Downloadable Courses, etc. for TW 2007 XBox 360!

[OnlookerDelay]

Word comes by a Gamespot story today... downloadable courses and pro shop items for Tiger Woods 2007 - 360! The courses come as a major surprise to me, although the pro shop items (which add no value to me personally) was not a surprise. I think this will add some staying power to the game, provided the gameplay doesn't tank.

Here's the link to the entire Gamespot story (it covers all of EA Sports' downloadable content for the Fall): http://www.gamespot.com/news/6159302.html

[DivotMaker]

Re: Downloadable Courses, etc. for TW 2007 XBox 360!

Awesome news for 360 owners...it is about time they addressed the issue of additional courses for the consoles. Let's hope the time an effort they neglected on the PC and current gen consoles reflects in a sound game that has some long-term play value and simulation-like features for Tour mode fans. If so, the DL'd courses will be a huge hit and I hope an indication of the direction EA is taking for the future for those wanting additional courses above and beyond what ships with the game.

[OnlookerDelay]

Re: Downloadable Courses, etc. for TW 2007 XBox 360!

I hate to rain on my own parade here, but IGN's story on this today goes a bit further. This may not be anywhere near what we thought it was:

"IGN Sports: I read how your strategy for Tiger Woods includes the ability to buy new courses. Does that mean you're holding courses back intentionally from consumer who buy the game in order to force them to purchase courses separately and spend more money?

Chip Lange: The Tiger team is taking a creative approach to it. You can either unlock or buy the courses, depending on your gaming preference. We look at this a lot like other stuff that goes on in the industry. IGN does this with premium subscriptions where there's a subscription service and you can get guides to games. I can pay for a subscription in order to unlock some stuff so I don't have to play the game all the way through, or now I can go this route. It's just another way to allow gamers the choice on how they want to play the game. That's the way the Tiger team is approaching this."

(from this story) IGN EA Sports 10/4/06 story

I'll be sick to my stomach if that's what this really is... buying access to locked courses already on the disk? (sigh)

[Triggerfish]

Re: Downloadable Courses, etc. for TW 2007 XBox 360!

but you don't have to buy it...just do what it says to unlock it. Whats the big deal?

[OnlookerDelay]

Re: Downloadable Courses, etc. for TW 2007 XBox 360!

but you don't have to buy it...just do what it says to unlock it. Whats the big deal?

I don't have much of a problem with that Triggerfish... in fact I was expecting that for the 12 courses on the disk. The original Gamespot story made it sound like we would be getting additional downloadable courses to add to the 12 that were already there in locked and unlocked form.

[Triggerfish]

Re: Downloadable Courses, etc. for TW 2007 XBox 360!

Curious if its part of just building up your man...or if you play a bizillion tournaments offline then i would probably buy it. Play mostly online with friends anyway.Links had the same and lots of people bought it including me so im fine with it.

[pk500]

Re: Downloadable Courses, etc. for TW 2007 XBox 360!

I'll be sick to my stomach if that's what this really is... buying access to locked courses already on the disk? (sigh)

Exactly, John. This is NOT a good thing for gamers in any shape or form. It's the continuation of nickel and diming gamers to death that Microsoft started with Marketplace and that Nintendo is continuing with the Wii. It also will continue with the PS3 and soon become the standard for the industry.

There's no question that software developers will have fewer and fewer goodies available at the start of games, figuring most people are too lazy or don't have the time to play through a game to unlock everything so they'll just drop coin to buy the extras. Cha-ching.

Anyone who thinks this is a good thing either has a ton of disposable income or is an easy mark for the software companies.

What's most insulting about this practice is that next-gen games cost $60 yet developers expect gamers to pay extra for features in those overpriced games that were included in $40 and $50 games just a year ago. And please, spare me the "development costs have gone through the roof." That's just industry-speak for "the software that we use to create beat-off graphics and ignore gameplay is expensive, and we know the lemmings out there will pay anything for pretty pictures!"

It's a f*cking joke. Text sims and sports board games are looking more and more appealing by the day.

Take care,
PK

[OnlookerDelay]

Re: Downloadable Courses, etc. for TW 2007 XBox 360!

Anyone who thinks this is a good thing either has a ton of disposable income or is an easy mark for the software companies.

It is a very disturbing trend to be sure Paul! I see gamers gradually backing into supporting it though. They're charging a fee for what I consider to be something that should have been included in the game, without restrictions. The pro-shop stuff I consider junk, so I wouldn't be tempted to buy it under any circumstances.

I have no problem buying what can truly be considered expansion material, particularly additional courses as they are developed, but this business of building in toll-booths into games for gamers who want to take the express route is ultimately going bite the gamer who takes the scenic route.

[ComfortablyLomb]

Re: Downloadable Courses, etc. for TW 2007 XBox 360!

If all the courses included on the disk can be unlocked by means other than paying for them then I don't have a problem with this. My understanding based on the article is that you could simply unlock them sooner by paying for them. If they're only unlockable via an additional fee then it's certainly bad news but it just doesn't sound like that's the case. Additional courses on top of the included 12 would be fantastic though...

[poster]

Re: Downloadable Courses, etc. for TW 2007 XBox 360!

So is it additonal courses on top of the 12, or do you only get for example 8 to start out with, having to unlock the rest? At times I am stupid, but this article didn't really state this did it? It better be on top of the 12!

[mjb2124]

Re: Downloadable Courses, etc. for TW 2007 XBox 360!

If all the courses included on the disk can be unlocked by means other than paying for them then I don't have a problem with this.

I agree with that. However, if the only way to get those additional courses is to pay for them, then I'm going to be pissed. I guess we'll find out in a few weeks.

[OnlookerDelay]

Re: Downloadable Courses, etc. for TW 2007 XBox 360!

There are 12 courses on the game disk. All of them can be unlocked through game accomplishments. I'm not sure how many of them will be unlocked when you first boot the game up.

Let's just say that you can play 4 of them, out of the box, for example. If you opt to pay Marketplace points ($$) to have the remaining 8 courses unlocked, you are going to get the ability to play these included courses without having to plod through the gameplay route. I don't know if there will be individual "unlockable" courses, or whether they'll be bundled in groups.

What it boils down to is you're not downloading courses, you're downloading an unlock code. There still could be the possibility that true expansion courses could be made available for download, but the game has to be coded to support that. Nothing has been mentioned by EA Sports in its own material about this, nor has there been any mention of it in previews or interviews.

[poster]

Re: Downloadable Courses, etc. for TW 2007 XBox 360!

Thanks for the reply. The season mode already takes a hit with limited game courses. Now if I want to start a season right away, I will be more limited. That sucks. They have to add more courses!

[ExtremeGamer]

Re: Downloadable Courses, etc. for TW 2007 XBox 360!

If you have to pay to unlock them, thank Codemasters for that idea. Same thing has been in TOCA the last few years. You pay $4.95 on their website or whatever, and it unlocks all the tracks, cars, and series of races.

[pk500]

Re: Downloadable Courses, etc. for TW 2007 XBox 360!

If you have to pay to unlock them, thank Codemasters for that idea. Same thing has been in TOCA the last few years. You pay $4.95 on their website or whatever, and it unlocks all the tracks, cars, and series of races.

Then let's hope someone develops an EA cheats code generator for Tiger just like someone did for TOCA.

I haven't paid a dime for any TOCA cars or tracks in the last two games, and I had them almost immediately by downloading the cheat code generator for free.

Take care,
PK