VideogameVagabond.com

Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions on PSP has been a great way to break in my new PSP Slim so far, and create in me a lot of affection for the system as well as the game.

But I have to say I’m annoyed by one feature: all those side-missions you used to be able to get at the taverns? They’re still there, but you HAVE to find an online player to play them with.

There are tons of items and character-advancing experiences to go through via these tavern missions, and I think requiring them to be completed via cooperative play is a big mistake; I have yet to find a single opponent online in order to complete even one of them

This should be optional for coop or solo play.

With a team like Stephen Spielberg and Michael Bay combining their efforts, Transformers: The Movie was supposed to be the event action movie of the summer. While it did OK at the box office, however, other films from Spider-Man 3 to Live Free or Die Hard to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix all made similar or better impacts. Still, the Transformers franchise would be a lead-pipe cinch to do well on videogame consoles, right? Well, that depends on how the game is carried off.

Not well at all, is the short answer. First, it ought to be said that developer Savage Entertainment was behind the PSP version, and they simply don’t have the resume for quality development that Traveler’s Tales, the PS3 version developer, possesses. This game is an entirely different product from the PS3 version and anyone expecting differently will be disappointed by the quality of … well, virtually every element.

The graphics are right around mid-PSone standard, and show no signs of a creative spark. This is poorly complimented by uninspired level design, funky controls that rarely respond as one would expect, and a battle system that is somehow even shallower than the system employed on the PS3 version of the game. It’s almost painful to play, compounded by frequent, long load times.

Like the movie, the film centers around the battle between good robots and evil robots, which has spilled over to Earth as the two sides search for the AllSpark. The AllSpark is the life force for all Transformers, so naturally they want it back. Of course, the plot is more of a window dressing to this loud, exploding, event-packed action game that keeps a gamer on their toes … for as long as it lasts.

Mercifully, the PSP version of Transformers the Game is a brief affair, and you’ll brief with relief that it’s over if you’re made of strong enough stuff to stick it out. The slowness of the graphics takes any action-oriented excitement out of the mix, and one wonders if the team was simply pressured to release the game far too early in the development process. Something went seriously wrong somewhere, and it would not be surprising if most members of the team involved in this title left this game off their resumes when looking for their next gig.

While a hot 80s-nostalgia license like Transformers should be hard to screw up, somehow Transformers The Game PSP has managed to fall as an all-too-typical victim of movie-licensed games. While the PS3 version by Traveler’s Tales isn’t great, it is playable. Sadly, he PSP version is better left on store shelves, even if it is found in the $10 bargain bin with a bunch of advertising pens.

With a team like Stephen Spielberg and Michael Bay combining their efforts, Transformers: The Movie was supposed to be the event action movie of the summer. While it did OK at the box office, however, other films from Spider-Man 3 to Live Free or Die Hard to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix all made similar or better impacts. Still, the Transformers franchise would be a lead-pipe cinch to do well on videogame consoles, right? Well, that depends on how the game is carried off.

First, it ought to be said that developer Traveler’s Tales had a good pedigree coming into the game. As the developer behind Lego Star Wars and a Chronicles of Narnia game, among others, they know their way around action games, though their experience has been in games that skew just a bit younger.

The graphics show that the developer is ready for more than just Lego games based on LucasFilm franchises, though. While not quite measuring up to the top PlayStation 3 titles on the market, the graphics are a step above PlayStation 2; call it PlayStation 2.5-level graphics. While short of the near-photorealism the PS3 is capable of and a noticeable step down from the movie, Transformers The Game does look sharp and the smoothness and speed of the animations that display transforming characters from vehicle to robot are a nice achievement. They don’t get in the way of the action and yet contain an impressive amount of detail.

Like the movie, the film centers around the battle between good robots and evil robots, which has spilled over to Earth as the two sides search for the AllSpark. The AllSpark is the life force for all Transformers, so naturally they want it back. Of course, the plot is more of a window dressing to this loud, exploding, event-packed action game that keeps a gamer on their toes … for as long as it lasts.

