Atari and the National Hockey League announced today that Backyard Hockey 2005 is in development and will be released later this year. Building on the success of the first Backyard Hockey title, which shipped over half a million units to retail in just 15 months, Backyard Hockey 2005 will be an all-new 3-D experience featuring the Backyard Kids and NHL pros featured as kid-sized versions of themselves. 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.
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 USD 19.99.
