Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 [PS2]

These are troubling times for PS2 owners. As development focuses more and more on the growing number of gamers firing away on next-gen consoles, those who are still doing their gaming on last-gen machines are feeling less and less love. EA Sports' Tiger Woods 08 is just another example. It's a solid enough game and delivers a decent golfing experience, but it's not a giant leap up from what 07 was and it doesn't get a fraction of the new features found in the next-gen Tigers.

So, where does that leave the PS2 crowd? While PS3 and 360 gamers get to tool away with cool new features like the astonishing Photo Game Face that lets you put an incredibly realistic version of yourself out on the links and the GamerNet, which lets you upload your greatest shots and bloopers for the entire golfing world to see, PS2 owners have to deal with a slightly -- and I mean very slightly tweaked -- version of last year's offering.

To start off on a positive note, I'll talk about the one giant thing about the PS2 version that's better than the PS3 version: a vibrating controller. On the green, there's nothing that screws with your mind and your game more than trying to line up and sink a putt when the controller is simulating your own nervously pounding heart. I don't care that I can use my Sixaxis in any number of new and remarkable ways, it doesn't vibrate. In tense situations, the vibration function of the controller rules. You end up feeling like the dude in "The Tell-Tale Heart."

New this year on all versions of Tiger is the inclusion of the FedExCup. It's one word with three capital letters and the PGA is banking that fans will find it the greatest thing to happen to the sport since the invention of plaid knickers. Essentially, the PGA swiped a page from NASCAR and decided to create a playoff series of its own. You won't see Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh trading paint as they try to go three-wide on the eighth fairway at the Deutsche Bank Classic, but the PGA is hoping this four tournament series will do for golf what the Chase for the Cup play-off did for stock car racing.

You can either earn the right to take part in the playoff by starting in January and doing well enough to be one of the top 144 players who qualify for the first round. (Only 120 qualify for the second round, 70 for the third, and only the top 30 for the final round.) You can also just jump into the thing from the Career Mode menu screen.