The latest edition of fact or fiction comes your way featuring Erik "Ralbot" Westfall and Patrick "BigWill33" Williams chiming in on issues ranging from a lack of sliders in FIFA to the Pittsburgh Penguins and everything in between. Check out what these two guys agreed and disagreed about in our five question fact or fiction extravaganza!

1)The Pittsburgh Penguins are a great long term investment option if you are playing a franchise in NHL 08.

Patrick Williams - FACT: The Pens have a ton of young talent that are under 22 years of age. The roster has alot of offensive potential, and the goalie of tomorrow, today!

There are a ton of potential trade possibilties to make for this team too. From a GM's perspective you could trade one of the many centers for defensive depth; you can dump Gonchar's heavy salary for a stay at home big hitter if you package him correctly because Whitney is capable of scoring some major points from the blueline himself, making Gonchar expendable.

You might say the Pens have the biggest upside in the NHL and in the game. You would have to do alot wrong to not succeed with them long term.

Erik Westfall - FACT: With one of the younger rosters in the game, you really can't go wrong with that investment. They're only a couple free agents away from being a top-tier team and with how some of their young threats are rated, you can't help but enjoy progressing with them.

2)The roster update for NHL 08 is inexcusably late.

Patrick Williams - FICTION: I know, I know, I was complaining as much as anyone last year about this same thing. But while it is very disappointing, and has many gamers shelving the title until the update happens, there are technically excuses. In a perfect world, one that I strive for, I would love to see up to the hour updates. If someone is traded, released, retires etc. then it should be in the game that day. There is no excuse in my mind to not have this by now, but I am not the be all end all in determining these things.

Perhaps what would have been better, is release several smaller updates by now. One for just the NHL and then later ones for the AHL etc. Last year I was the person that couldn't start my franchise without Malkin, Staal and Letang on my team -- I know how Blackhawk fans feel this year. I know how everyone feels, there aren't many bigger fans of the series and hockey than myself.

So yes, there are excuses that are viable. Do they suit me and other people wanting these rosters about a month ago? Not really.

Erik Westfall - FICTION: This one's a no brainer. There are times when we can chalk a delay up to laziness but this isn't one of them. Because players in the AHL aren't supported by the NHLPA as a general whole, each player has to sign a waiver to be included in the roster update. Now here's where things get really tricky. Would you rather have fully accurate rosters (which we always gripe that they're not) or a slight delay in starting that franchise you've always wanted to run. I don't know about you, but I'd go with the former.

3)The lack of sliders in FIFA is the worst move by EA this gaming season.

Patrick Williams - FICTION: The worst move by EA this gaming season was Madden NFL 08 and the major flaws in that title that make franchise mode virtually unplayable. EA does have a wonderful knack for removing things that worked, and worked well, in the past. The sliders in FIFA, and alot of their games are just another example of this.

I am not sure of the reasons behind this move. Perhaps the game didn't play well with sliders, or they wanted to appeal to a broader audience. Regardless, it once again has gamers saying "maybe next year."

Erik Westfall - FICTION: With games that have been lambasted this season, most notably Madden, by the sports gaming community as a whole, there's little to no way you can actually argue a lack of sliders are the worst decision. Some would argue Madden is unplayable. FIFA can be played without adjustable sliders. End of story.

4)Sports text-sims can work if done on a console.

Patrick Williams - FICTION: Certainly not any time soon. The price points would be too high and controller based navigation would ruin the experience for many. Another dilemma is the ease which updates and patches can be released for computers. Not so with consoles. You have to go through Sony or Microsoft and that takes time. It is also harder to develop for those consoles, where as PCs are much easier. You can download whole games and pay online instantaneously on your PC. Sure, down the line it appears this will happen, but I would bet it will be a good while before we see it.

Erik Westfall - FACT: This 'Fact' comes with a caveat though. They'll work and be functional but without a question, these will only sell if they're sold at the lower price of the downloadable games. The production cost of the game as well as actually stocking stores would be too much for these games as they're really more of a niche game than a mainstream one. They'd sell copies either way but $10-15 would be a much more reasonable price to get gamers who aren't familiar with the type of title to try the game out.

5)2K Sports' College Hoops 2K8 will far surpass March Madness 08 just like NBA 2K8 did to NBA Live 08.

Patrick Williams - FACT: You mean it didn't already? Does anyone still play March Madness? 2K seems to know its basketball pretty well, and the game plays pretty well. I do think they take a lot less heat than EA, but then again alot of what EA faces is brought on by themselves. March Madness almost needs to be blown up and redone. The gameplay is so far behind already that only a restart may fix the problem.

Erik Westfall - FICTION: While it is true that games can be heads and shoulders above their competition, in the case of most sports games, the gap is closing. Companies are being forced to pay attention to their fans responses and have to adjust in kind. As this happens, companies learn and adjust and make these games as competitive as possible.