NHL 19 Information/Discussion Thread

[Cor]

We got our first bit of news last week, I just saw it now



It's possible just Eddie O is being replaced since he likely couldn't commit due to his health issues a couple of months ago.

However, it would make sense for them to possibly go back to Jim Hughson, as he's the Canadian National guy, and Doc never really transferred into the game well (much like Gus Johnson with Madden)

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[Cor]

Oh wow, apparently the annual survey's (which are typically a pretty good indicator of what is coming) was released; NHL 19: EA Sports Teases Major Changes - Sports Gamers Online

There was no mention of the gaming moving to the Frostbite engine, but, according to multiple people within the company, that appears to be the plan for NHL 19.

There have been rumors for months that EA Sports was working towards overhauling the presentation of the game after going with the main cast of Doc Emrick, Eddie Olczyk and Ray Ferraro since the series moved to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One back in 2014.
EA teases making the broadcast presentation in the game a “cutting-edge presentation package that gives you more insight and interaction than what’s possible on TV that even includes insight into the science of the sport.”

Be A Superstar
Since coming to the current generation of consoles, the Be A Pro mode in the NHL series has been pretty much forgotten by EA Sports. The mode has been the same boring experience for the past four years, but it appears the team is finally — at least thinking about — overhauling the mode.
The survey mentions the idea of a “non-linear narrative driven by personal choice and performance.” It also mentions the addition cinematic scenes, text-based decisions, and narrative audio, among others.
Be A Pro was on the right path with “Live the Life” in NHL 14, and it’ll be interesting to see if any features from that mode make their way to a new Career Mode.

Madden has had success with legends in Madden Ultimate Team, and it appears the NHL team wants to do the same with Hockey Ultimate Team and its popular NHL Threes. The survey teases over 500 legends from throughout the history of the NHL that would be able to be unlocked for both NHL Threes squads and HUT.
HUT is one of, if not, the most popular mode in the NHL games so adding more players to collect in the mode could only be viewed as a positive move.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Oh wow, apparently the annual survey's (which are typically a pretty good indicator of what is coming) was released; NHL 19: EA Sports Teases Major Changes - Sports Gamers Online

That's from November

 

[Cor]

That's from November

Oh it is.

 

[n00bxQb]

Ray Ferraro mentioned on Twitter at least a couple of times of the past several months that he recorded new stuff for EA Sports.

I'm guessing if Ray's still around and Eddie O isn't returning that it's going to be Gord Miller (play-by-play) and Ray Ferraro (colour).

 

[Tom Brady]

Hopefully we get Hughson and Simpson, i'm tired of Doc.

 

[East Coast Icestyle]

I do hope they keep Ray though. I like him in game and in real life. Good all around hockey personality who's been there.

 

[RABBIT]

i just want frostbite

 

[SKNJD9]

Hopefully we get Hughson and Simpson, i'm tired of Doc.

They're going the Madden route. Hiring professional voice actors who they can use throughout the season to update commentary.

Also this is coming for NHL20. 19 is still Doc and Eddie.

 

[Cor]

They're going the Madden route. Hiring professional voice actors who they can use throughout the season to update commentary.

Also this is coming for NHL20. 19 is still Doc and Eddie.

Is this confirmed?

 

[Ratboy]

We got our first bit of news last week, I just saw it now



It's possible just Eddie O is being replaced since he likely couldn't commit due to his health issues a couple of months ago.

However, it would make sense for them to possibly go back to Jim Hughson, as he's the Canadian National guy, and Doc never really transferred into the game well (much like Gus Johnson with Madden)

I gotta say, I'm not a fan of Eddie's colour commentary. Half of what he says is some version of "if you don't hit the net, you can't score", which is really helpful, thanks Ed.

Doc's kind of annoying too, but I've heard his calls in real life and he's a lot better there.

Ferraro is the only interesting one in the game, he actually says stuff relevant to game context and replays etc.

 

[leafsnat1on]

What about Joe Bowen?!

Hopefully we get Hughson and Simpson, i'm tired of Doc.

 

[SKNJD9]

Is this confirmed?

Yes, gotta find the tweet but it was confirmed by one of the community guys that Eddie and Doc did work for NHL 19, so the change won't happen until 20

 

[danielpalfredsson]

Apparently an overhauled scouting system in Franchise mode is something that was addressed in the survey.

It's mind blowing it has taken them this long to add that in. I get so annoyed with the development of franchise mode, because I could easily list of a dozen core features that have been broken or under developed since NHL 14, and it seems like every year or two they address one of these features. So, to have an actual fun playable franchise mode, at this pace I'll just have to wait until NHL '22.

It's even more annoying because the PS4/One franchise mode is built on top of the Legacy/15/14 franchise mode, so most of the same issues that have been there for years are still there. One of the biggest issues for me, is that players develop into mutants. The game doesn't put a "ceiling" on how high each player attribute can actually develop, so once you're 5+ years in and prospects take over, there are a lot of players with 95+ skating and 95+ shooting. It completely ruins the game and makes Franchise mode unplayable later on. If you just want to sim, it's not the end of the world, but the gameplay gets destroyed.

They should bring back GM Connected as well. I don't get why they don't just insert the older stripped down version of GM mode to be used as connected. It'd be better than nothing.

 

[teravaineSAROS]

Nintendo Switch pls

 

[ArGarBarGar]

Bring GM Connected and Gary Thorne back, and I might start buying these again.

 

[CBJx614]

Take with a grain of salt.






These are just rumors from the EA email.

No gm connected

New collision physics

New 1 on 1 battles, big hits and stick collisions (finally)

Lots of new 3 on 3 stuff, bigger hits, powerups, player unlocks etc.

Updated scouting system to be more in depth and hire\fire scouts

500 legends and Greatest of all time teams

Real player movement tech

Real player differentation (Crosby and Mcdavid should play entirely different and not feel like the same player)

New broadcast and commentators

Revamped be a superstar(cutscenes, personal choices, non linear driven, legendary cameos)

 

[filip85]

Wait isn't this from the survey from December 2017 ?

 

[M.C.G. 31]

If they ACTUALLY fixed scouting in GM mode and be a superstar I might actually look into getting the game once more info comes out.

 

[SKNJD9]

Bring GM Connected and Gary Thorne back, and I might start buying these again.

Was Gary ever in a EA NHL game ? I know he did a lot of work on the 2k games.

2k8 looks prutrid but was still the best playing NHL sim ever.... once you got rid of the terrible slider settings the game shipped with

 

[Rhaegar Targaryen]

Was Gary ever in a EA NHL game ? I know he did a lot of work on the 2k games.

2k8 looks prutrid but was still the best playing NHL sim ever.... once you got rid of the terrible slider settings the game shipped with

Gary Thorne was the guy before Doc took over

 

[The Hockey Tonk Man]

Jack Edwards should do the play by play, with Pierre between the benches

 

[SKNJD9]

Gary Thorne was the guy before Doc took over

God you're right I have no idea how I brain farted on that considering how much NHL 08-14 I played.

 

[Rhaegar Targaryen]

God you're right I have no idea how I brain farted on that considering how much NHL 08-14 I played.

Dude, it happens. NHL 10 was my first on Xbox 360 so I went through 10-14 and it slipped my mind at first, too.

 

[The Don Hughes]

Man.. I only want 3 things.
1. A good Be A Pro ''a la'' MLB THE SHOW
2. Bring back the old EASHL format when you can upgrade your guy
3. FROSTBITE!!!