Tuesday, both Electronic Arts and Sony announced that their PlayStation football games have shipped. The battle between these two heavyweights has increased in past weeks, with boasting from both parties as to which game is truly the best. A call to the local Electronics Boutique revealed that it had already received its shipments of Madden '98, while GameDay has yet to arrive.

　　Electronic Arts stated in a release today that "according to the market research firm The NPD Group, Madden NFL 97 was the number-one selling video game sold on the PlayStation and Sega Saturn in 1996."

　　SCEA senior director of product marketing, Peter Dille, countered, saying that the company went to NFL training camps to give real players a chance to evaluate its product. "The response was overwhelmingly positive. In fact, the players praised us for our attention to detail, incredibly realistic graphics and flawless gameplay."

　　Sony does have the edge on EA in at least one clear-cut area - price. GameDay '98 retails for US$39.95, whereas Madden carries a suggested retail price of $49.95. Discount retailers are getting into the act, lowering the price of GameDay (and most likely Madden too) by $5. Sports gamers are no doubt going to benefit greatly from the competition between the two titles.

　　Regardless of which game does reign victorious, sports gamers must decide for themselves which game they prefer. An easy way to tell which game is truly the better of the two is to rent both, play them, and decide.

　　Nintendo 64 gamers will have their own head-to-head later this fall when Madden and Acclaim's NFL Quarterback Club '98 vie for the top football slot on that system.