By Joborule

By Joborule

3-on-3 NHL Arcade hits Xbox Live Arcade today!  Check out the latest producer video on the game.

I got a chance over the weekend to play this game, so here are my impressions so far.

The game is a refreshing change of pace from slowed down simulation hockey title that we have spent most of our time on this past season. The game is very fast paced and you'll easily be able to fit a game or two within five to ten minutes. If the game is a bit too fast paced for you however, you are allowed to change the settings to make the game speed slower. The only rules in this game are that you play up to a set numbers of goals (maximum 20). First team to that mark wins the game.

I got my first game in against the CPU on easy level to get a feel of the game. It will be fairly easy for us gamers from NHL 09 to pick up on the game as it features the skill stick of course, but also has the stick lift and shot block dive at your disposal as well, so there is defence in this game. The action starts off with the puck dropping from the sky to the center of the ice and both centermen dash to gain position. The sweet thing here is that it's basically set up that you go clean the player out before going to get the puck, because you'll likely be eating ice if you try to gain the puck first instead of hitting the opposing center. With the ring holding only 8 players in total, there is a lot of room, but because of the pace of the game and the ease of destroying a fellow big headed enemy, it can become a warzone. After a goal is scored, the puck is dropped behind the opposing player net. Because play is still non-stop, this gives the team that just scored the goal another chance to pot one in since you can deck the players behind the net waiting for the puck (that is if they remember) and go back on the offense right away.



The powerups are great tools to have in this game and you'll probably fall in love with the super speed powerup as I have because you become a rocket and even Usian Bolt would be surprised how fast you can race from end to end and show the goalie who's your daddy. If speed isn't you thing and you like brute force, you can make your player or goalie huge and lay the law on those that oppose. Goalie is giving you trouble, then make him sit down for a bit and knock him down on his but before picking up the puck and shooting on the open net. I can see why there are only four goalies in this game. It really heavily favours against them.

This game though is meant for playing with friends and other people. So if you get bored of beating down the CPU (or getting beat down), online play is a great way to enjoy this game and see how you can match up 3-on-3 against the world. Lag wasn't even problem since the connection felt flawless in 3 of the games I had participated in so far. It felt directly identical to offline play. Here's hoping that stays the case in later games.

I never expected too much out of this game to be honest. I thought that I would play it for a week or two and then be done with it for the most part, but I've actually enjoyed the time I have had with this game and I think that this game will stay on my HDD for a few months. If I ever feel bored on a summer day and want to quickly waste time, this will be a high candidate to attain that for me. Plus the sound effects in the menu and during the game are greatly amusing and make the game even more fun. If you're planning to pick up this game, don't hesitate any longer. Even if you're not into hockey, and enjoy quickly decided, lay back, beat em' up as much as you can type of games, you'll probably love NHL Arcade. 

Below is the full roster of players that are in the game and their play type.

 

Skaters

Player Name - Player Type

Nikolai Antropov - Strong

Sean Avery - Fast

Brad Boyes - All Around

Daniel Briere - Fast

Zdeno Chara - Strong

Andrew Cogliano - Fast

Sidney Crosby - All Around

Pavel Datsyuk - Fast

Shane Doan - All Around

Marian Gaborik - All Around

Mike Green - All Around

Dany Heatley - All Around

Nathan Horton - Strong

Kristian Huselius - All Around

Jarome Iginla - All Around

Patrick Kane - Fast

Saku Koivu - Fast

Anze Kopitar - All Around

Ilya Kovalchuk - All Around

Alex Kovalev - Fast

Vincent Lecavalier - All Around

Milan Lucic - Strong

Evgeni Malkin - Fast

Mike Modano - Fast

Alexander Ovechkin - All Around

Dion Phaneuf - Strong

Chris Pronger - Strong

Jeremy Roenick - All Around

Joe Sakic - Fast

Jason Spezza - All Around

Eric Staal - Fast

Joe Thornton - Strong

Jonathan Towes - Fast

Thomas Vanek - Fast

Shea Weber - Strong

Henrik Zetterberg - Fast

 

Goalies

Martin Brodeur

Rick Dipietro

Henrik Lundqvist

Roberto Luongo

By Lauren Belfoy

Remember playing a video game as a kid, as opposed to playing it as, well... an adult? It wasn't about online ranking, clan practices, glitches, bugs, cheat codes or sitting around your parents' couch on a sunny day in your underwear cursing into a headset to fellow gamers. It was inviting the neighbor kids over for some Mario Kart sessions, some epic Mortal Kombat fights, or even a good old round of Graffiti on Tony Hawk 2. It was about winning endless ribbons of prize tickets at the arcade shooting zombies in House of the Dead. My, how far we've come. Well, next month EA SPORTS is launching a new game that I'm admittedly almost more excited about than the release of NHL 09.

