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Email to John Buccigross


halifax

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I'm an avid fan of reading online sports columns...In the past couple years I've come to enjoy columns from ESPN columnist John Buccigross. In a recent column, Buccigross asked readers to weigh in on NHL video games. I initiated a letter and then sent it to addisonbr to proofread and get some feedback. When I got it back...Addisonbr(The wizard of wording) took the email to a whole new level.

If we are fortunate enough to make it into John Buccigross' 'Mother of all email bags' column, I will post a link here for you to read...but in the mean time please enjoy the letter.

Hey John,

I know you’ve already posted a few emails regarding NHL video games, but I wanted to draw your attention to a game that isn’t pretending to compete with the Halo 3’s of the world, and which is all the better for it. A few years ago, Evan Eldredge (Long Island, NY) created NHL94.com to pay tribute to the game which is considered by many to be not just the greatest hockey game of all time, but the greatest sports game of all time* – NHL ’94 for the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo by EA Sports.

* IGN lists NHL ’94 as the 47th best video game of all-time (highest sports game on the list): http://top100.ign.com/2005/041-050.html

* boston.com users voted NHL ’94 the greatest sports game in history:

http://www.boston.com/sports/lighter_side/...orts_videogame/

Sports Illustrated even ran a cover story in 1994 comparing the NHL’s surge with the NBA’s decline, and one of the article’s supporting points was the popularity of NHL ’94:

http://dynamic.si.cnn.com/si_online/covers.../1994/0620.html

NHL94.com is more than a simple memorial to a video game from years past – it’s also a thriving community of over a thousand players who keep the game alive today with ongoing leagues (coaches use emulators to play each other over the Internet) and through modifying and updating the rosters to reflect different periods of hockey history. In addition to modified versions that reflect teams and players from different NHL seasons (the 2008 version was released about a month ago), there are NHL ’94 variations that allow people to play as international Olympic teams, WHL teams, NCAA teams, etc. – all with accurate uniforms, actual rosters of real players, and ratings that have been painstakingly argued and debated within the community to reflect reality as well as possible.

Certainly NHL ‘94 does not compare to today’s games in terms of graphics, but in terms of game play it’s nearly impossible to beat.

Oh and by the way – NHL ’94 was Shjon Podein’s first appearance in a video game (Edmonton’s #26).

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cool

just one problem.. 94 wasn't the only sports game on that top 100 games list. 38: madden 2004. 24: tecmo football.

I'm an avid fan of reading online sports columns...In the past couple years I've come to enjoy columns from ESPN columnist John Buccigross. In a recent column, Buccigross asked readers to weigh in on NHL video games. I initiated a letter and then sent it to addisonbr to proofread and get some feedback. When I got it back...Addisonbr(The wizard of wording) took the email to a whole new level.

If we are fortunate enough to make it into John Buccigross' 'Mother of all email bags' column, I will post a link here for you to read...but in the mean time please enjoy the letter.

Hey John,

I know you’ve already posted a few emails regarding NHL video games, but I wanted to draw your attention to a game that isn’t pretending to compete with the Halo 3’s of the world, and which is all the better for it. A few years ago, Evan Eldredge (Long Island, NY) created NHL94.com to pay tribute to the game which is considered by many to be not just the greatest hockey game of all time, but the greatest sports game of all time* – NHL ’94 for the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo by EA Sports.

* IGN lists NHL ’94 as the 47th best video game of all-time (highest sports game on the list): <a href="http://top100.ign.com/2005/041-050.html" target="_blank">http://top100.ign.com/2005/041-050.html</a>

* boston.com users voted NHL ’94 the greatest sports game in history:

<a href="http://www.boston.com/sports/lighter_side/...orts_videogame/" target="_blank">http://www.boston.com/sports/lighter_side/...orts_videogame/</a>

Sports Illustrated even ran a cover story in 1994 comparing the NHL’s surge with the NBA’s decline, and one of the article’s supporting points was the popularity of NHL ’94:

<a href="http://dynamic.si.cnn.com/si_online/covers.../1994/0620.html" target="_blank">http://dynamic.si.cnn.com/si_online/covers.../1994/0620.html</a>

NHL94.com is more than a simple memorial to a video game from years past – it’s also a thriving community of over a thousand players who keep the game alive today with ongoing leagues (coaches use emulators to play each other over the Internet) and through modifying and updating the rosters to reflect different periods of hockey history. In addition to modified versions that reflect teams and players from different NHL seasons (the 2008 version was released about a month ago), there are NHL ’94 variations that allow people to play as international Olympic teams, WHL teams, NCAA teams, etc. – all with accurate uniforms, actual rosters of real players, and ratings that have been painstakingly argued and debated within the community to reflect reality as well as possible.

Certainly NHL ‘94 does not compare to today’s games in terms of graphics, but in terms of game play it’s nearly impossible to beat.

Oh and by the way – NHL ’94 was Shjon Podein’s first appearance in a video game (Edmonton’s #26).

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thanks smoz...I meant to say top hockey game on the list and not sports game...that was my mistake.

I'll email addisonbr...perhaps he hasn't sent it yet.

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