NHL Center Ice free this year?

[Big Poppa Puck]

I'm sure as per usual the 1st week will be free though with another free week or 2 thrown in.

 

[RedMenace]

Gamecenter sucks, though. So I'm much keener on a discount on Center Ice.

It most certainly does NOT suck, and provides much greater versatility than Center Ice.

 

[mizunox]

Gamecenter sucks, though. So I'm much keener on a discount on Center Ice.

I'm kind of curious - which part of gamecenter do you not like?

I normally buy center ice, but I've canceled my cable due to the lockout and was considering going online-only this year.

What do I need to know?

 

[probertrules24]

I'm kind of curious - which part of gamecenter do you not like?

I normally buy center ice, but I've canceled my cable due to the lockout and was considering going online-only this year.

What do I need to know?

As a Wing fan in Canada GC has some very good benefits. I found my schedule getting busier and tougher to be around for the start of every game. The fact that you could start watching a game from the start and fast forward all the intermissions so you are caught up to finish watching in real time was nice.

I have been purchasing GC for the last three years and will admit that it has gotten worse every year for the amount of games that are blacked out. Every time the Wings play a Canadian team it seems some Sportsnet or TSN2 channel is showing the game so GC has a black out. I recall being very frustrated last year and was saying it's my last year. I usually catch every single game in a year and hate having to wait 4 days after it airs to actually watch it.

I'm sure I will buy it again this year and complain about it.

 

[drumnj]

GCL isn't that bad. They have greatly improved it over the years. Dual feeds, DVR function, 5 year season archive, 800+ classic games...even started doing preseason (2 seasons ago).

Just the way it was designed was that it's not meant to replace your standard means of watching the game, a tv service provider, if you live in the region of your favorite team. It's purpose is to give you similar access that you would have if you were to get CI...games of teams outside your region. Just with the portability of using it via internet.

However I'd be happy to pay for someone's Center Ice...every season if you'd like. Just would need to live in MI and have Directv (see my profile)

 

[Hckytwn]

Gamecenter sucks, though. So I'm much keener on a discount on Center Ice.

So, why do you say that? I usually get Center Ice, but was thinking of going GameCenter this year. I hate how Center Ice only has 1 or 2 games in HD each day... watching hockey in SD is painful.

 

[drumnj]

I hate how Center Ice only has 1 or 2 games in HD each day.

You must be using inDemand through a cable provider.
Satellite gives you both feeds for every game in HD (except the occasional Canadian channel that is SD...as long as there is a US HD feed).

 

[mizunox]

As a Wing fan in Canada GC has some very good benefits. I found my schedule getting busier and tougher to be around for the start of every game. The fact that you could start watching a game from the start and fast forward all the intermissions so you are caught up to finish watching in real time was nice.

I have been purchasing GC for the last three years and will admit that it has gotten worse every year for the amount of games that are blacked out. Every time the Wings play a Canadian team it seems some Sportsnet or TSN2 channel is showing the game so GC has a black out. I recall being very frustrated last year and was saying it's my last year. I usually catch every single game in a year and hate having to wait 4 days after it airs to actually watch it.

I'm sure I will buy it again this year and complain about it.

Thanks, I appreciate the Canadian perspective.

I purchased something similar to Game Centre for MLS soccer games this year, and whenever a game was blacked out I used proxy software (such as http://www.tunnelbear.com/) to get around it.
I'm counting on this to work for GC as well.

 

[RedMenace]

So, why do you say that? I usually get Center Ice, but was thinking of going GameCenter this year. I hate how Center Ice only has 1 or 2 games in HD each day... watching hockey in SD is painful.

You must be using inDemand through a cable provider.
Satellite gives you both feeds for every game in HD (except the occasional Canadian channel that is SD...as long as there is a US HD feed).

Yeah, that's one thing that pushed me over the edge to GCL while I had Time Warner...

... now I've got Dish, and while Center Ice is tempting, I really can't justify that over the sheer versatility of GCL; I'm willing to sacrifice a little bit of video quality for the convenience.

Hckytwn, if you've got pretty good Internet access (10Mb is a decent start), definitely give GameCenter Live a shot. However, if you're watching it on a big screen, be prepared for some iffy framerates due to the limitations of the Neulion web browser plugin (unless, from what I've read, you can use XBMC, which I will be trying this season). Drives me bonkers sometimes, but you can also watch it on a PC, PS3, Xbox 360 (if they've got the app ready), or tablet with almost-HD results.

 

[sarcastro]

I'm kind of curious - which part of gamecenter do you not like?

I normally buy center ice, but I've canceled my cable due to the lockout and was considering going online-only this year.

What do I need to know?

Maybe they've upgraded it since I last checked in on it a couple years back - last I saw it the picture quality was bad (sub-SD), it would freeze up frequently, and so on. It was a lot like watching a Griffs Sopcast.

I'd suggest you give it a shot - maybe I'm not up to speed and it's gotten better. I'm sure they'll have a free trial.

 

[SoupNazi]

Maybe they've upgraded it since I last checked in on it a couple years back - last I saw it the picture quality was bad (sub-SD), it would freeze up frequently, and so on. It was a lot like watching a Griffs Sopcast.