I'm talking about 3-on-3 NHL Arcade.

Not since PaRappa the Rapper has a virtual experience been so suited to my gaming needs.



3-on-3 NHL Arcade gives us a break from our grueling EASHL schedules (it's kind of like the All-Star Game of virtual hockey). With just three caricature-like skaters and a goaltender per team on a Pee-Wee sized rink, EA SPORTS manages to create the first virtual hockey experience that is super fun, fast, undemanding, and hilarious (and still rather deliciously violent) without sacrificing any of the technology that EA SPORTS games are famous for. Leave it to them to take the whole social gaming experience to a new level. I call it Be-A-Kid-Mode, because playing games like this one makes me enjoy video games like I did when I was just a young buck.



This is how I see it: there are two types of gamers. Those who play a game because it's totally realistic and true to real life, and those who play a game because it's totally over-the-top beyond reality. NHL 09 does a great (and award-winning) job of satisfying that first set of gamers, while 3-on-3 NHL Arcade is perfect for you fair-weather gamers. Ever since I found out that some NHL pros play NHL 09 with the classic NHL 94 controls, I've been less embarrassed to admit that the Skill Stick is not always my cup of tea. Not to discount the techie-gamers by any means, you also have the option to use the advanced Skill Stick controls from NHL 09, as well as the button-controls for those times after a few beers when functioning anything with the word "skill" is out of the question. You can choose to rally your friends around the plasma and play a few quick local games (the old "I play winner!" format is my personal favorite), or you can play online with a buddy, a stranger, a blind date, whatever.



Personally, what I'm looking forward to is sending a bobble-headed Saku Koivu flailing over the boards with my top-heavy Chris Pronger (the 40 players to choose from even maintain their true to life on-ice qualities). A bonus: every time you make a big hit, the victim drops a little "power-up" (I assume this has happened once or twice in real life as well... if you catch what I'm saying), at which point you can choose to skate over the power-up and collect it to enhance your game or race for the puck. It creates a whole new element to the game independent from NHL 09. You must understand that game is not supposed to be realistic (aside from the really great graphics), just as Tony Hawk can't actually do a 1080 tail-grab 100 feet in the air off a half pipe gap over a pit of lava. Beware though; 3-on-3 NHL Arcade has all the makings of a totally addictive game.

Wouldn't the actual game of hockey just benefit in general from everything about 3-on-3 NHL Arcade? Virtually no rules, no officials, lots of fancy goals, larger-than-life hits. And definitely more checking of the goaltender outside the crease. You don't have to worry about off-sides, icing, interference (in fact it's kind of encouraged).  It's good old neighborhood pick-up hockey at your fingertips (literally; you can hook up a game with your neighbors online). You will be able download the game via XBOX Live Arcade or through the Playstation Network in February for 800 MS points or $9.99 (a steal if you ask me), early in February.

I welcome any challenges to a game of shinny on 3-on-3 NHL Arcade. Now if only my PS3 dispensed prize tickets so I can get me a new lava lamp and some sticky hands.

EA SPORTS Community Manager Alain "Sk88z" Quinto sat down with NHL Producer Matt Mahar to find out the details of the upcoming 3 on 3 NHL® Arcade title:

Sk88z: Why is EA coming out with a 3 vs 3 game?

Matt: EA is coming out with a 3 on 3 Arcade game for numerous reasons, one being that there are no options out there for consumers to play an Arcade style hockey game.  There are Street versions of sports games, but Hockey has never been one of them and the NHL dev team felt that we could fill this void with a top quality product and give the users a game to enjoy.  Another reason for the arcade version is, we want to turn people on about hockey, we truly believe it is the best sport on earth and want to show people the sport.  So we built arcade to attract people to play a hockey game, when they might not usually play a hockey game.  Also, it acts as a great creative outlet for our development team which has worked very hard on EA SPORTSTM NHL® 08 and EA SPORTSTM NHL® 09 products.    

