As a gamer and a sports fan, I love this time of year. The holiday gaming season is in full swing, football is everywhere, the NHL is back, and the NBA is nearly underway. In fact, I just watch some preseason NBA earlier tonight. As a fan of NBA hoops and games, each year at this time I'm taking in the newest versions of the three annual NBA titles that include NBA 2K from 2K Sports, NBA Live from EA Sports, and NBA from the San Diego Studios of SCEA. Up first this year for me is NBA 10: The Inside from Sony. Unlike recent years, NBA 10 is only available on the PSP this year as opposed to also including the PS2 and PS3. However like previous years, NBA 10 is much more than just an NBA sim. It's chock full of great alternate modes that are very likely to capture more of your time than the actual NBA sim itself.

Sony's San Diego studios returns this year with their next NBA PSP game. We ran a preview article recently on the site, and we've since gotten the game in for review. This year's iteration, NBA 09: The Inside, features more mini-games and refinements than any previous year, as well as the introduction of a Franchise mode for the first time.  

It's not a secret that the SCEA version of an NBA game has struggled with critics for years.  Each year the team at SCEA seems to get a bit closer to something great, but sometimes just ends up being shorter than the competition.  People might have accused the dev team of being a bit short on flash or short on accuracy, but I'm not sure that's where they are shooting for.  As I have been playing this game for many days now, I've come to realize the good and the bad of the series.  What I have also realized is that they're trying to make this type of game more than a one-dimensional sports title.  They're trying to add more than just trophies and pats on backs.  They want to add two more needed dimensions to the game and maybe this is where critics are failing to appreciate it or see it for that.  NBA fans, time to open your ears.  There are fouls, but certainly nothing intentional The gameplay in NBA 09 The Inside is diverse to say the least. The main gameplay, which is the normal NBA game you're use to and love, is probably a little bit below the rest of the...