Sony Launches Online Sports Game Portal

Thanks to CNET News for their article discussing Sony's attempts to attract PS2 online sports players with a new portal. According to the site: "The new version of 989SportsOnline.com is set to launch Aug. 26 to coincide with the release of the football game 'NFL GameDay 2004'. The online service will feature message boards, tournaments, downloadable rosters and player rankings, and will let people who use a PS2 headset conduct voice chats." This further muddies the waters for online sports players, as "Electronic Arts, the independent publisher that dominates sports gaming, is putting all its online sports titles on the PS2 this year... EA has refused thus far to support Xbox Live for its sports games, citing concerns about the business model. Microsoft has its own sports lineup, XSN Sports, that also offers online play and lets people access message boards and player rankings." Which platform/online sports service is going to come out on top?

Comments

Re:Obviously Fanboy

[Acidic_Diarrhea]

"No one gives a horses ass about EA, if they need a football game, theres another 3 choices out there. Its the uniques that grab people's attention -- final fantasy, GTA3, etc..."

I own a PS2 and, while I evaluate the crop of football games each year, the Madden series is one of my favorites. You appear to be a casual fan of football games, which is fine, but the hardcore player will seek out the best game - which in the past three years has been Madden. I do not give a horse's ass about Final Fantasy about would never ever consider buying a console simply because of something Square released. You may also want to take a look at some sales figures and realize that sports games are very popular sellers and EA's work, specifically in football (WSB 2K3 is the best baseball game), is one of the top sellers across all genres. Don't confuse what grab's your attention with what the majority of people are looking for.

Re:Obviously Fanboy

[Acidic_Diarrhea]

You obviously haven't done your research. Madden is out for more than one console but one of the sellings points of the PS2 version is that it will be the only online playable version. So that is how Madden can affect a buyer's choice of console, even though you stated that "it "wouldn't."

NFL 2K3 is not better than Madden 2003.