Welcome to Peter Moore's Official Blog

Formula 1 not for Sony said:

And the contract with Lewis Hamilton by 5 million dollars is for a game?

Fred said:

Peter, it's good to hear some word on the PC games, but would it be possible to elaborate on what you mean by "limited lineup"? Limited as in titles such as NCAA and Nascar not coming to PC like usual, or even more limited than usual, i.e., on top of those two? Furthermore, would it be possible to say which titles *will* be on the PC this year whenever possible? Or at least confirm Madden 09 PC is coming, and whether or not it will be based on the new engine? Anything like that would be much appreciated (I'm sure there are also some eager NHL and NBA PC gamers out there too though).

It's just that, EASports has typically brutally ignored their PC games prior to your inception to the point we didn't even know what features were really included in, say, Madden PC until we bought it. For example, the *official* Madden 08 link on EASports.com going to the PC version's seciton not only had feature lists from the next-gen version, but even had a next-gen screenshot! It was never fixed, in fact it's STILL like that right now. Madden 08 PC doesn't look like that, and it doesn't have half of those weapons listed under features. It's just this type of attitude towards PC from EA that has really been disappointing in recent years, and it's really quite simple stuff - accurate info, releasing info in a timely manner like all other versions enjoy, and would it kill EA to maybe organize a few editorial or preview articles based on the PC version prior to release? Sites like IGN.PC, PC GamesWorld, TweakTown Gamer, YouGamers, VE3D etc all have a PC gaming tilt and of course there are plenty of PC gaming mags out there. You say that the PC platform has business issues to work around, but EASport' previous lackluster effort to market their PC games has hardly helped. I'm not suggesting multi million dollar marketing campaigns or anything, just send some preview code out or something. Get some buzz going like you do for the 360/PS3 etc. It may be the same version as one of the console versions (so far, same as the PS2 version), but that effort and that attention can go a long way with PC gamers. I've never seen such an "ugly step daughter" style treatment by one company to one of their own game versions before honestly. It would be fantastic if this could change from 09 onwards (providing Madden 09 PC even exists, see what I mean? Ugh).

RatuKamina said:

What about Fight Night.......when is the next one coming out?

ZEEBEE said:

It is indeed good to hear PC is still in the mindset, as it would perhaps be careless to simply forget about this market. I keep reading that there has been a huge increase in PC gamers not just for EA titles, in the last couple of years and my own experience suggests it is perhaps the dare I say it, "older" gamer who prefers the PC platform. Personally, I have wasted money on two consoles and have played them just a few times. The graphics on all consoles simply can't match the quality that you get with the same title on a PC. For this reason alone, I only use the PC for all my games.

The one EA title I am rather fanatical about, is the Tigerwoods series and the community seems to be pretty strong for the PC platform. There are a number of fan sites on the web and I am proud to be associated with what is fast becoming the definitive online expert tour, http://www.pgax.net.

It is however, a great shame that it is highly unlikely that a new course architect will ever become available again, since the game is now designed using Maya. Don't get me wrong, the game is shed loads better than it has looked in the past and the game has steadily improved year after year. The online community will I think, remain strong as there are many of us who still create courses using the old 06 CA. At PGAX, you will find we mirror the real PGA Tour and have a team of designers working as a team, to recreate all the relevant PGA event courses for use within our tour and then freely release them to the wider online TW community.

I for one, am therefore seriously impressed that the PC platform has not been pushed aside at EA. I would however be very interested to know whether there is any news about the next version of TW and whether there will actually be a release.

Communication is vital and hope that EA never forget this.

Cheers

Zee

Bruce R said:

