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 progression in presentation means that you will end up with a better game. Lots of the time all you need to enjoy yourself is the basic shapes but you need something. Something like speed and or accuracy to test your reflexes and skill. Some of the best games in history were never that good looking but you just had to go back for more. One of the most famous video games ever was built around a ball dodging assailants in a maze and eating other balls on the way. Another very famous title which is still around today was just based on falling blocks that had to be arranged as they dropped.
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.
So with all the information, the game play and the good presentation in today's NHL titles, it's no surprise that they are as popular as a child with sweets in a playground. Like all games consoles and the sports titles that go with them, the hockey titles have progressed a great deal. It's the clever people who make the games that have made sports games of today such as hockey, look good and still keep the game play of the games of old. They realized a long time ago that your couldn't just paint a pretty picture on the screen, you had to actually let the player live it too. They now know that there is no point in releasing a game on to the market that is not up to speed. Especially not when the game in question is carrying the NHL brand.
People and especially the younger generation of today are extremely luck to be able to play NHL games for Xbox & Playstation game consoles the way that they do. So much has been done over years of development that it's hard to comprehend what early games were like. Suffice to say they were cumbersome at best.