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Tiger Style!

We check out the new features in this year's Tiger Woods PGA Tour for the Wii, including some hands-on time with the Wii MotionPlus controls.

He may look like the same old Tiger, but Wii MotionPlus makes for a much different game.
He may look like the same old Tiger, but Wii MotionPlus makes for a much different game.
There are very few existing game franchises out there that, in practice, have been as good a fit on the Wii as they are in theory. The Tiger Woods PGA Tour series has thus far been one of those consistently rare exceptions. Not to shortchange the engineers behind Tiger, but I think this is due, at least in part, to the relatively straightforward physical movements of golf. Up to now, the series hasn't threatened to capture the subtler physical touches that all but define the sport of golf, but it's been a close enough of an approximation for a fun, casual time.

That, however, promises to change with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, thanks to the inclusion of support for Wii MotionPlus, the upcoming physical add-on for the Wii Remote that will increase the fidelity with which the system can detect movement. I got to play through a hole in Tiger 10 using the Wii MotionPlus at an EA Sports event last week, and came away impressed with how much more realistic the swing action felt. Previously, the swing action in Tiger on the Wii was simply velocity sensitive, and as such, it didn't require you to try and emulate a proper golf swing. With the Wii MotionPlus, the game can sense the position of the controller in the air, so when you pull back to swing, Tiger will mimic that motion on screen almost verbatim. This goes all the way down to the twist of your wrist, making it easy to apply a draw or a fade to your shot. The downside is that, if you've got a natural draw or fade to your swing, it'll translate into the game. Theoretically, though, the better your golf game gets in Tiger, the better it will be out on the links. How many sports games can even attempt such a claim?

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 will still be playable without Wii MotionPlus, and it feature the same All-Play features from last year's game for those not looking for an achingly realistic golf experience. Beyond all the Wii MotionPlus stuff, Tiger 10 will carry the U.S. Open license, which is a first for the series, letting players compete on the famously brutal Bethpage Black course. It will also use real-time weather conditions provided by The Weather Channel, which will affect how the game actually handles. The weather stuff seems like a neat touch for the series, but the Wii MotionPlus controls have the potential to be a real game-changer, and definitely make this look like a potentially huge evolutionary step for the series.

27 Comments

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Media_Master

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Edited By Media_Master

Great!

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deactivated-5ffc9b0923f9f

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Tiger Stylllleee.....wu-tang clan ain't nuthin' ta fuck wit!

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ZombiePie

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Edited By ZombiePie

Hopefully it will be as good as Gatorade Tiger.

Do they even make Gatorade Tiger anymore?

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Linkyshinks

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Edited By Linkyshinks

Haha, Sagat would make a good caddy if not a Golfer. +1 Endo

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HandsomeDead

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Edited By HandsomeDead

This reminds me of a joke I heard a while ago:

Who's Sagat's favourite golfer?

Colin Montgomerie

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Scooper

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Edited By Scooper

Tiger Knee that ball!

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FlipperDesert

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Edited By FlipperDesert

<3 Endogene. :D

The weather implementation sounds interesting, I wish they'd do that with more games. Also, I think '10 would work, an apostrophe makes all the difference.

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ArcBorealis

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Edited By ArcBorealis

^LOL, nice!

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Endogene

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Edited By Endogene
Wait what???
Wait what???
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Linkyshinks

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Edited By Linkyshinks
NL_Buddha said:
"Sounds like they are really trying to evolve the Wii controls, but the sound of Tiger Woods "10" makes the bunch at EA sound like they can't wrap their heads around the concept of time. I know that this has been debated on the bombcast but 10 sounds so wrong. Madden 10 in it's 21st game and now this. Just use the date, 2010, and use this as a base to make the evolution of the game stand out like the date. Oh wait, they have a monopoly there so they don't have evole they just have to put out the same product in a shiny new box. Shame on you EA, bring back EA BIG. that was when you wanted to be big, not just mainstream."

Calling it Tiger 2010 would create a tacky almost futuristic feel in the wake other games before that have gone that route. I think it's fine like this, it's wise to keep the title simple as possible, as they have done.




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FoolInjection

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Edited By FoolInjection

@Jeff  I remember back in the glory days of PC gaming, the Virtual Pool series of games had a bit on the box that said that if playing the game didn't improve your real pool game you could claim your money back.

Wonder if anyone ever did that ?...

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NL_Buddha

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Edited By NL_Buddha

Sounds like they are really trying to evolve the Wii controls, but the sound of Tiger Woods "10" makes the bunch at EA sound like they can't wrap their heads around the concept of time. I know that this has been debated on the bombcast but 10 sounds so wrong. Madden 10 in it's 21st game and now this. Just use the date, 2010, and use this as a base to make the evolution of the game stand out like the date. Oh wait, they have a monopoly there so they don't have evole they just have to put out the same product in a shiny new box. Shame on you EA, bring back EA BIG. that was when you wanted to be big, not just mainstream.

