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Every shot from the Masters will be posted online within five minutes
Golf fans who are planning to watch the Masters this weekend will have yet more ways to check out the action. For the first time at a golf tournament, practically every one of the more than 20,000 shots from the first major of the year will be available to view on the Masters website and app within five minutes of a player striking the ball.
Turner had to stream Woods-Mickelson golf event for free due to glitch
Online pay-per-view events are increasingly common, but it's clear they still have some technical hurdles to clear. Turner's Bleacher Report was forced to offer a free stream for a much-hyped one-on-one golf match between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson (simply nicknamed "The Match") when purchasing glitches threatened to prevent paying customers from tuning in on time for the November 23rd event. The company told Variety in a statement that it had taken a "number of steps" to fix the issue, including the free stream to please customers.
Tiger Woods on how technology improved his signature shoe
Nike's endorsement of Tiger Woods, the most prominent face in golf, dates back to when he first began his professional career in 1996. Since then, shoe technology has evolved tremendously, thanks to the development of new design materials that have made footwear lighter and more comfortable. To that end, Nike has introduced the TW '15, Woods' latest signature shoe. Unlike in previous versions, though, this release brings Flyweave technology to the table, a first for golf shoes. For the uninitiated, Flyweave made its debut on basketball shoes last year, with the promise of being lightweight, flexible and stable. All of which are important for golfers, too. But just how much can the TW '15 really help get Tiger Woods back on top? After all, he hasn't won a major tournament since 2008. And, perhaps more importantly, can this $200 sneaker really help the average Joe who wants to take their golf game to the next level? To answer these questions, we spoke to Woods and Nike Senior Director of Athlete Innovation Tobie Hatfield.
EA Sports is divorcing Tiger Woods, teases next-gen PGA game
EA Sports' 15-year relationship with PGA Tour cover athlete Tiger Woods has ended. In a post on the company's blog, Vice President and General Manager of Golf Daryl Holt said that the split was a mutual decision and wished Woods continued success. While this isn't on the scale of, say, separating the Madden name from the firm's NFL games, it's another part of the overall shift going on not only within EA Sports, but EA as a whole. Even without a poster boy, the company is still very much making PGA-licensed games. If you need proof, take a look at the work-in-progress screenshot up above and bask in the warmth of that next-gen sunshine. The firm posted a side-by-side comparison shot, pitting current hardware against what we'll be playing on in the future, and the difference is almost startling enough to make us say, "Tiger who?"
Kinect support explodes, EA Sports, Mass Effect 3, and more hop on board
Kinect is almost as popular for its hacks as it is for actually playing games, but Microsoft and its third party developers are making a hard push for motion and voice-controlled games on the Xbox 360. Popular EA Sports franchises Madden NFL, FIFA World Cup, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour will all join the motion-gaming parade. No longer will you have to punch obscure sequences of buttons to pick plays, you'll actually be able to call out running patterns to your offensive line. Plenty of others are also getting in on the shouting and arm-flailing action, including Mass Effect 3, Forza Motorsport 4, Fable: The Journey, and Ghost Recon -- in fact, we were told, "all future titles in the Tom Clancy franchise will leverage Kinect." Crytek also offered a sneak peak at Ryse, a Roman-era brawler that will have you headbutting the air to take out baddies. Looks like you'll have to start stretching before firing up your console from now on. The following games will also be coming to Xbox 360 with Kinect Support: Minecraft Disneyland Adventures Kinect Star Wars Sesame Street Once Upon a Monster Kinect Fun Labs Kinect Sports: Season 2 Dance Central 2 Update: We've got a slew of demo videos of Kinect Fun Labs after the break -- it's Kinect hacks for the masses! %Gallery-125414% %Gallery-125428%
PlayStation Move review
The PlayStation Move. It's funny to think just 15 months have passed since Sony first unveiled its motion controller, and now we're mere weeks away from hitting the retail market. To be sure, it's not like the company didn't have waggle on the mind already -- patents dating as far back as 2005 reveal as much, and of course the incredible success of Nintendo's Wii proved there's a market for more physically exerting gameplay. And it's not just PlayStation; Microsoft's got its controller-free Kinect motion camera system coming this November. So, in the year where all major game consoles now ask you to get off the couch and earn arm muscle, how does Move fare? Read on for more!
