I never thought I'd be saying this (I have played and beaten every Madden
game since the original), but there's a new king of the gridiron hill on
this fine day, and its name is Gameday. Simply put, this game rocks! It
has virtually every aspect and nuance of the game I've been looking for
all my life. I picked it up earlier this afternoon (for $9.99+tax at EB
after trading in 5 SNES games) and have been playing it all day (I called
out from work sick for this, he he). The following is my semi-full review.
Some of the main options include whether or not you want injuries (think
about this carefully- I lost Aikman in the first quarter against the Jets
(?!?) due to a separated shoulder-he didn't return and I lost the game. It
was a post pattern pass play and everyone was covered so I decided to run
Aikman upfield. He was leveled by Marvin Jones and that was that), the
type of weather (snow, wind, rain, sunny), quarter length (2 minutes, 5,
10, 15), and sound on/off. You can customize the game controllers to your
own personal specifications if you like (I didn't). 
All of the NFL teams are here with complete and up to date rosters (yes,
Deion is on Dallas). Some of the rookies and lesser players don't have
pictures under their bio screens (it just says "rookie" or "photo not
available"), but the vast majority do. You can even make trades on a
player for player basis. You can make substitutions throughout the game on
a position by position basis if you like. This means that if your safety
is being blown away by his coverage man time after time, you can bench him
and sub someone who has a better chance. The possibilities are endless.
Graphics: simply outstanding! From the t.v. like rendered intro to the
fact that each player faithfully approximates his real life counterpart
visually, this game has it all. Each stadium is fully rendered and
complete with banners hanging over the walls. If you select rain the field
actually begins to become muddy and you see more dropped passes than
usual. There are about four or five camera angles, but I really didn't
experiment with any beyond the default one. You have a clear field of
vision and can pretty much see everything unfolding around you.
Sounds: Wow! Every pop, grunt, whistle and cheer is there. If you're
playing at home and find your defense getting backed onto its heels, the
crowd actually tries to motivate you with chants of "Defense! Defense!".
After you score or if you're driving offensively, you can hear the crowd
bang the drums to the intro of "We Will Rock You". During the rain, you're
treated to occasional booms of thunder and flashes of lightening.
Gameplay: This makes or breaks a sports game, and Gameday delivers. The
controls and overall gameplay actually seemed a bit sluggish at first, but
then I realized it was due to the damned Sony joypad. I used my Mad Catz
pad and the control improved (for me at least). Gameplay was still
relatively sluggish compared to Madden on Genesis, but it was nothing that
took away from the game. You control every aspect of your offense and
defense. You can set three audible plays (ala Madden) and cycle through a
variety of plays on offense and defense. Each offensive play is designed
for a particular player (the info is given onscreen) as the primary
receiver. Each of the buttons on the joypad correspond to a different
receiver, so passing is pretty much dropping back and looking for the open
man to throw to. Once the ball is released you have the option of pressing
the "catch" button, which enhances your player's ability to catch the
ball. If you take control of your receiver before the ball is caught, you
must turn him toward the ball in order for him to be able to catch it.
Otherwise it ricochets off his back (just like real life).
I had a helluva time figuring out how to kick field goals and aim punts,
but this is a skilled aspect of the game and I'll no doubt improve as I
play more. 
This game totally rules! I might have forgotten some stuff, so if there's
anything you want to know more about, just email me and I'll get back to
you as soon as possible. So far, this is THE must buy PS game of the year.
- MTB Freak