:
Yeah, for 06 sports game season, the next-gen games got shafted with missing features and rushed development. But for the 08 hockey season, the next-gen platforms get the quality while the PS2 platform got shafted with just minor changes & roster updates. Sorry last-gen people.
On the good side, maybe this will force people to upgrade to a PS3 or xbox 360 . . . No NHL on the Wii.
In NHL 08 I've noticed it's more about quality than quantity. For example there is no point in shooting from outside the sector if you are not looking for rebounds and crashing the net.speculawyer said:
Like said in the earlier post, aim your shots, cycle the puck in the zone and try to get the keeper moving or get a lot of guys in front to increase your chances of making the shots count.
That said, I've played a few online games where I've been forced to take shots from further away due to excellent D and usually you can get a couple if you take slapshots from the blue line, of course requiring you to have good shooters.
My biggest complaint so far is the amount of shots that seem to bounce past or over the goalies after shots I've had way too many of those happen. The goalie will save a high slapper with his blocker/or any part and the puck will ricochet behind him and since there is a lack of goalie recovery animations it'll usually trickle in. It happens in real life, sure, but not nearly as often as in 08.
Is the diffuclt level in NHL 08 the same as in NHL 07? Like PRO 07 is the same as 08 and Superstar 07 is the same as 08 etc? I'm probably going to pick up 08 this weekend but 07 was just too easy for me. The last season I played on 07 on Superstar I got over 120 points and had no problem winning the Stanley Cup.
Frillen said:
Not at all. They improved the A.I so much that basically 08 Pro is like All-Star of last year, and 08 All-Star is like superstar of last year. It was pretty easy to score goals last year, but this year with the A.I and goalie improvements, it is a lot harder.
I'm betting that Superstar this year is harder then superstar of last year, but I'm not a good enough player to even know first-hand.
So we still have no fix from EA for the broken online team play? Not to mention the other bugs many have reported.. EA up to its old tricks as usual.
I am seriously considering swapping to 2K8. I have to ask the 2k8 owners out there.
Is it true that the framerate is halfed when playing online? 60fps offline, 30 fps online.
Thanks.
I am seriously considering swapping to 2K8. I have to ask the 2k8 owners out there.
Is it true that the framerate is halfed when playing online? 60fps offline, 30 fps online.
Thanks.
zedge said:
You know what, I'm in the same boat. I keep getting disconnected to the point where I'm lucky to fit in one game in like 6-7 attempts.
Since I never played offline in 07, there's no reason for this shit to be happening, and I will switch if it's not fixed by the time hockey season gets under way.
bigsnack
Member
rs7k said:
People have been getting disconnects from games? Hmmm, I've only played online games (because the CPU creamed me when I tried once), and have yet to suffer a disconnect. I don't know if you do quick match or not, but I usually go into the lobby of the region I live in, and only invite those with a good connection to play. Although I am sure you have tried all of your options...
edit: Ahh, I see you guys are specifically discussing team play, right? I haven't tried team play yet.
I have both games and am the person to ask... but honestly, I can't say that FPS wise that 2k8 is better then NHL 08 this year. 08 is so smooth when it doesn't get frozen. I don't know if it is because 08 is so smooth and I'm comparing against knowledge from last year that is a hazy memory now, but 08 is the smoothest game for online. I don't know if 2k8 is as smooth as 2k7 was the prior year or not.
2k8 is a great game, but I have to say that my preference is pretty much a slight edge to 08 for online multiplayer and for offline stuff, I think 2k8 is the superior game.
Don't hesitate to try 2k8 by any means though if you are not satisfied with 08. Just like last year, both games have different things about them that are better then their competitor's product. 2k8 got slammed in reviews for rediculous reasons. I would say IGN's review of 2k8 is pretty much spot on, but there is a lot of stuff they didn't touch on. If you have certain points you want to know about each game, let me know and I will tell you what the differences are.
2k8 is a great game, but I have to say that my preference is pretty much a slight edge to 08 for online multiplayer and for offline stuff, I think 2k8 is the superior game.
Don't hesitate to try 2k8 by any means though if you are not satisfied with 08. Just like last year, both games have different things about them that are better then their competitor's product. 2k8 got slammed in reviews for rediculous reasons. I would say IGN's review of 2k8 is pretty much spot on, but there is a lot of stuff they didn't touch on. If you have certain points you want to know about each game, let me know and I will tell you what the differences are.
Looks like EA is working on a patch for both the dirty disc error and the dynasty point-for-loss glitch.
http://forums.ea.com/mboards/thread.jspa?threadID=287790&tstart=0
http://forums.ea.com/mboards/thread.jspa?threadID=283737&tstart=0
http://forums.ea.com/mboards/thread.jspa?threadID=287790&tstart=0
http://forums.ea.com/mboards/thread.jspa?threadID=283737&tstart=0
Phthisis said:
I hope they allow you to change to different controls on it, or else the demo won't do much good for anyone used to playing NHL08....
The game is oh so good once you get used to a control scheme (even if it is last years, or a hybrid of last years/this years)...
I'm preparing to hear a lot of people whining about 2k8 because they dismiss it after a very short playthough.
revolverjgw
Member
Pakman said:
Can't you edit Budaj if you feel his rating is unfairly low? Or are you forced to keep the rosters as they are because of the auto-update thingy online?
Anerythristic
Member
bran said:
Are you playing a defensive game? I noticed stuff like this happens when you let the compuer shoot from the point and then grab rebounds without harrasment the CPU will score pretty goals all the time if you let it. Also 35 shots isn't that bad , hmm , are you taking alot low percentage (bad angle) shots , are you shooting short side and stick side , low and high ? As crazy as it seems they really try to make these games as accurate as possible. Try setting up in the zone cycle the puck and shoot from the blue line and go after rebounds or try to center the puck. If you are doing that on Pro difficulty and only scoring one goal ? I don't know what to tell you.
Yikes at the NHL 2K8 demo...
I originally made this post with some intial impressions, but then realized it wouldn't be fair after having NHL 08 under my belt for a couple weeks and going fresh to 2K8. I'm going to have to play it some more.
Still, the animations and player models in 2K8 are really ugly. I felt like I was watching some sort of alien hockey in Uncany Valley.
I originally made this post with some intial impressions, but then realized it wouldn't be fair after having NHL 08 under my belt for a couple weeks and going fresh to 2K8. I'm going to have to play it some more.
Still, the animations and player models in 2K8 are really ugly. I felt like I was watching some sort of alien hockey in Uncany Valley.
See I disagree about animations. I think that 2k8 has slightly better animations then 08, but 08 on the whole does look sharper and more vivid in color, so total package NHL 08 gets the nod for graphics. Framerate in online games, now NHL08 gets the nod in that category. NHL 08 has better player models as well (probably the best in all of sports games right now)
But once you look past the initial first impression and play 2k8 more, you will see advantages that 2k8 has over 08.
-Way better television broadcast atmosphere with specific commentary about career stats, upcoming milestones, stats that happen in the game as you play.
-2k8 nails the faces on the players more often then 08 does (sounds hard to believe, but they do). I think on the Pens roster for instance, 2k8 nailed about 14 out of 22 faces.... 08 only nailed about 7 of them.
- More complicated controls, but 2k8 offers so much more to do in the game. Need a nifty kick the puck to the skate and back to the stick move? 2k8 has that and 08 doesn't.
-Faceoff system is godly in 2k8, and rudimentory and near broken in 08.
-Fighting system is godly in 2k8, and rudimentory and IS broken in 08.
-Much better franchise mode in 2k8, meaning deeper and more to do
-2k8 has Custom music to play after key plays in the game, 08 doesn't.
-2k8 has every classic jersey imaginable (need to get your fix playing as the LA golden seals, or the Toronto St. Pats? you can and then some in 2k8) And they have classic teams as well.
-2k8 has hats for hat tricks, 08 doesn't. Same with 3 stars of the game outro after you finish a game.
And the list goes on... A lot of those are little things in the big picture, but they are things that make both titles worth while to own either way this year.
I will find myself going on binge playing sessions with both titles depending on the mood this year.
But once you look past the initial first impression and play 2k8 more, you will see advantages that 2k8 has over 08.
-Way better television broadcast atmosphere with specific commentary about career stats, upcoming milestones, stats that happen in the game as you play.
-2k8 nails the faces on the players more often then 08 does (sounds hard to believe, but they do). I think on the Pens roster for instance, 2k8 nailed about 14 out of 22 faces.... 08 only nailed about 7 of them.
- More complicated controls, but 2k8 offers so much more to do in the game. Need a nifty kick the puck to the skate and back to the stick move? 2k8 has that and 08 doesn't.
-Faceoff system is godly in 2k8, and rudimentory and near broken in 08.
-Fighting system is godly in 2k8, and rudimentory and IS broken in 08.
-Much better franchise mode in 2k8, meaning deeper and more to do
-2k8 has Custom music to play after key plays in the game, 08 doesn't.
