The future of Tiger Woods 08: YouTube, Vegas, and gratuitous audience torture

IGN has a sneak peek at the new features in the coming Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 being worked on by EA Tiburon, and it’s taking the idea of the online golfing community further by taking inspiration from Rainbow Six Vegas, user-created content, and your weekend friendly game of golf with buddies… that can turn hypercompetitive.

Let’s see. First new feature of note is Game Face. No more sliders here. With the Xbox Live Vision camera (demoed by IGN) and the Eye Toy HD, you can do a Vegas and recreate your mug on your virtual golfer. And EA’s made sure you can’t get “Ass Face” as a result. They tried and failed. So much for kissing Ass.

Next up is GamerNet. Call it a nod to Phil Harrison’s Game 3.0 and Microsoft’s vision for Xbox Live. You can play your best game of golf, record that and upload it to GamerNet, and throw down the gloves at other golfers out there: “See if you can top this one!” Call it EA’s own Achievements: players earn GamerNet Points for successfully beating the challenges set by other players.

GamerNet Points are also used in Leaderboard rankings. Prepare for American Idol Golfer (or Whose Shot Was That Anyway?). GamerNet also allows players play each other, although not simultaneously: you can record your round of 18 holes for a friend to download – and that friend can play alongside your recording while you’re offline.

EA envisions “themes” or “channels” of GamerNet challenges: Single Hole Challenge, Nine Hole Challenge, 18-Hole Challenge, Grip it and Rip it (long drive), and Freestyle trick shots. Yes, IGN says Freestyle includes those weird ricochet shots and creative shots that hit the audience. We repeat: creative shots that hit the audience. Ow.

Other tweaks EA’s tossing into 08 include weather factoring into your game, as well as a player confidence mechanic that affects how well you make your shots. Not included are ninjas.

IGN has a sneak peek at the new features in the coming Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 being worked on by EA Tiburon, and it’s taking the idea of the online golfing community further by taking inspiration from Rainbow Six Vegas, user-created content, and your weekend friendly game of golf with buddies… that can turn hypercompetitive.

Let’s see. First new feature of note is Game Face. No more sliders here. With the Xbox Live Vision camera (demoed by IGN) and the Eye Toy HD, you can do a Vegas and recreate your mug on your virtual golfer. And EA’s made sure you can’t get “Ass Face” as a result. They tried and failed. So much for kissing Ass.

Next up is GamerNet. Call it a nod to Phil Harrison’s Game 3.0 and Microsoft’s vision for Xbox Live. You can play your best game of golf, record that and upload it to GamerNet, and throw down the gloves at other golfers out there: “See if you can top this one!” Call it EA’s own Achievements: players earn GamerNet Points for successfully beating the challenges set by other players.

GamerNet Points are also used in Leaderboard rankings. Prepare for American Idol Golfer (or Whose Shot Was That Anyway?). GamerNet also allows players play each other, although not simultaneously: you can record your round of 18 holes for a friend to download – and that friend can play alongside your recording while you’re offline.

EA envisions “themes” or “channels” of GamerNet challenges: Single Hole Challenge, Nine Hole Challenge, 18-Hole Challenge, Grip it and Rip it (long drive), and Freestyle trick shots. Yes, IGN says Freestyle includes those weird ricochet shots and creative shots that hit the audience. We repeat: creative shots that hit the audience. Ow.

Other tweaks EA’s tossing into 08 include weather factoring into your game, as well as a player confidence mechanic that affects how well you make your shots. Not included are ninjas.