One of the game’s strengths is its destructible environments, which are on full display on the PS3 version of the game. Nearly anything can be “blowed up real good,” which makes the settings for each chapter a lot of fun to play around in and destroy. Not that that really advances the game, but can be the source of some sadly sadistic fun for a while once the paper-thin plot begins to wear thin; those who love to test the limits of “what can I and can’t I do in this game” when they play videogames will find plenty to enjoy here.

However, ultimately the game is cut low by its relatively brief length. There’s a wide universe to explore in the Transformers franchise, but so much is left unexplored by this game it should have land for sale signs posted all around. By action game standards, it’s probably not too bad, but at $60 a pop for PS3 titles, it might seem a bit of a flirt-and-flee affair. What is present in the game is fun, but in the end a lack of significant length or depth may leave most gamers feeling unsatisfied, especially by the rather simplistic combat system, which could have been so much deeper. Optimus Prime out!

Wild ARMs, as a series, began as one of the first RPGs Sony itself produced for its young PSone platform. Sporting a mixture of wild west and fantasy influences, it marked a slightly different take on the RPG formula popular at the time. A PSone sequel was released and two previous PS2 outings have been unleashed on the world from a rotating selection of game publishers.

The latest home for the Wild ARMs series is XSeed Games, who have published a PS2-remix of the first Wild ARMs title, Wild ARMs 4 and now the latest installment, Wild ARMs 5.Throughout the series, the core elements have stayed true to its origins; a mixture of wild west and fantasy elements, as well as a distinctive style of turn-based RPG combat.

That is one element that gets a bit of a twist this time out; while the combat is still turn-based, a dash of grid-based tactical RPG style is tossed into the soup for a fresh flavor; for the most part, it works in livening up the works, at least for a while. Some squares on each battle grin are aligned with particular elements and can offer strategic advantages or disadvantages in battle; when multiple party members line up in the same square, devastating combo moves can be opened up, although they reveal themselves over time. The downside is, in a return attack, all party members sharing the same square share damage, meaning that several characters can fall at once instead of separately.

The game was released in a special anniversary package that celebrated the first decade of Wild ARMs games. That packaging includes a collectible art book that series fans ought to find appealing. Yet that’s just the “wrapping paper,” as it were. The package itself is a nice step forward for Wild ARMs as a series, as the game now seems fully at home on the PlayStation 2; unfortunately, it comes to the PS2 table a bit late as most games are now gearing up for their big PS3 premieres, and even Wild ARMs 5, for all it’s merits, trails a bit behind other late PS2 RPG releases like Final Fantasy XII, Rogue Galaxy and others.

Also, the story stretches credulity, even on fantasy terms, in a James Bond, “oh yeah, right, that’d work” fashion. For example, in one early sequence, one of our protagonists is tossed from a train riding a wood rail bridge high atop a desert floor; the hero-tosser also tosses down a hand grenade and we’re supposed to buy that the impact force of the exploding hand grenade below him cushions his fall to the desert floor, allowing him to land unharmed below.

Happens every day. And twice on Sundays. Right?

Still, as good as it is to be sojourning through another tale of the world of Filgaia, the wrinkle lines are definitely beginning to show on the series and its execution. Though the names change over the sequels, the tales remain just a bit too familiar and one gets the sense that it is well past due for the Wild ARMs formula to undergo an extreme makeover. If the series devolves any more, it will be about as fun as a colon cleanse. While the essential idea of a wild West RPG can still hold a lot of appeal, it’s time to mix things up a bit in terms of the style of tale told.

As potentially the final PS2 installment of the series, Wild ARMs 5 will satisfy most series fans, even if it converts no skeptics. However, when the first PS3-era edition of Wild ARMs debuts, I believe it will require more than just prettier graphics to help the series feel fresh and new. In the meantime, this final walk with an old friend through a familiar neighborhood will stir up all he proper sentimental feelings for longtime series fans.

