NEWS - Wednesday, May 14, 2003
XSN Sports
Game producers go all out to build sports titles that are steeped in realism and provide an outlet for gamers’ competitive urges. However, compared to the real world of sports, the intensity of cyber sports competition has been, for the most part, confined to your living room. But, now, you can be a big fish in almost any size pond. Microsoft Game Studios has announced that, this August, it will unleash XSN Sports, a sports video game juggernaut that promises to lift competition to new peaks. How? By giving you games that have consequences. Until now, except for bragging rights on the sofa, it didn’t really matter whether you won or lost when playing a sports game. XSN Sports is the first lineup of Xbox games that will allow sports gamers to compete against real people in real leagues and real tournaments. With an XSN Sports game, you’ll develop real rivalries, while competing for world-wide recognition. You’ll Make the Most of Xbox Live When you play an XSN Sports game in your own league on Xbox Live, the results of the game will be posted for the world to see on XSNsports.com. The web site will import and display the results from your Xbox Live performance. You can access your scores, stats, and rankings from anywhere in the world, as long as you have an Internet connection. The XSN Sports logo is your assurance that a game will be as authentic and fully-featured as any sports title on the market. It will be easy to learn, deeply involving, and have extended playability—whether you are playing online or off. But, to exploit the full power of XSN Sports games, you’ll want make the most of your Xbox Live service and sign up to compete via XSNsports.com. Those who do will find themselves at the center of a new sports world—a virtual 24/7, sports competition universe. There are plans for numerous XSN Sports titles, with six games scheduled to reach retail outlets in the lineup’s first year. Other titles are under development, but details have yet to be announced. Speculation abounds as to which sports will be added to the XSN Sports lineup. In addition to following your own performance, you will be able to track stats for your league, tournament, teams, or players; obtain insider information about each XSN Sports title; and communicate with players like yourself, who are bent on world domination. Eventually, you should even be able to stay abreast of the action in your league or tournament via cell phone or email alerts. NFL Fever 2004 will be the first XSN Sports title to hit store shelves in August. NBA Inside Drive 2004, Top Spin, Amped 2, NHL Rivals 2004, and Links 2004 are also scheduled for rollout during this first season. All of them will offer real competition against real people via Xbox Live and XSNsports.com. Access to XSNsports.com and its league/tournament services will be free with the purchase of any XSN Sports title, as long as you have an active subscription to Xbox Live. Competition Beyond the Game XSN Sports is about more than tracking stats. XSN Sports will give you the highest level of competition possible. The goal is simple: creation of a sports gaming vortex with you at the center. This is competition that goes well beyond the typical sports-game-in-a-box. It is one thing to commandeer bragging rights among a few people in front your television set. It is another thing entirely to go on Xbox Live and kick enough rear to earn real bragging rights and then read about it on XSNsports.com. Carve out a place among the best of the best, and you could earn a spot in one of the national tournaments planned for the opening season of XSN Sports. You can become a legend by concentrating all your efforts on one game, say Top Spin, a tennis game made by the folks who spawned Amped and now Amped 2. Or, you could broaden your skills and putt your way to the elite level of cyber golf by focusing on Links 2004. The ways you will able to compete via Xbox Live and XSNsports.com are too numerous to fully catalog in the space provided, but word has it that versatility will be a virtue among XSN Sports stars. XSNsports.com is expected to track players’ performances across multiple games to bestow recognition and rewards on those who excel at more than one sport. You’ll be able to compete across several XSN Sports titles, say NFL Fever 2004, NBA Inside Drive 2004, and NHL Rivals 2004. Or, if you’re ambitious and highly dexterous, you can earn a place among the truly elite with stellar performance in all XSN Sports games. The choice is yours. The only certainty is that the sports gaming world will never be the same. Announced XSN Sports Titles- NFL Fever 2004: The third version of the groundbreaking NFL title from Microsoft Game Studios.
- NBA Inside Drive 2004: The next generation of the heralded NBA game, featuring Shaquille O’Neal.
- NHL Rivals 2004: The cool new hockey game from Microsoft Game Studios.
- Amped 2: The second installment of the award-winning freestyle snowboarding game.
- Links 2004: The best known and most popular golf game in the PC world tees it up on the Xbox.
- Top Spin: The new tennis title designed and created by the folks who brought you Amped and the Links series.
Source: http://www.xbox.com/
