Set to launch at the end of 2007 (they’d better hurry), Empire of Sports will initially feature tennis, skiing, bobsleigh, athletics and basketball (11-a-side soccer was slated for a 2008 release). We recently had a chance to test out the tennis and skiing games, both of which felt natural to play; sitting somewhere between arcade accessibility and realism, with the bias slanting slightly towards arcade action. While the skiing felt rather rudimentary, the tennis game possessed far greater potential and proved more challenging and entertaining, though the controls did take a while to get used to.

If you can't wait for the full game to appear, you can sign up for Empire of Sport’s beta test at the game’s website.