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2K Sports will release Wii-exclusive ‘NHL 2K11' two weeks early, on August 24

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In case you haven’t heard, Electronic Arts’ NHL series dominance over 2K Sports’ own NHL 2K games reached so far that 2K’s upcoming “NHL 2K11" will only appear on Nintendo’s Wii console. In many ways, it seemed like a move inspired by the fact that EA never made a hockey game for the Wii before; perhaps 2K Sports thought it could have a “monopoly” on polygonal pucks on the best-selling “next generation” console?

If that was the strategy, it backfired because EA is planning on launching a Wii-exclusive called “NHL Slapshot.” They’re rolling in guns blazing, too, with Wayne Gretzky as the cover star and a mini-hockey stick controller that could turn some heads if it works well. (Click here for more on the upcoming game.)

Perhaps 2K is concerned about “NHL Slapshot” because Operation Sports reports that “NHL 2K11" will be released on August 24, a week or two earlier than the traditional early September window for hockey video games. While release dates are often subject to change, it seemed like the original plan was to release 2K11 on September 7, the same release date as EA’s Slapshot. (NHL ’11 is also rumored to come out on September 7.)

While it might be wise for 2K to try to get a leg up on EA’s foray onto the Wii, I can’t help but sense a little desperation on their part, too. You have to wonder if the company’s hockey titles are in danger of going extinct, much like their NFL2K games (although this time it would be because EA is clobbering them in the quality and sales department instead of just signing an exclusive licensing agreement, like they did with their football games.)

ESPN’s Jon Robinson interviewed Ben Bishop of 2K Sports regarding the changes gamers should expect to see from 2K10 to 2K11.

Ben Bishop: There are the Wii Motion Plus controls, but it’s not just that, I think the controls changed a lot in general. You have a lot more options, and with the Wii Motion Plus control, you have direct one-to-one control over everything from stick lifts to actually lifting the puck up, juggling it, and performing trick shots. And if you’re a fan of the game from the 360 or PS3, you can actually play the game using classic controls and play the game the way you’re accustomed to. So you have a lot of options to really treat this as a simulation game if you want to. We think there is plenty of room on the Wii to have a good simulation sport, so you can play the game on the Wii as you would on the other consoles.

On the flip side of the coin is our Road to the Cup mode and how we let you bring your Mii characters into the game and let them play through some mini-games that are all hockey based. This is something that is popular on the Wii, and it’s a great thing to do when you have some buddies over. It’s something you can play through pretty quick and you don’t have to be great at the sport of hockey or at the simulation aspect to have a good time with it.

One other tidbit Bishop shared is that Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin will be the three highest rated players in the game. It’s far from surprising, but for people who might be a bit obsessed with that sort of thing, there you go.

Will a two week sales head start help 2K Sports stick with EA’s splashy debut on Nintendo’s system? We’ll just have to wait and see about that.