Sometimes I wonder if the Tales series of RPGs from Namco-Bandai was intended as a bedtime tale or a sleep aid; all I know for sure is, they’re exciting enough to put me to sleep fairly swiftly every time I play them.

Maybe it’s because the titles are such paint-by-numbers affairs, a charge which certainly applies to the company’s latest PSP RPG offering, Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology. Although not as bad as some early PSP RPGs, Tales of the World simply doesn’t inspire a sense of wonder or exploration. Perhaps that’s because there aren’t that many places to explore, and those that are offered must be explored over and over and over again to complete the little mini-missions that push one through the tale and that allow you to advance, ever-so-slowly, in level.

While the level design tends to keep one cautious in the early going, as one can run into monsters capable of wiping you out, the experience is uneven at best, and long after you know a particular area like the back of your hand, you still have to make too many return visits to clear out missions and move on in the storyline.

Sporting an action-based battle system similar to those found in most other Tales titles, there’s simply not much new to be found in Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology that hasn’t been done over and over again in other versions. More than many series far older than it, the Tales series is in need of a deep and abiding reinvention, a complete makeover than turns the series on its ear and makes the games fun and refreshing and new again.

That sort of remix simply is not in evidence in Tales of the World, however. It is a perfunctory, “more of the same old stuff” outing that makes one wonder of anyone’s even at the wheel of the franchise anymore. While once a refreshing change-of-pace series, Tales RPGs are now run-of-the-mill and sleep inducing, and it’s a sad thing to bear witness to.

It’s also a terrible time for a title like this to appear in the PSP platform, as well. With sharp, exciting titles, including RPGs, making their way to PSP in the latter half of 2007, from Jeanne d’Arc to Dungeons and Dragons Tactics to Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions, the PSP is quite possibly this fall’s hot platform for RPG action. An asleep-at-the-wheel title like Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology will simply get passed over without a second thought, just like a book on mortgage life insurance sitting on the shelve next to the latest James Patterson thriller.

It’s too bad Sony waited so late in the life of the PlayStation 2 to launch the new Hot Shots Tennis franchise. With the PS3 drawing so much attention these days, it’s hard for a new franchise on their old platform to draw the accolades it deserves.

Yet Hot Shots Tennis is definitely deserving. Like the numerous Hot Shots Golf titles before it, Sony has taken an anime approach to a lesser sport and made it full of addictive fun. While golf has Tiger Woods to put itself back in the spotlight, there is no single, electrifying personality that is helping lead a revival in the interest in professional tennis who rivals the celebrity of Woods.

Oh sure, every once in a while there’s an Anna Kournikova who comes along and draws attention to women’s tennis, not because of her ability to win but because she looks pretty on a poster or a wall calendar. So tennis is a bit more of an underdog sport than golf.

Also, from a videogame standpoint, the challenge with any tennis title is to avoid making it seem simply like a highly advanced form of Pong! Fortunately, Sony has succeeded by taking the same combination of humor, mad depth and a wide variety of challenges to make Hot Shot Tennis almost as addicting as most Hot Shots Golf outings they have released in the recent past.

There are many unlockable characters, rackets, uniforms, balls and other tennis accoutrements to earn and unlock as one makes their way through the world of singles and doubles tennis competition. The physics are juiced for special moves in the same way there were for golf, and yet despite this and the comedy content, the game portrays a respect for the fundamentals of the sport that rival any more serious tennis title on the market, such as Virtua Tennis. Plus, the signature Hot Shots series style is on display in full force; the game is cute as a button, turning seriously-skilled players into characters almost as adorable as plush animals.

It’s a neat trick to pull off, and the challenge level may surprise you; one has to play good, solid tennis to succeed at any level of the game, just as they must play smart golf to succeed in any Hot Shots Golf title. While Sony is hard at work on the soon-to-be-released Hot Shots Golf PS3 title, this reviewer was intrigued enough by this initial PS2 outing that if they carry the franchise over to the PS3, Hot Shots Tennis PS3 would definitely make for a “must try” experience.

