We've gotta know the industry landscape first before we get into our sports sweet spot (no pun intended for all you baseball fans). The following are the organizations that have all of the relevant t "starter" info. that we need such as who's playing, how long they're playing, and what else players like.

The Entertainment Software Association- The good ol' ESA for short. It's the business association for video and computer game publishers. What we really care about on their site right now is the Facts & Research page, that'll give us all of our demographic or who, what, where, why, and how info. on gamers.

The Definitive Guide Videogame Marketing and PR- This is written by Chris Kramer, Sr. Director of Communications for Capcom, USA, so I guess he knows what he's talking about. :) No really, it's an excellent guide not on only videogame marketing and PR but on marketing and PR on a non-video game scale as well. It makes sense and it's written in a non-technical way, so it's easy and quick to read.

Wikipedia on Video Game Culture- This is Wikipedia's info. on how the culture has affected pop culture. It gives a pretty good overview on how it has embedded itself with TV and music, and how the demographic of gamers has changed over the years. An interesting read.

OK. Let's down to the nitty gritty. This section is why we came here in the first place. Here goes...

Sports Games- This is what Wikipedia (I like that site a lot, can't you tell) has to say about the history and types of sports games that are and have been out there. This was a trip down memory lane for me for the fact that my brother and I owned a lot of these games. Ahh, the memories.

SportsGamer.com- This site is owned by CNET, the everything electronics folks. Even though this site is primarily for gamers, I'll list it here because it gives some really good game tips and because it does have some sports game industry news from time to time. It's REALLY focused.

I'm sure that you noticed that the above section is I'm sure that you noticed that the above section is pretty thin. I haven't been able to find a lot of information on sports games on the web (if you know of some more please let me know).

So we're going to have to get our breaking news from somewhere else. Ironically, we're going to have to go broad again and tap into some general videogame sites and blogs like the ones below.

GamesIndustry.Biz- Another good news site published in Europe. Since the world is so small these days, this doesn't matter. All countries affect on another now. With that being said, it has good international coverage on a lot of the things that GameDaily BIZ covers. Check this one out too for a take with some international flavor.

Gamasutra- The most famous of all of the VG business sites. How do I know? They came up in every search I did for business sites. I know, not very scientific. Anyway, this site focuses more on the technical or product development side of the industry. But their business news is pretty good also. Warning: There is so much content on this site, that you may be overwhelmed.

Next Generation- Yet another news site but with a games release schedule and a job bank.

MCV- A new international news site that I just found about. So far it looks pretty informative. Check it out for yourself.

Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA)- The nonprofit membership organization for gamers. Their mission- empowerment. Membership has its benefits too (sorry AMEX).