Midway Launches Hitz Pro, Blitz Pro
By Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 10/13/2003
NEW YORK— Midway Games said it has enhanced the action of two of its most popular sports video game franchises in two new releases — NHL Hitz Pro and NFL Blitz Pro.
Both long-established franchises, which the company said consistently rank in the top two or three top-selling sports games, have been updated with the addition of a new development partner — Next Level.
Newly introduced is the element of realism, which will be added to the "over-the-top" edgey style for which the franchises are best known.
NHL Hitz Pro is available now on the PlayStation2, Xbox and GameCube platforms. NFL Blitz Pro will ship on Oct. 27 for the Xbox and PlayStation2 platforms and on Nov. 17 for GameCube.
Newly added is five-on-five play, league penalties and violations and live online game-play capability for Playstation2 users.
Online players will benefit from player rankings and tournaments, in addition to 100 percent NHL 23-man player rosters.
Other additions to NHL Hitz Pro include real stadium graphics, unique offensive and defensive team formations, a player fatigue system, line changes, legitimate stick handling and realistic crowd noises.
NFL Blitz, meanwhile, was enhanced with DVD content featuring a behind-the-scenes look at the Pro Bowl with plays and audio capture sequences featuring NFL stars.
New Blitz Pro key features include:
- Blitz Online, offering head-to-head game play, player leaderboards, real-time online weather, tournament and downloadable content.
- Eleven-on-eleven action.
- Franchise mode allowing up to 32 gamers.
- Current team information with updated rosters, schedules uniforms and stadiums.
