Jump to content
NHL'94 Forums

NHL '94 release date


Recommended Posts

Love the fact that in Jun'93 issue, NHLPA '93 is $59 (tied for highest costing game, from what I saw), and in the Jan'94 issue, '94 is $50, again, looks to be top price! Shining Force 2 for $48! :).

There were select titles even a couple years prior to NHL94 release that were higher. Although that's crazy a hockey game was $59 back in the day.

I paid $65 for brand new Revenge of Shinobi....

and $85 for brand new Sword of Vermillion (rpg) --- that's craziness!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When you load the genesis rom into IDA Pro, one of the things you see is:

seg000:0100 0000008F C SEGA GENESIS ©T-50 1993.JULNHL Hockey '94

July 93? Is that what this is saying? If yes, that's when the game was maybe finalized and sent off to be manufactured?

You're involved in the hacking side of things, Tru, yes? Can you shed light?

By chance, I came across this...

http://www.zophar.net/fileuploads/2/10614uauyw/Genesis_ROM_Format.txt

Which talks about the info on a Genesis rom. For instance, in the "©T-50" from above, "50" is the company code for EA.

As far as I can tell, a strict definition of the the date part, is that it is the date of the copyright.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

There were select titles even a couple years prior to NHL94 release that were higher. Although that's crazy a hockey game was $59 back in the day.

I paid $65 for brand new Revenge of Shinobi....

and $85 for brand new Sword of Vermillion (rpg) --- that's craziness!

I couldn't help but notice that too. And to think I used to wonder why my parents never bought us more video games as a kid. The PS1 era was the best; a lot of new games for $39.99 and the "Greatest Hits" being sold for $19.99.

While you could get a copy of NHL '94 for ~$4 today, Shining Force 2 still commands its original selling price (and then some) in the retro video game market.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I couldn't help but notice that too. And to think I used to wonder why my parents never bought us more video games as a kid. The PS1 era was the best; a lot of new games for $39.99 and the "Greatest Hits" being sold for $19.99.

While you could get a copy of NHL '94 for ~$4 today, Shining Force 2 still commands its original selling price (and then some) in the retro video game market.

Well, maybe a loose copy will be around $4.

Gens complete will run you $10 at the cheapest

SNES complete will start on the low end at $15.

Sega CD complete you can find the cheapest starting at $7.

Bought a Mega Drive CD version recently for $25

Super Famicom loose is about $10-15

I bought a PC version simply named NHL Hockey that was $15-$20 brand new

If anyone spots a regular Mega Drive version... let me know. The one that was on ebay recently was $25 + $25 shipping... yikes

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"complete" meaning box and booklet and ads and that kind of stuff? I don't get the area between "new in box, sealed" and "loose cartridge," as far of how any of the other "conditions" matter. cartridge works? I'm good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Complete = box; manual; working game (ads is debatable but I don't count that as complete)

To each their own on conditions... for me, I have a number of carts I use to play and then there's some that I keep in good condition as collectibles.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Hey guys,

I just ran across this thread while doing some research on NHL 94. I actually do a lot of research into game release dates (I have a website and YouTube channel), and generally turn to Usenet to see when people start talking about having particular games in-hand. Here's what I found for NHL 94:

A post on September 8 talks about the game being "anxiously awaited", and states that the game's release date is the 24th of that month.

A post on September 14 quotes an exchange between the poster and someone working inside EA, who said that the release date was "the 24th or the 27th, I don't know exactly which." Interestingly, this person also said "EA was not "too cheap" to pay for NHL and NHLPA licensing in 1993; the NHL made it very complicated with all that player revenue business. Also, the NHL refused to sanction a game with fighting in it. It just wasn't worth the hassle. It didn't have much to do with money." Not sure if you guys already knew that or not, but I found it interesting because it explains both why NHLPA 93 lacked a license, and why NHL 94 lacked fighting.

A post on September 23 talks about having the game in-hand, and gives some first impressions. In another post on the same day, the poster says that he picked up the game "last night" and also gave his impressions.

