Serious sports gamers circle August on their calendars because it's when EA Sports kicks off the latest version of its wildly popular and longstanding Madden NFL game series. The latest pro ball simulation -- Madden NFL 08 -- is packed with new features and improvements over past iterations. And it's gorgeous to boot, especially on the Xbox 360. Just be forewarned: the PlayStation 3 version has some well-publicized kinks, including a frame-rate considerably slower than its Xbox 360 counterpart.

This latest installment introduces a new game-play feature called "weapons," special skills assigned to elite league players to reinforce what makes them great. For example, when activated, running back LaDainian Tomlinson becomes a truck that plows through defenders, whereas a Smart QB, like Peyton Manning, can read the field and expose players who simply stick to their money plays. The plays are still balanced, however, since one weapon might help cancel out another; a possession receiver adept at catching big air to snag a ball might be placed opposite an elite pass defender. You get the idea.

As introduced in last year's version, "NFL Superstar: Hall of Fame" mode is back, where you create a player from scratch, work your way up from a nobody to an NFL star to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But your actions on and off the field will have an impact on your career. The running, passing and defensive game is top-notch, plus veteran gamers will notice some tweaks to the already solid control. The Wii version takes advantage of the motion-sensing remote. Add multiple game modes such as the Mini-Camp skill-based games and head-to-head Internet support and you've got near pigskin perfection, once again.