EA Sports to charge used game buyers $10 to unlock basic online multiplayer
Replace the phrase "I want my two dollars" with the slightly more complicated "I want you to pay me more money for a game you bought used, even though we received full price at retail originally," and you'll have a pretty good grasp on the situation here. For a while now game companies have been waging war against used game sales, most recently resorting to DLC unlock codes in games that can only be redeemed once, making the used purchase less attractive. However, EA Sports has escalated this practice right out of the stratosphere with its new "Online Pass" feature. Basically, the original purchaser is bestowed online functionality, added features, and bonus content, out of the kindness of EA's heart (and a fun-to-enter redeem code), while a used buyer will get a 7 day trial of those things, and then have to pony up $10 if they want to keep at it. Yeah, you heard that correctly: you'll have to pay $10 to play FutureMadden: Robots in the Red Zone online if you bought it used. The first title to get this special treatment will be Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11, and after that? Well, we're really hoping this doesn't take off, but the most unfortunate aspect of this diabolical scheme is we really don't see how this could possibly hurt EA's bottom line. Sure, it's evil, but that's never stopped them before.
EA's Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 with Wii MotionPlus now shipping
It may not seem quite as impressive now that Microsoft and Sony have shown off their visions of a motion-controlled future, but Nintendo's Wii MotionPlus is still as good as it gets when it comes to consoles today and, as promised, it's now finally shipping alongside the latest Tiger Woods game. That may not be exactly what Nintendo had in mind when it first unveiled MotionPlus way back at last year's E3, but the first-party wares won't be too far behind, with its own Wii Sports Resort title (and requisite bundle) still on track for a launch late next month. If you're up for a little golf in the meantime, however, you can pick up the Tiger Woods game bundled with Wii MotionPlus for $59.99, or the standalone game (still playable with the standard Wiimote) for $49.99.
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 10 lands in June, comes with MotionPlus
Say it with us now: "Phew!" When Nintendo announced that its Wii MotionPlus dongle would be hitting US shelves on June 8th, we all wondered why Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo's first MotionPlus-enabled title) was set to ship over a month later. Now, EA Sports has relieved worries that early adopters would have no software to use with their new toy by announcing that Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 10 will hit North America on June 15th. Better still, the Wii version will be available with a MotionPlus add-on bundled in for just $10 more than the standalone title (which will run $49.99). As great as all this is, Europeans still come out better, as they'll also see Grand Slam Tennis ship in June with a MotionPlus packed in. Ah well -- it's just a peccadillo, we'll let it slide this time.
Tiger Woods 09 experiments in mobile-to-console gameplay
For players who wrestle with the virtual greens, Electronic Arts has announced a way to better your game while on the go. The newly launched mobile version of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 includes a feature called Console Boost, which (as you might have guessed from the all-too-descriptive title) gives Xbox 360 and PS3 players a stat hike in EA's annual trip to the links.Explains EA Mobile exec Adam Sussman, Console Boost "enables players to improve the skill level of their console character" by storing their mobile triumphs to their online EA account. Depending on the skill level completed in the mobile version, players will see their home version's stats likewise improved, hopefully ensuring a little more time on the fairway and a little less time fishing balls out of water hazards.
Madden, Tiger Woods '08 now available on Apple Store
As a couple of you astute readers have noticed (thanks!), Madden NFL '08 and Tiger Woods PGA Tour '08 are now available on the Apple Store, just a little over a month after they were released for PC and consoles last August. A month isn't too bad for Mac ports-- at least the football season is still going on.I haven't played this year's Madden yet, but I can wholeheartedly vouch for Tiger Woods-- I've been playing the Xbox 360 version of it, and it is some good (if sometimes very difficult, read: frustrating) golf. If you do pick up either game, however, make sure to check your innards first-- neither game will work on Intel's GMA950 graphics processors, found in the MacBook and the Mac mini. If you're boasting a MacBook Pro, a Mac Pro, or a new iMac, you're in the clear, as they use higher end video cards.So there's what EA's got. id, you're next.
From Face Training and yoga to the world
We couldn't help but giggle when we saw this article on "facial yoga" that described it as the hot new craze. It's certainly not new to us DS hipsters; after all, we've already got a game dedicated to stretching and firming our faces, and since the practice is apparently the latest it-exercise (despite being around for years, much like regular yoga), it seems likely that Otona no DS Kao Training may sweep in on the heels of Let's Yoga and hit the United States.Of course, then the real question becomes: will Nintendo (and others, like Konami, the company behind Let's Yoga) start to change the way they advertise the DS in the United States? We can't help but wonder if it seems unlikely; after all, we still have no official "face" for Brain Age beyond our favorite disembodied head, and it's rare that we see advertisements for our favorite piece of hardware on the scale that we see those for the Wii.
Purchase a maxed out Tiger Woods today!
