Tuesday: NHL 16 and things.

First let's start today's post wishing tomorrow's writer Dylan A. a very Happy Birthday. Granted I'm sure no one really cares but we can make him feel special for a day.

I guess I just wanted to do a quick rant about EA's NHL video game before I review these concepts today. Feel free to skip this part if you could care less about my opinion on that subject. I remember when NHL 09 came out, the first year they implemented the Be A Pro, the whole franchise was awesome. I wish I could say the same now. It seems with the next gen consoles they've regressed with what they've brought to the table. Obviously they had to remove things from the game to test out the engine and to fit to the smaller servers but that is no excuse for taking out features in Be a GM and Be a Pro. I might be the small crowd that barely plays online in NHL but I have my most fun simulating, building teams in Be a GM, and creating whacky characters for Be a Pro. I really couldn't do either this year. From what it sounds like NHL 16 will be adding some things back in to make it more like the previous years. That's a problem to me though. Instead of praising that it shouldn't be a good thing. Taking out features and adding them in as 'new' the next year is just garbage. What happened to games pushing the boundaries and adding in every detail they could? Anyone play NFL 2k5? That game was a great sports game. From the 'CRIB' to making every practice layout for the week, it was fabulous.

As a designer for the game I don't know how you're content with putting out NHL 15 for next gen. It was an incomplete game, can we agree?

Or how about taking the idea I had about making a game. Then taking a year off until the next one? Make sure you got a great game, then for the 2 years it's out just do roster updates/jersey updates/team updates to keep up to date ..I mean..that's what a new game is basically. I know I know I know...money money money. So, obviously that would NEVER happen.

End rant.

HJC Open Semi-Finals entries (due Tuesday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

COTW July 12-18 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

Las Vegas Silver Bullets Concept - Christian L.

Christian has done a great job with his series. What I like most about it is that he's not turned away from giving teams unique names. Is it realistic? Probably not, but we get to see more ideas on the subject. For this he brings in the Silver Bullets. For the logo, when it comes to the name I'd say that's a very good logo for what it needs to portray. I totally agree with the color choices all around. Maybe a grayscale color combo would be next in line or first for some but to differentiate in the league I think what Christian chose works. To be honest, I think the jerseys could have been done better. It's a nice modern classic look without the hem but I wanted to see more speed with a silver bullets team name. Maybe italicized numbers/logos. The slanted stripes are good. First time ever though, what if they were just a tad slimmer to give a quicker look? One complaint I have on the home jersey would be that the gray numbers would be hard to read. Definitely need white somewhere in there to help out Play-by-play guys. 

Rating: 8.5/10

BridgePort Sound Tigers Concept - Kevin B.

 Blue and orange - with the colors like that it might be one of my favorite color schemes. This concept is pretty simple. Sleeve design, side panel matching. Though you have a blue piping going off on the sides which I think needs to be changed. Maybe adding another thicker blue side stripe outlined in orange. It's a pretty plain template based jersey. I think it looks okay because of the colors but I'd like to see something more with that logo. Next step for you is to just get creative! Don't get trapped within the template style, think outside the box!

Rating: 6.9/10

Boston Pride Concept - Matt Mc.

Well, there's one thing Matt McElroy can't do, and that's make the Pride's logo look good on a jersey. He did the best he could though. Take that logo off and add a new one and these are some pretty sexy jerseys. The yellow one reminds me of a jersey that a birthday boy made for an OHL team, so that's so nice of you to pay homage to him in that way. Thank you McElroy! In all honesty though these jerseys are great. My one change would be to make a thicker outline on the yoke and just have the outlines on the front and back instead of wrapping around.

Rating: 8.2/10 Because The Logo. Not his fault though.

I know you guys wanted me to rant a little longer but I just cannot today. Maybe some other time if you really want me to. End Post.