Oblivion: Game of the Year Edition
Oblivion was released earlier this year on the PS3, and now we will see the release of the Game of The Year Edition that features both Nights of The Nine content as well as the expansion Shivering Isles. For those unfamiliar with Oblivion, it is a first person RPG that has an epic story as well as an open ended mission structure that allows you to divert from the story indefinitely and pursue other ventures. In this game you can choose to be evil, good or grey (working both angles), you can own homes, travel by horseback, steal, manufacture, trade, open shops, pretty much anything you decide to do you can. Combat is very deep with skills and levels increasing as you perform tasks... fight with a sword a lot and your swordsmanship increases and if your class is tied to sword skills these advancements will go towards increasing your level. This applies to all skills and their cross classes. All of this produces a deep and potentially limitless adventure that is worth checking out. This game is available right now.

Why Buy it? Oblivion wowed critics and gamers alike when it was released, the amazing graphics, deep game play and unique experience made this a game was a must have for RPG fans. The new Game of the Year version adds the 30-hour Shivering Isles expansion which features a new region, new enemies and new items/spells for players to discover. All of this together brings the core game for this bundle to over 100 hours, side missions, professions and content effectively double that number making this a huge adventure that you can get as much out of as you wish. The graphic engine is stunning and the adaptive skill system allows you to tailor make your character and takes the strict class system out of the mix so you can have what you want. Any RPG fan should have this in their library, as it is truly an experience to play.

SPORTS

NHL 08
EA Sports has a consistently successful franchise with the NHL series. Instead of resting on their laurels, EA Canada decided to revamp the control scheme on this year's entry to the series. The results are one of the most natural playing experiences when on the ice. Instead of button presses to change your skating speed or bursts all skating control is tied to the analog sticks, as is shooting. The resulting control just feels right; you can jink around a player and hit the shot where you want. Of course they also went ahead and improved the graphics yet again and updated the rosters as usual, this great game is available right now and is a must have.

Why Buy it? Graphical improvements and tweaks to the play modes are expected, but what makes this the best entry in the NHL series in a long, long time is the natural control scheme and attention to detail. The skating on screen is so natural now and shots seem to fly with a more realistic flow. The shining moment so far for me with this game was seeing a goalie (Ray Emery) nail a glove stop that took my breath away, it was like watching a highlight reel in real time. This is the best way to play Canada's game on the PS3, if you love hockey, you need this game.