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Video: EA teases what’s new in NHL 15

eanhl15screen

As EA Sports NHL 15’s Sept. 9 (North American) release date approaches, the video game company is sharing some interesting details about the series’ jump to the Xbox One and Playstation 4 consoles.

There have been a few intriguing gameplay trailers filtering out lately, which can be found in one spot via this link.

With all due respect to those who get excited about advanced hockey uniform graphics, the two most interesting videos detailed the latest tweaks the series made to its physics engine and “superstar skill stick.”

Check out video of the revamped physics, with all 12 players interacting in ways that weren’t possible before:

A few days ago, Puck Daddy caught up with NHL 15 producer Sean Ramjagsingh to discuss the fine line between realism and frustration when it comes to things like choppy ice affecting the polygonal puck:

The puck physics already have a huge impact on gameplay. To be honest with you, we’re still evaluating how much we want the ice to impact the puck. It’s awesome puck behavior with the physics and the puck bouncing and being loose and creating the emergent gameplay, but it’s a fine line of having too much of that and having the ice impact that as well. It could lead to, and we’re doing testing around that, a frustrating gameplay experience with the puck bouncing all the time when the ice is bad. As part of the final stages of tuning and balancing, we’re still trying to assess where the sweet spot is in terms of fun factor and how much the ice may or may not impact the puck.

The series is also touting improvements to the “superstar skill stick":

Here’s hoping those innovations don’t open the door for too many cheap goals that prompt people to throw expensive video game controllers at walls, though.

(NHL 15 screenshot via EA.)

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins