Blog Archives
A Few More Hockey Ideas (Again!)
More hockey ideas. One day the well will run dry on the topic! So far there hasn’t been any complaints about this from readers (that’s not an invitation to start now!). I’ll try cover more sports in the future. Read the rest of this entry
Hockey Countdown Lights
This is a set of five lights stationed behind the net near the top of the glass that would countdown the last 5 seconds of a period or the last 5 seconds of a penalty. This is similar to a shot clock in Basketball, but only used in the two instances described. These would be situated behind both nets, and act in the exact same fashion. Read the rest of this entry
My NHL Realignment Plan
Because the Atlanta Thrashers relocated to Winnipeg to become the Jets 2.0 this past offseason, there will be a new alignment the NHL to start the 2012-2013 season. Above is my proposed alignment for the divisions. Read the rest of this entry
How Do These NHL Socks Not Exist?
You can buy NHL-branded socks that feature the team colors, logo, and nickname. But what about socks that look just like the ones the players are wearing? No such thing exists!
What is even more baffling, is that you don’t need an NHL license to produce these. That is because these designs are simply an arrangement of colors and stripes – no team nicknames or logos. You’d think some company would capitalize on this.
I personally would love to throw on some red Calgary Flames socks on game day. Being socks they don’t have much visibility, so I can safely wear these when I am out and about here in Vancouver*.
This could also be done with NFL, MLB, NBA and FIFA too. Well, the teams that wear colorful striped socks. Appears to be an endangered species in the NFL, and seldom seen in the NBA or FIFA.
Note: This was going to be a part of the Geeky Fashion series, but this is not quite geeky.
*When I wear my Flames jersey in Vancouver, I usually end up reminding Canucks fans how many Stanley Cups my team has won (just the one – 1989) with a count of fingers. I don’t use my index finger. Ha.
Ice Hockey 2 Please!
I have a new nemesis. I dub this enemy 'Pixel Art'.
Yesterday Nintendo announced a new Mario Tennis for 2012. The Mario Tennis franchise has been released on the Game Boy Color, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance, and GameCube (which saw a re-release on the Wii). While Tennis gets a lot of love, I feel Nintendo should resurrect a title they haven’t touched since the NES* – Ice Hockey.
In this blogger’s opinion, Ice Hockey was the first great hockey video game. It had a simple mechanic: create a lineup of 4 players, choosing between skinny, normal, and fat body types. Skinny players were fast, but easy to flatten with a body check. Fat players were physical and had a booming slap shot, but were very slow on the ice. Normal players were average across the board.
That core mechanic could remain for a sequel. The only major addition would be the inclusion of Mario characters, much like the other Nintendo sports games. Luigi could be the skinny player, Mario the normal player, and Wario the fat player. Many other Nintendo characters like Yoshi and Donkey Kong could be included as well.
This game would be ideal for the 3DS. You might be able to fit the whole rink in the top screen. Stick-handling, passing, and shooting could be done with the stylus on the touch-screen.
*I’m going to ignore the Stanley Cup game they released for the SNES, and the hockey mode in Mario And Sonic Go The Winter Games for Wii.
EA NHL 94 Action Figures
Jeremy Roenick, celebrating yet another improbable goal - likely a backhand from the blue line.
I own a few McFarlane NHL figures (mostly Calgary Flame players), and they are awesome sculpts that are very detailed and lifelike. What I am proposing is the opposite of that: pixelated figures that celebrate the video game sports legends of the 16-bit era.
These nondescript blocky versions of athletes would only need to be 2-4″ tall, as it would look a bit too weird in the 6-7″ range (the size of McFarlane sports figures). The small size would be perfect for collecting a whole bunch, perhaps even assembling a re-creation of the video game (arena and all). Because the players of the 16-bit erea didn’t feature any names or numbers or likenesses, you could probably buy entire teams by the bag full (like green army men).
Though the current model in which McFarlane releases figures – a select series of several players released annually – would be fine as well. Standout players like Jeremy Roenick could receive the star treatment, like the design above.
Speaking of Roenick and NHL 94, it would be sorta cool/slightly disturbing to see a ‘Gretzky bleeding’ figure too. Well, it would be a humorous release that is for sure. UPDATE: added it!
This is all reference to the classic scene from Swingers, which Jeremy Roenick recently reenacted (language is NSFW):
Some basic pose-ability would be nice (like a Lego minifig), but is not essential. Obviously this idea can be applied to other sports video games like Madden, NBA Live, Tecmo Bowl, FIFA, etc. Even non-sports video games would have a lot of potential for ‘pixelated action figures’, such as Mario and Zelda and the like.
UPDATE: Here is a goalie figure:
