Producer Matt Mahar breaks down the demo for our hockey fanatics who have been patiently waiting hear more.  With less than a month until NHL 10 hits the shelves the community is sitting on the edge of their chairs awaiting the next installment in the award-winning series.  Yes, the demo is coming soon...very soon!

The demo, the demo, the demo....the first taste of the newest from our NHL team.  You have been longing for it and smashing the discussion boards with comments on its release date.  Well let's talk about it right now, let me give you the down low on all things demo and put any myths to bed.  
We had a lot of fun making the NHL demo last year and we wanted to do the same thing this year.  The challenge is to give you the best NHL 10 experience possible but in a really really small game size.  The way to do that is to focus on some of the coolest features we have.  Battle for the Cup and Be A Pro.

For Matt's complete write-up, check it out on the In the Crease Blog:  A Demo Like None Other

Hey all, Litty here talking about some new modes in NHL 10.

Lately you have been reading about some of our new game modes…ok, not all of them are new. Some of them we used to have last generation like Fantasy Draft and Season/Play-off mode. I have been asked many times, “Why isn’t everything in the game already?”. Well, the answer is that when we started on this generation of platforms we built almost everything from scratch. It has taken us a few years to get everything back into the game with the quality that you expect. We could have just ported everything to the 360/PS3 from XBOX/PS2, but you would have NHL 06 with pretty graphics if we did that. We have worked extremely hard over the past 4 years to get the NHL series to the point where we are winning multiple awards each year. That doesn’t mean we are slowing down. In fact it inspires us to keep this Dynasty going.

I am going to talk about some of the modes, but I am saving more of the Be a GM stuff for Andy and Brian who is the Be a GM lead engineer. EASHL and Be a Pro info will also be coming within the next few weeks.

You have heard a lot about Battle for the Cup (click images above to expand). The reason we did it was so you can play a friend on the same TV and instead of just playing a game for bragging rights…why not play for the Stanley Cup? The fact that you can set up a series is also cool, as there are storylines that are tracked throughout the series. The games seem more intense when you can make your buddy sit through the new and improved Stanley Cup sequence after you beat him four straight.

Multi-player Season Mode is one of the most asked for features from our hardcore fans. It lets you either play with friends or control every team in the League so you can mimic real life. Yes, storylines, injuries, etc. carry over during play-off series just like in Battle for the Cup (and Be a GM and Play-off Mode). You can Fantasy Draft at the beginning or not. I have a season going here with a few guys and it is super fun making deals and trades with them. We have the new schedule with the Olympic break (and no, I am sorry you can’t play at the Olympics).

Another part of Season Mode (and Play-off mode) is that you can play a season with the AHL or our European Leagues. When playing as these Leagues you get the actual play-off set up and rules for each League.

Created teams can also be used in Season mode, as well as Be a GM, Battle for the Cup, and Play-off modes.

There are lots of new user and cpu sliders this year, all of which you can set up at the beginning of each of these modes. These modes are all off-line modes.

Play-off mode is also multi-user, so you can have up to 16 users playing together. If you choose to play Euro League play-offs you get their play-off trees, some of which are very different than the NHL.

If you are a person who likes to sim games, I am happy to say that our sim engine has been rewritten and you will see much more realistic stats and way more randomness.

I was simming through a Penguins season the other day and I won a game 9-2. I also lost a game 7-1. These were few and far between, but these scores were not possible in NHL 09. The CPU GMs also have new logic, so trading is tougher in any mode where you can trade within.

I know you really want more info on EASHL, the Pro Shop, and Be a Pro, but those will be coming…have patience. We also think our demo is cool, so we will be making a video about that too in the next few weeks.

-Litty