Review: NHL 15 (Xbox One)

It's the start of hockey season once again; a time for players to wash their equipment before they stuff it back into their rank smelling hockey bags. All teams start fresh, and for those that insist on not winning every game by 20 goals… there's NHL 15 to get the results that you really want.

Review: 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil (360)

World Cup Soccer – the most important month for futbol fans every 4 years, or as we celebrate in North America: as good as reasons as any to go drink at 11 am and not look like you have a "problem." With half of my family coming to Canada this generation, and the other half having lived here in excess of 400 years… the World Cup gets a differing amount of care depending upon whom you are talking to. Needless to say, I cheer for my Dad's country because cheering for Mom's and my homeland would have been a tremendous waste of time in this tournament.

Review: FIFA 14 (PS4)

My first experience with the FIFA series was back during the 1998 World Cup. Back then, I rented FIFA 98: Road to the World Cup for the Nintendo 64, not sure what to expect.

I fell in love with the series immediately. So many teams, arenas and options!

I was 12 at the time and had a sleepover birthday party with a group of friends and we were up the whole night doing a two-on-two tournament on the indoor soccer court. We even had a little trophy we gave to the winner of the tournament. Fast Forward 16 years and I come to to FIFA 14 for the PlayStation 4. Even after all this time, FIFA still has that great gameplay I first fell in love with, but doesn't quite match my memories in some areas.

Review: NHL 14 (360)

With the NHL hockey games, the question that EA Canada has to answer every year is: If a player holds up the latest NHL game and compares it to the previous year's release, will they be able to tell the difference?

This year, the answer, at least my answer, is, No, except for the inclusion of an "homage" mode to NHL '94.

Review: FIFA 13 (360, PS3)

As the fidelity of gaming hardware continues to ramp up and be exploited to its full potential, the further sports games seem to be going afield to be even more authentic in an attempt to capture the feel and look of the game. For both the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of FIFA 13 the incredible production values and attention to detail are more or less astounding but because of that the game will more than likely baffle players that aren't already acclimated to the FIFA experience.

Review: NHL 13 (PS3)

There is nothing more unsatisfying then having to simulate a hockey season, but for the 4th time in my lifetime, we're having yet another stoppage. At least the price of EA's NHL series doesn't go up year to year like our ticket, concession, and parking rates do. Serving as the salve to our bruised egos, we get the chance to live out the season our personal dreams electronically.

Review: NHL 13 (360)

With the lock out well under-way, NHL 13 is likely to be your only source of NHL hockey this season. (Check your local paper for alternatives, like the AHL or WHL for very high calibre live hockey!) It's fortunate that NHL 13 is as good as it is about simulating so much of what happens on and off the ice -- it's pretty close to being the real thing, as real coffee is to decaffeinated coffee. Not quite the same buzz, but it will fool anyone not paying attention.

Preview: NHL 13 (360, PS3)

In retrospect, I think NHL Hitz 2003 was probably the last hockey game that completely absorbed my attention like few games have and it stands out in my mind as the premier hockey video game. It was the arcade trappings that did it for me. EA's own NHL 3-on-3 Arcade was a solid attempt at recapturing that flavor -- and it did, for a brief time -- but was quickly replaced by other games.