Those were my beefs with it at the time. If it's free this season, however, I'll definitely check it out.

 

[joe89]

Maybe they've upgraded it since I last checked in on it a couple years back - last I saw it the picture quality was bad (sub-SD), it would freeze up frequently, and so on. It was a lot like watching a Griffs Sopcast.

I'd suggest you give it a shot - maybe I'm not up to speed and it's gotten better. I'm sure they'll have a free trial.

Yeah, it's definitely improved a ton since those days then. But a stream is still a stream, especially stretched out on a 40" screen or similar. The picture quality is nothing to sneeze at though.

 

[Unfriendly Ghost]

However I'd be happy to pay for someone's Center Ice...every season if you'd like. Just would need to live in MI and have Directv (see my profile)

For emphasis...

 

[Hckytwn]

Yeah, that's one thing that pushed me over the edge to GCL while I had Time Warner...

... now I've got Dish, and while Center Ice is tempting, I really can't justify that over the sheer versatility of GCL; I'm willing to sacrifice a little bit of video quality for the convenience.

Hckytwn, if you've got pretty good Internet access (10Mb is a decent start), definitely give GameCenter Live a shot. However, if you're watching it on a big screen, be prepared for some iffy framerates due to the limitations of the Neulion web browser plugin (unless, from what I've read, you can use XBMC, which I will be trying this season). Drives me bonkers sometimes, but you can also watch it on a PC, PS3, Xbox 360 (if they've got the app ready), or tablet with almost-HD results.

Yeah, I have cable, not Dish--so that's why I suffer the SD. My cable bandwidth is usually solid, but I did have those same concerns about video quality and lag.

Having games available on my pc or iPad seemed nice too... So we'll see how it goes. I figured this would be the perfect time to try it out, considering the shortened season. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[guinness]

Maybe they've upgraded it since I last checked in on it a couple years back - last I saw it the picture quality was bad (sub-SD), it would freeze up frequently, and so on. It was a lot like watching a Griffs Sopcast.

I'd suggest you give it a shot - maybe I'm not up to speed and it's gotten better. I'm sure they'll have a free trial.

Nah, most feeds are HD, and for people like me that are cable/dish free, it's about the only way to watch the NHL. Plus, you can use the apps to watch games on iOS/Android.

The downsides, are the local blackouts (I for some reason fall into the SJ market, even though I'm 3 hours away), and the servers can't handle the capacity at times, typically on a busy Saturday.

 

[RedMenace]

Yeah, I have cable, not Dish--so that's why I suffer the SD. My cable bandwidth is usually solid, but I did have those same concerns about video quality and lag.

Having games available on my pc or iPad seemed nice too... So we'll see how it goes. I figured this would be the perfect time to try it out, considering the shortened season. Thanks for the feedback.

I don't want to make you nervous, just trying to prepare you for the worst in case it happens. I'm probably overstating any video "issues," as the picture is almost HD quality (depending on the feed from the carrier, of course), and generally the only thing you might notice is *very slight* stuttering or tearing when the action starts moving quickly; but from my experience that's ONLY with a web browser-based GCL stream.

Definitely worth a go for the reported $50 this season.

And honestly, even if I don't watch any other teams play (and I try to catch as many games per night as possible), it's worth the full price of admission for me being outside of the Wings viewing area. I mean, averaging under $2 per game? I'll take it.

 

[LastWordArmy]

Yeah, I think $50 is def worth the money.... though I'm still kinda p.o.'d... I'll get over it.

 

[SlavaKozlov]

I've been a Center Ice subscriber for several years, and it was fine when I didn't have an HD TV, but since I have cable and my apartment can't get a dish (facing wrong way), I only get 2 HD channels and am rarely able to watch the Wings in HD. I am going to give Gamecenter a shot this year for $50, I can connect my computer to my TV via HDMI or watch through the PS3, so hopefully the service works well.

I should be able to get better quality than the usual standard definition Center Ice feeds and I can watch the Wings feeds than be annoyed by the other team's announcers. Seems good to me. The only blackouts I would have are Columbus, which I should be able to watch on FSO, but sometimes they show the Cavs instead of hockey... I think there is a plus channel that shows the Blue Jackets in those cases now, though. We'll see...

 

[mizunox]

So I bought Game Center and I'm trying to watch one of the classic games from the vault right now but it's pausing to buffer every 10 seconds.
I have a 50mbps connection .
This is worrying.. But hopefully it's just the vault games...

I'm also using the new Xbox client so I'll give the Web a try next.

Anyone else having trouble with it?

Edit - the live games are working fine. Watching the Kings banner raising now.

 

[ProPAIN]

Watching Pens-Flyers right now, looks fine for me and the internet connection at my family's place is utter ****. Haven't tried Vault.

 

[mizunox]

For those of you who are counting on game center to watch the game later, do yourselves a favor and login early.

Many many people are having trouble with it. There's a 2 part thread in the general hockey discussion area ranting about it.

I'd hate for any of my fellow wings fans to miss the game.

 

[82SeriesWatcher]

I just use sports devil add on for xbmc on my iPad or apple tv 2. Seems to work well.