Tiger Woods PGA Tour Hands-On

TOKYO--In addition to showing off Need for Speed Underground Rivals on the Tokyo Game Show floor, Electronic Arts is offering a look at its upcoming Tiger Woods game for the PSP, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, behind closed doors. The game will be a pint-sized companion to its console cousins and will offer many of the same features. It will feature a single-player "legend tour" mode that will let you compete against modern and past golf pros in challenge modes and tournaments, and it will also allow you to play wireless multiplayer with several new modes. The new game will feature 12 courses that have been featured in the 2004 and 2005 editions of Tiger Woods PGA Tour for the PC and consoles, including Sherwood Country Club, Pebble Beach, Harbor Town, and Paradise Cove. Like the most recent Tiger Woods games, the PSP version will also offer an option to create your own golfer, and the development team is trying to make this option as extensive as it is in the console games. You'll be able to develop skills for your character by earning enough cash to purchase upgrades while playing against the likes of Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, and Arnold Palmer, among others. We took a look at a work-in-progress version of the game that was roughly 50-percent complete.

The demo of Tiger Woods PGA Tour featured three holes to try. The game uses the same basic mechanics that have appealed to both casual and more technically minded players. While the control is obviously still being fine-tuned, the game is already responsive and using the analog stick on the PSP.

The graphics are coming close to mirroring its console counterparts--for example, the game already has a highly detailed character model of Tiger. The animation is serviceable but obviously lacks the polish the final game will have. The courses look good and are enhanced by sweeping camera angles. The frame rate moves along at a fairly smooth clip, which is good to see in this early state.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour is currently slated to ship with the launch of the PSP in Japan later this year. The game will be released in the US with the PSP's stateside debut early next year. For more on the game, check out our media page, which features exclusive media and interviews. For more updates, be sure to check GameSpot's coverage of Tokyo Game Show 2004.