7)What were your teams' goals with the first EA SPORTS hockey game for the Nintendo 64?

Our first objective was to bring our brand of realistic gameplay to the N64. Then, as with any new platform, you utilize the strengths of the machine to improve the gameplay experience. That's why all EA Sports' NHL games bring the same level of quality to each platform, but each game is different in its own way. We are very pleased with the results on N64 and think you will be too.

8)Last year, you shipped the game with Internet capability. What type of Internet play will you offer gamers this year? Is the Net as fast as you would like it to be?

Our objective is to overcome the latencies and provide Internet head-to-head play as a supported feature (NHL 98 had it as an Easter egg). It goes without saying that the Internet could never be fast enough for us!

9) How many nights a week do you play hockey? Are most people on the NHL 99 production team hockey fans?

During the winter months, we play hockey two nights a week. It's the highlight of the week for us as we are all huge fans of hockey. We have more than our fair share of fanatics too. Let's just say it's not an easy thing to win the hockey pool around here!

10) Do you have a favorite hockey team and/or player? Do you give that team/player special treatment in the game?

Living in Vancouver you have to love the hometown Canucks. But as our team members come from all over the world, there are a few in-house rivalries too. When it comes to NHL players, we especially enjoy the players we've worked with like John Vanbiesbrouck, Mike Sillinger, Markus Naslund, Mattias Ohlund and Donald Brashear. They're great guys, and we got to know them well. But despite all this, I can honestly say this does not affect our ratings in any way. Remember, "If it's in the Game, It's in the Game!"

Note: This interview was not conducted by us at SGN.