As impressive as RS2 is, it should be noted that this is no first-generation game. Last year's Madden was the star of the PlayStation 2 launch library, and this year's game has some visual improvements. The PlayStation 2 version of Madden is further along than the one for GameCube, which currently lacks details such as goal posts. Electronic Arts is clearly building the GameCube code from the PlayStation version as the menus I saw still had PlayStation symbols for marking buttons. That said, it is no surprise that the versions are nearly identical from most camera angles.
Differences do appear, however, when the game camera closes in on players' faces.
While Electronic Arts is making Madden for Microsoft's Xbox as well, the Xbox version is not yet ready for unveiling. This might be a good safety measure as Microsoft's NFL Fever 2002 looks to give Madden a real run for its money. In fact, many of Microsoft's games are shaping up nicely as the company prepares for its fall launch. Halo, a game that I once wrote off as a mistake in Microsoft's marketing, may just be good enough to break the curse that has vexed first-person shooters on video game consoles. With horizons that look more like Roger Dean posters than video game art, Halo looks spectacular.