Marty St. Louis: Cover Boy

Sega's 2K series of hockey games has been my favorite brand since its inception on the Dreamcast in 2000. The series has grown in leaps and bounds since then, and last year's addition of the ESPN brand and style in ESPN NHL Hockey was fantastic, as I've stated here before.

So it's a pleasant surprise that league MVP, Hart Trophy winner, Stanley Cup champion and Tampa Bay Lightning superstar Martin St. Louis was announced as the cover boy for ESPN NHL 2K5.

NHL 2K5 and the recently-released ESPN NFL 2K5 both carry a nice, low $20 price tag. Presumably, this is to compete with the EA Sports juggernaut, since EA consistently outsells Sega, even though Sega's products are often perceived as superior by a majority of the serious gaming community. Regardless of how much of a dent the lower price makes in the EA Sports monopoly, people everywhere will still ask each other "YOU GOT DAT MADDEN?!"

Here's hoping that the lower price tag doesn't mean lower quality for this year's hockey game. I was really impressed with last year's offering, and online play via Xbox Live was just the icing on the cake.

ESPN NHL 2K5 comes out September 15th, and if you're even midly curious about the title or you enjoy hockey games, it will undoubtedly be worth at least $20, so you should pick it up. In the meantime, ESPNHockey.net is the best spot to get your fix of news regarding this year's title.