Oh, ha blinking ha. Unless you have been living in a cave, or perhaps on a small island off the southern coast with no communication devices, you know the rugby world has descended on our little nation.
You may even have heard the gaming industry has clamoured to get its own slice of the increasingly commercialised pie.
Four years since the last rugby game of any sort, there are two on the market at the same time.
Apparently it's quite good. I can neither confirm nor deny, as a review copy has only just arrived.
The game I received last week was the official Rugby World Cup 2011 release, which has received much less advance hype and much more post-release criticism.
Sidhe said the official RWC game was a little boring, and limited in comparison with its rival.
However, it seems to me that might be a little unkind.
RWC 2011 is completely fine.
It's not particularly sexy or jaw-droppingly original, but it's a fun game that really does nothing wrong.
The game is based on EA's Rugby 08 and instantly feels familiar.
It looks it, too, with the graphics looking decent but not exactly next-generation sizzling.
Gameplay is smooth and quick without being frenzied, with the buttons nicely mapped to the pass-kick-tackle controls.
Multiple offloads and quick throw-ins keep the action moving.
Options include one-off tests, quick tours or the full Rugby World Cup. And, ahem, a placekicking competition, which I'm afraid is just completely unnecessary. It would have been nice to have had a bigger career mode.
The RWC game did not manage to get the official licences for the All Blacks or the Wallabies.
So you have this unusual situation where one game has the World Cup but not its two best teams, while the other game has the two top teams but not the tournament.
Still, RWC has a very simple player-editing tool, and you can be running around as Richie and Dan in no time. And the game does have official licences for the Springboks, the Six Nations sides, Argentina and Fiji.
No rugby game will ever compete with titles like Fifa or Madden, because they simply don't receive the same attention.
But RWC 2011 is a very good effort. And hey, it will be nice to know you can control New Zealand's destiny in your own living room.
Rugby World Cup 2011
From: HB Studios
For: Xbox 360, PS3
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
