Tiger Woods excited about upcoming namesake videogame

Tiger Woods, a professional golfer and a gamer, talked about his upcoming EA Game, Tiger 2008 with a reporter from Gannet News Service. During the interview, Woods discussed his ninth year with EA Sports for another golf game and the players ability to personalize the game for further enjoyment.

“I’ve always enjoyed playing video games – back since Pong. Games are a great way to shut your mind off and escape into a fantasy world. I don’t have as much time to play anymore but I recently had a good game of Madden with my buddies. Games can be great for kids – the Wii, for example, has been incredible for introducing golf games to kids. It brings a whole new demographic to the golf, which is a good thing,” said Woods who explained how this game came about. “I was motion-captured last year but not for this year’s game. They always pick my brain about how I prepare for a game, how I play the game. Now that every shot is logged, the new game is a lot more like real golf.”

Of course real golf is a lot harder to play according to Woods.

“Games can definitely can prepare you for when you’re about to play on a real course,” he said. “You can learn the angles, slopes and trouble spots. But games have the advantage of speed: Unlike a real round of golf, which can take four or five hours, you can play through a course in a video game fairly quickly.”

Being able to play a golf course like a professional golfer is a feature Woods wanted in the game, but didn’t want the game to be unrealistic or too easy for players. As a gamer himself, he said that was why he was asked to “Tiger proof” the games golf course to make it more challenging and so players can understand the challenges of the real game. Challenges like deeper bunkers, making the rough higher and creating bigger slopes on the green to name a few.

“This is how we play – we remember our best shots, even if it was a few years ago,” Woods added then explained a feature of the new game he feels gamers will really enjoy. The personalization of the game, which he said “is amazing, because you can basically create yourself, which you couldn’t do before. This is something we’ve always wanted to create for the game.”

Read [Indy Star] Also Site [Tiger Woods Official Homepage]