Tick, tock, tick, tock... On August 13th, the football video game wars begin!

SEGA(R) of America, Inc. today announced that "SEGA Sports(TM) NFL 2K3" for the PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment system and the Xbox(TM) video game system will ship on August 13, 2002. The launch marks the simultaneous retail debut of "SEGA Sports NFL 2K3" and EA's "Madden NFL 2003," and the start of what promises to be the most heated football video game season the industry has ever seen.

Pre-game analysis points to "SEGA Sports NFL 2K3" as the favorite, with SEGA's pro football sim hailed as "Best Sports Game," in the "Game Critics

Awards: Best of E3 2002," beating out "Madden NFL 2003." Similarly, "SEGA Sports NFL 2K3" was also voted the Best Sports Game at E3 2002 on both PlayStation(R)2 and Xbox(TM) in the "IGN Best of E3 2002 Awards."

Launching with online capabilities for PlayStation 2 and Xbox, "SEGA Sports NFL 2K3" is ready for its best season yet, set to compete on all three platforms. "SEGA Sports NFL 2K3" will launch on the Nintendo GameCube(TM) on August 20, 2002.