In a move to appeal to both American and Canadian audiences, Backyard Hockey 2005 will feature different cover athletes for each market - the Boston Bruins' Joe Thornton in the U.S. and Mats Sundin from the Toronto Maple Leafs in Canada.
Officially licensed by the NHL and the National Hockey League Players' Association, Backyard Hockey 2005 will feature all 30 NHL teams and 10 playable NHL pros as kids including highlight players Thornton and Sundin, as well as Martin Brodeur (New Jersey Devils), Marian Gaborik (Minnesota Wild), Jaromir Jagr (New York Rangers), Nicklas Lidstrom (Detroit Red Wings), Ilya Kovalchuk (Atlanta Thrashers), Mike Modano (Dallas Stars), Rick Nash (Columbus Blue Jackets) and Roman Cechmanek (Los Angeles Kings). In addition, players can earn the ability to "unlock" four NHL All-Star players.
Backyard Hockey 2005 will feature 3-on-3 action (plus goalies) in which young gamers will be able to customize the colors of players' uniforms, select lineups (from the 30 Backyard Kids and the kid-sized NHL pros), or create and save multiple custom players and watch their skills improve over time.
"We were very pleased with the way Backyard Hockey performed at retail and believe the new features in Backyard Hockey 2005, including the all-new 3-D graphics, and the targeted approach to our retail packaging, will make this title another blockbuster hit for the Backyard series," said Nancy MacIntyre, vice president of marketing for Atari, Inc.
"We are excited to bring the next generation of the very popular Backyard Hockey series - with new 3-D graphics and a line-up of NHL All-Star players and Backyard Kids - to our younger fans," said David McCarthy, director of entertainment products, NHL Enterprises.
Developed by Atari's Humongous Entertainment development studio, Backyard Hockey 2005 will be available at retail stores in fall 2004 for a suggested retail price of $19.99.