Review: NHL Gamecenter on 4 platforms

Being a huge NHL fan I thought I'd try NHL Gamecenter on 4 different platforms,the D-Link Boxee, PlayStation 3, Apple TV and using it on a computer.




D-Link Boxee


Using Gamecenter on the Boxee is really nice. When you start the app the first screen to appear (see picture below) is the recent news regarding NHL. The Boxee app is the only app that provides you with news which is very cool and will keep you up to date what's going on.

You can then choose to watch an archived game, highlights or a live game. However during the game your only option is to choose home or away commentary. You will not be able to choose highlights during the game, for instance a goal that were produced earlier in the game. However you can rewind and fast forward.

You can access more info like the league standings as you can see on the picture down below.

Conclusion


The Gamecenter Boxee app works great. It's much more stable now then it was before. Earlier this season the streams wouldn't work sometimes. If you got it to work some of the streams were very unstable and lagy. A big plus is the idea of reading some news before I choose to watch a match. Nice and very insightful articles will be provided to you. The only true drawback is that there are no features when watching the games, for instance watching a highlight that happen earlier.

Score 7 out of 10 

PlayStation 3

The PlayStation app is nearly perfect. It's interface looks incredible and very easy to navigate through. The first menu you'll encounter is which games are on tonight. You just have to cycle though them and then choose which one you want to watch. After selecting the game you get to choose home or away commentary. 

Compared to the Boxee you can choose the highlights during the game. Lets say you wanted to see that save Henrik did in the first period just choose the tag on the game menu and press play as seen on the picture below. 

During the game you will also be able to look at the stats which is very nice if you missed it during the intermission. 

Conclusion

NHL gamecenter PS3 app is wonderful. With a gorgeous interface and packed with several kick ass features I think this is on of the best platforms. However, I've had some problems with the streams here as well. During the opening of the season the games very lagy and sometimes I couldn't open them. Perhaps these issues has been resovled. I haven't used Gamecenter on PS3 for a while due to it's lack of mobility. Who wants to carry the PS3 with them? 

Score 8 out of 10

Apple TV

The NHL Gamecenter Apple TV app is the smallest one. The app doesn't contain any special features or news. The interface looks both clean and beautiful. Less is sometimes more. It's very easy to navigate through the menus and you will find what you're looking for immediately.

To be honest I haven't tried the app much but it worked like a charm yesterday when I watched the Boston Flyers game, no lag or instability. The only feature the Apple TV app has is game highlights. You just choose which games to want to relive as seen on the picture below. 

The picture quality on all the platforms depends on your internet speed. It will send the best quality if you have high speed internet connection. It will take a few seconds for Gamecenter servers to determine what speed you will be able to handle and then adjust the quality. The Apple TV app toke only 2-5 seconds and the picture delivered a crisp quality. Compared to the other platforms it toke up to a minute for the picture to adjust. 

Conclusion

The NHL Gamecenter app for Apple TV is very simple. If you are looking for a straight foward no special feature platform for your NHL needs then the Apple TV is the best choice. You'll find everything you need instantly. 

Score 7 out of 10  

Computer

Using NHL Gamecenter on a computer is just incredible. So many features that it will blow your mind. I just love it!! After choosing a game you can choose the quality to be in 400, 800, 1600, 3000 or let the service determine the best quality your system can provide. 

Another extremly cool feature is that you can view 4 games simultaneously in four different windows on you screen. Now this feature will be awesome in the playoff if you want to cover all the action without missing anything.

Ice tracker is a neat little feature that lets you track all the events that happens/happened at the game. Check out all the stats, highlights and much more using this powerful statistical tools. 

Conclusion

NHL Game Center on a computer is clearly the winner. It's packed with so much features and info that you just can't get enough. The only thing from getting a perfect 10 out 10 score is that I've been experiencing some problems with the streams. It sometimes get lagy and if you are using the best quality available option the stream sometimes jumps from low quality to high quality and vice verse which makes the picture and sound all distorted. This of course happens very seldom so I can see past that but...... it won't get a perfect score sadly.

Score 9 out of 10