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Don’t just watch sports on Thanksgiving, participate in them without leaving the couch

By Michael Lafferty

 

Xbox Live-enabled titles allows sports fans the many opportunities this holiday weekend

 

Ah, Thanksgiving! So many memories flooding through, so much to do – like overeat and then fall asleep afterwards watching football on television.

 

But maybe it is time to establish some new traditions. Maybe a rousing game of tennis, or talking to the hardwood for some hoops. You can always play football, if that is one tradition harder to give up than yams or stuffing. The beauty of this is that you can participate in some hard-driving sports action without leaving the couch.

 

Online game play has really become a focus for game developers and publishers who have discovered a community just waiting to test their skills against players from around the world.

 

One of the online franchises that is really bolstering its presence is the Xbox, a next-generation console system from Microsoft. Xbox Live is the ticket to great online sports action, and for this Thanksgiving, we are presenting a handful of titles that should garner some attention from online sport gaming fans.

 

The fall and winter seasons really bring a couple of sports readily to mind.

 

If you are really craving football after turkey, you can always fire up Xbox Live titles like ESPN NFL Football. GameZone.com writer Tim Surette gave this title a rousing recommendation:

 

“ESPN Football offers a different experience from Madden 2004.  It’s a fantastic product and a great sports title, but may not be for everyone.  If you are a technical football junkie, get a copy of Madden 2004.  ESPN Football leans slightly towards the arcade side (but only slightly!) and concentrates a little more on action. 

 

“With Xbox Live support, ESPN Football has a challenger always waiting in the wings.”

 

Code Cowboy, another of GameZone’s writers touted one of the more obvious advantages of the ESPN College Hoops, when he wrote: “If you like College Basketball, you should try this one. There are so many fun extras, you'll forget for a while why you are holding the controller in the first place (basketball!!). Winning the points to unlock the extras makes it more intense. You will WANT to play legend teams. Trust me. This really was created for serious college basketball fans. They thought about what they were doing, and did it-- for the fans of the game.

 

“It's Xbox Live enabled, so you can go online and do a million more things such as download rosters and etc.”

 

Want something to put you more in touch with winter sports? Try out ESPN NHL Hockey.

 

Surette again weighs in that title, stating, “Even amidst this year’s crop of graphically superior hockey titles, ESPN NHL Hockey still stands tall.  The ice looks incredibly realistic and each arena is meticulously detailed from logos to luxury boxes.  Hockey fans are notoriously devout to the sport, and the developers at Kush Games got the player animations just right.  The goalie saves are absolutely incredible, the dekes fake players out of their skates, and the checks are brutal. ESPN NHL Hockey also has the best-looking faces of any Sega Sports title making this the standard for graphical realism.”

 

But what if you want to break away a bit and try some sports that are a little unconventional for the time – like say auto racing. When it comes to racing cars, few titles can compete with Project Gotham Racing 2. With stunning graphical elements, great driving physics and a jazzed-up sound track, this is a title that will blow your doors off. The game uses a kudos-awards system that will allow you to find just the right opponent.

 

But if your mood runs a little more to the refined sports, such as tennis, then Xbox Live has you covered there as well. Measure your forehand smash against your opponent’s backhand power in Top Spin. This game is part of the XSN line of Xbox Live-enabled titles, which means rankings, and tournaments to participate in. You can find players near your own level and serve up some terrific action.

 

There are five reasons to try something a little different this holiday other than laying about trying to imitate a Thanksgiving yam. Of course, broadband is necessary to access the online capabilities of the Xbox, but the nice thing about this is that for the monthly subscription fee, gamers have access to all these venues, and a whole lot more.