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This year I have had the privilege to review two of the best sports games I have ever played.

The first was The Bigs 2, though unlike Naly I play it on the Wii where pitch curve and speed and batting timing and upstroke are controlled by actually pitching and swinging.

The other is FIFA 10. I have never played a football game that looks this good, plays this good and is equally joyous and frustrating to play.

Players who have played previous titles will quickly pick up the controls and the nuanced shooting system (you really just want to tap that shot button). And after watching the vague tutorial videos you’ll be juggling the ball and taunting your opponents in no time.

But the best part of FIFA isn’t the gameplay. The load times are a complete non-issue as the game lets you play a one-on-one with the goalkeeper while the game loads around you. And the soundtrack is fantastic dub/reggae dance hall tracks mixed with nouveau new wave tracks like Peter, Bjorn and John. So good in fact that I went to iTunes and bought some of the songs.

And while we're talking sound, the game comes with sound tracks from a bunch of different languages. So when you're bored with the whinging British commentators you can switch to the much more entertaining Spanish, French, Portuguese or Germans. It's always a barrel of laughs to hear "Goooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllalalalalalalallllaaaaaaa!!"

Like many EA games this season (including the terrible NBA and NHL titles) FIFA has a season mode that is live updated with real stats and like those other games you have to pay for it (though my NBA game came with a free redeem code, so maybe you don’t have to pay for that one).

If you have one of those new fandangled HD TVs you’ll be quite impressed with FIFA, or maybe you won’t because you’re a smarmy git. I don’t know.

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As mentioned the other day, NZ's football champs Auckland City (not to be confused with the Beleaguered NZ Knights, who play in Australia's A-League), were the Oceania representatives at this year's FIFA Club World Cup. Here's the goal highlights from their match against African champs Al Ahly...

Now even the NZ Herald is calling them the "Beleaguered New Zealand Knights"! Brilliant.

In the latest twist in the tale of our favourite under-performing football club (won 3, drawn 6 and lost 28 of their 37 matches since the A-League commenced last year) it seems their license is to be revoked (license to shoot? never really had one to start with, did they?), and that the Football Federation of Australia looks likely to hand over running of the club to New Zealand Soccer in the short-to-medium term while new owners for the club were found. From the Herald story...

Speculation is mounting that the FFA snatch back ownership of the Knights' licence with five weeks remaining in the A-League season, as they did with the Perth franchise in March.

The Sydney Morning Herald today said the FFA's patience with the ownership and direction of the under-performing Knights had run out. It would make its move to give potential new owners as much time as possible to bid for the franchise next season.

NZS chief executive Graham Seatter had no idea when or if the FFA would claim back the licence but confirmed he had been asked less than a week ago if NZS would be prepared to assist in the running of the club until their final round match on January 21.

"Why wouldn't we?" Seatter told NZPA.

"At the end of the day it would be an embarrassment if a New Zealand team defaulted at the end of that competition.

"We're committed to make sure that doesn't happen."

Knights management were unavailable for comment this morning.

To the new owners: can we just get more kiwis playing in the side? If a bunch of 'technically limited' NZ amateurs can put on a semi-respectable show at the World Club Champs (losing 2-0 to African champs Al Ahly), then surely we can put together a mostly professional local team that can compete with some Aussie clubs? Surely?