From there on, there are plenty of posts about the game. So that's pretty rock-solid evidence that the game was first available on September 22/23, 1993. Hope you guys find that helpful/interesting!

Chris

Edit: For anyone interested, the newsgroup these game from was rec.games.video.sega. I was also able to find that NHL 94 for the Sega CD was released in January of 1994.

Edited by Jibbajaba
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

my NHL94 experience goes like this....

(back in the days before cell phones and internet)

high school 199x...

there was a payphone right across the hall from the gym, the class i was supposed to be in... instead i called EA sports to talk to customer service about the new features of NHL94, after 40+ minutes on hold, i get to talk to a guy...

(i used to know the EA number by heart)

ME: so tell me about the new NHL game

CSRep: well its got blah blah blah, and some new checking animations

ME: what about the fighting?

CSRep: There is no fighting.

ME: what do you mean theres no fighting?

SCRep: something, something the nhl wanted it remove...

ME: and you think anyones going to buy that crap?

*click*

muthafucker hung up on me!

so i go back across the hall to gym class 50 minutes late...

Gym Teacher: HEY! where we're you?

ME: on the phone....

Gym Teacher: well heres a pink slip, go tell the principle why you were 50 min later for gym class.

knowing me, i probably threw away the pink slip and walked around til the next class

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey guys,

From there on, there are plenty of posts about the game. So that's pretty rock-solid evidence that the game was first available on September 22/23, 1993. Hope you guys find that helpful/interesting!

Chris

Edit: For anyone interested, the newsgroup these game from was rec.games.video.sega. I was also able to find that NHL 94 for the Sega CD was released in January of 1994.

Awesome post! Thanks Jibs for sharing!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awesome post! Thanks Jibs for sharing!

My pleasure! I also had a pretty cool e-mail exchange with Amory Wong, who was the lead programmer for the SNES version of NHL 94. Maybe after I am done putting this episode of my show together, I'll type it out and post it here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My pleasure! I also had a pretty cool e-mail exchange with Amory Wong, who was the lead programmer for the SNES version of NHL 94. Maybe after I am done putting this episode of my show together, I'll type it out and post it here.

I hope you do post that! Even though I'm Gens, I would really appreciate (along with plenty of SNES brethren) reading about that email exchange.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK, count on it. Might be a week or so, though.

Edit: I just asked Amory for permission to publicly post our conversation. I have already edited it into an interview-style format. Assuming that he grants permission, I am going to publish it on my website but will also just copy-and-paste it here (in a new thread).

Edited by Jibbajaba
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...

Jibbajaba pretty much solved it, but archive.org just released all the Nintendo Power magazines, so maybe an "official" release date in September 19941993 ould be found in there

https://archive.org/details/nintendopower&tab=collection

Link to comment
Share on other sites

shining force still sells for $48

you can pick up nhl94 for 5 bucks...

Not complete in box you can't... or at least you would be lucky.

More likely around $10 for Gens complete.

SNES complete would be >$10 but shouldn't be any more than $15.

Actually, Sega CD complete I see selling around $8 pretty consistently.

However, I see copies for both Gens and SNES selling for north of $20 all the time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...
On 1/10/2016 at 5:15 PM, Jibbajaba said:

Hey guys,

I just ran across this thread while doing some research on NHL 94. I actually do a lot of research into game release dates (I have a website and YouTube channel), and generally turn to Usenet to see when people start talking about having particular games in-hand. Here's what I found for NHL 94:

A post on September 8 talks about the game being "anxiously awaited", and states that the game's release date is the 24th of that month.

A post on September 14 quotes an exchange between the poster and someone working inside EA, who said that the release date was "the 24th or the 27th, I don't know exactly which." Interestingly, this person also said "EA was not "too cheap" to pay for NHL and NHLPA licensing in 1993; the NHL made it very complicated with all that player revenue business. Also, the NHL refused to sanction a game with fighting in it. It just wasn't worth the hassle. It didn't have much to do with money." Not sure if you guys already knew that or not, but I found it interesting because it explains both why NHLPA 93 lacked a license, and why NHL 94 lacked fighting.

