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EA Wii NHL game has stick peripheral

Slapshot hitting the ice in September.

Dark blue icons of video game controllers on a light blue background
Image credit: Eurogamer

EA Sports is poised to announce NHL Slapshot for Wii.

The game will be released in September (7th in the US/Canada) and come with a miniature hockey stick peripheral for the Wiimote and nunchuk to nestle inside.

What's more, EA has coaxed legendary hockey star Wayne Gretzky out of retirement to front the game, according to Canoe.ca.

Apparently that hockey stick is the first third-party peripheral Nintendo has approved to include with a game. The stick houses the nunchuk near the butt (nearest you so thumbstick can steer players) and the Wiimote further down the shaft towards the ground, for the gestures: slapshots, wrist shots, body checks, poke checks and more with the trigger used as a modifier.

Wii MotionPlus isn't supported, and producer Joe Nickolls reckons it isn't needed.

Nintendo's magical Wii.

NHL Slapshot lets you take stars or your own created sports heroes from Pewee to Pro. This, apparently, is the most in-depth career mode any EA Sports game has offered, effectively covering a virtual 40 years of a heroes life.

Gretzky's happy, too, and said he and his kids love the game. There's even a great shot of them all playing together using a Wii that's not plugged in to the mains nor the TV.

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