I've braved a few years in retail, blogged on the Internet for far too many years, almost graduated from college, flown to the midwest (without the parents knowing), but never before have I faced a task so daunting and impossibly difficult as buying tickets for the Disneyland Resort online. This process requires you to apparently work some sort of magick, and unlike Hogwarts, magical words just aren't going to cut it. I was openly denied by the Disneyland web site, being told the tickets were not available for purchase. This was funny, since I could also buy expired tickets without a problem. So, I accepted the fact Disneyland's site was broken and began hunting elsewhere. I finally settled on tickets through Welcome Magazine, and I shall see how this goes. I made a point of requesting the 1 day California overnight, since it was A) only $6 more than priority mail and B) is next day by noon service. So if the tickets aren't there by noon on Tuesday, I will have some serious bitching out to do of people. Things seem pretty squared away, and the site was using a halfway decent shopping cart script, so I think everything will be okay. Doesn't keep the worry down though.
Chris J. and I have been playing large amounts of golf, and before anyone says anything, golf is fun in person, and a video game that does a decent job of capturing that experience is also equally fun. Golf is an odd sport in the sense it can absolutely piss you off and you will still come back for more. This has been the case for both Links 2004 and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004. We have played both games very tirelessly, and in the end it is a really hard choice about which game is better. And so, here is the best summary any one man can make, especially when not being paid by a game magazine.
Availability: Links is only on XBox, Tiger is only one PS2 and Gamecube. If you have only one video game system, then I'm sorry, you can stop reading here. Courtesy of the little "problem" between EA and Microsoft, you won't see Tiger on the box, and Links is an XBox-only title. Winner: N/A
Graphics: If I play a game on a beautiful golf course, it better look good. Especially when I screw up my shot and get to play in said beautiful scenery. Tiger has the trees down wonderfully, and they even move in the breeze while you shoot. However, the graphical winner is Links for the XBox. Tiger has one major graphical quirk that I will never get over. The grass, the rough, the sand, the green, and even the ocean are very flat and untextured surfaces. The fairway looks like a striped plain, and the rough resembles Astroturf. Whoever was doing the textures for EA at the time was clearly playing a bit too much Mario Golf. As an added subcategory, player models in the XBox look much more complete, while the EA ones are blocky. Winner: Easily Links
Features: Nowadays, unlocking cool stuff is where it's at. And when you want to unlock cool things, Tiger is the game to do it in. Links offers nothing flashy to unlock, and the bonuses are marginal. Tiger has everything from duds and apparel to the latest clubs, wedges, irons, and balls. This is only amplified further by the ability to completely customize your player, but we will touch on that later. Additionally, Tiger has a ton of courses to unlock and play, including several designer courses that aren't available anywhere else. Winner: Tiger by a landslide
Commentators: Golf is always colored by the commentary, and again Tiger shines through. While on Links, the announcer may as well have been William Shatner, the commentators on Tiger are humorous and varied. Chris and I managed to play for most of the day without things getting stale. In grand EA tradition, the famous line "Oh, he got all of that one!" made it back into the list of sound bytes. The Tiger announcers also can't resist making digs at you every chance they get. We won't even talk about the XBox because that's just mean to Links. Tiger, because there is nothing funnier than watching your opponent get pissed and the announcers mocking him/her.
Gameplay: This is really broad, so let me narrow it down. Gameplay for this is going to be defined as how close the game plays to actual golf. This is where Tiger and Links take two different approaches. In Links, it is 100% simulation, with very little room for anything outside of stroke, match, and stableford. Tiger, on the other hand takes a very arcade-like approach with Gamebreakers, Power Shots, and challenges halfway through a match. Additionally, Tiger boasts victory celebrations for your character, including breakdancing and the robot. Links on the other hand has none of these. What Links does have though is a solid golf experience again and again. Winner: N/A (If you liked Madden over NFL 2k3, go with Tiger)
Career: I'm not even going to detail this much. Links has a pretty boring career mode. Tiger has tournaments up the wazoo and additional matches based on the calendar date. Winner: Tiger. It clears double digits.
Online: Simply put, Electronic Arts doesn't have shit. Links has online play, ladders, tournaments, leagues, and you can play with your friend on the other side of the United States and it doesn't matter. With EA, you have nothing. I repeat, nothing. Winner: Links, no contest
So what game is right? Well, if you look at the last 6 (not counting availability), the Xbox offers a much richer experience with better graphics and better gameplay experiences. If you like to just crack the ball, play a game of speed golf, play with more big-name people, have a massive single player mode, and an overall more arcade-like experience, then you want Tiger. For me, golf though is always about getting together with people for group battling. Overall Winner: Links (however, I wish the cool custom player things were in there)
I know this entry was mostly videogame centric, but that's what I have been doing this break. It's been a healthy indulgence I will miss once I get back to school and prepare for capstone. Maybe next time I will talk about a few anime games I have been playing. For those still reading, this would be One Piece Treasure Battle and the Naruto (2) Fighting Game. Both are very awesome.
In response to "The Great Golf Challenge":
Are you there?
Wow that’s a nice post .