A post on September 23 talks about having the game in-hand, and gives some first impressions. In another post on the same day, the poster says that he picked up the game "last night" and also gave his impressions.

From there on, there are plenty of posts about the game. So that's pretty rock-solid evidence that the game was first available on September 22/23, 1993. Hope you guys find that helpful/interesting!

Chris

Edit: For anyone interested, the newsgroup these game from was rec.games.video.sega. I was also able to find that NHL 94 for the Sega CD was released in January of 1994.

The usenet threads are an amazing treasure trove of information.  I was just reading through some of them and it's great.  

Here is a link to the release date one that you mentioned: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rec.games.video.sega/geicW6XI1ts/V4wtLHV_XIIJ

Here is the first realization of the weight bug, where a guy notices that Gretzky can really hit: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/rec.games.video.sega/Ir--lOfmwqQ/fnSSjUWD0QQJ

I love it all...will scan through and make a separate post to archive what was being said when this came out, which is undoubtedly Sep 24.  As mentioned previously, the ROM header has JUL'93.  Assume that is when the game was finished and it took 1-2 months of production to get the game ready for release.  

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, kingraph said:

The usenet threads are an amazing treasure trove of information.  I was just reading through some of them and it's great.  

Here is a link to the release date one that you mentioned: https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rec.games.video.sega/geicW6XI1ts/V4wtLHV_XIIJ

Here is the first realization of the weight bug, where a guy notices that Gretzky can really hit: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/rec.games.video.sega/Ir--lOfmwqQ/fnSSjUWD0QQJ

I love it all...will scan through and make a separate post to archive what was being said when this came out, which is undoubtedly Sep 24.  As mentioned previously, the ROM header has JUL'93.  Assume that is when the game was finished and it took 1-2 months of production to get the game ready for release.  

 

This guy had 71 goals playing the Leafs against the Hawks - https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rec.games.video.sega/7DYXsG-tSVw/FGUwUsdKKY8J

 

Some good advanced strategy here - https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rec.games.video.sega/DWTEcMAMLDM/discussion

 

This guy picked it up the night of 9/22 - https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rec.games.video.sega/Zh35ZFAxXG4/s-Sg-t8ogrcJ

 

This guy got it 9/23 - https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rec.games.video.sega/_qN5O4EyA4M/6BgjeHTb7LMJ

 

Looks like the day it came out depended on where you lived.

There's A LOT of good stuff in the usenet.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, chaos said:

 

There's A LOT of good stuff in the usenet.

I couldn't get the links to work. 71 goals with the leafs vs Hawks is impossible.  Maybe in SNES? 

I spent my trip home reading through some and I definitely want to highlight some of these in a new forum thread.

Lots of complaints on crease cut, and I saw someone post about pass shots.  They've been around since '94! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, kingraph said:

I couldn't get the links to work. 71 goals with the leafs vs Hawks is impossible.  Maybe in SNES? 

I spent my trip home reading through some and I definitely want to highlight some of these in a new forum thread.

Lots of complaints on crease cut, and I saw someone post about pass shots.  They've been around since '94! 

I fixed the links. No clue what I did

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, kingraph said:

I couldn't get the links to work. 71 goals with the leafs vs Hawks is impossible.  Maybe in SNES? 

I spent my trip home reading through some and I definitely want to highlight some of these in a new forum thread.

Lots of complaints on crease cut, and I saw someone post about pass shots.  They've been around since '94! 

I would say snes for sure. When I spoke to Dan ( snes world record holder) about his score, he told me  he feels he Could beat it by quite abit more. 

Thanks for sharing these links  it’s awesome to read through and see what people were saying 25 years ago  

 

new segment for the Facebook page 

:D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, chaos said:

I fixed the links. No clue what I did

Thanks for fixing bud. Next time post a video apologizing for the mistake. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Who's Online   0 Members, 0 Anonymous, 69 Guests (See full list)

    • There are no registered users currently online
×
×
  • Create New...