The Vault for EA Access, the publisher’s subscription program on Xbox One, continues to grow as NHL 15 has been added (as per IGN).

This brings the total number of EA Access games – which remain in the Vault forever – to ten with Peggle 2, Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, Madden NFL 15, Need for Speed Rivals, Battlefield 4, and much more. Despite initial criticism to the program’s introduction, it’s actually become a fairly good source for players to try out games they wouldn’t have purchased otherwise.

EA Access also features early access for games like Dragon Age: Inquisition and Battlefield: Hardline before their official releases on other platforms. We’re surely interested in seeing what other EA titles make it into the Vault (Dead Space, perhaps?) in the coming months.

An EA Access subscription costs $5 per month with a yearly subscription costing $30. What are your thoughts on NHL 15 being added to the Vault? Let us know in the comments below.

It’s probably been easy to forget about it, since all has been so quiet down on its front, but EA Access, EA’s games subscription plan that is currently available exclusively on Xbox One via Xbox Live, is still a thing. And it just got its newest addition today, and it’s a pretty notable one too, even if the actual quality of the game in question may be suspect. You see, NBA Live 15 is now available on EA Access- and the reason that this release is notable is is because it comes just four months after the game first originally launched.

It also marks all EA Sports franchises being available on EA Access in their current incarnation. This includes FIFA, Madden, NHL, EA Sports UFC, and of course, now NBA Live.

Currently, EA Access is only available on Xbox Live, with a chance of PSN availability in the future being slim, since Sony has said that it does not see any value in the proposition.

NHL 15 had a fair few issues when it launched (which seems to be the norm these days), but EA Sports are on the ball (or the puck…), and have introduced a third update that fixes a ton of bugs and glitches and adds a whole host of functionality to the game. Hopefully, this should help NHL 15 be more the game that it was supposed to be at launch, rather than the disappointing title that we ultimately got.

The update’s full list of improvements and fixes includes:

ONLINE TEAM PLAY

Play online with up to ten players, locked to a single position using real-world rosters. These matches will be 5v5 ranked with AI controlled goalies.

BE A GM – ROOKIE DRAFT

For the first time in the NHL franchise, you will be put on the clock and feel the pressure like a real NHL GM. As they do at the NHL Entry Draft, you have three minutes to make a draft pick.

If the pressure is too much, you can also call timeouts to extend the amount of time you have to make a draft pick or potentially negotiate a trade. You can make trades at any time during the draft. The CPU will also propose trades to each other and the user throughout the course of the draft.

PRESENTATION

New uniforms have been added for the following teams:

• Philadelphia Flyers (NHL) 3rd jersey
• Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL) 3rd jersey
• Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL) 3rd jersey
• Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL) 3rd jersey
• Red Deer Rebels (WHL) 3rd jersey
• Sarnia Sting (OHL) 3rd jersey
• Boisbriand-Blainville Armada (QMJHL) 3rd jersey

GAMEPLAY

• Improved penalty logic for goalie interference calls.
• Improved goalie decision making when playing the puck outside of the crease.
• Pass Assist sliders have been tuned so that they now have the desired effect depending on the user setting.
• Fixed issue where strategy overlay would show when User Strategy Adjustment slider is turned up.
• Fixed rare issue where players would enter an unusual animation state after being body checked during a poke check.

HOCKEY ULTIMATE TEAM (HUT)

• Fixed rare crash issues that can occur when sending won auction item to your Collection.
• Fixed hang during matchmaking search in Versus.
• Users will now be able to change auction prices faster.
• Users that lose connection from their opponent are returned to HUT.

BE A PRO

• Addressed shootout coach feedback overlay issue.

Needless to say, I was pretty excited when NHL 15 crossed my desk. It seems like a match made in heaven, right? I like hockey, and EA’s NHL series has been pretty solid for a long time. What could go wrong?

" Like many of the other sports games EA has released recently, NHL 15 commits one of the worst sins in (next-gen) sports games and cuts out much of the modes and features that were in previous versions of the franchise. To call the game “stripped down” would be underselling it.

Quite a bit, unfortunately. Like many of the other sports games EA has released recently, NHL 15 commits one of the worst sins in (next-gen) sports games and cuts out much of the modes and features that were in previous versions of the franchise. To call the game “stripped down” would be underselling it. How bad is it? The best comparison could probably be made using EA Sports UFC or NBA Live 14. It’s certainly not as bad as the latter, because, let’s be honest, few things are, but it’s certainly one of the worst sports games to grace the new consoles so far.

