Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 Features - Augusta, Masters, Caddies, & More

[JBHuskers]

As you now know, it will feature Augusta National! Below is a list of features EA just released this morning:

http://www.ea.com/tiger-woods/blog/features



Start your journey down the Road to the Masters with Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 12: The Masters. For the first time in Tiger Woods PGA TOUR history, play alongside legends on the spectacular Augusta National Golf Club, home of the Masters. Strategize and focus your game as you feel the intensity of the PGA TOUR season and perfect your game with your caddie giving you advice on every swing.

New features and enhancements in Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 12: The Masters include:

• The Masters Moments: Play through memorable, historic moments as players try to measure up against some of the sport's greatest legends.
  
  
• Tiger at the Masters: Relive each of Tiger’s four wins at the Masters by attempting to equal or beat his scores in each round of the Tournament.
  
  
• The Caddie Experience: Play like a true pro with a caddie by your side assisting you and supporting you on every swing. He will recommend shots and help you become a more successful golfer. You will never want to play a round without a caddie again.
  
  
• The Closest Thing to Being There: For the first time ever, EA SPORTS utilized a new state-of-the art laser scanning technology at Augusta National Golf Club to laser scan every hole featured in the game. This will provide players with the most authentic digital representation of the Tournament and Par 3 courses. Every tree, every azalea and every undulation in every green was recreated down to the smallest detail.
  
  
• Broadcast Presentation: Feel the emotion of every swing as called by the all-new commentary team of Jim Nantz and David Feherty, who headline a completely revamped TV broadcast presentation package.
  
  
• Career Mode: The all-new career mode will closely mirror the journey of an amateur golfer’s rise through the ranks and chase the title of Masters champion.
  
  
• New Players: Over 20 professional golfers to choose from, including Zach Johnson (2007 Masters Champion) and Bubba Watson (2010 Ryder Cup – Team USA).
  
  
• Championship Courses: Take on the best of the best on sixteen of the world’s most celebrated courses, including Augusta National Golf Club, Royal Melbourne Golf Club (Australia), Atlanta Athletic Club, TPC San Antonio, St Andrews Links and Pebble Beach Golf Links..
  

[JBHuskers]

You can view the page at http://www.thegamingtailgate.com/for...arch-29th&

[JBHuskers]

Box art:

[skipwondah33]

Looks beautiful

Maybe I can get a platinum in this one. I played a few rounds the other day and there wasn't but about a few hundred people on.

[cdj]

Glad to hear Career Mode got a boost as well!

Now with Career Mode getting some work, Augusta/Masters, Nantz/Feherty, all we need is Online Leagues and we'll be set!

[psusnoop]

I should broaden my gaming and buy some different games like tiger and nhl.

[HawkFan]

With these additions I am planning on purchasing Tiger for the first time in four years. I agree with what others have said though. Let's get some online leagues going, that would really push it over the edge,

[cdj]

More features, courtesy Game Informer:

THE MASTERS AT AUGUSTA
Not only is the legendary course and the Masters tournament included (as well as the par 3 course), but it's folded into the overall Tiger experience.

• The Tradition: Right when you start up the game, you'll see a video showcasing this course's special place in golf lore narrated by game commentator Jim Nantz. Then you'll drop right into Tiger's shoes as he tries to win his fifth Masters.
• Masters Moments: Play through nine of the best holes or shots in Masters' history. Each challenge includes criteria for passing and mastering, and if you complete all nine you win an exemption into the Masters.
• The Rules: Augusta has its own special way of doing things, and course officials worked with EA to make sure everything in the game was up to Augusta snuff, right down to the official Masters scorecard.
• Tiger at the Masters: Play through Tiger's wins at Augusta in 1997, 2001, 2002, 2005, and also compete in 2011 with live field scores.

CADDIES
Caddies are an integral part of Tiger 12 and are shown onscreen before your shot.

Caddies give you recommended shots (and the corresponding swing percentage) based on varying clubs, overall shot difficulty, wind, and different approach strategies. You can also ignore their advice and just hit the ball like you used to, but caddies are kind of like Madden's new GameFlow system in that they streamline some of the decisions you have to make.

Based on your caddy's recommendations, you'll see the usual circle spot where your ball will likely land based on the your swing percentage and other factors. As your attributes get better and you play more on courses with your caddy, you'll get "course mastery," which improves your caddy's info.

