First he won a silver medal at the Winter Olympics, and now he’ll be on the cover of the Wii-exclusive NHL 2K11. Vancouver Canucks forward Ryan Kesler sounds genuinely excited about the opportunity, telling The Canadian Press that the only way he thought he’d ever end up on a game cover was “if I put my own picture on there.”

“It’s a dream come true for me,” Kesler, ever the good spokesplayer, said. “I grew up playing, and to be on the cover of 2K is unbelievable.”

Kesler confirmed that he got in his motion capture time for the game last year with 2K10 cover athlete Alexander Ovechkin. “I’m not a flashy scorer like Ovechkin, by any means, but I think I’m exciting in my own right,” Kesler observed, suggesting that his Olympic performance was what attracted publisher Take-Two to his game … face.

Hopefully, for Kesler’s sake, there’s no equivalent “Madden Curse” for NHL games. Hockey players are already doomed to lose all their teeth anyway. NHL 2K11 will be out this fall.

Ryan Kesler is the NHL 2K11 cover athlete originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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During the recent Take-Two fiscal earnings report, we noticed something a bit off. See, back in December when we got our last update from the company, NHL 2K11 was missing entirely from the report. This suggested that there wouldn’t be another game in the series.

Well, today Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick revealed that another iteration in the series is in the works — and it’s exclusively for the Wii. “As far as NHL, we’re taking a year off on PS3 and Xbox 360 to refine, redesign and re-think,” Zelnick remarked during the earnings report. So while Canadians* will have fewer options when it comes to platform, knowing the series hasn’t been retired is a good thing, right?

Update: We reached out to Take-Two for a more comprehensive explanation of the choice to ditch PS3 and Xbox 360 this year. Here’s what the spoksperson said: “We have decided to reevaluate our NHL strategy and will only be releasing NHL 2K11 for the Wii in fiscal year 2010. We want to become a stronger competitor in this category and taking a year off on PS3 and Xbox 360, while focusing on making the best possible game for Wii, should allow us to accomplish that goal.”

*Come on, we all know Canadians are the only ones playing these games

NHL 2K11 skips Xbox 360 and PS3, only coming to Wii [update] originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo has already, to the surprise of many, partnered with EA to bundle MotionPlus peripherals with sports games. Now, according to a Canadian retail listing, the company is collaborating with another third party on a bundle. Futureshop lists an NHL 2K10 package featuring 2K Sports’ hockey game (and its utterly terrifying box art) and a MotionPlus, for $69.99 (about $63 USD). Amazon.ca also shows the same bundle at a $10 discount.

These seemingly Canada-exclusive bundles will ship concurrently with the standalone release on September 15.

[Via GoNintendo]

Get a MotionPlus with NHL 2K10 in Canada originally appeared on Joystiq Nintendo on Mon, 17 Aug 2009 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Other than the ghastly image of Washington Capitals left winger Alex Ovechkin gracing the cover of September’s NHL 2K10, we’ve seen almost nothing of the game thus far. Unfortunately for us — and worse for you, weekend readers — the game’s first trailer does little in the way of showing off what the game has to offer. The one thing we do know after watching that trailer? Alex Ovechkin is quite a tricky fella.

New NHL 2K10 trailer totally fakes us out originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 01 Aug 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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