As in many other industries, timing is everything. As the final drive for Hockey's Stanley Cup starts, Microsoft Game Studios announced its first hockey title for the Xbox which will be called "NHL Rivals 2004." NHL Rivals 2004 will join an already crowded selection of hockey titles on the Xbox platform. We recently took at look at the selection of Xbox hockey titles in our article titled, "A Tale Of Three Hockey Titles For Xbox" .

According to Microsoft, NHL Rivals 2004 will have all the modes of play that hockey fans want including single game, playoff mode, season mode and online play via the Xbox Live service. In addition, "NHL Rivals 2004" will showcase a variety of features including:

* An advanced stick-placement system with unique moves and countermoves to make the face-off as important in the game as it is in the NHL.

* An in-depth Tournament Mode allowing gamers to set up an 8, 10, 12, or 16 team round-robin knockout tournament.

* A challenging Rivalry Mode that instantly puts gamers into a grudge match between historic rival teams like the Canadiens vs. Maple Leafs.

* Unique player roles including Snipers, Enforcers and Agitators offer gamers a chance to experience different aspects of the NHL game. Each player will have special moves indicative of their role on the ice.

Microsoft claims that Hockey fans will be able to settle old grudge matches and create new rivalries online using Xbox Live. Gamers will be able to track individual and team stats, leader boards and win/loss records as well as support cooperative, team, ranked and non-ranked play. Of course since NHL Rivals 2004 will be Xbox Live enabled, gamers will be able to download quarterly roster updates, All-Star game rosters and updated player ratings.

While NHL Rivals 2004 is scheduled to hit store shelves in the Fall. Microsoft does have some stiff competition in the form of other hockey title franchises that are already better established for the Xbox. While some of the features do sound unique, it is going to take a lot to gain the attention of Xbox hockey fans. Of course the addition of Xbox Live support will of course help due to the fact that currently neither the NHL series from EA Sports and the NHL Hitz series from Midway do not offer on line play. Since I am a hard core hockey fan, I will be following the development of NHL Rivals 2004 with great interest. Let's hope that we are at least able to get a little sneak peek of NHL Rivals 2004 during E3.