Ever play a game of Tiger Woods 08 and say to yourself, "self, I've put in three weeks of my life into this game and I still haven't maxed out my player's skills. Self, I want my player's abilities maxed out ... if only there were a way to bypass actually playing the game do so". If that sounds familiar, then EA is quick to answer with a 200 Microsoft point Maxed Out Player download for Tiger Woods 08. When purchased, The Maxed Out player download instantly upgrades your player's skills to 110% making you not only the best golfer in the Tiger Woods 08 universe, but also allowing you to bypass the hard work of actually playing the game to increase such skills. Really, a maxed out player download kind of defeats the purpose of advancing through the game and even if that doesn't bother you, then a cheat code like this shouldn't be 200 points. This kind of thing should be on one of those cheats gaming websites. Oh so very low EA ... so very low.
WRUP: Putting for par edition
Of this week's U.S. releases, there's really only one title of note for us: Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08. The golfing genre of games has always captivated us, as we enjoy driving and putting on virtual fairways and greens, but in the real world we couldn't swing a club to save our life. Will you be hitting the links, or do you plan on giving another game (or games) a go? What are you playing?
Bug causes Tiger Woods to choke, then freeze
In their review of Tiger Woods 08, TeamXbox discovered a troublesome bug that caused the game to freeze between the second and third hole. The bug pretty much locks up the player's console forcing them to complete a good old fashioned reboot. So, the TeamXbox gang contacted EA to get some insight into the bug problem and EA confirmed that they knew about it and already created a patch which is currently sitting with Microsoft certification. And until the patch passes through certification and gets rolled out, EA advises Tiger Woods 08 players to "hold down the A button while launching the game from the dashboard" to prevent such bug from making an unwelcome appearance. Next time Tiger will be getting a flea and tick shampoo before he makes it to store shelves.
Tiger Woods 08 demo now on Live
We have to cop to being just a little bit ignorant of golf games. It's never been moved to a street or played by a league of mutants, so we have a hard time separating it from the herd. Honestly, it's a good thing that Mario's played it, or else all our golf knowledge would be drawn from Billy Madison or Happy Gilmore, whichever one was about golf. (Wait, the price is wrong? But it's Bob Barker, host of The Price Is Right! God, that's still such a stitch.)Given all this, we're probably not the best to judge the quality of the new demo of Tiger Woods 08. We do know that it seems like EA has been going the extra mile with this year's sports games. But we'll leave it to you guys to let us know if this continues the trend.
Tiger Woods demo swings onto Marketplace
There's really something mesmerizing about video game golf. Maybe it's the laid back pace or the simple nature of the game, but a good round of video game golf is just satisfying. We are, of course, talking about Outlaw Golf, one of the finest golf simulations ever to grace a gaming console. We imagine, however, that Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 is probably a pretty competent golf game as well. But hey, don't take our word for it, because you can download the demo from Xbox Live Marketplace right now. Clocking in at over 700MB, the demo promises some hot golf action ... or some golf anyway. Go grab it and tell us what you think.
DS releases for the week of August 27th
After several great weeks for releases, we're back down to a lighter list. We can only guess that sometimes, they have to do this -- so we can afford to save up for all the other games we want! But hey -- maybe you guys are secretly lusting for Garfield's Nightmare. If so, please, tell us all about it! Garfield's Nightmare Professional Fisherman's Tour: Northern Hemisphere Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 For this week outside the US, check out the lists after the jump.
Hoor-EA! Mac games hit Apple store today
That's what they say. Publishing monolith EA has announced that four of its Cider-powered Mac OS X titles are now available to purchase on Apple's online store today. The initial burst looks to satisfy a variety of Intel Mac gamers, including those who are partial to waging futuristic war (Battlefield 2142!), owning totally sick rides (Need for Speed Carbon!), casting ex-crucio-ting spells (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix!) and, uh, waging even more futuristic war (Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars!). The games will also materialize on minimalistic shelves within Apple retail stores, with Potter and Need For Speed arriving on Tuesday, 21 August. Battlefield 2142 and Tiberium Wars should arrive the following week on 28 August. Though the tardy titles, namely Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 and Madden NFL 08, were promised to arrive on the same day as other systems at WWDC, you can now expect their respective balls to come crashing through the "September/October window."
Watch your head, PGA Tour 08 screens incoming
The Gamertag Radio guys every so kindly wrangled up a few newly released Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 screenshots that hit the web today. And, as a bonus, they smell like freshly cut grass! Cool huh? Our overall impressions are that the screens show off PGA Tour 08's soothing lighting effects and nice face mapping, but we feel the grass and anti-aliasing are quite "blah". Though, we'll leave the fate and overall opinion of Tiger's latest golfing venture in your hands. So, is anyone actually pumped getting their golf on?
