Assignment: Evaluate the new Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2007 golf game for the new Nintendo Wii game console. …Tough gig.
The Nintendo Wii Game Console
The first thing I need to cover is the Nintendo Wii game console itself. The Wii is the latest console with some very cool features. The unit itself has a very elegant and small footprint. It’s about the size of a one dozen golf ball box. The unit can lay flat or on it’s side with the included mount.
Cool Wireless Controllers Mimic Your Actions On Screen
Rather than having controllers which are tethered to the console with cables, the Wii’s controllers are wireless. There’s an antenna which connects to the main unit and is placed either above or below your screen. The wireless controller’s movement is picked up by the antenna resulting in the moving of cursors, rackets, clubs, fists or whatever on screen object you are controlling in the Wii environment. In short, you move the controller and a corresponding action happens on the screen.
The game which comes with the Wii has baseball, golf, bowling, tennis etc. In bowling for example, you hold down a button and actually swing your arm like you are throwing a bowling ball. In the Wii tennis game, you swing the controller like a tennis racket. This is very cool!
There’s a funny warning when you turn the Wii on. They suggest you use the wrist strap with comes with the remote (or as they call it “Wiimote”). If you take a big swing trying to hit a home run in the baseball game and lose your grip, the remote may fly right into your plasma screen.
The Wii Concept
Another neat part of the Wii is that you set up your own profile or identity. You literally create a virtual version of yourself within the Wii. You set up your hair color, eyes, head shape, body shape, gender and much more and the person you create is rendered withing the games you play. So the virtual Mediaguru played bowling, tennis etc. With the Wii’s networking capabilities you can play against players all over the world with an internet connection. Very fun.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour Non Wii Version
I own several versions of Tiger Woods PGA Tour for other consoles. I have fun playing them but strangely enough I play better golf on a real course than I do with the push button, two hand controllers. To swing the club with the controllers you select the club, push a button for the back swing and release the button at the right time for the down swing. This is nothing like a real golf swing.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour Wii Version – Swing the remote and swing the club!
THE best part of the Wii version of TW PGA ’07 is the wireless controller. You hold the controller just like a golf club and swing it just like a golf club. So your physical actions are almost exactly like a true golf swing. Putting and chipping are the same as well. The harder you swing the remote, the farther the ball goes. If you use an off plane swing (like outside-in) you’ll hit a slice or a hook. This is the coolest thing I’ve seen come down the video game console line for a long time.
Custom Setup
You aren’t able to use your Wii profile in TW PGA ’07 Wii. But just like previous versions of this game on other consoles, you can do a complete custom setup of your player profile. You can set up your appearance, clothes, game strengths, equipment etc.
Graphics And Sound
The graphics for TW PGA ’07 Wii are decent. It’s no Doom 3 or anything but they’re more than adequate. The sounds are great, including commentary by Gary McCord and David Feherty.
Courses
TW ’07 Wii comes with 18 courses including Pebble Beach Golf Links, St Andrews, The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island and more. Unfortunately no game will ever have the one course I’d die to play, Augusta National.
Players
There are 35 special players included in the game including John Daly, Vijay Singh, and Annika Sorenstam. The digital version of John Daly looks much better than the real thing.
Games
The are many different games you can play. You can simply play practice rounds and shots, match play, stroke play, PGA Tour Season, The Tiger Challenge and much more. You’ll be busy for a long time configuring all the options and playing all the games.
Critic’s Corner
I found playing the game quite fun. Occasionally I’d have issues with the shorter shots, namely putting. I found that you had to put a very large swing on the putts, even short ones. So while the full swing is pretty accurate, I found some inconsistencies in the short shots.
My only other critique is the lack of being able to use your Wii profile as your player in TW, rather than having to set up another one. I realize there are many more details in TW (clubs, clothes, game strengths etc) but it would be cool to at least start with your Wii identity as a template.
Conclusion
This is by far the funnest version of any Tiger Woods PGA Tour game for any console. Thanks to the Wii hardware it’s the most realistic.
For more images go to the HOG Tiger Woods PGA 2007 Nintendo Wii Photo Gallery.
HOGWire – Golf Industry News
Tony,
Nice review of the Nintendo Wii Game Console. This does not by a long shot beat the real thing. Be careful though of playing to much virtual golf, it may affect your real game 🙂
Best
Jeff Taylor
Don’t worry Jeff. I’m a better golfer in real life than on any console…
I am a huge TW PGA Tour fan, but I was actually very disappointed in this game. The main reason I bought a Wii was to have an interactive golf game. There are many features that were missing from previous games. The biggest one is the fact that you can not change which clubs you want to carry in your bag. Sure, you can change the brands, but you can not change the loft of your driver or put a 5-wood in your bag. The biggest gap is between your pw and sw; nothing better than a 35 yard gap in your short irons. Another problem I found was the fact that if you turn your hands over in your swing you are going to hit a huge hook. I have found that if you are willing to spend some money on a new console, go with an Xbox 360 or a ps3. Not only will you get a more reliable game, but the graphics are killer.
Very good comment Preston.
Actually, you can change the clubs in your bag. You have to deselect one that you don’t want before you can select another one. It’s not very intuitive but it’s there. For example, if you want to change to a 10.5 degree lofted driver, you deselect a club that’s not locked, like a 2 iron, then select the driver loft you want, then deselect the driver you don’t want, and finally select your 2 iron again. Again, not very intuitive but it only takes an extra 3 seconds to do what you want. As far as the problem with turning your hands over in your swing, that’s certainly true. Don’t try to use Tiger Woods 08 on the Wii to improve your real game or you real life progress will go backwards. But keep in mind, the benefit of the Wii, at least in my opinion, is that it gets you up off your rear and makes you put a little physical activity into your day. Probably not a huge benefit for golfers or other active folks who stay in good shape. But for the generation of kids with pot bellies and very well defined thumbs and forefingers, it’s a good, and fun, way to get them off the couch (even if their just in front of the couch). Overall, I like the Wii and the TW 08 game for it.
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