It’s a shame, too, because EA Canada has clearly spent a lot of time and money here, and they have gotten quite a few things right. In fact, the on ice action feels quite good. The physics have been completely redone and are better than ever, the puck feels more alive and realistic, and the action behind everything generally feels satisfying.

And yet, odd things linger. The improvements to player and puck movement only serve to make dekes feel incredibly canned and almost out of place. And as good as the new puck physics are, the thing seems to spend a good chunk of the time either magnetically attached to your stick or never really under your control. It’s an odd dichotomy that even carries over to the AI. Most of the time, everyone is where they should be, and the AI players do their job very well, but moments later, your goalie will knock the puck into the goal himself because of his overeager thrashing, or a teammate will stop a good drive in its tracks because he’s randomly decided that he needs to be offside.

"In an attempt to add even more realism, NHL 15 also features a commentary team made up of NBC Sport’s Mike Emrick, Eddie Olczyk, and Ray Ferraro, all of whom recorded actual video for the game. It all looks and sounds good – until you realize that they have almost nothing of value to say.

This type of inconsistency affects the newer aspects of the presentation, as well. Admittedly, a lot of the changes are for the better. NHL now uses full-motion video to introduce games, and that, frankly, looks great. In an attempt to add even more realism, NHL 15 also features a commentary team made up of NBC Sport’s Mike Emrick, Eddie Olczyk, and Ray Ferraro, all of whom recorded actual video for the game. It all looks and sounds good – until you realize that they have almost nothing of value to say. Nearly everything in the game is referenced to in generic terms, as commentators will talk about “this player” or “this team,” and even then, they repeat themselves quite a bit.

It’s indicative of what NHL 15 is, really. For every advancement, there’s a step back. This is most obvious in the sheer amount of content that has been stripped out compared to previous entries in the franchise. Indeed, the game feels positively gutted. The list of loses is staggering: GM Connected, EA Sports Hockey League, Winter Classic, Be A Legend, and even season mode are completely gone, and the modes that have survived the culling have seen reductions in some way.

Be A Pro now lacks major league demotions, the ability to influence your draft positioning by playing in a prospect tournament, and even the option to simulate to the next line shift. Instead, you’ll just watch the computer play from the bench, and you better ask for help if you take a penalty. At that point, you may as well go get yourself a sandwich.

"Admittedly, the presentation upgrades – the new player models, arenas, crowds, audio enhancements, etc – are all very impressive, but it’s really not all that great of a selling point for a game that will be obsolete when the next one rolls around in a year, especially when this “unprecedented realism” comes at the price of the actual game part of your video game.

Be A GM is still (mostly) intact, but there’s still a loss of options in a mode where the whole appeal comes down to your ability to control things. Even basic features, such as Online Team Play, playoff mode, and Tournament Mode have had to be (or will be) patched into the game later on. Of course, Ultimate Hockey Team, which allows you to create your own team with your favorite players and take it online, remains more or less as it was, probably because EA wants you to spend money on it.

All of this speaks to the nature of annualized sports franchises, and makes sense when you factor in the game’s paltry 12 month development cycle, but it doesn’t really do anything to change the fact that, at its best, this is a half-finished game. Admittedly, the presentation upgrades – the new player models, arenas, crowds, audio enhancements, etc – are all very impressive, but it’s really not all that great of a selling point for a game that will be obsolete when the next one rolls around in a year, especially when this “unprecedented realism” comes at the price of the actual game part of your video game.

That’s not to say that NHL 15 doesn’t have redeeming qualities, but good core gameplay and impressive presentation don’t make up for the fact that there’s very little for you to do. There’s a lot of potential here for future games in the franchise, but that’s really all it is: potential. Right now, the game is a lot like a player that beats everyone to the goal and has a wide open shot, only to bounce the puck off one of the posts. There’s clearly potential for future success there, and he’s obviously doing quite a few things right, but in the end, all you’re left with is a missed opportunity.

This game was reviewed on the Xbox One.

There may still be a little ground left to cover, but the hard work of developers does pay off. Recent addition to the list of sports games making the forums and news pages stir on the internet has been the NHL 15 which was released on the PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and the Xbox One.

"The texture mapping on both the new consoles is at par, employing good high res rendering. Shadow mapping shares the same story with objects casting accurate shadows taking into account (most of) the various light sources. "

NHL 15 is yet another game in amongst the recent lot of spat settlers that has managed to calm the storms of console disparity when it comes to comparing games based on their visual performance. The game runs at smooth 60fps without a hiccup on both, the PS4 and the Xbox One. Thus, yet again, we’re left to our own devices to to swivel out attention to how the game has been built on the new gen consoles as a whole.

