When people look back at their youth it's often through rose tinted spectacles and everything seems like it was much better back then. The food you ate had more taste and the days never seems to end. These days there is not much that you can put your finger on and say that it is definitely better now. That is apart from NHL games for Xbox & Playstation game consoles.
It's no longer a case of pushing a little puck which looks more like a white dot around the screen. Or even controlling a matchstick version of Wayne Gretsky around as if that made you feel like it was him on the screen. No though people can play a game of hockey on their console for pure enjoyment.
Not all games have advanced their game play to keep up with the increased ability of the platform they are written for. Lots have relied too much on the game's graphical presentation and not enough on the actual gaming essence. No matter how good something looks, it still has to be great fun to play and that is what games players will look for. The games that have gone down in history whether they have been hockey, NHL, console based or not, have all had one thing in common. They have all been very playable. In some, the presentation didn't really matter at all. Like the type with the falling blocks that you have to arrange, many games relied solely on their ability to keep you coming back for more. Hockey games have been no different and no matter who is on the cover of any NHL title, it's what's inside the box that has really mattered.
OK so there have been games that have been very successful without the great looks of today's big titles. These have been successful due to the intelligence of the games's inventor. They have known what a player wants and it might not always be a complete NHL league line up with all the stats to go with it. But I bet all that up to date information helped a lot when the players were choosing their best line up to compete against a friend. In this day and age, games console hockey games are so far advanced that if they get any better then they'll be in the room with us. You never know, with the growing popularity of 3D TVs you may see something like a 3D hockey game before long. That technology is probably already with us it's just a case of making it affordable.
Really that has been key to making hockey games that can be played on a games console. They have had to make something that a true hockey professional has put their name to in many cases. So it's not just about making something that looks pretty but is awful or slow to move. On the other hand it is not been a good idea to make something that has been easy to move but looks terrible.
So the children of today have had it easy or lucky or whatever they are getting fed up of hearing. But to be fair it's everyone that benefits from NHL games for Xbox & Playstation game consoles especially once the kids are sleeping.