It's on like Donkey Kong

Deepdiscount.com's biannual 20% off sale began yesterday and goes on until the 25th. Deepdiscount offers free shipping, no minimum, and typically their prices are below Amazon, Circuit City, and Best Buy to start. Coupon codes for 20% include:

DVDTALK
USATODAY
NYTIMES
SUPERSALE
PRICESEARCH
YAHOO
ESPN
XM
JIM
DEALNEWS
DD1109
LATIMES
WGN
WLS
PRICEGRABBER

Each coupon can be used once per account, so theoretically you could place 15 separate orders. Please shop through my affiliate link, which I put all over this post along with in the left column under stores.

I ordered NFL America's Game Super Bowls I-XL for $62.96 - 40 discs of NFL films goodness spotlighting each each of the first 40 Super Bowl winners. I've only seen the episode with the 2001 New England Patriots and it was spectacular. The players and coaches were surprisingly candid, and if the Patriots weren't speaking in cliche I can only imagine what straight shooters like Buddy Ryan and Shannon Sharpe have to offer. There are also deals to be had on Ratatouille ($13.50) and Planet Earth ($43.12).

The best sports game ever

I picked up NHL 08 last night and it rocked my world. Starting in 2003 EA let you control dekes with the right analog stick, allowing such ridiculous moves as deking backhand, putting it between your legs forehand, and shooting it with the stick between your legs. Last year, EA let you control shots with the R stick - you pull back to wind up a slapshot, push forward to shoot it. It didn't feature a full plate of features, but it was certainly a step forward in the genre.

This year's edition adds On the Fly AI. More so than any sports game I've ever played, the computer adapts to your playing style. For example, if you try the wraparound a few times in a row, the other team's defensemen will wait for you to turn in front of the net. If you try to cut off their passing lanes, they will take the puck more directly to the net and try to use you to screen the goalie. It comes across as incredibly authentic - if you can make the counter adjustments. Otherwise it's hard to score and harder to maintain a lead. There are other touches that add to the realism: if a shot trickles through a goalie's five hole, he'll keep his legs together and reach around with his glove to stop it.

And the graphics are so good it looks like a Pixar movie about a hockey game. Look at the shot of coverboy Eric Staal skating by his bench, the bench itself in particular. The sticks look photorealistic, the gloves pretty damn close. Gary Thorne and Bill Clement actually keep up with the gameplay, which has been problematic in the past. The Dynasty mode has been fleshed out, with two way free agent dialog, a salary cap, salary floor, and rookie cap, and a full minor league system.

This is a must to pick up in the biggest annual video game sale: the Toys 'R' Us Buy 2 Get 1 sale. It goes on until Saturday at least, possibly until next Saturday. Gamespot reports cutscenes are choppier on the PS3 version, so I'd recommend the XBox 360 version if given the chioce. Just because the NHL continues to be completely irrelevant as a spectator sport, NHL video games can still be highly entertaining.