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.