I am one of the hardcore gamers that Zee talked about, I worked at the Tigerwoodscommunity.net for a number of years as the Course and downloads manager, then decided to put my efforts into desiging courses, There are many far better than myself as total designers, that is those that create the textures and structures in the courses, I can make a good fist of designing a real Golf course and the design team at the PGAX which i am one of finishes it off with the usual Logo splash and flags, I could do it myself but their are many far better at it than what i am, that is what keeps our game alive, the people wjho have committed a large part of their lives not only playing but helping without question those who need it, in other words their are thousands like me that have total commitment to the game and have done so for almost a decade, regardless if EA decides to end the franchise the TW game will live on for many years to come, The Tigerwoodscommunity has over 4000 hardcore members that play weekly ladder tournaments, the PGAX only supports expert level and is growing stronger every day Then their is the Course Source, that like TWC offers free downloads from everything from courses to design extras, Tutorials forums and anything else associated with the game, Their are also many smaller sites that offer online and offline play for all levels, despite EA's Decision to 1stly deny us a Course Architect and secondly a Course Utilities, which in my opinion was an effort to kill the game for all PC gamers hardcore or not, because their is much more money in consoles, as i said before one way or another we will continue to keep the game alive for many many years to come, I think i remember from a couple of years back that EA had bought the rights to the franchise till 09, so I am hoping and praying that EA not only does the right thing and supplies us with the game for a few more years to come, Woods is stii in his prime and playing as good as ever, I am also hoping EA has a concious and gives us back what they took from us, I have been playing the game since i was 47, I am now 53 soon to be 54, before that i played Links and still have all the original floppy discs from my 386 days in the early ninties, before that World Class Leaderboard and Jack Nicklaus, now that is hard Core, I usually spend 3 months or more designing a real course, so i dont make a lot of courses, they are all free as per the Eula and i wouldnt charge for them anyway, I do it for the love of the game, I put my heart and soul into it, so the real course i am designing is as close as i can make it to the real thing, Like a lot of others i to beta test courses when i can to assist other designers and help out with any Technical questions that i can, If EA does decide to pull the plug on the game so be it, but it would be a very sad day indeed for a lot of folk many that are my good friends from all over the world, the day that happens.

BruceM said:

Peter,

I also noted your comments on "migrating to the console platform" and after a few years of trying them all I don't  purchase console games as gifts as much as I do the PC versions.

 Really there are three reasons for this:

1/ As someone who has just a little knowledge of PC's it's easy for me to recognize that I can easily upgrade my PC into a quality gaming PC for a lot less than buying a new xbox 360 each year... or the games no one plays and add-ons that are never used or get lost.

2/ I can't get the kids to play the console versions of any of the sports games after trying them on this PC ... I am not talking about a notebook with a cheap graphics chipset. Between Tiger Woods 2008 on the PC / wii / PS3 and xbox , well, the wii got played once and I can see console versions got opened at least (they were played twice I believe). The kids (daughter 13, nephews between 5 and 13) tell me they would sooner watch me play on the PC than play the console. Microsoft is starting to push their PC game versions and maybe you know better than most the route they plan to go with this. I bought call of duty for the PC and console and the PC version is already getting worn out where the PS3 - looks like new (I suspect it has yet to be played and thus the traffic on this PC).

3/ Financially it just doesn't work in a med income family to purchase both console and PC versions of games ... in the past my thinking had been "well get the kids the console version .. if I want it too I'll get the PC version". I am going on what I see ... tho some games are very popular on the consoles, when it comes to playing -generally the PC version wins always.

  I hope PC versions, especially EA's sport type games continue to be released in the PC format ...with wide screen lcd's and more powerful PC's, I will be the 1st to admit that I upgrading the kids PC's to not only include prgms for school work but also better gaming will have a higher priority in this household than a new xbox or ps4 or what ever is the next generation for consoles.

onlcky173 said:

i buy 4 tw a tear 1 for the kid and one for father in law and myself and wife for pc all of them and they all get use a lot also love the  design factore and would like to see it in 09 as i am also a part of a few online sites for the game and would only buy pc version of a game just for the fact that console are not played enough you complete game and then it is gone

zeebee said:

Hi Peter

Just wanted to add a question to my previous post and that is whether there is any news as to the release date in the UK for the PC version of Tigerwoods pga tour 09? As you will have no doubt read and if you are aware of some of the online fan sites, this game still has thousands of very passionate fans worldwide, who can't wait each year to get their hands on each new version.

I know I posted before about there not being a course architect feature since 06 however I  just wanted to also confirm, i understand (I think lol) the reasons why. At the end of the day, we are still able email: to design for the current version using that program and I do hope that this will be the case with 09.

Take a look at youtube if you and any of your team are interested in what we can still produce for this great game. Here's an example: www.youtube.com/watch

That is a video flyover of the latest course made by PGAX. We think it's pretty accurate and along with all our 20 real PGA Tour course recreations this year, together with alternative designs from many other talented designers in the community, we have all been ensuring this game lives on. In fact, we have seen a big increase in the number of course downloads this year, so that also shows your developers have produced a great platform!

As an additional note, the EA TW08 website, features of videos from the console version....maybe it might be an idea to add a page for videos from the PC community too? Just a thought.

Keep up the great work and please let us know if you can, about the release date this year!

Zee

email: zee@pgax.net