As hockey fans know, the United States-Canada game, at the Olympics after all, is a one-sided affair. Three wins, three draws for the Yankees; A dozen victories for the Canadian team.
It’s gonna change NHL 22. Maybe it’s good for America, or even worse – who knows? Sean Ramjaxing, general manager of hockey at EA Sports and producer of the longtime NHL series, promised to check the game’s telemetry to see which country took the lead after bringing a slew of national teams to the hockey simulation thursday.
“Because I was right, we asked our players, ‘Can we be real? [International Ice Hockey Federation] Indoor uniform? said Ramjaxing. Until recently, NHL games included national teams, but this is a list of players created from current NHL pros, licensed to them by EA Sports Team. And their sweaters are totally imaginary, but the designers had fun creating them.
In order to obtain actual national team uniforms, an agreement must be made with the IIHF, the sport’s global accreditation body. Ramjaxing said if EA got the ball rolling under the Vancouver IIHF license, it could be done in full — providing studio access to the World Championship brand and a full lineup of non-NHL players.
With this, the next phase is more clear and necessary, Ramjaksingh said.
“What does full and wholesale integration really look like?” said Ramjaxing. “We talked about bringing the women’s team to the game for the first time, and we talked about the World Junior Championships. We were introduced for Christmas. So that’s not really the original question, [but] It turned into an in-depth discussion with the IIHF and revitalized the original national team in our game.
The women’s national team will be the first holder. The NHL series has featured women as stars in the popular Be a Pro fashion since 2011 (recognizing the performances of women in the North American men’s professional league. Manon Rium in 1992) NHL14 Hayley Wickenheiser of Canada and Angela Ruckerro of the United States also appear in the rankings.
Fully equipped and playable women’s teams are not provided before the game. They are now available in most game modes, including local and online one-time tournaments; arcade-style NHL trios, played in small circles on large pizzas; And a head-to-head shooting mode. Uniforms and logos are available in Hockey Ultimate Team and an endless list of multiplayer mobile world customizations.
“The way we design our game is really flexible,” Ramjaksingh said, adding that women’s hockey does not allow physical exams. “We can adapt very effectively to any league in the world and any unique or specific rule.” NHL22 The rules already provide for tweaks, including turning the test on or off, “to make this part really easy,” says Ramjaxing.
However, it takes a lot of effort to animate and illustrate women, given the changing workplace, especially as more and more designers work from home, says Ramjaxing. “The good thing about hockey is the gear and the jerseys up top, there are some differences but we can always get them depending on some of the situations we’ve been in.” He said the women would wear the most common accessories for their version of the game, such as helmets with full-cage masks. Ramjaksingh said special motion capture animations for female athletes should come later.
“From an additional perspective, from a rep’s perspective, I think this will be the most impactful update we’ve ever done for the owner,” Ramjaxing said. But with all the new content available, this will also be one of the biggest post-release updates to the NHL series. In December, the game IIHF added to Junior World Championship, Same with the national team and their uniforms. “It’s a real turning point,” he said. “It’s huge, and I’m very proud to wear it.”
NHL22The IIHF patch is now available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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