NHL 16 Brings Living Worlds to Life with Arena Atmosphere

[jaymo76]

I appreciate the gesture. I really do... but I remain highly sceptical. A few cut scenes of an Octopus or flames shooting out does not make a living world. If the crowd looks the same and sways in the same motion, lack emotion or connection to the events going on, it's not a living world, it's a generic crowd with a dynamic cut scene.

Older gen titles (especially 2k) mastered that the action occurs both on and off the field/ice/court, etc. I will wait to see vodeos before I judge but the sound, movement and animation of the crowd are all essential pieces to "living worlds."

[Jayrah]

Wow this is pretty cool. I'm hoping that Madden really goes this direction with 17. The towels and stuff is a good first step but looks like NHL is making every arena unique. It's good to see this start to make the rounds as it's everything I expected (we were promised) coming into the new gen.

[Jayrah]

I appreciate the gesture. I really do... but I remain highly sceptical. A few cut scenes of an Octopus or flames shooting out does not make a living world. If the crowd looks the same and sways in the same motion, lack emotion or connection to the events going on, it's not a living world, it's a generic crowd with a dynamic cut scene.

Older gen titles (especially 2k) mastered that the action occurs both on and off the field/ice/court, etc. I will wait to see vodeos before I judge but the sound, movement and animation of the crowd are all essential pieces to "living worlds."

Hasn't NHL been pretty good about crowd emotion and such though? Haven't played it since NHL 11 on the 360 but it always seemed like NHL was a step ahead on the dynamic crowd stuff.

[cdj]

First post/article now updated with Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, Carolina, and Nashville.

[steelerfan]

Let's Go Pens!

[cdj]

Added images for Buffalo, Columbus, San Jose, and Winnipeg.

[JeffHCross]

This feels a lot like the year NCAA added the mascots taking the field ... and they made a huge deal about it, but it was just a cutscene that lasted 30 seconds or so (and most people skipped).

[cdj]

Dallas, Edmonton, Toronto, NY Islanders added to first post.

[jaymo76]

This feels a lot like the year NCAA added the mascots taking the field ... and they made a huge deal about it, but it was just a cutscene that lasted 30 seconds or so (and most people skipped).

Agreed! Plus let's not forget the whol marching bands fiasco...

[Hank]

I like how they're adding all these nuances to the game to really suck the gamer into the atmosphere.
But they dropped the ball when they failed to program the game to display how many goals a player has scored in a season during GM mode.

That's the kind of stuff that really immerses players into the game.

[jaymo76]

I like how they're adding all these nuances to the game to really suck the gamer into the atmosphere.
But they dropped the ball when they failed to program the game to display how many goals a player has scored in a season during GM mode.

That's the kind of stuff that really immerses players into the game.

One of the things that I loved about 2k hockey was it's level of immersion. That and the chemistry feature made their games so much fun. EA NHL is a fun game but again like all titles other than FIFA, it is such an isolating experience. The atmosphere never makes you feel like you are a part of something bigger than the individual game.

[cdj]

First post updated with Anaheim, Boston, Colorado, and LA Kings.