Since I'll be new to the 360 next month, I haven't kept up on these two franchises the past couple years. I was a huge EA hockey fan back in the day but it's been a good 5 years (and clearly a lot can change in that time).

I watched the vids of EA's NH 08 and the physics checking and graphics look amazing. I'm not sure the movies of 2K8 I saw were as exciting but they were just trailers. Most important of course is gameplay.

What are everyone's thoughts on these two franchises?

I got 2k7 last year, had NHL 06 the year before. In comparing the 2, 2k7 was much more realistic, and had a lot more adjustable settings. I like a realistic experience - 4-3, 3-2 type games with about 30 shots. For me 2k7 allowed for this while NHL 06 didn't.

It sounds like EA has made some good strides with their game though, and 2k hasn't changed much...so I'll wait until the reviews are out before deciding if I'll get either this year.

EA has the "Total Control" now where the right thumbstick basically controls EVERYTHING. pull back and release, it will shoot...things like that. It tried to eliminate the face buttons. I thought the concept was neat....although, I only rented it.

So when shooting, how does it know whether you want to take a wrist, snap, slap, or backhand shot? Do the other buttons still serve as "modifiers" of sorts?

How about online play? I never played 2k7 online, and have never really played any hockey games online in the past 5 years or so. Do they have online franchises? I'd really like to have a good online league, even if it's only 4 or 5 real player controlled teams. It'd make the wheeling and dealing aspects much more fun.

Wrist shot was pull back press forward, snap was thrust forward, slap shot was pull back, hold it for power, thrust forward.

The left analogue was used to aim.

NHL 07 was alot of fun but barebones compared to NHL 2k7. The only reason to get NHL 07 was the skill stick feature. I had both, I only still have 2k7.

I'll also wait for reviews before I make a choice.

I always have fun with EA's hockey, but the hockey purist in me keeps me coming back to 2Ks version. I usually rent EAs and buy 2Ks.

Reading up on these 2 games, trying to figure out if either will offer online franchises. NHL 08 has online LEAGUES, but not franchises.

Did see this about 2K8 though:

Nothing about online, but I love the possibilities, I hope they implement the above the way they should be. Would really add a lot of depth to the management aspect of the game - which I already spend way too much time on with 2K7.

Igor Larionov - http://www.1up.com/do/my1Up?publicUserId=5879095

Sounds like 2k got even better with the salary cap features that it's rival had last year.

EA's game looks absolutely fantastic this year as far as gameplay goes. I hope they improve the franchise mode though. It also has the AHL teams as a playable aspect so that's a huge selling point for me as I'm a HUGE fan of the Hartford Wolfpack.

Wow! Didnt know that.That puts EA ahead for me since i can play as the 2007 Calder Cup Champs the Hamilton Bulldogs

I've been a 2k fan since 2k1 on the Dreamcast, and I loved NHL2k6...but for '07, I went with EA. The Skill Stick is just BADASS. I love the control that it let you have to deke and drag around players trying to stand you up entering the zone...that said, NHL '07 was a bit short on options, and I thought the AI was slightly cheap. You could tell when the computer was going to score, because it was damn near impossible to get the puck off of them. However, the off-season in franchise mode was laughable - there was never any way to sign free agents - every team resigned people. And the computer trades were fucking laughable. Not that 2k7 was much better in that regard though.
2k7 was fun, I definitely enjoyed it, but the 'next-gen' feel just wasn't there last year. Which leaves me wondering where to plunk my $60 down this year. I'll probably end up buying both...

I usually get the 2K series.

I just want NHL '96 on the Wii. Hockey games stopped being fun after they went 3D. Or maybe NHL 97 was just so abysmal.

I had 2K6 and NHL'07. If I was to get another one this year, I'd probably go with 2K8. I found that there was too much of a learning curve with '07, and there was a number of times when I couldn't get the controls to work properly for me. I'd be on a breakaway, and I wouldn't be able to get the player to actually shoot on the net. It was a lesson in frustration. The 2K series is pretty easy to play, but it is less packed than '07, at least in my opinion.

This was my problem with EA's game last year, too. I think the idea of total control worked great in theory, but I could never consistently pull off what I wanted to. I think I might skip them both this year and hope one really tries to outdo the other in '09.

More on 2K8's franchise mode - http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/812/812821p1.html

Sounds pretty cool, but it sounds like other than the salary stuff and contract negotiations, not much has changed. If it has, they didn't mention it.

I checked the salaries for the Hawk players shown there, and they are the actual salaries, so that's neat.

Of course no mention of online at all.

I'm going for NHL 08, it will be great.

They both look fantastic to me from what I have seen. I'm looking forward to some reviews. Control and gameplay are obviously the most important points.

From the videos I've seen, EA definitely has the edge on cool checking physics and graphical smoothness, which is a plus. It will definitely be interesting to hear how the new versions of these games compare to last year control-wise.

I tried the xbox live demos of both... unfortunately you can only do a shootout in EA's version but in 2k8 you can play quite a bit.

Graphically, EA certainly seems to have an edge but it's hard to judge the gameplay based on the demos. 2k8 played well but I'm not sure how the overall presentation will compare. I really want to see reviews of these games. Wonder when those copies will go out to reviewers...

I don't have my Xbox back yet, but I am pretty sure you played the 2007 versions and not 2008. I haven't read that they have put up demos for the new ones yet.

Yeah I just checked, new ones aren't up yet. Probably be a week or so yet.

Great. Stupid me for not looking at the year. Sorry everyone. Just got my xbox 360 going on Live recently and was downloading demos like crazy and was excited when these popped up.

The NHL 08 demo was just posted on Xbox Live.

i played them both, i bought nhl07 last year, on sale for like 30 bucks.