Sk88z: Where is the game being developed and by which game team?

Matt: 3 on 3 NHL® Arcade is being developed by the same team that brought you NHL® 08, winner of 7 sports game of the year awards,  and NHL® 09, both of which are top quality products for the sports gaming as well as gaming industry overall. 

Sk88z: Can you tell us what some of the features are in the game?

Matt: 3 on 3 NHL® Arcade gives a complete package with Online and Offline play, as well as Powerups, 40 NHL® superstars, Stat tracking, and Leaderboards.  As far as game modes are concerned we have Play Now and Online Play.  To give you a clear understanding of both of these let's run through them:

Play Now supports 3 v 3.  This is great for local play with your friends and is a great time.

Online play is truly full, we have Play a Friend, Quick Ranked games, which can support up to 3 v 3, and unranked games as well.  Create and Custom game modes are also in the game and allow the user to customize their online experience.  

Powerups are something brand new to EA SportsTM NHL® games.  We have a total of 8 powerups.  The way these work is to hit your opponent and a powerup will fall out of the player and onto the ice.  This powerup can then be skated over by the hitting team.   The powerups then apply to the user that skated over the icon.  These powerups are hilarious and really create a game within game.   Do you get the powerup?  Do you take the puck?  It's really challenging to the user to make the right decision.  When playing against your friends or playing online, powerups add a fun and challenging element to the game while keeping it competitive and authentic to hockey.  The overall feel of the game is fast with amped up hitting and very distinct player types.  For the Arcade player types, we categorized the players into three groups; Strong - big, able to withstand hits. Fast - fast on the ice and very agile, but can't with stand the hits like a Strong. All-Around - good at everything, but not as fast and strong as others.  These player types add a layer of strategy to the game that can't be forgotten about.  Users will have to choose wisely and find the best combination of players to beat their opponent. 

Sk88z: What stands out as the coolest thing about the game?

Matt: There are so many cool things in 3 on 3 NHL® Arcade.  Be it hitting guys out of the rink, performing a trick move from behind the net, or spinning away from a hit attempt that its hard to nail down one cool thing.  But I like the addition of Powerups to the game.  They truly add to the game overall, adding an element of strategy to gameplay.  Do you go get the double Score powerup or do I stay with the puck carrier?  The decision is up to you, but you have to make the right decision or it could cause you a goal, our worse, 2!  

Sk88z: When can we expect to see this on PSN and XBLN?

Matt: 3 on 3 NHL Arcade will be out in early February 2009.  It will be released on Xbox Live Arcade and the Sony Network Store.

Sk88z: What are the control set ups for Arcade?

Matt: For arcade we have two control setups: we have the Skill Stick, which is for all the veterans out there, and we have Button Controls for the first timers.  We put shoot/check and pass/change player on the buttons so that anyone can pick up and play this game.  In addition to shoot/check and pass/change player on the buttons, we added in Spin Move and Trick shots.  I am really excited about having these in the game because they give the user two more offensive weapons while in the ice.  With spin move you can get away from hits and skate into open ice.  This helps to limit the number of powerups your opponent will get and will get you into open areas to make plays.  Second, are Trick Moves, in line with the new break away contest the NHL introduced last year, we put in some moves that will give the user some creative freedom.  Trick moves allow you to flip the puck up and bat it out the air, do spinning toe drag shots, and pick the puck up on your stick and score from behind the net.  These are really great moves that will influence the outcome of every game. 

As I mentioned above we have Skill Stick in the game with all its glory.  In addition to the familiar Skill Stick moves we have added Trick Shots to it.  These are done using the right stick and a modifier.  The outcome of this addition is a new mechanic that Skill Stick users will have fun with and will allow them to score some amazing goals. 

With Button Controls and Skill Stick we have something for everyone.  With the addition of Spin Moves and Trick Shots to Button Controls and the Skill Stick the result is an electrifying game that looks as good as it feels and is easy to use.