There are a few revelations that take place once you do a perusal of the game. The anti-aliasing of the game is not exceedingly good since edges of objects and player models show the all too familiar staircase pattern.This effect is especially accentuated when a dark coloured object is placed upon a light coloured background such as is the case of a lot of player jerseys when they play on the ice.

FXAA seems to be in place as the edges of objects and seem to be a little smudged out but even the FXAA hasn’t been extensively used to clear out the jaggies altogether. The texture mapping on both the new consoles is at par, employing good high res rendering. Shadow mapping shares the same story with objects casting accurate shadows taking into account (most of) the various light sources.

"The crowd also reacts differently to changing game situations so you can expect howls of cheering when you’re winning and dejected fans sitting and moaning when you’re losing as the opposition fans tear the place down with joy."

But what is of significant import is the fact that the developers haven’t given ample attention to soft shadows while ambient occlusion seems altogether missing; this saps away quite a bit of realism from the game, especially noticeable for the people scrutinising games that tend to claim their graphical prowess.

Reflections are anything but working; they are the bare minimum that you’d expect on an eighth generation of consoles. On field objects are reflected nicely and as always, helmets have a nice sheen to them, but turn to the protective barriers around the playfield and it’s not that good.

The crowd has a lot of variations in their reactions and clothing and they cast shadows too, although they aren’t very varied. The crowd also reacts differently to changing game situations so you can expect howls of cheering when you’re winning and dejected fans sitting and moaning when you’re losing as the opposition fans tear the place down with joy.

The players smile and grimace according to the situation at hand which is a nice touch to the situation when the camera pans to players’ faces. The game’s collision physics needs some working but otherwise, object interaction is satisfactory. The game animations are smooth and fluid, but you’re bound to encounter those moments where players take on that stuttery character as if riddled with red ants in their bodices.

Clothes of players ripple and flow which adds appeal to the game. The game also boasts of having three layers on players, the player model, the equipment and finally the jersey, which interact independently to various actions.

That may be the claim but don’t expect to see dislodged equipment and torn jerseys in the game. The puck response is nice and nifty as it slides over the ice and rushes past players when hit with a stick.

"The seventh generation consoles run a powered down version of the game at 30fps."

The seventh generation consoles run a powered down version of the game at 30fps. Nonetheless, the gameplay is smooth and slick. The player models are the same although you won;t find that much crowd variety, shadows and 8th generation-esque light filtering, texture filtering and AA. The game physics is affected too but not a lot, so you can enjoy the game just as much.

The cloth ripple effect seems missing and as do a lot of reflections. But even with those in place, the game looks more than a tad decent when it comes to games on the old generation of consoles. NHL 15 doesn’t manage to blow you away with its graphical brilliance, but it most certainly looks almost excellent by sports games standards.

The game employs some nifty techniques and while it has its flaws, the game with its responsive and lucid controls makes it a joy experience to have fun.

Furthermore you will also be able to learn how you can celebrate, perform special moves like Superstar Skill Stick and a video guide for some of the trophies and achievements. The game is now available for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. The game is published by EA Sports and developed by EA Canada.

NHL 15 – Hockey Ultimate Team Guide:

Rare Items: As expected not all items are developed equally. There are some items that can give your team a massive bonus. There are items like jersey that will be rare to find. Items are divided into rare and common. In NHL 15 the rare items are colored a bit brighter. The rarity of an item is defined by a 5 point scale rarity meter. Certain rare items can be found in the Auction house. You can check out the Auction house in action below:

HUT Live Service: If some event happens in the real NHL, those will be reflected in the game. In such a scenario you need to keep an eye out for Team of the Week, Milestone items, Player of the Game, and other unique items and rare items might be made available.

Earning Gold Coins Faster: Play with your Hockey Ultimate Team as much as you can as this will grant you coins. Hockey Ultimate Team Happy Hour Promotions will grant you more coins and coins bonuses. So keep and eye out for this event.Try and keep replaying and returning to the game using HUT on a daily basis. This will grant you even more coins. Below you will find video guides to make gold coins faster:

Earning 50,000 gold coins per hour:

Earning 10,000 gold coins per hour:

Consumables: Players need consumables to keep their HUT alive and kicking. Each HUT can hold 60 consumables at one time. You will find the consumables in HUT packs. They are broadly divided into Fatigue, Healing, Contract and Training items. You will need to go into My Collection, and they’ll be in Unopened Packs. Here are a few videos explaining a bit about HUT Packs:

Collections: Here is a video explaining how you can earn collections bonuses.

