XSN Launches
September 2, 2003

August 28, 2003 marked the release of the first party football title, NFL Fever 2004. While this may not seem important, it also marked the launch of Microsoft’s XSN service.

XSN Sports is designed to link the Xbox, Xbox Live and personal computers. The first question asked would obviously be “how?” Simply put, XSN is based around the Website http://www.XSNsports.com. Through this service, gamers can set up tournaments, leagues, and analyze scouting reports.

The league feature takes the popular Internet concept of fantasy football to the next step. Through XSN, gamers can set up leagues that feature password protected games and their own personalized page that tracks stats. You can initiate trades, check stats, and check standings since the site updates these stats every 15 minutes.

"XSN Sports will revolutionize sports video games as we know them," said Ed Fries, corporate vice president of Xbox games publishing at Microsoft. "The ability to create customized leagues and tournaments among your group of friends, where the competition truly matters, is the breakthrough sports gamers have been waiting for."

XSN Sports Titles

In addition to "NFL Fever 2004," XSN Sports features a robust lineup of Xbox-exclusive titles launching this fall, including these:

• Top Spin The complete tennis experience that allows gamers to experience intense, realistic tournament competition features 16 of the world's greatest tennis stars including Pete Sampras, Anna Kournikova and Lleyton Hewitt.

• Amped 2 The sequel to the popular extreme sport title on Xbox now includes more rendered real mountains, new combo and style tricks, and multiplayer modes.

• NBA Inside Drive 2004 The ultimate hoops experience now features new cover athlete Shaquille O'Neal and revamped offensive and defensive schemes.

• Links 2004 The most realistic golf series on the PC has been specially designed for Xbox and is set to make its console debut.

• NHL Rivals 2004 The first hockey title created by Microsoft for Xbox features Steve Yzerman as the cover athlete and the ultimate hockey experience.

Reported By: Nick Arvites