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.
You don't see any kids these days that could get excited about pushing a little white dot around the screen that is supposed to be a puck.The matchstick men that were supposed to resemble a fully padded out Ice hockey player have gone too. Kids still want to play games that they perceive as fun though. 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.
The greatest games ever played were not great because they were visually stunning even if they really were. They were played over and over because people enjoyed playing them. Having a really great and playable game is much more fun than looking at something that is just pretty and can hardly move. 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.
Now Hockey games are particularly entertaining on any games platform because they combine control, timing and quick perception. These are all vital components in any entertaining sports game. Thankfully there are many talented programmers working hard to produce something that they also like.
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.
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.