It is that time of the year when Electronic Arts floods the gaming market with the latest sports titles.
Fifa 10
Four stars (out of 5)
Thumbs up: Smooth gameplay; more intensive manager mode.
Thumbs down: Ultimate Team mode has to be downloaded at extra cost; menu screens are illegible without a 50-inch plasma high-definition screen.
Every year, this happens to me.
Every year, I'm halfway through a Liverpool season on Fifa 07 or 08 or 09 when the new game arrives.
Being a man of obsessive compulsive tendency, I have to finish off the one season before I unwrap the new title.
Normally.
I've broken the habit just this once to get an early look at the latest in the long-running Fifa series.
As always, the developers say lots of nice things about the new features in the game, and as always, many people will hardly notice the differences.
The big two "changes" this year are the introduction of a 360-degree dribbling system and a revised manager mode.
You certainly notice more freedom to move on the ball, but whether it is a revolutionary change is up for debate.
I like what's been done with the manager mode, the heart of every sports simulation.
The transfer market has been tidied up, player growth feels more natural and results are much less random than before.
The bottom line - best football game on the market.
Same thing I said last year.
NBA Live 10
Four Stars (out of 5)
Thumbs up: Sweet dunks;recognisable signature moves; the Tall Blacksfinally make an appearance in a video game.
Thumbs down: Glitchy ball physics; commentary doesn't always match the action.
Excuse me for not having played EVERY sports game on the market at the moment.
NBA Live 10 is sitting on the shelf, still in its wrapper, screaming to be played.
But it just hasn't happened yet.
So, I put in a call to a very tall, very ginger basketball player called Paul Sides, the Brian Scalabrine of Dunedin basketball, the knee-bandaged starting centre for the St Kilda Bullets and back-up to former Tall Black Andrew Parke with the St Kilda Saints.
Paul's thoughts:"The button configuration for NBA Live 10 has totally changed for some reason.
They didn't need to do that.
"Players are really shiny.
"They look like they're sweating before they even get on the court, which is a bit strange.
"Generally, the gameplay is really good.
"The graphics are still pretty good, even on an old tube television.
"The main reason I get basketball games every year is the updated rosters.
"I really like playing as rookies like Stephen Curry and Blake Griffin.
"Dunking has become a bit more complicated.
"There are more buttons to press and you have to direct your player towards the hoop.
"It's more realistic, I guess.
"The Tall Blacks are in the game for the first time.
"But nearly every player seems to be a small forward.
"And Pero Cameron is small and skinny, which is pretty weird.
"I played as them and beat Australia by 20.
NHL 10
Three Stars (out of 5)
Thumbs up: More rib-crushing body checks; nice range of difficulty.
Thumbs down: Who knows who these players are? And how can you score more goals?
Nobody's ever given me a satisfactory answer to the question of why we get ice hockey games in New Zealand and not baseball games.
I'm not saying ice hockey isn't a fast, exciting, brutal sport but surely baseball - America's pastime, the Red Sox versus the Yankees etc etc - has more general interest.
Anyway, ice hockey might be hard to watch on television because of the tiny puck moving at lightspeed but it is a sport that translates well to video games.
NHL 10 is typically smooth, fast-paced sports game.
It takes time to get comfortable with the controls, and the lack of early success will frustrate gamers who aren't familiar with the series, but patience will be rewarded.
No ice hockey game would be complete without a good fighting mode, and this one includes a new first-person view.
A general manager mode and a nifty addition to gameplay where you basically wrestle up against the boards are also introduced.
If you like ice hockey, you'll love it.
If you don't get ice hockey, it might be a battle.
