Cybersport: Video Games Imitating Life
(from the Daily News)
By Tom Hoffarth
Staff Writer
March 23, 1998 - Kings center Ian Laperriere, holding the video game controller tightly in his hands, motions toward the TV screen in his Marina del Rey apartment.
On his "NHL Breakaway '98" Playstation contest, Kings center Ian Laperriere is moving into the faceoff circle.
"I'm finally in the game," he says, pushing the buttons so fast that his stick blade starts to pound the faux ice.
But suddenly, the ref motions him out of the circle.
"Hey, what did I do?" the real Laperriere complains.
No recourse here, pal. Just like the NHL.
The surreal experience somehow isn't that strange to Laperriere, the team's bona-fide video-game expert who laughs that the game's producers "actually make me better than I really am." At home or on the road, Laperriere keeps himself and his teammates amused with his enthusiasm for participating in virtual reality.
"I used to play every night," the hard-nosed 24-year-old admits, "but since my girlfriend moved in with me... maybe it's only an hour a day now."
That's good enough for us.
We handed him a half-dozen of the hottest hockey video games on the market today and asked which skates circles around the others. Competing on both Playstation and Nintendo 64 platforms against another hockey-game expert - my 11-year-old son Andy - Laperriere rated the following games on a scale of 1 (the worst) to 5 (the best) this way:
NHL Breakaway '98 (Acclaim): Even though the ice surface looks dingy gray and the puck floats around in a pink circle, showing a blue streak after a shot, Laperriere says he "likes the graphics, but it's too easy to play." That, and Keith Tkachuk is on the cover. Rating: 2-1/2.
NHL Power Play '98 (Virgin Interactive): A little more herky-jerky action, but the Kings players on this one are slower. Maybe because it's more true to using artificial intelligence based on the sorry '96-97 team. "The graphics are not as good as Breakaway," he said, "but the controls are easier to work." Rating: 3.
NHL Faceoff '98 (Sony): Much more realistic - the boards and glass actually shake after a check, and the announcer is more dynamic on goal calls. The bigger ice surface, especially behind the net, make for less congestion and appeals to Laperriere most. Rating: 3-1/2.
Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey '98 (Midway): Much more like an arcade game than imitating a real NHL contest with fewer players on the ice. But that can be just as fun. Laperriere is amused by goalies left with holes in their chest after hard shots and nets that catch fire after blazing shots. Rating: 4.
Olympic Hockey '98 (Midway): Laperriere wisely takes the Canadian team as opposed to the U.S. squad ("I won't break any chairs," he says), and he can't stop laughing at the comments from the game's play-by-play man, such as "What was he thinking?" or "Bombs away!" after a slap shot. Which might not be the most appropriate thing to be yelling in Nagano. Rating: 4.
NHL '98 (Electronic Arts): Look no further. On simple things like line changes, you'd swear you're watching a game on television because the graphics and movements are so clear and fluid. EA has refined this game year after year, to a point where not only is it "the most realistic, but the toughest to score on, which makes it the best," said Laperriere. A full-fledged 5? "Nothing is perfect," Laperriere says, "and besides, they wouldn't make money on the new versions if they made them perfect right away, right?" Rating: 4-1/2.