Returning User Bonus (Untradeable Packs):

For players who created HUT in NHL 14 will have access to 30 Gold Packs in NHL 15. The bonus will be defined by NHL 14’s puck balance, size of HUT and the number of HUT games you played.

Best Players for NHL 15 Ultimate Team:

Player Ratings: Top Right Wingers

Martin St. Louis – New York Rangers – 88 Overall
Patrick Kane – Chicago Blackhawks – 89 Overall
Phil Kessel – Toronto Maple Leafs – 90 Overall
Marian Hossa – Chicago Blackhawks – 91 Overall
Corey Perry – Anaheim Ducks – 92 Overall

Player Ratings: Top Left Wingers

Jamie Benn – Dallas Stars – 90 Overall
Taylor Hall – Edmonton Oilers – 90 Overall
Zach Parise – Minnesota Wild – 90 Overall
Henrik Zetterberg – Detroit Red Wings – 92 Overall
Alexander Ovechkin – Washington Capitals – 93 Overall

Player Ratings: Top Centers

Ryan Getzlaf – Anaheim Ducks – 92 Overall
Pavel Datsyuk – Detroit Red Wings – 93 Overall
Jonathan Toews – Chicago Blackhawks – 93 Overall
Steven Stamkos – Tampa Bay Lightning – 93 Overall
Sidney Crosby – Pittsburgh Penguins – 96 Overall

Player Ratings: Top Defensemen

Zdeno Chara – Boston Bruins – 91 Overall
Drew Doughty – Los Angeles Kings – 91 Overall
Ryan Suter – Minnesota Wild – 92 Overall
Duncan Keith – Chicago Blackhawks – 92 Overall
Shea Weber – Nashville Predators – 93 Overall

Player Ratings: Top Goalies

Pekka Rinne – Nashville Predators – 91 Overall
Tuukka Rask – Boston Bruins – 92 Overall
Carey Price – Montreal Canadiens – 92 Overall
Jonathan Quick – L.A. Kings – 93 Overall
Henrik Lundqvist – New York Rangers – 93 Overall

Player Ratings – Top 50 Overall

50. Mikko Koivu (89) Overall – Minnesota Wild
49. Patrick Marleau (89) Overall – San Jose Sharks
48. Corey Crawford (89) Overall – Chicago Blackhawks
47. Joe Thornton (89) Overall – San Jose Sharks
46. Mike Smith (89) Overall – Arizona Coyotes
45. Nicklas Backstrom (89) Overall – Washington Capitals
44. Ryan Miller (89) Overall – Vancouver Canucks
43. Eric Staal (89) Overall – Carolina Hurricanes
42. Semyon Varlamov (89) Overall – Colorado Avalanche
41. Ryan McDonagh (89) Overall – New York Rangers
40. Niklas Kronwall (89) Overall – Detroit Red Wings
39. Roberto Luongo (89) Overall – Florida Panthers
38. David Backes (89) Overall – St. Louis Blues
37. David Krejci (89) Overall – Boston Bruins
36. Joe Pavelski (89) Overall – San Jose Sharks
35. Erik Karlsson (89) Overall – Ottawa Senators
34. Patrick Kane (89) Overall – Chicago Blackhawks
33. Ryan Kesler (90) Overall – Anaheim Ducks
32. Sergei Bobrovsky (90) Overall – Columbus Blue Jackets
31. Alex Pietrangelo (90) Overall – St. Louis Blues
30. Matt Duchene (90) Overall – Colorado Avalanche
29. Jamie Benn (90) Overall – Dallas Stars
28. P.K. Subban (90) Overall – Montreal Canadiens
27. Phil Kessel (90) Overall – Toronto Maple Leafs
26. Taylor Hall (90) Overall – Edmonton Oilers
25. Zach Parise (90) Overall- Minnesota Wild
24. Claude Giroux (90) Overall – Philadelphia Flyers
23. Pekka Rinne (91) Overall – Nashville Predators
22. Marian Hossa (91) Overall – Chicago Blackhawks
21. Patrice Bergeron (91) Overall – Boston Bruins
20. Zdeno Chara (91) Overall – Boston Bruins
19. Anze Kopitar (91) Overall – Los Angeles Kings
18. Drew Doughty (91) Overall – Los Angeles Kings
17. John Tavares (91) Overall – New York Islanders
16. Henrik Zetterberg (92) Overall- Detroit Red Wings
15. Ryan Suter (92) Overall – Minnesota Wild
14. Duncan Keith (92) Overall – Chicago Blackhawks
13. Tuukka Rask (92) Overall – Boston Bruins
12. Evgeni Malkin (92) Overall – Pittsburgh Penguins
11. Carey Price (92) Overall – Montreal Canadiens
10. Corey Perry (92) Overall – Anaheim Ducks
9. Ryan Getzlaf (92) Overall – Anaheim Ducks
8. Jonathan Quick (93) Overall – Los Angeles Kings
7. Henrik Lundqvist (93) Overall – New York Rangers
6. Pavel Datsyuk (93) Overall – Detroit Red Wings
5. Shea Weber (93) Overall – Nashville Predators
4. Alexander Ovechkin (93) Overall – Washington Capitals
3. Jonathan Toews (93) Overall – Chicago Blackhawks
2. Steven Stamkos (93) Overall – Tampa Bay Lightning
1. Sidney Crosby (96) Overall – Pittsburgh Penguins

