EA Sports

CHICAGO - If you close your eyes and picture some of the iconic moments in gaming history, most of them involve some sort of personal touch. The fireworks when you beat a level in “Super Mario Brothers”, the first time you were attacked by dozens of chickens in “The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past”, hiding in a cardboard box in “Metal Gear Solid”, the “Lazlo” show in “Grand Theft Auto III” and probably whatever your personal favorite gaming moment is, all managed to connect with gamers on a level beyond simply ‘gaming’ - instead ingratiating themselves into our psyches via charm and character, remaining there forever.

CHICAGO – For sports gamers, late summer into early fall is a stressful time on the wallet. This is when EA Sports releases their holy triumvirate of sports titles; “Madden,” “FIFA,” and “NHL,” all within a month of each other. “Madden” is always a blockbuster release here in the USA, with midnight launches, coverage on ESPN, and enough hype to direct a Kanye West music video.

CHICAGO – “Madden NFL 13” opens with a rousing monologue from everyone’s favorite justice-obstructing Ravens linebacker, Ray Lewis. Sitting in a dimly lit and smokey locker room, he extols the virtue of hard work, tenacity, and pride, as images from the prior NFL season are projected on the lockers before seamlessly transforming into footage from the game, highlighting its shiny new physics engine.

CHICAGO – I adored “Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters,” the best golf game for the PS3 generation yet produced. Where does a franchise go from there? How could “Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13” differ much from its award-winning predecessor?

CHICAGO – I’m not sure there’s any sports title of the year that I look forward to as much as “NCAA Football” and the new edition, “NCAA Football 12” is like another solid season from your favorite team — it doesn’t make any significant-enough changes to drop the ball but doesn’t really air it out either. It just moves it on down the field and wins the game.

CHICAGO – As the Tiger Woods controversy has subsided and fans of golf wonder more about whether or not he can reclaim his glory on the links instead of his personal life, a question for gamers has been whether or not the game franchise that bears his name could elevate its game after a few solid-if-unspectacular efforts.

CHICAGO – With only a few tweaks to last year’s very successful edition, “NCAA Football 11” maintains the franchise’s pole position as the best sports title available. “Madden NFL” is a great game. So are “MLB The Show,” “NBA 2K,” “FIFA,” and “Tiger Woods PGA Tour.” “NCAA Football” wins by a field goal.

Video Game Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – Just as every gamer thinks of John Madden when it comes to football, Tiger Woods has long been synonymous with the pinnacle of golf gaming. Electronic Arts hopes that buyers can overlook his drama off the green and continue to think of Tiger Woods every time they want to play a round of golf without an actual 5 iron.

CHICAGO – I didn’t think that I could possibly be more amped up for the start of the college football season. And then I played “NCAA Football 10,” a fantastic sports game that comes closer than any title before at recreating the excitement of any given Saturday and serves as the perfect build-up to the actual season to come.

CHICAGO – Just as John Madden has become synonymous with video game football, when a gamer thinks of playing a round of golf without a 5 iron, he thinks of EA Sports’ beloved “Tiger Woods PGA Tour” franchise.