Something that I learned over the last couple days surrounding EA' s X360 ports. The ports are only stripped-down versions of the same games currently available on Xbox/PS2/Gamecube. This was initially brought to my attention when I discovered that in NBA Live 2006, you can play only one season with any one team. Apparently the lack of features in the upcoming X360 ports of the EA Sports games done end there and the raping of these games apparently includes all sports games that EA is porting to X360.

Apparently, EA is stripping almost all of the deeper modes and features from the games. Depending on the game, anything from create-a-player, to create-a-team to proper stat-tracking and career modes have been ripped completely from the X360 version of the games. According to EA, these features will be added into later versions of the game. And in the case of some of the lesser features, EA states, " will be made available at some point on the XBL Marketplace." No word yet from EA if these downloads will be free of charge or if you will have to pay for these purchase. Whether EA is now in the business of creating incomplete games, overcharging for them at retail ($60 a pop) and then charging gamers to purchase the missing pieces later, is yet to be seen. However, the bottomline is, what you' ll be paying for at retail will be EA Sports Lite - definitely not the game perspective buyers are expecting.

Seriously, if you are a fan of the EA Sports line, you are actually better off spending the cash and buying them now on the current gen than purchasing them on X360. The only thing you are going to get in the X360 versions of EA Sports games are graphical upgrades. Considering that almost everything else to give sports videogames longevity is being stripped out, plus EA is charging a full $10 more per title (vs. the current gen versions which have all features intact), your better off skipping sports this fall and spending your hard-earned money on any of the other awesome games coming to the X360 launch and waiting until next fall before getting your EA Sports, next generation fix.

These days, with the price of gasoline so high (we all have to work and most of us drive and I know that the pump is already putting a serious hurt on my gaming budget) and the price of games expected to hit $60 each (plus $400 for the systems), being tricked into paying extra for the ' privelidge' of purchasing incomplete software is the last thing a gamer needs.

If you still wish to go ahead and purchase X360 games from the EA Sports line, then by all means be my guest, but the least I felt that I could do is warn as many gamers as possible that they are better off buying the current gen versions if they want all the game features. If in the end you are unsure, there is always Hollywood Video and Gamefly - rent it before you buy it if you have to, but don' t blow your wad on games that can be beaten over the course of a weekend if you don' t have to.

For my part, Kameo, Perfect Dark Zero, Project Gotham 3 and Elder Scrolls: Oblivion have my attention. And now that I have decided against purchasing Madden and Live 06, I can either pocket the extra $120 or spend it on two other games this holiday - probably King Kong and Saint' s Row, both of which are looking pretty awesome.

No matter what you do with your money, consider yourself warned.