Dungeons and Dragons Tactics for the PSP is one of the smartest things Wizards of the Coast has done with the D&D license since commissioning Neverwinter Nights on the PC … and yes, I mean the original. Adapting the original game concept into a Final Fantasy Tactics-style RPG is a bit of a new twist to the action-packed turn-based affair that Neverwinter Nights offers up on PC, but the marriage of license to format is pulled off remarkably well.

Of course, there are differences. Games like Final Fantasy Tactics are balanced to depend heavily on side-quests and random battles. That’s not the case here as each mission in Dungeons and Dragons Tactics plays out like a well-balanced mission pack for the tabletop version of the game. Each adventure is scaled to a party of a particular size and level, and works best when tackled as recommended.

Of course, this reduces the amount of combat in the game, but the combat sessions that do occur are full-scale and meaningful. While the story sequences involve an interesting-enough plot, they are unfortunately poorly implemented in the game, evolving in still-art shots and narration rather than as fully-realized and animated sequences found in other modern RPGs.

That’s kind of the point, though. Dungeons & Dragons Tactics isn’t trying hard to be other RPGs; it’s trying to translate its own take on the genre into a fun and playable videogame format. While that doesn’t necessarily work well in the storytelling respect in this outing, in terms of in-game play, such as battles, the grid-map-based approach will call to mind all those hex-maps the nerdy DM would take hours to draw out to that by the time actual gaming got started, the night was almost over.

Graphically, the character models on D&D Tactics are serviceable if a bit lacking in variety, but nicely animated. Spell effects are sometimes a bit of a surprise in the level of detail on display in the PSP format, especially since they take place without a switch to a “battle stage” or a video segment. Sure, they’re not gonna show up the PS3 anytime ever, but the effects are nicer than one might suppose.

The game does a nice job of offering access to as much statistical information and “character sheet detail” as one might desire, without bogging the game down; it’s nice to see a D&D game that doesn’t assume that a non-PC videogame format has to stay insultingly simple. We’re mostly the same audience.

I think whether you’re in front of a PC keyboard and a full stereo cabinet or a videogame controller or a PSP interface, the expectation is – and ought to be – that the D&D name carries a bit of weight and offers a certain style of gaming experience, and mindless Gauntlet-style hack-n-slash is NOT it. That’s something they never got right with the Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance series, and thank the L-rd THOSE days are finally behind us!

Now, Dungeons and Dragons Tactics is highly entertaining, especially for D&D fans, but the game is not going to dazzle anyone. Top-notch PSP RPG releases like Jeanne d’Arc, which still has some juice left in it from its late-summer release; Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions; and Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness are all either on shelves or soon will be, competing for the attention of PSP owners.

Among such a dazzling array of solid choices, it might be easy to overlook D&D Tactics. Easy as it might be, even so, it belongs on the shelf of any self-respecting PSP RPG fan.

I reviewed NHL 2K7 on Xbox 360 last year and NHL 2K8 on Xbox 360 this year and came to the conclusion that the best version between the two was last year’s NHL title from 2K Sports on the 360, because this year’s game was so severely lacking in presentation and a pleasant, natural-feeling control scheme. Is the PS3 version markedly better than the 360 version of this year’s game?

Not really.

Last year, I was deeply impressed by the dynamic presentation style NHL 2K7 offered. A far more cinematic style of game, during ice time as well as in between, the game seemed to promise great things to come from developer Kush Games and publisher 2KSports. So this year’s edition should have been even better, right?

Right?

Anyone?

Bueller?

Unfortunately for hockey fans, improvements on last year’s game are nowhere to be found, and in fact the dynamic presentation that made me love 2K7 so much isn’t anywhere in this season’s game. It’s like they took last year’s game, bundled it up in some sturdy Samsonite luggage, and locked it away in storage for no apparent reason. That’s weird as hell, if you ask me.

