I first played video sports games on my 1981 Intellivision, so it's safe to say that I've witnessed the evolution of the gaming experience. Back in the day, you were lucky if your videogame console had a basketball, baseball, or an auto racing game to play. In today’s fast paced videogame world, there are sometimes 4-5 options of sports games within one particular genre. So, what’s next? There’s certainly no "cap" in sight for further developments for sports games and I believe there are even greater things to come in the next several years.

Let’s start off by taking a look at the major sports titles out there. I see the online components improving the most as these software companies develop them. Yes, we can continue to enhance graphics to show mud stains on baseball cleats, but wouldn’t you rather be able to play franchise mode with a group of friends or in a community online? This feature still has yet to be available for any of the major sports titles out there -- though it is on the horizon (NCAA Football). I would envision something along the lines where you play a full season with your favorite team in one of these communities and advance through playoffs etc. as the season progresses. For example, you play in an online Pac-10 basketball division with 9 other friends and go head-to-head on weekly games. If you win the Pac-10 you then get entered into an online community of 64 teams for March Madness.

For a game like FIFA Soccer, as popular as soccer is around the world, I would see an online gaming universe where a team of US gamers play against a team of Italian gamers. How sweet would that be? As we have seen with ESPN's coverage of 'Madden Nation,' there is a community out there for sports gamers who are interested in testing their skills beyond their group of friends. Online community sports universes seem like the next big step in going beyond just playing random people online.

I also believe that gamers love authenticity of sports, especially when they are passionate about the real-life counterpart. For example, a new sports game of choice might be a Hydroplane game that features current and old boats. Who wouldn’t want to race the Miss Budweiser hydroplane again? OK so maybe I'm in the minority, but from the looks of it, this game is already in the mindsets of some gamers.

Other sports games that perhaps are less mainstream but still would be cool to see in some form might be: badminton, archery, or a "park" sports game comprised of hacky sack, Frisbee, horse shoes, bocce ball, and so forth where you collect points with your team or compete against buddies online. On the less "sim" side of the spectrum, the immensely popular LEGO Star Wars games clearly have a niche, so how about LEGO Football where you tackle your opponent and they explode into small pieces?

Some of these ideas are probably already in developments at the EA Sports and 2K Sports of the world, so let’s hope these fantasies become a reality.

But what worries me about the future of sports gaming? More exclusive deals like the one forged between the NFL and EA Sports until 2012. 2K Sports had the best football game out there and now we are forced to only play Madden. Now who's then able to put pressure on Tiburon to develop a better game? I also see more and more advertising in videogames that is starting to clog up the in-game action. Advertising inevitably was headed in this direction with declining revenue from TV ads; however, let’s hope the guys at these software companies don’t completely cave into the big dollars out there. After all, does Snickers really have anything to do with your kickoff coin flip in Madden?

My other hope/prediction may be a scary proposition for some, but it would be great if some of these games were scaled back a bit in terms of complexity of controls. For example, the simulation baseball games have become almost impossible for the novice to pick up and enjoy from the start. What made the Wii so popular, beyond its interactiveness? Intuitive controls.

Overall, I look forward to the future of video sports games and what lies ahead. Maybe some day I’ll be able to race the 1984 Miss Budweiser hydroplane online against a Swedish guy who has a supped up boat or play a soccer match in a local pub against a raucous group of Irish hooligans.