How To Celebrate:

Superstar Skill Stick:

Achievements and trophy guide:

Star Power – Create a Be a Pro character in Be a Pro Mode.
Snipes – Get 30+ goals with your Be a Pro character in a single season.
Apples for all – Get 45+ assists with your Be a Pro character in a single season.
Point Leader – Get 100+ points with your Be a Pro character in a single season.
Good Start – Win 5 matches with your Be a Pro character playing as a goalie.
Human Highlight Reel – In a Be a Pro game have a replay package trigger about your created pro.
Great Broadcast Everyone! – Watch an entire Stanley Cup Final game intro sequence in Be a GM or Be a Pro.
Clutch – Win a match in overtime in Online Versus Mode.
High Risk High Reward – Score a goal with your goalie pulled in Online Versus Mode.
Nice Win! – Win a match in Online Versus mode.
Pleasure doing business – Complete a trade in Be A GM mode.
Negotiator – Sign a free agent player in Be A GM mode.
Winner! – Play and win a match in Be A GM mode.
Scouting – Complete a scout assignment in Be A GM mode.
Home Ice Advantage – Win 25+ home games in one season in Be A GM mode.
Road Warriors – Win 20+ away games in one season in Be A GM mode.
Scouting Master – Scout every eligible region in one season in Be A GM mode.
Developer – Have a player that you drafted grow to 90+ overall in Be A GM mode.
Hello Mr. President – Win the Presidents’ trophy in Be A GM mode.
Master Negotiator – Sign a 1st line Forward, a Top 2 Defenseman or an Elite Goalie during Free Agency in Be A GM mode.
Superstar – Make a trade to acquire a player with full Trade Value in Be A GM mode.

Conference Champs – Win a Clarence S. Campbell bowl or Prince of Wales Trophy in Be A GM mode.
Lord Stanley’s Mug – Win the Stanley Cup in Be A GM mode.
Prince of Wales – Win a title from any conference in Hockey Ultimate Team Seasons.
The Champ Is Here! – Win a Hockey Ultimate Team Seasons Playoff Championship.
Moving On Up – Get your first division promotion in Hockey Ultimate Team Seasons.
You’re The Best – Win the League Title in Hockey Ultimate Team Seasons.
On Fire – Have a perfect season record in Hockey Ultimate Team Seasons.
Changing Skins – Change the team of a player by using the Change Team item in Hockey Ultimate Team.
Chosen One – Assign a captain to your Hockey Ultimate Team using the Assign Captain card.
Collector – Collect at least one Player item from each of the NHL teams in Hockey Ultimate Team mode.
Master Collector – Collect at least one Player item from each team in Hockey Ultimate Team mode.
Wheelin’ And Dealin’ – Buy and/or sell 150 items in the Hockey Ultimate Team Auction House.
The Stars Have Aligned – Collect a team of the Week player item in Hockey Ultimate Team mode.
A Moment of Greatness – Win an NHL Moments Live moment on Superstar difficulty.
Completionist – Complete all NHL Moments Live moments in the 2013 14 section.
What a performance! – Complete a Be a Pro moment in NHL Moments Live.
Domination – Win a fight with over half energy remaining.
Hat trick hero – Score a hat trick with one player.
Celly machine – Trigger four different goal celebrations in one game.
Deking machine – Chain at least two dekes together and score.
Puck wizard – Beat a defender with a trick move between your legs.
Coast to Coast – Starting from behind your net skate up the ice and score without passing.

