Actua Ice Hockey
Encyclopedia
Actua Ice Hockey is an ice hockey
video game series composed by two games released in 1998
and 1999
, part of Gremlin
's Actua Sports
series, released for Windows PCs
and the PlayStation.
Experienced with sports games (after the successful Actua Soccer
and Premier Manager games), Gremlin required more additions to their sports range after releasing Actua Golf
. As the Nagano Olympic Games were close, they acquired a license for the ice hockey tournament (which for the first time accepted proefessional athletes), making it the official video game, including real players. Market leader NHL '98
, while adding for the first time national teams, only NHL players were real, but that was enough for the EA Sports
franchise to top Gremlin's game in sales and critic appreciation (and eventually, even became one of the sports games of the year).
Like Actua Soccer, the game was developed in close ties with a local club, this time, the Sheffield Steelers
. Their players provided hints to the programmers and also served as motion capture
models.
In 1999
, Gremlin reworked the engine for better gameplay, graphics, Direct3D
support and club teams, and Actua Ice Hockey 2 was released. Actua Ice Hockey 2 was originally intended to be Fox Sports Hockey and was being developed by Gremlin for Fox Interactive
, who had obtained an NHL license. Just over half way through development, Fox pulled out taking the NHL license with it. Above the objections of some of the developers, development of the game continued. All references to NHL were changed to GHL ( Gremlin Hockey League ), all player names were modified by substituting vowels (Svoboda became Svaboda, for instance), player faces were randomized and a whole new front-end was developed. The game flopped, and as Gremlin was acquired by then Infogrames
(now Atari
), no further titles were developed.
Ice hockey
Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...
video game series composed by two games released in 1998
1998 in video gaming
-Events:*Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts 1st Annual Interactive Achievement Awards; inducts Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo to the AIAS Hall of Fame*British Academy of Film and Television Arts hosts the 1st annual BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards...
and 1999
1999 in video gaming
-Events:*British Academy of Film and Television Arts hosts the 2nd annual BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards*March – Game Over republished as “Game Over: Press Start to Continue”...
, part of Gremlin
Gremlin Interactive
Gremlin Interactive was a British software house based in Sheffield and working mostly in the home computer market.- History :...
's Actua Sports
Actua Sports
Actua Sports was a sports video game series published by Gremlin Interactive which competed with Electronic Arts EA Sports label during the second half of the 1990s, until Gremlin was acquired by Infogrames...
series, released for Windows PCs
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
and the PlayStation.
Experienced with sports games (after the successful Actua Soccer
Actua Soccer
Actua Soccer is a football video game series that was developed by Gremlin Interactive as part of their Actua Sports series, and was the first football game to use full 3D graphics...
and Premier Manager games), Gremlin required more additions to their sports range after releasing Actua Golf
Actua Golf
Actua Golf is a 1996 golf video game of the Actua Sports series developed by Gremlin Interactive for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn. The success of the game resulted in sequels including Actua Golf 2 in 1997 and Actua Golf 3 in 1998....
. As the Nagano Olympic Games were close, they acquired a license for the ice hockey tournament (which for the first time accepted proefessional athletes), making it the official video game, including real players. Market leader NHL '98
NHL series
NHL is a series of professional ice hockey simulation video games developed by EA Canada and published yearly by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports brand...
, while adding for the first time national teams, only NHL players were real, but that was enough for the EA Sports
EA Sports
EA Sports is a brand of Electronic Arts that creates and develops sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to mimic real-life sports networks by calling themselves "EA Sports Network" with pictures or endorsements of real commentators such as John...
franchise to top Gremlin's game in sales and critic appreciation (and eventually, even became one of the sports games of the year).
Like Actua Soccer, the game was developed in close ties with a local club, this time, the Sheffield Steelers
Sheffield Steelers
The Sheffield Steelers are a British ice hockey club, from Sheffield, England. They were formed in 1991 and play their home games at the Sheffield Arena. They are currently members of the Elite Ice Hockey League...
. Their players provided hints to the programmers and also served as motion capture
Motion capture
Motion capture, motion tracking, or mocap are terms used to describe the process of recording movement and translating that movement on to a digital model. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, and medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robotics...
models.
In 1999
1999 in video gaming
-Events:*British Academy of Film and Television Arts hosts the 2nd annual BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards*March – Game Over republished as “Game Over: Press Start to Continue”...
, Gremlin reworked the engine for better gameplay, graphics, Direct3D
Direct3D
Direct3D is part of Microsoft's DirectX application programming interface . Direct3D is available for Microsoft Windows operating systems , and for other platforms through the open source software Wine. It is the base for the graphics API on the Xbox and Xbox 360 console systems...
support and club teams, and Actua Ice Hockey 2 was released. Actua Ice Hockey 2 was originally intended to be Fox Sports Hockey and was being developed by Gremlin for Fox Interactive
Fox Interactive
20th Century Fox Games is a video game publisher and developer mainly concerned with titles based on 20th Century Fox properties, such as The Simpsons, Family Guy, Futurama, the Alien and Predator film franchises, Independence Day, Charmed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The X-Files, Avatar, 24, the...
, who had obtained an NHL license. Just over half way through development, Fox pulled out taking the NHL license with it. Above the objections of some of the developers, development of the game continued. All references to NHL were changed to GHL ( Gremlin Hockey League ), all player names were modified by substituting vowels (Svoboda became Svaboda, for instance), player faces were randomized and a whole new front-end was developed. The game flopped, and as Gremlin was acquired by then Infogrames
Infogrames
Infogrames Entertainment SA was an international French holding company headquartered in Paris, France. It was the owner of Atari, Inc., headquartered in New York City, U.S. and Atari Europe. It was founded in 1983 by Bruno Bonnell and Christophe Sapet using the proceeds from an introductory...
(now Atari
Atari
Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
), no further titles were developed.