-2k8 has every classic jersey imaginable (need to get your fix playing as the LA golden seals, or the Toronto St. Pats? you can and then some in 2k8) And they have classic teams as well.
-2k8 has hats for hat tricks, 08 doesn't. Same with 3 stars of the game outro after you finish a game.
And the list goes on... A lot of those are little things in the big picture, but they are things that make both titles worth while to own either way this year.
I will find myself going on binge playing sessions with both titles depending on the mood this year.
Kingpen said:
Yeah, one of the things I was going to mention was the great presentation that's apparent right off the bat in the 2K8 demo. The score overlays and game intro sequence were awesome.
Also, because I forgot to, I came up with some sliders for NHL 08 for all-star that to me are pretty much perfect. Shot totals for both teams are just about equal (20-30 range) and it's a fair competitive game.
-Turn both game speed and puck control down one click
-Reduce aggression to 0
-Increase poke effectiveness by one click
-Turn shot accuracy to full
They work beautifully for me, especially now that I've learned to play a patient, positional defense.
Kingpen said:
I agree with all of that, and I'd like to add that the flow of the game is more realistic in 2K8 than 08. There's a lot more pinning, unclean face-off wins, etc.
But I think 2K8 made a big mistake in over-complicating the controls. I love all the functionality you have. Playing defense in 2K8 is miles better than in 08, but I think playing offense in 08 is much better than 2K8 because of the elegance in their control scheme.
speculawyer
Member
-2K8 has pond hockey and mini-rink hockeyKingpen said:
-2K8 has 'Battle mode' that is made up of 10 or so mini-games and is playable online against others
-The skybox with hockey stats, hockey trivia game, air-hockey mini-game, trophies, etc
-Special 'challenges' that allow you to unlock various historical teams (although I liked last year's bigger token based challenge system with more challenges & unlockables)
-etc.
Anyway, here is some trivia I learned about NHL 2K8. Within the players of NHL 2K8 is Twins first baseman Justin Morneau . . . . he is listed as a goalie in the NHL 2K8 game. He is a Canadian and a big Vancouver Canuck fan. He was on a special version of the MLB 2K7 cover that was made available from Best Buy. He somehow managed to get himself into NHL 2K8. (I'm not sure if he asked to be in it or they asked him.) Justin Morneau was actually a goalie in Junior hockey.
Perhaps Justin Morneau is going to be on the cover of MLB 2K8?
Yeah, I'm not big enough of a Sports fan to have noticed that stuff . . . my Minnesota based nephew told me.
Marty Chinn
Member
Does anyone know how to make it default to All-Star difficulty and save sliders on this difficulty? It defaults to Pro and any slider changes I make only get saved to Pro.
anyone experiencing that glitch/bug when playing online on ps3? not sure if it effects 360 owners,
but i've played three guys in the top 100 and they each disconnected with me not getting the W.
I was winning 4-0 in the first period, guy pulls goalie with 4 minutes left, i score, he leaves, i get nothing.
Another time i was winning by a big score in the 2nd and they just leave and i get no victory.
Just now, i won 7-6 against a guy ranked like 50 Padlock or something and i skipped all the cutscenes after the game he didnt, he disconnect, and it says you lost your connection. I check my stats, nothing, no W or anything. Pretty damn annoying considering this has happened to me multiple times already.
Seems like people in the top 100 know some sort of glitch or exploit to leave games and not get a lost.
but i've played three guys in the top 100 and they each disconnected with me not getting the W.
I was winning 4-0 in the first period, guy pulls goalie with 4 minutes left, i score, he leaves, i get nothing.
Another time i was winning by a big score in the 2nd and they just leave and i get no victory.
Just now, i won 7-6 against a guy ranked like 50 Padlock or something and i skipped all the cutscenes after the game he didnt, he disconnect, and it says you lost your connection. I check my stats, nothing, no W or anything. Pretty damn annoying considering this has happened to me multiple times already.
Seems like people in the top 100 know some sort of glitch or exploit to leave games and not get a lost.
Bumping this from the grave to let 2K8 360 players know that there is a patch available now that corrects several issues with the game. The primary ones are smoothing out the FPS in the online mode to make it buttery smooth and also to fix the dreaded 'Franchise' bug that had been freezing peoples games.
I sure wish EA would patch NHL 08 and their CPU faceoff winning %. I really wanted to like that game, but the faceoff frustration on All-star and above makes the game a chore to play and not fun at all.
