Guys, I just learned that I was way offbase with some of my comments about the new swing mechanic. I was having problems getting a full backswing (often no further than ~70%) with two controllers I tried, and then this happened:
I tried my third controller and had the same 65-70% maximum backswing and thought... what the heck is going on here!? I should have thought of this earlier, but I went into the gameplay options and switched to the right stick. Lo and behold, I've now got a full backswing, including the full overswing region! The problem is that I stink with the right thumbstick.
I picked up my 4th controller, the black one that came with my XBox 360 slim and its left stick performed like the right stick in the 3rd controller I tried. I know I've got issues with the left stick now on at least the 3rd controller because while I was swinging with the right stick, the cursor on the strike meter was drifting, on its own, off the top of the ball during my backswing, in Amateur! What are the odds that I have three wireless controllers whose left thumbstick problems were so peculiar that they didn't manifest themselves until this demo? The first controller I tried is designated as my Tiger Woods controller with an etching on it and hasn't affected my backswing in Tiger 12, or my distance, yet it does exactly the same thing in the Tiger 13 demo as two of my other controllers.
Does this change the way the demo now plays for me? Absolutely! It is a better experience for sure and I can feel more of the merits of Total Swing Control as a result.
So, I'm back to being more upbeat about this game, although I still don't like the new scaled distance putting technique. It's like an analog version of what we now call "Classic Putting", where one had seven different putting ranges. I've got to go back out on a new first date with the demo now
