Skate 3

The changes that have been made to Skate in this latest iteration may not be all that obvious, but that doesn’t mean they are not significant. Since Skate hit the Xbox 360 back in 2007 it has redefined what we think of as a skateboarding fun games and forced Activision’s Tony Hawk franchise to completely re-evaluate its stance. However, the core gameplay was so solid from the start Skate is not a series that requires or would even suit yearly sequels, and that means something significant needs to be added each time to justify an expansion of the series.

This time out, the focus is being brought to bear on multiplayer gaming rather than any new tricks in the repertoire. There are a couple of new tricks, but nothing game changing. What Black Box and EA have focused on is trying to harness the power and inventiveness of the online community like never before. This is being done by introducing a collection of team based challenges for online plat that test your abilities as well as reward individual skill, and we can say from first hand experience that they are a lot of fun coming in this game from the start.

NBA 2k10

What with EA upping their games with Live 10, the contest for king of the Hoops is much closer this year. For us, 2K10 just edges it, despite feeling a little rough and ready next to its rival. Why? It’s down to feel, this game is just better to play.

On court, the controls are less fiddly, and the animations seem to get together better than those in Live 10, giving a more responsive feel. Shooting seems natural, and regardless of whether you think the opposition should really be draining baskets with two of your men draped all over them, every time you shoot, the result is realistic. You can’t expect a little more man like Rondo to a sink a shot from outside the D with pretty much anyone man making him. Kevin Garnett, on the other hand….

Where 2k10 lets itself down, however, is in the Al decision making. It just isn’t that smart. We saw man desperately reaching for interceptions with two seconds left on the shot clock, leaving their man wide open for easy shots. We also watched as the opposition casually threw the ball in bounds and handed us a back court violation. Shouldn’t these issues have been sorted by now?