A few months ago, we reported that 2K Sports wasn’t planning to make a hockey game this year.  Many believed that this was the end of the line for the NHL 2K series, and while few gamers were upset about the loss of what is universally considered an inferior hockey title, it seemed a bit sad that they weren’t even going to try to catch up to EA’s product.  Today, Take-Two has cleared up the issue, announcing that there will be an NHL 2K11, but it will only come out for the Wii.

Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick explained the company’s move; “As far as NHL, we're taking a year off on PS3 and Xbox 360 to refine, redesign and re-think.”  A Take-Two spokesman further clarified the issue for Joystiq; "We have decided to reevaluate our NHL strategy and will only be releasing NHL 2K11 for the Wii in fiscal year 2010. We want to become a stronger competitor in this category and taking a year off on PS3 and Xbox 360, while focusing on making the best possible game for Wii, should allow us to accomplish that goal."

Basically, 2K is sick and tired of getting cross-checked into the boards by EA’s NHL series, and is taking a year of to refocus and come up with a game that can compete.  The last two NHL games are arguably the best hockey games ever made, and some would even call them the best sports titles of all time, so 2K has their work cut out for them. The NHL 2K series hasn’t exactly been bad in recent years, but the gap in quality between the two franchises is pretty vast.  Hopefully, they’ll be able to use the year off to make up some of that ground, and help push the genre forward.

As for the Wii, your grandmother doesn’t know shit about hockey, so they’re just gonna throw whatever they have out there, and people will buy it.