Online sports gamers from across the land can rejoice that sports-game developers are finally noticing their kind when it comes to game development. This year brought a flurry of new online options for gamers, from the EASHL in NHL 09, to Online Dynasty in NCAA Football 09, to playing five-on-five games in NBA 2K9. Game development studios have begun to really hit the online feature-sets rather hard.

The best effort this year, according to our staff at OS, involves a feature that took sports games one step closer to one day being fully online. As one OS staffer puts it, the feature was able to, "draw you into the game and make it interesting." For many, the feature forever changed how they will play sports games.

The Operation Sports Online Experience of the Year Award Goes To: EASHL in NHL 09

Staff Comments

Jack Hoeffel: I completely agree with this choice. EASHL was a huge advancement for online sports games, and it was able to draw me into the game and make it interesting to me, which, considering the last NHL game I played was NHL 2001, means a lot. The game really made you feel as though you not only had a specific role on the team, but given the fast pace of hockey, it also made you feel like you were constantly involved.

Christian McLeod: I voted for Online Dynasty mode in NCAA Football 09.

As much fun as EASHL was, being able to play a full 30-year NCAA dynasty against my old college roommates, friends who have long since moved away, and CPU controlled teams, was an experience unlike any other. There is no better feeling in a sports game than getting that commitment from the 5-star RB recruit that all of your buddies have been salivating about, and then having the kid run all over them during the next season.

Bottom line is that, while NHL 09's online Be a Pro/EASHL mode is awesome, NCAA's Online Dynasty gives you ownership over building an NCAA program -- not just a single player like in EASHL -- and that leads to some epic showdowns with friends. The mode is the ultimate online sports competition.

EASHL relies on teamwork and camaraderie if you want to succeed. The Online Dynasty mode is all about an individual making his or her team the best in the land. It is fun working as a team online, but there is nothing better than smashing your buddies into the ground for four straight years with the second coming of Tim Tebow.

Jayson Young: EA's NCAA and NHL franchises deserve major credit this year for introducing the sports genre to two groundbreaking modes, EASHL and Online Dynasty. I have a feeling these features will make their way into the majority, if not all, of the major sports games next season.

The deciding factor for me this year was that NCAA just did not play a very good game of football to begin with, and no amount of frills or features could keep the game engine from feeling stale and antiquated.

Granted, EA’s NHL engine is far from perfect -- I actually prefer 2K’s NHL engine in key areas like the goalie play and puck physics -- but giving users the ability to take out the terrible A.I. players and replace them with human players went a long way towards solving the gameplay problems that made NHL’s normal head-to-head modes just as boring and frustrating to play as NCAA’s head-to-head games.

That said, there are two things that really elevated NHL’s new online mode over the types of "team play" that were offered in a few other games this year:

1. It let gamers control a persistent online persona.

2. It created a team-play system that promotes parity and teamwork rather than powerhouse teams and superstar players.

I hope to see other sports-game developers follow that same blueprint for their '10 versions of online team play.

Matthew DiStaulo: I have to say that Tiger Woods got shafted for not even being included in the poll. It is truly one of the best online experiences, and the best part is that you do not need a group of people to make it enjoyable. The GamerNet integration in the single-player game serves as a great way to cross between the online and offline worlds while feeding into that Xbox Live Achievement addiction -- just with the Achievements made by real-world people. If that is not enough, the way that EA fixed the tedious online play by having all golfers swing at the same time truly provides the online experience of the year in my book.

Readers' Choice Award

The OS readers were not nearly as divided as our staff was on the issue of what game deserved to be awarded with the best online experience of the year. The margin was rather wide between NCAA Football 09's Online Dynasty mode and NHL 09's EASHL, with the other three nominees being a very distant third, fourth and fifth in the balloting.

Online Dynasty = sweetness to our readers.

Winner: Online Dynasty mode in NCAA Football 09

Voting Results: Online Dynasty - NCAA Football 09 (43.81%), EASHL - NHL 09 (33.19%), Team Up - NBA 2K9 (11.50%)

Reader Comments: Has to be Online Dynasty. -- dislimb

NCAA 09 Online Dynasty by far, but I would also have to give a shout out to NBA Live 365. -- Candyman5

EASHL has potential, but needs a lot of work, so it makes some level of sense. NCAA Online Dynasty wins it. -- adembroski

I voted for Online Dynasty. League play probably should have been in there instead of Team Up mode for NBA 2K9 -- check out the thread in the NBA 2K League section to see how awesome it is. -- muggins