Instead, NHL 2K8 seems to have ignored the 2K7 iteration in the series altogether and seems to be built from the 2K6 version instead. Although it was released quite late, at least PS3 owners have a native version of last year’s NHL 2K7 to retreat back to; it may not be quite as HD-polished and it may not make as much use of the SixAxis controls, but from every important standpoint, it’s a better hockey game. Of course, that’s not to say there haven’t been changes. As a matter of fact, there are plenty.

This year, 2KSports includes an analog-stick based control system on PS3 similar to the one that flopped so heavily on the 360. That’s the bad news. The good news is that there’s also nascent motion-based Six-Axis control scheme to choose, as well, a feature not found on the 360 version. However, it’s not as solid and reliable as one might hope and ultimately just seems distracting and awkward. Neither of the new control systems clicked for me. My hands were used to the old-style controls and, fortunately, Kush did put the 2K7-style control scheme back into the game. (So they DO know the 2K7 version exists! Could’a fooled me.)

Even with the 2K7 style controls restored, the game didn’t play like it LIKED being played that way, and seemed a bit sluggish. Until they get this new SixAxis thing smooth, intuitive, and ironed out, there is no need to reinvent the wheel if the wheel you have already works.

Sonically, the game is just fine if a bit of a staid effort. The standard ice arena music is present in full force, but the playlist is shallow and seems too familiar. Online play is solid, and unlike the 360 version I reviewed earlier, I was able to find some folks to compete against, which was nice.

The dynasty mode is sufficient but - despite ad-copy claims - is essentially unchanged and still has some serious trading AI flaws that ought to be addressed sometime this century. While I enjoy playing my Minnesota Wild, the dynasty mode here is all a bit too invisible; it’s too easy to have plenty of actionable emails come into your GM desk from the coach, the owner and so forth, and never even be notified by the game that “You’ve got mail!”

Ultimately, NHL 2K8 isn’t a terrible game, but it does mark a long step back for the series. Kush Games needs to get back on the horse and, when working on NHL 2K9, use 2K7 as the basis from which to build a decent follow-up in the series. 2K8 is, at best, a step sideways, kind of like stopping for a great time at Branson Missouri on your way to Nashville.

It took a while, but Sony finally has it right in the handheld market; a combination of the perfect game and the perfect piece of hardware to play it on. The hardware? The new PSP Slim. The game? Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions.

Much like last winter’s redesign of the previously-bulky Nintendo DS, Sony’s original PlayStation Portable was in dire need of of an attention-grabbing redesign. While the DS Lite went in an standard Nintendo direction, with a trim but boxy design than a wide palette of colors from which to choose, Sony chose a slightly different route.

The PSP Slim is noticably lighter and thinner, but still boasts the spirit of the original PSP design. And instead of making a load of new colors commonplace, Sony celebrated the PSP relaunch with a couple collectible, limited edition designs, while the rest of the forthcoming PSP Slims will remain in standard black. The Daxter version of PSP Slim is a sharp, slick metallic silver, while the Star Wars Edition is pearly white with an image of an adult Darth Vader silkscreened on the back of the unit.

They’re sharp-looking and they won’t be available forever, making them fun to own, and of course, increasing their eBay value in the process for the capitalists among us.

But a redesigned PSP would be nothing without some all-new killer apps to play on ‘em, and one of the big guns just launched: Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions finally makes its way to PSP sporting a complete graphical makeover, new cinematics, new characters, new jobs and lots of other new goodies, while retaining the spirit of the original story that made the PS One classic so damn addictive.

I could go on and on, but I’d rather get back to PSP gaming heaven… you’ll hear more from me later, though. Soon as the PSP Slim has to go on the recharger.

I finally got it!

As a matter of fact, I’ve had it for a week, but have been so in love with it that it’s been hard to tear myself away to blog about it!

