This year Madden, a Super Bowl-winning coach and Emmy award-winning broadcaster, has some company in the game. For the first time ever in a video football game, Madden NFL 2001 incorporates coaches into the mix with the exclusive NFL Coaches Club license. Now coaches can be seen on the sidelines, and will give unique coaching strategies for each team.

“CyberScan” technology will also be utilized in the PlayStation 2 console version. EA caught up with the coaches at the owners meeting this spring in Florida and digitized their faces using scans from numerous high-resolution cameras. The technology helps unlock the awesome graphics potential of this new system.

Also for the PC CD, the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 console versions of the game, the coaches were recorded yelling “encouragement” to their players and offering the referees “advice” on how to best call the game.

New for this year’s Madden are player models that show a whole new level of detail. Wristbands, visors, facemasks, turf tape and elbow pads exist and are player specific so that each player has the same equipment in the game they use in the real NFL.

Always a leader in the area of realistic gameplay, the weight and height of each player is factored into collisions to help determine how much ground a ball carrier gains as the tackle is made. A small defensive back will have a tough time knocking a big bruising fullback down. On the flip side, the lighter and quicker wide receivers will be able to shake a linebacker during a pass route if the linebacker is forced to cover the receiver due to a blown assignment.