EA Sports Producer Tour Report

We visit the sports giant to find out what to expect from the new Madden, Tiger Woods, NBA Live and NHL games out this autumn.

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NHL 08

Like NBA Live 08 EA's latest ice hockey game has the tough job of convincing players let down by last year's game that it's worth coming back for another try. This is just the second year that EA has had to work on its new analog-sticks-only control method, and as assistant producer Meredith Gaffney showed us, already the refinements are starting to make a difference.

Far from the button mashing that is so common in sports games, every move on the ice in NHL 08 is controlled just through the sticks. You move your character with the left stick and use the right one for shots and deking. The end result is a play experience that feels very natural. There's a certain satisfaction that comes from nailing a slapshot by pulling back the stick and flinging it forward.

Perhaps more than any of EA's other sports games, graphics are crucial here. Following the puck in ice hockey can be difficult for non-experts, but the clean graphics and intelligent presentation make sure that it's easily within reach. Since this is the first year that NHL will be on the PlayStation 3, it's a fair bet that it won't look as good as the Xbox 360 version. Already EA is warning that only the Xbox 360 version will run at 60 frames per second, as opposed to the 30 frames per second for Sony's console. The AI has been reworked as well so that teams stick to plays better, but if you're not happy with how they're doing, you can make your own plays.

This is done in a special play editor. To get started, you line up your players as you want, directing their skating and timing. Once you've got them doing what you want, you save it and head into a game. Since these are tied to specific spots on the ice, they're easily transferable into games. If you want to the team to follow your custom play, simply go into the region you picked as the trigger and skate how you set out in the play and the rest of the team will do just what you programmed them to.

There's much more to NHL 08, including dynasty mode and something called My NHL, though Gaffney was at pains to admit that she could not spend any time talking about those yet.

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