About a week ago, I finally traded in some older games I wasn’t playing anymore and bridged the gap to affordability and bought the brand new, sleeker, slimmer, cooler PSP Slim. I gave my wife the older PSP, which works perfectly fine, so that I could justify the purchase, as well as give her the gift of on-the-go gaming. And since I’ve been using it, I’ve been happier than a mother with set of brand new baby slings.

I decided on the Daxter version because it’s silver and goes well with my old DS. (My wife has matching black - her new DS Lite and old PSP share the same color, too.) Besides, it had a 1GB memory card and the Star Wars one didn’t. The Star Wars one, also, is white, which does little for me. Star Wars was cool 30 years ago, but the more recent sequel sucked raw eggs, so it’s not that big a deal. And my wife enjoys the Daxter game.

Me? I’m whiling away my time with Dungeons and Dragons Tactics until the real plum of the PSP RPG season arrives at my doorstep. This week, I’m expecting to receive Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions. Put that alongside Silent Hill Origins, Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness and the long-promised Elder Scrolls: Oblivion PSP, and this holiday season the sweetest Sony platform to be on isn’t PS2 or PS3, it’s PSP!

Sports games have had a hard time adapting to the handheld market, even the wide-screen Sony PSP. While a game on PS3 or Xbox 360 can come across like the Cartier of sports games, put the same thing on a handheld and suddenly it’s not just the graphics that suffer, but the AI, the feature set and more.

Of course, this year’s version of Sony’s NBA title, NBA 08 for PSP, is hardly a great example of depth and versatility. Even on PS3, the game lacks depth, still neglecting to add a much-needed franchise mode, and this time around axing the “popular for the last couple years” storytelling mode, The Life.

Apparently, Sony’s sports game folks think gamers on the go actually WANT their sports games to lack depth. Why else would they also deny users the ability to increase quarter-length in season mode from four minutes to something a bit beefier, like eight minutes? In fact, most of the user options are well hidden in the game’s interface, and even when you can track it down and set your user file to preferring 8-minute quarters, often when you save that and start a new season mode, you’ll find yourself playing 4-minute quarters anyway, with no way to even change that up.

It’s disappointing in the extreme, especially since Sony’s finally found a way to make their controls for the game on PSP a bit more accessible. Not that you’ll be facing CPU opponents who are all that crafty; the AI in the game is a funky, unpredictable beast that at times will play rock-stupid, letting you go up 20-8 in a half, but then often goes into unstoppable mode in the second half, outscoring you 38-10. There’s just no consistency to it.

Online play is built into the game naturally and looks like it might work well, but like its PS3 cousin, I could not find any opponents online - at all - to play against to more fairly evaluate the online mode.

The graphics in the game are acceptable by PSP sports game standards, but not by any other unit of measurement, and it makes one wish 2K Sports would get off their butts and bring both NBA 2K8 and College Hoops 2K8 onto the PSP. So far, though, no luck on that score.

Another area where the game falls apart is in roster accuracy; I put the PSP version of the game to the same “Minnesota Timberwolves roster accuracy” test that I used on its PS3 big brother. Again, NBA 06 for PSP is an utter failure on roster accuray.

Amazingly enough, the game is even worse than the PS3 version containing all-different roster errors, though the most eggregious is, once again, the complete MIA status of draft pick Corey Brewer. I mean, I can understand missing second-round pick Chris Richard. But Brewer was the seventh overall pick in this year’s NBA draft. How the hell do you screw that up? (And yes, they have the draft accounted for, because Kevin Durant and Greg Oden are in the game.)

Once again, that’s unforgivable.

About the only thing NBA 08 for PSP has going for it is a feature called Block Party, in which you get a ton of mini-games you can play online against human opponents. The company also claims it will offer weekly roster update files, but I already downloaded the first one and it still didn’t correct any of the terrible roster inaccuracies with the Wolves. It just looks like Sony would rather pretend Brewer doesn’t exist that patch him into the game. Whatever.

Also, there may be more mini-games available via download, perhaps as many as one a week, so the novelty of those might help maintain interest over the course of the season.

