Notebook Critic

As an avid PC gamer occasionally I have to rely on other websites to get a sense for whether a certain game is worth buying. Especially this time of year when the release schedule flood gates open.

There’s been a ton of hype regarding this year’s installment of NHL 09. Hyperbole is flying around all over the net about how good this game is. But there is a big misleading problem with many of the reviews in print and on ‘tier one’ gaming sites; all the reviews seem to be for the 360 and PS3 console version of the game.

Now I don’t know about you, but when I visit the ‘PC’ section of IGN or pick up a PC magazine I expect a little more than a brief regurgitation of EA’s generic Press Release. I would expect a review based on PC game play. That would make me wrong in this case.

Have a look at this review. Not only do they claim the game has features that are in fact absent, they even have the wrong screens. My PC is significantly more powerful than a 360 and NHL 09 looks nothing like this review’s screen shots. Why? Because the game uses the NHL 06 engine on the PC version. It’s the PS2 version ported over to PC.

• No enhanced be a pro.
• No wide screen support (1024*768 is the max)
• Spotty online play
• Last year’s rules (face in wrong zone when penalties are called)

I’ve been buying a lot of EA games recently – Spore, Dead Space, WAR, Crysis Warhead. I don’t know who is calling the shots at EA, but pissing-off their most loyal client base is a bad idea. Particularly when the ‘next-gen’ is starting to get stale and old.

This is the point in every console generation when the hard-core gamers revert back to the PC because even a cheap $600 PC is more powerful than a console (that amount gets you a quad core with 20″ LCD and basic GeForce 8600 class video card – add $200 for a monster GPU like the AMD 4850). Unlike consoles, everyone needs a PC.

Actually I do know who is calling the shots at EA Sports. That would be Peter Moore. You remember him, he destroyed Sega and caused them to leave the console making business. He also launched the Xbox – what a huge hit that has been, 30 million units worldwide in 6 years. That many PCs are sold every month. Even when Sony shot themselves in the foot he found a way to fnish second. He is your grandpa trying to fit in with teen agers. Yeah, that guy.