14 DAY TRIAL // 2K Sports has announced that it has decided who is the athlete that would be gracing the cover of the NHL 2K10 hockey simulator, which is set to be released for the PlayStation 3, the Xbox 360, the Nintendo Wii and the PlayStation 2 sometime during September.
Alexander Ovechkin, who has been playing for the Washington Capitals, will be on the cover doing one of his signatory moves, which seem to raise fear into the hearts of his opposition while also inspiring his team mates.
It's interesting that Ovechkin has been chosen by 2K Sports to be on the cover of the game, as the player did the same for NHL 07, a game created by EA Sports, the main rival of 2K Sports.
The athlete will apparently also do quite a bit of motion capture for NHL 2K10. The first session will be held at the Caesars Palace in Las Vegas next week, and 2K Sports is saying that the motion capture technology that it will use is never before seen and will lend a lot more realism to the upcoming hockey videogame. The company is also saying that the most representative moves of the cover athlete will be perfectly replicated and that players will be able to perform some of his antics in NHL 2K10.
Ovechkin is one of the most accomplished players of the NHL at the moment. He has put in constantly good performances in both league play and in international appearances and has managed to be compared with giants of the ice ring like Wayne Gretzky.
NHL 2K10 will probably draw some benefit from having such a star on the cover but the main selling point for the game will be the inevitable comparison with NHL 10. 2K Sports has not done as well as EA Sports lately, and a good year for NHL 2K10 will be more than welcome for the division.