But I’ll take accurate rosters, deep features and a kickass franchise mode over Block Party any day of the week and twice on Sundays. After making strides the past couple seasons, Sony’s NBA franchise is strictly NBA D-League material.

One of the weaknesses of Sony’s NBA 06 for PlayStation 3 is the lack of roster accuracy. I always use the team I know best - the Minnesota Timberwolves - as a gauge of the desired roster accuracy. This season, that is an approach that is particularly effective, because of all the all-season changes to the Wolves’ roster.

There was, among other things, a complex 7-for-1 deal that sent franchise player Kevin Garnett to Boston in exchange for five players and two draft picks, off-season moves involving buying out the contract of Troy Hudson, trading Mike James to Houston for Juwan Howard, and the drafting of Corey Brewer.

NBA 08 for PS3 fails on at least two counts with Minnesota Timberwolves roster accuracy. Even after downloading the latest roster update from the PS3 Network, top draft pick Brewer is completely MIA in the game. Also, Hudson is still on the roster. The presence of Hudson might be forgivable, but considering Brewer was the number seven overall draft pick this summer, his omission is simply unforgivable from a roster accuracy standpoint. I searched other teams’ rosters and even the free agent wire and he’s simply not there. Intolerable!

From a game mode standpoint, Sony stubbornly refuses to add a franchise or dynasty mode to the game, meaning a single 82-game season with playoffs is all you get. This makes the inaccurate rosters even more objectionable. It also renders trades essentially meaningless because you can essentially stack a team to be good for one season and never have to worry about the long term good of the franchise. Refusing to offer a great franchise most is a pet peeve of mine and renders the game about as useless to me as if they included something ridiculous, like, oh, say, a shopping mode where you could buy golf apparel ladies and men enjoy.

Another disappointment is the player models. While Sony boasts NBA 08 is optimized for 1080p “True HD” display, the level of the graphics is still not where one might expect it to be, which lends the sense that if 2K Sports or even a “lousy at hoops titles” EA Sports ever got their act together, they could really blow NBA ‘08 out of the water.

Speaking of modes, the storytelling mode the company has experimented with the past two seasons, “The Life,” is replaced this season with a feature called “Game of the Week,” which actually pulls you out of your immersion in the franchise you’re choosing to run for a season.

All these objections stated, there are several good features in NBA ‘08. It offers a wide variety of online play options, for example, although during my time playtesting the game, I was unable to find a single online opponent, even once, with all the filters turned off! Granted, I received the review copy a bit early, but this was a huge disappointment and limited my ability to fully evaluate how the game played online.

The graphics are nice in 1080p, even if they still feel a bit too videogamey. I’d love to see a company serious about sports game graphics embrace 1080p and really rock my world with a near-photographic realism approach to an NBA game.

The controls work well in traditional mode, but the SixAxis motion controls were nothing to write home about. The sound work was fine, though lacking any real star power. And the music catalog was severely limited. I’d still love to see some sports game designer truly take advantage of the PS3 hard drive and allow you to import your own .mp3 collection into a sports game. I’d love to crash the boards to the sounds of Evanescence. Haven’t found it yet; if it’s here, I’m missing it.

The stat-tracking is minimal and ultimately, the strongest point to NBA 06 is the challenge level of the game. Sony does a good job of making opponents solid, not just videogame wireframes you can slip past easily to perform monster dunks.

Defense is palpable in the game and even on the easiest mode, the game AI will challenge you unless you have a couple great three-point shooters on your team and you’re skilled at hitting the money-wedge on the shot meter for those outside shots. But go up in game AI skill level and even that won’t be a help, since you’ll actually be challenged to play smart basketball and take wise shots.

So, once you’re on the court, NBA ‘06 actually plays pretty well. But when it comes to the details, the devil’s having his way with Sony, ruining a game that, if it were more accurate, had more and deeper modes and an active online community of devotees, could be a whole lot better than it is. For now, it’s a solid choice for casual game players, but not my pick of the season for dedicated NBA fans.