With the EASHL Championships now history, NHL fans can finally put their full attention to NHL 10 and with the demo releasing last week for XBL Gold members, the new iteration has taken the community by storm and people are loving the new features and additions including boardplay and first-person fighting.
In a twist to the demo, the team released it with two game modes that gamers can try: Be a Pro and Battle for the Cup. In the latter mode, you are thrown into the third period Game Seven of last year's Stanley Cup finals and if you choose to play as the Pens, the first decision to be made will be whether or not to play an injured Sidney Crosby. For those looking to play spoiler, you can select to play as Detroit to re-write history, try to come back from behind, and repeat as Stanley Cup Champs.
In Be a Pro mode, gamers will be put into the third period of the Prospects Game and, depending on your performance, following the game you will be drafted to an NHL team. Will you be drafted near the top or will average play drop you down the board? In both scenarios, you can guarantee that gamers will be going FTW and looking to better themselves over and over...at least until the full game ships on September 15th! If you're looking for an edge, pre-order your game through EB Games or GameStop and get the Kane 88 package and boost your Pro instantly with Kane's hockey stick, gloves, and skates.
If you can't wait for September 15th, then I invite you to join me, Producer Andy Agostini, and the rest of the EA SPORTS crew who will be showing off the full version of NHL 10 at the LA Kings Fest this weekend at Staples Center. We will have a tent set up with a number of consoles during the three-day interactive festival with a small tournament running on the Saturday to give gamers a shot at competing and going FTW against some of the LA Kings players in attendance including Rookie of the Year Candidate Drew Doughty, defensemen Drew Drewiske and Jack Johnson, along with netminder Jonathan Quick.
Speaking of add-ons, FIGHT NIGHT Round 4 fans with XBOX 360 Gold Memberships can now download the free accessories in Boxer Pack II from the XBOX Marketplace. Go FTW with all new gloves, trunks, and boots for your CAB. XBOX 360 Silver and PlayStation Network gamers can download the free pack this Thursday, August 27th. The Pack also puts five new locked boxers into the game which will be available for purchase for only $4.99 on PSN or 400 MS points on XBL this Thursday. The Champions Boxer Pack includes Oscar De La Hoya, Vitaly and Vladimir Klitschko, along with new versions of James Toney and George Foreman. Will you be the next gamer highlighted in our Ultimate Knockout?
Along with the new downloadable content, the team will also be releasing title 
updates with game fixes which the community has been calling to improve the game including button-punching controls. Expect to see the update this Thursday as well. For those that haven't gotten into the FIGHT NIGHT Round 4 game yet, the team will be releasing a second demo with not only Pacquiao & Hatton as was seen in the first demo, but they will also be joined by cover athletes Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali. Users will be able to push the limits to 10 rounds and the demo will also include button-punching controls and the latest game updates. Look for more news on the new demo this week!
For PS3 gamers, go FTW as the EA SPORTS Challenge Series is now taking sign-ups for the online portion of the Challenge series for both FIGHT NIGHT Round 4 and Madden NFL 10. These tournaments are being hosted by Major League Gaming and you will need to register with MLG to take part in their qualifying ladders. Make sure you check out their site for more details and prove your worth!
Finally, just wanted to put a quick shout out to Packwolf, Dan Bertholomey of Portland Oregon, who at a youthful 44 years of age went FTW in Madden NFL 10 against six other gamers to take the GameStop district and store Championship over the weekend to move to the next round. Congratulations Dan, and way to show the kids how it's done!