I've always thought that sports games sell next-gen systems. It gives an easy bar to measure the quality of the graphics against. It's something relatable to most people and everyone is always pushing towards the most "realistic" looking graphics possible. Sports games are inherently co-op, usually offering offline co-op for gamers to team up against the computer. We typically only list sports games in our database that have explicit co-op modes; like online franchises, leagues or second screen stuff designed to be played against the computer.

The second blast of next-gen is here, with Microsoft's Xbox One launching this Friday in many territories. Along with it comes quite a few cooperative titles. But don't worry, there's a lot of other games if you aren't ready to jump onto the next-gen train yet.

Second screen co-op seems to be one of those next-gen features that everyone wants to implement, but nobody is really sure if they are going to stick and take off. While not a traditional form of co-op play, these modes allow a one or more additional players to utilize a tablet or phone to somehow enhance the primary player's experience. The latest game to give this a shot is Madden NFL 25 from EA Sports on the Xbox One.

The latest Madden NFL '11 title update has brought a nice throwback in the controls for the Madden fans in the room, and a lot of general tweaks and fixes for the rest of us. First on the list is the return to classic madden controls, followed closely by camera improvements, team jersey fixes, among a whole long list of other fixes.

Are you ready for some football? Madden is back this year with a whole bunch of new gameplay systems to bring you closer to the gridiron. Among those is a three player co-op mode called online Teamplay. Is this year's Madden the best ever, or are we going to have to punt and wait for next year?

We have to admit, Madden NFL 2010 having co-op was pretty exciting - we don't seem to get enough sports games without playing against other people. This year, Madden NFL 2011 sort of did away with the literal co-op, but not completely. EA Sports is calling this new mode "Online Team Play," and it has its own comp stomp co-op option.

  It's our first sports game review of the site, and up for grabs is Madden NFL 10. The game promises an online co-op mode for two players. We promise our review isn't filled with too many football cliches, but really, how could we not at least use some? ...

I've been hitting the gridiron, almost nightly, in Madden NFL 10's co-op mode.  We'll be having a full review of that later this week, but until then you'll want to check out GameTrailer's coverage of the mode.