Holiday Buying Guide 2005 Continued..

Sports Games

Look, I'm going to be honest here. Aside from certain extreme sports franchises like Tony Hawk and SSX, or more accessible sports titles like a few of the Mario ones, I don't play sports games. Ever. It's probably the one genre I am utterly unqualified to speak on. Sorry about that. So for the sake of convenience and to minimize credibility lost, I'm just going to list a few of the titles recommended by critics as well as by Steve and Maarten, who both do play sports games.

World Soccer Winning Eleven 8 International
Developer: KCET
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PS2, Xbox, PC

NBA 2K6
Developer: Visual Concepts
Publisher: 2K Sports
Platforms: PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360

NHL 2K6
Developer: Kush Games & Visual Concepts
Publisher: 2K Sports
Platforms: PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360
Most reviews found it difficult to recomment the Xbox 360 version of this game considering its graphical improvements are not nearly significant enough to justify paying three times the price ($60 for Xbox 360 vs. $20 for PS2 and Xbox).

Madden NFL 06
Developer: EA Tiburon
Publisher: EA Sports
Platforms: PS2, Xbox, GameCube, Xbox 360, DS, PSP, GBA, PC
It is worth noting that Electronic Arts signed an agreement with the NFL this year, making EA the exclusive developer and publisher of officially licensed NFL video games.
Most reviews indicated that though the visuals of the Xbox 360 version are much more impressive than the current-gen versions, the game is decidedly inferior, due to a number of important missing gameplay features and a crippled franchise mode. Try and play it on another platform if possible.

MVP Baseball 2005
Developer: EA Canada
Publisher: EA Sports
Platforms: PS2, Xbox, GameCube, PC

Fight Night Round 2
Developer: EA Chicago
Publisher: EA Sports
Platforms: PS2, Xbox, GameCube
The GameCube version of this game includes an emulated version of the SNES classic Super Punch-Out, though it lacks the 2-player online mode of the PS2 and Xbox versions.

And there you have it. Over 65 games for you to keep in mind if you've got a gift recipient who indulges in a bit of video gaming or if there's somebody soliciting some kind of list of desired objects from you. If you've got a bit of spare cash, consider donating to the Child's Play charity. It'll spread the gift of gaming to some sick kids who could use it.

Have a great holiday season and, in conclusion, buy Psychonauts.

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