It seems like there isn't a single sports game the can't do well in the next installments of every major series.

Hockey

NHL 2K9 / NHL 09

Here we see EA dominate. 07 was good. It introduced the most revolutionary sports feature of the decade, but it was plagued with glitches. In 08, we see an improvement on the formula, and we see a gap between the new Skill Stick, and the 2K formula, which was aging rapidly. For the next installment, unless 2K swallows it's pride and adopts the Shot Stick, it will absolutely fail in comparison to 09. NHL 09 has that chance to be truly *great*. Great as in MVP 2005. EA needs to take that extra step, and this game will be insane.

MLB 2K8 / MLB The Show 08

For the past several years, The Show provided the best baseball experience in video games. MLB 2K6 was terrible in comparison to its Sony published counterpart. However, in 2K7 it's apparent that the devs actually took what they had and they fixed it, which is something you don't see in sports games that often. Now, 2K8 looks amazing. It looks like a solid game of baseball. Also, we may just see The Show 08 face the same problem that NHL 2K8 faced: It's formula is aging and the game may just seem like a prettier rehash of last year. Of course, I hope the 08 does well, because when you look at how the MLB 2K devs are taking The Show's success into account, and web reviews (like Gamespot and IGN) it seems as though when the competition does well, MLB 2K will do well too. 2K8 looks to be very promising, and it may overtake The Show this year. However, no matter what, we'll have a lot of fun with baseball this year.

All Pro Football 2K9 / Madden 09

APF 2K8 wasn't nearly as good Madden 08 was. Madden was solid, and look for it to dominate in 09. Madden always seemed like it was one step away from being truly *great* but it never hit the nail on the head. If EA gets this one right (adds the right features, and improves on the game in a surprisingly good way), Madden will be an amazing part of 2009.

NBA Live 09 / NBA 2K9

How it's been for a while now is 2K >>>> EA in the basketball department. However, 08 was actually playable! It still has a long way to go, but it may be pretty good in a couple of years. NBA 2K8 is another one of those games (like Madden 08 and NHL 0 that is only one step away from being really really good. If the devs actually make an improvement instead of rehashing 2K8, I can't see it not being the best basketball game on the market in years.

As you can see, 2008 was basically filled with a bunch of "almost there"s, now it's up to the devs to take that one extra step, and we can have the best sports lineup in video games history.