In this sense, I think that the dev teams behind sports games could do more to help people learn the fundamentals of the game. Yes, I understand that Madden Training Camp is good for some people to learn the timing of the game, but what if your knowledge of football extends to the following: passing a ball, some guy runs and avoids people, and if he's lucky, he gets six points? Does that mean that this potential customer should be excluded from play, because he or she doesn't know a lot about football, and the technicalities of the game are poorly laid out, year after year?

Wouldn't EA's global Rugby 08 sales be better if someone would explain to rugby-ignorant Americans exactly what in the hell a scrum is, and why the NFL's ancestor has these rules, so that they can kill everyone with the All Blacks? I think that the attitude that new customers might not be worth courting for popular genres is a dangerous one for the industry.

This all comes to mind as we approach another wave of big sports titles this month. Madden's been in stores for over a month, hockey games a few weeks, NBA titles are out this week (let's see if reader AG's wishes have come true with NBA 2K8), and FIFA hits next week in North America. Amidst all of the talk about manager and franchise modes, 1080p visuals, 60 frames per second (maybe not on PS3 this year, EA), increased animations, and ridiculous online multiplayer options, I ask what publishers and developers are doing to win over new fans.

A screen from Winning Eleven 8, which had a great tutorial for anyone who never played soccer. Too bad it's gone now.

I don't feel like I'm seeing much from anyone, and it's disappointing to see that the idea of an accessible sports game has to be solely confined to the Wii, instead of expanded to other consoles. Why not add something to Madden that ensures that someone from another country could eventually learn how American football works? Why not make a soccer game that breaks everything down, the way that Winning Eleven used to, but has now scrapped? "You have to have been playing it for years" isn't a good enough excuse anymore, especially considering that it's not as though next-gen systems don't have storage space to create a menu to teach people to play the damn game.

What do you think? Some of you have written in with extensive ideas for what game developers can do to make sports games better, but do you think that they're too inaccessible for, say, people who usually play FPS or action games?

In the meantime, it's a very, very busy week here at the 'Spy, so I'm cutting my usual long-winded rant short. However, I've already got my next edition on deck. Consider this: the Sixaxis is the first of a long line of gaming peripherals that will hit obsolescence once the Dual Shock 3 hits. It will go down in history alongside the first PlayStation controller and the PS2 hard drive as an "Uh..." moment. For the record, I feel the same way about the GBA/GameCube connector (an experiment in good intentions failing) and the Xbox 360 wireless headset. What are some of your favorite crash n' burns among gaming accessories and peripherals? I'll publish the best and brightest and we'll get some dialogue going!



[State of the Station is written by Sterling McGarvey, whose eyes are already starting to glaze over after mapping out the release schedule from now til' Christmas. Want to send him words of support or ridicule at his lack of sports game skills? Do it here! Also, if you're interested in joining GameSpy's Folding@home efforts, join Group 64100.]