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Linkyshinks

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Edited By Linkyshinks

Haha, true.

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TheHBK

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Edited By TheHBK

@Jeff, No he isnt, he has one eye, so he cant see depth for shit.  He would knock it into the rough so many times, Tiger would just get tired of waiting for him to finish a hole he would shout...Tiger Uppercut?
Can wait to play this, have been waiting for this since I heard about Wii Motion Plus, this is gonna be the thing that gets me to use my Wii

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Linkyshinks

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Edited By Linkyshinks

This is the game that will prompt me to buy two of the devices, it wont be Wii Sports Resort.

The game sounds awesome from all that I have read on it so far.  Looking forward to you guys getting a review copy and putting on a little GB tournament for a Quick Look. I hope you don't do all direct feed for that if you do, I think it's important that you have a camera set up also. So we can laugh a little.

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Skillface

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Edited By Skillface

This is how I read this article.

There are very few existing game franchises out there that, in practice, have been as good a fit on the Xbox 360 and PS3 as they are in theory. The Street Fighter series has thus far been one of those consistently rare exceptions. Not to shortchange the engineers behind Sagat, but I think this is due, at least in part, to the relatively straightforward physical movements of fighting. Up to now, the series hasn't threatened to capture the subtler physical touches that all but define the sport of Tiger Style Fighting, but it's been a close enough of an approximation for a fun, casual time.

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Claude

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Edited By Claude

My gaming life is centered around virtual golf. I like many other genres, but golf always takes center stage. The game comes in June. Wii Motion Plus...? All I have is time, that's so cool you got to play it... it's coming, I can feel it.

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jeff

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Edited By jeff

Sagat is a pretty good golfer.

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Edited By JoelTGM

That sounds cool.  Closest thing to a golf simulator.  I might get that, if the motion plus thing isn't expensive.  The idea of going out and paying to play on a real golf course, and following your ball around a wet muddy course, doesn't sound very interesting.  Doing that from your living room sounds like something one could get into though...

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MeatSim

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Edited By MeatSim

Real time weather huh? what happens if there's a real tornado does the game simulate of virtual tornado that your golfer gets sucked up into? that would be awesome. 

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Lifestrike

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Edited By Lifestrike

Interesting, but i'm going to pretend this story was actually about Sagat.

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Edited By ArcBorealis

"It will also use real-time weather conditions provided by The Weather Channel, which will affect how the game actually handles."

Now that sounds interesting. I wonder why pretty much no Wii games choose to have connectivity to other channels.
Sounds good. I'm particularly looking to see how well they fared working on this with Motion Plus.

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N3onThr33

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Edited By N3onThr33

Wiiiii

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Kohe321

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Edited By Kohe321

Though I have no interest in golf, this seems kinda interesting!

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LiveOrDie1212

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Edited By LiveOrDie1212

man, i lost count at how many times Ryan uses the phrase "Wii MotionPlus controls" and "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10".

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Ryan

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Edited By Ryan  Staff
He may look like the same old Tiger, but Wii MotionPlus makes for a much different game.
He may look like the same old Tiger, but Wii MotionPlus makes for a much different game.
There are very few existing game franchises out there that, in practice, have been as good a fit on the Wii as they are in theory. The Tiger Woods PGA Tour series has thus far been one of those consistently rare exceptions. Not to shortchange the engineers behind Tiger, but I think this is due, at least in part, to the relatively straightforward physical movements of golf. Up to now, the series hasn't threatened to capture the subtler physical touches that all but define the sport of golf, but it's been a close enough of an approximation for a fun, casual time.

That, however, promises to change with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, thanks to the inclusion of support for Wii MotionPlus, the upcoming physical add-on for the Wii Remote that will increase the fidelity with which the system can detect movement. I got to play through a hole in Tiger 10 using the Wii MotionPlus at an EA Sports event last week, and came away impressed with how much more realistic the swing action felt. Previously, the swing action in Tiger on the Wii was simply velocity sensitive, and as such, it didn't require you to try and emulate a proper golf swing. With the Wii MotionPlus, the game can sense the position of the controller in the air, so when you pull back to swing, Tiger will mimic that motion on screen almost verbatim. This goes all the way down to the twist of your wrist, making it easy to apply a draw or a fade to your shot. The downside is that, if you've got a natural draw or fade to your swing, it'll translate into the game. Theoretically, though, the better your golf game gets in Tiger, the better it will be out on the links. How many sports games can even attempt such a claim?

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 will still be playable without Wii MotionPlus, and it feature the same All-Play features from last year's game for those not looking for an achingly realistic golf experience. Beyond all the Wii MotionPlus stuff, Tiger 10 will carry the U.S. Open license, which is a first for the series, letting players compete on the famously brutal Bethpage Black course. It will also use real-time weather conditions provided by The Weather Channel, which will affect how the game actually handles. The weather stuff seems like a neat touch for the series, but the Wii MotionPlus controls have the potential to be a real game-changer, and definitely make this look like a potentially huge evolutionary step for the series.