After a very successful outing last year with NHL 09, developer EA Canada and publisher EA Sports are back with NHL 10. Instead of just providing an updated roster and a few new animations, EA added a lot of compelling new features and managed to not only match the level of NHL 09, but exceed it. Greatest hockey game ever?

With preseason NHL games on TV and the MLB entering the playoffs, it's that time of year again for 2K Sports and EA to showcase their newest NHL games. Late last month, I participated in a 2K Sports conference call on NHL 2K10 that got me excited about this year's offering after the disappointment that was 2K9. Well, while 2K10 is a step forward from 2K9, it still can't match EA's offering and unless you are looking for an NHL title for the Wii or PS2, you can safely skip this one.

Techland and Ubisoft have teamed up once again to release the second title in the Call of Juarez series. Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood (CoJ: BiB) is a prequel to 2007's successful Call of Juarez. CoJ: BiB features a rich story complete with many familiar western themes such as the strength of family, betrayal, lust, love, violence, and greed. Throughout the five Act, fifteen chapter story, gamers will unravel the story of the McCall brothers, including Ray, who was one of the protagonists from the original Juarez game. While the experience may be relatively short -- on the order of six and a half hours for me on Medium difficulty -- there's a hell of a good time to be had, and some intriguing multiplayer options to boot.

The PSN was home to many great releases in 2008 and right at the tail end of the year there was yet another solid entry to the PSN catalog in the form of Crash Commando. Crash Commando was developed by EPOS Game Studios, a Swedish development company. Their first entry onto the PSN, Crash Commando is a side scrolling, platforming shooter that pits two rival factions against each other in an over-the-top blastfest.

One of the PS3's first titles was the off road racer entitled Motorstorm. It was well received for providing the first next gen off road racer that featured a variety of vehicles, great crashes, and intense yet very accessible game play. Well, now it's time for PS3 gamers to grab their helmets once again and prepare for Motorstorm Pacific Rift.

It's about that time of the year again to lace up the skates and take to the ice as the new NHL season draws nearer. As always, EA Sports and 2K Sports have put together their respective titles and we were fortunate enough to receive both games in for review. I've spent the better part of the weekend with 2K's offering, NHL 2K9, so lets get to the review.