As a writer, I’m always berating myself for what I feel is “duplicate storytelling.” I don’t mean telling the same story over and over – too easy. I mean writing about comparative stories in reviews to other stories compared in reviews. For example: “Do you remember when games were fun? Atari 2600 sold thousands upon thousands of games and all of them – at best – the graphics... 

Here’s a prediction: About this time next year, EA Sports will release a game titled NHL 13. EA Sports game reviews are starting to read more like the New York Times stock market report and less like a game review each time a new one is released: “Not much new to report, small changes here and there, suggestion is: buy if you need it for some reason.” I still enjoy playing hockey video games,...