New Tiger Woods teed up

Though word hit the public only yesterday that development on Electronic Arts' Tiger Woods PGA Tour series is now being handled by EA Tiburon, the franchise has apparently been in Florida long enough to get a tan and a few new features.

EA officially announced Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 today, the first golf project for the studio that develops the Madden NFL, NCAA Football, and NASCAR games for EA. Working on the game will be the team formerly of Hypnotix (Outlaw Golf, Outlaw Volleyball), which was acquired by EA in 2005.

Tiger Woods 08 is due out for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and DS. At a media event in Florida, EA revealed that the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game will support a pair of new features that expand avatar customization and foster an online community.

Using a Sony EyeToy or Xbox Live Vision camera, gamers will now be able to map their faces on their digital golfers with Photo Game Face, which is similar to the system used in Ubisoft's Rainbow Six Vegas. Alternatively, photos from a digital camera can also be uploaded and used in the same fashion.

Golfers looking to do some bragging can share their greatest highlights with others with the new GamerNet feature. Single shots, holes, or even a full round of golf can be uploaded to servers for others to view. In addition, EA is taking the idea one step further and allowing users to create their own challenges and upload them for others to take on. Points are earned for both creating and completing challenges, and leaderboards will keep track of the top performers in both categories.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 is scheduled to be released in late summer. For more on the game, read GameSpot's hands-on preview from EA Tiburon.