Not My Gatorade! – Knock off the opposing goalie’s Gatorade bottle from the net by scoring a goal.

Just like the Coach drew it up – Start a breakout play behind your net and score on the ensuing rush.
Wrecking ball – Tumble three opponents as a result of one hit.
Hurdler – Jump over an opponent with the puck.
True Broadcast – Play a game from the True Broadcast Camera.
The Whole Package – Complete a full game without skipping any NIS’/Replays.

Note: This guide will updated once we have more information about the game.

NHL finally makes its debut on the next generation platforms this year with NHL 15, and it appears to be a completely botched debut, lacking in features and game modes from last year to such a startling degree that it appears as if this year’s game will only have a fourth of the content that last year’s game had.

Now, EA have responded to all the complaints about the game, and confirmed that a patch will be shipping out after the game’s launch that adds in some (although not all) of the missing features.

These missing features include Online Team Play (which lets each player control one player individually in the game, leading to 6v6 matches) and amateur drafts for the Be A GM mode. As for the latter, even though the feature will be added back in some capacity, EA has confirmed that it will be different from how it was handled in NHL 14.

So essentially, it sounds like EA is fully aware that they are shipping an incomplete product. What with this game, The Sims 4, Battlefield 4, and so on, they really aren’t doing a whole lot to ingratiate themselves to me right now.

EA Sports’s NHL 15 is going to be released in just under a week and it seems that it will hardly have any modes compared to NHL 14. A user who apparently played the game using EA Access trial period has posted that a number of modes will be missing in NHL 15. This may also apply for the PS4 version but there is no way to verify this since EA Access is not present on the Sony’s console.

The entire list is as below:

No EASHL
No OTP
No NHL 94 Mode
There are no offline seasons in HUT
There are no tournaments in HUT
You cannot play a friend in HUT
No Winter Classic
No GM Connected
No Shootout
No Live the Life
No be a CHL Pro
No be a NHL Pro
Being drafted is now just a random assignment to a team, no way to influence when you are drafted
You cannot draft players in Be A GM Mode
No fantasy draft in Be A GM Mode
No be a Legend Mode
No Season Mode
No Tournament Mode
No Playoff Mode
No Battle For The Cup
No Creation Zone
No Edit Team
No Edit Player
No Customize AI
No Build Your AI
No Create A Play
No Custom Music
No simming between shifts in Be A Pro Mode
No Custom Cameras
No Mobile Companion App for HUT
No HUT Action Tracker
No All-Star game in various modes (Be a Pro, Be a GM)
No trade deadline action in Be A GM mode

A Reddit user took the initiative to compare the number of game modes available on NHL 15 and the ones on NHL 14. The difference is startling. This has obviously made NHL fans unhappy and angry, and they are venting out their frustration in this Reddit thread.

We have reached out to EA regarding the same and will update this article once we hear from them.

What are your thoughts on this matter? Let us know in the comments section below.

EA will be bringing the newest entry in their long running racing franchise, Need for Speed: Rivals, to EA Access ‘in the coming weeks,’ they have announced. This will make Need for Speed: Rivals the fifth full game to be available in ‘The Vault’ on EA Access, alongside Peggle 2, Battlefield 4, FIFA 14, and Madden NFL 25.

Need for Speed: Rivals was released last year for PC and the Xbox and PlayStation consoles, and we at GamingBolt really liked it, calling it the best and truest Need for Speed game in a very long time. It being on EA Access should mean that more people are exposed to it, which is always a good thing.

EA also confirmed that trial versions for both, NHL and FIFA 15, will be going live soon, meaning that you will get six hours to play around with each game five days before the release date. Your saves and Achievements will carry over into the full games, should you decide to buy them, and the games themselves will be offered for 10% cheaper.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage.

EA Canada’s NHL 15 is looking good and EA showcased the game’s improved visuals and next gen features at its recent Gamescom 2014 conference. Some of those new features include revamped crowds composed of more than 9000 unique character models, better physics and increase realism thanks to live recorded commentary and puck control.

NHL 15 will also be seeing a demo release on August 26th so we’ll have a chance to try things out for ourselves. It will do everything possible to make a realistic experience including new Collision Physics, authentic arenas, group celebrations for teams and dynamic cloth technology for player characters.

Releasing on September 9th in North America and September 12th in PAL countries, NHL 15 will be out on Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS3 and PS4. What are your thoughts on the game thus far? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below along with whether you’ll be picking up the game next month.