I'm glad to see 2K supporting their game as they have.
I sure wish EA would patch NHL 08 and their CPU faceoff winning %. I really wanted to like that game, but the faceoff frustration on All-star and above makes the game a chore to play and not fun at all.
I'm glad to see 2K supporting their game as they have.
I haven't heard anything official yet, but probably..I wouldn't expect anything that soon, knowing EA.
On a side note, I've been playing a lot of 08 recently and I've noticed quite a few glitches. Some are just flat plain annoying
-on the edit lines screen, I will select a player to insert and the game will instead add a completely different player to the line. REALLY annoying when it happens 3 times in a row
-the game just freezes (it's not my 360's fault, it only happens in this game)
and one is kind of quirky
- last but certainly not least...my favorite glitch.. (It usually happens when I'm in Goalie Mode)
TWO GOALIES IN MY NET! Craziest glitch ever. Two goalies share the crease, stopping pucks for my team. Sounds cool, right? Not so much, because as I said it happens when I'm in goalie mode, and I kinda dislike having another goalie 2 inches away from me as I'm trying to stop pucks, and a side effect of this glitch is that when the puck is about to be stopped, the frame rate slugs away. Usually the game will freeze after a while during this.
On a side note, I've been playing a lot of 08 recently and I've noticed quite a few glitches. Some are just flat plain annoying
-on the edit lines screen, I will select a player to insert and the game will instead add a completely different player to the line. REALLY annoying when it happens 3 times in a row
-the game just freezes (it's not my 360's fault, it only happens in this game)
and one is kind of quirky
- last but certainly not least...my favorite glitch.. (It usually happens when I'm in Goalie Mode)
TWO GOALIES IN MY NET! Craziest glitch ever. Two goalies share the crease, stopping pucks for my team. Sounds cool, right? Not so much, because as I said it happens when I'm in goalie mode, and I kinda dislike having another goalie 2 inches away from me as I'm trying to stop pucks, and a side effect of this glitch is that when the puck is about to be stopped, the frame rate slugs away. Usually the game will freeze after a while during this.
Fifty said:
I can't speak for the 360 version, but on the PS3 one, the game freezing is caused by a corrupted roster update EA uploaded to the server in November 2007. It's so bad that even having the file on your PS3 makes the game unbootable.
Removing the file from the XMB saved files folder fixes the problem, but any time you want to play online, you're forced to redownload the file, which means you have to go through the process of manually deleting it from the XMB before booting the game up, every time.
Horribly annoyng, and EA obviously doesn't give a shiat about it, because I've complained many times, and they've never responded.
Guy Legend
Member
steve said:
I got around the problem in an easier way. Simply download that November roster update and do not make any changes to the roster what so ever (ie no trades, etc.). Once I left it alone as it was, it never again asked me to re-download the rosters when I play online.
Guy Legend said:
I only ever play online, with the default lineups, so I make no changes. The issue is, the roster file makes it impossible to boot the game at all. Removing it manually via the XMB is the only way I can get the game to boot up.
Does your game not freeze the PS3 while booting up if the roster is saved on your HDD?
Hey, it's nice to see this thread bumped up on GA. NHL08 is the main game I play.
I used to be an NHL2K* guy until I played NHL07. I tried out the NHL2K8 demo, and I just can't go back to it! Everything feels off-- the camera, the controls... It's funny--that's how I used to feel about NHL07. I actually was on the verge of giving up on the game altogether, the new control system frustrated me big time.
But now I'm a pro, and I love analog controls. I can't wait to try out MLB2K8.
I used to be an NHL2K* guy until I played NHL07. I tried out the NHL2K8 demo, and I just can't go back to it! Everything feels off-- the camera, the controls... It's funny--that's how I used to feel about NHL07. I actually was on the verge of giving up on the game altogether, the new control system frustrated me big time.
But now I'm a pro, and I love analog controls. I can't wait to try out MLB2K8.
Guy Legend
Member
steve said:
No, it doesn't.
I'm anticipating 2k putting out a trade deadline update, but they are rather good at doing that so no worries. I had a laugh last night trying to get Hossa. 2k should have put a bullet on the box that says 'GM simulator - Become Ray Shero at the deadline'. Lets just say that I had to get very creative with picks and most of the players involved in the real world trade that happened yesterday to land Hossa.
Played one game with him and Sid together and he got me a hat trick. I'm pumped, as currently in my season I am in 9th seed.
Played one game with him and Sid together and he got me a hat trick. I'm pumped, as currently in my season I am in 9th seed.