CAREER MODE
The franchises' Tiger Challenges have now been integrated into an overall career structure that gets you playing on the tour faster.

• Work your way up the ladder from the EA tour, Amateur Tour, Nationwide Tour, Q-School, and the PGA Tour. If you're good enough you can even skip the Nationwide Tour.
• Each event will have Training and Sponsor Challenges, which effectively replace the Tiger Challenges.
• The Presidents Cup at Melbourne is included.
• Equipment in your career mode (including the chance to earn high-end prototype clubs) is no longer bought with XP; instead it is unlocked and won as you progress through your career and achieve different tiers with your sponsor (see more below).
• Each sponsorship with club manufacturers has four tiers that contain challenge criteria that you must meet before you can advance to the next tier and unlock more stuff in the pro shop. You can switch sponsors, but in a bid to encourage an ongoing relationship with your sponsor, there will be a penalty in that some of the objectives you've earned will be lost.

TIGER ON THE WII
The Wii version includes a new mini-golf course, caddies, the Masters (no disc golf here!), and many of the features in the regular versions of Tiger. However, in a cool twist, the Wii version does support the Wii Balance Board, which gives you improved shots based on your balance and transfer of weight while you swing.

TIGER & THE MOVE
Spin and boost are now enabled, and Move users can also enjoy a first-person camera and the ability to control menus with the motion controller.


MISC.

• New steamlined presentation gets you golfing faster and reduces some of the menu maze.
• Mid-round saves!
• Skip/Simulate Rounds (you can only do this up to the final round)
• New Courses: Atlanta Athletic Club, Royal Melbourne Golf Club, The Els Club, The Dunes Course at Costa Navarino, and TPC San Antonio.
• New golfers including Zach Johnson and Bubba Watson
• DLC courses will be folded into your career events.
• Online Challenges return!
• Pins & Bag Tags: This in-game achievement system replaces the trophy balls. Bag tags are for each event you play at a course, and the pins go on the tags for specific achievements at that course.
• Choke: There are now two choke settings for your clubs in certain situations.
• Updated player models and 3D grass.
• Import XP from Tiger 11

[JBHuskers]

With these additions I am planning on purchasing Tiger for the first time in four years. I agree with what others have said though. Let's get some online leagues going, that would really push it over the edge,

There is a whole subforum we have for Tiger leagues....we'll start a new one up in April!

Here's the link - http://www.thegamingtailgate.com/for...lf-Association

[natcret]

Thanks JB. Great info. I am excited about this as well.

Looking to the future, will the TGA fire back up again?

[SmoothPancakes]

More features, courtesy Game Informer:

THE MASTERS AT AUGUSTA
Not only is the legendary course and the Masters tournament included (as well as the par 3 course), but it's folded into the overall Tiger experience.

• The Tradition: Right when you start up the game, you'll see a video showcasing this course's special place in golf lore narrated by game commentator Jim Nantz. Then you'll drop right into Tiger's shoes as he tries to win his fifth Masters.
• Masters Moments: Play through nine of the best holes or shots in Masters' history. Each challenge includes criteria for passing and mastering, and if you complete all nine you win an exemption into the Masters.
• The Rules: Augusta has its own special way of doing things, and course officials worked with EA to make sure everything in the game was up to Augusta snuff, right down to the official Masters scorecard.
• Tiger at the Masters: Play through Tiger's wins at Augusta in 1997, 2001, 2002, 2005, and also compete in 2011 with live field scores.

CAREER MODE
The franchises' Tiger Challenges have now been integrated into an overall career structure that gets you playing on the tour faster.

• Work your way up the ladder from the EA tour, Amateur Tour, Nationwide Tour, Q-School, and the PGA Tour. If you're good enough you can even skip the Nationwide Tour.
• Each event will have Training and Sponsor Challenges, which effectively replace the Tiger Challenges.
• The Presidents Cup at Melbourne is included.
• Equipment in your career mode (including the chance to earn high-end prototype clubs) is no longer bought with XP; instead it is unlocked and won as you progress through your career and achieve different tiers with your sponsor (see more below).
• Each sponsorship with club manufacturers has four tiers that contain challenge criteria that you must meet before you can advance to the next tier and unlock more stuff in the pro shop. You can switch sponsors, but in a bid to encourage an ongoing relationship with your sponsor, there will be a penalty in that some of the objectives you've earned will be lost.

MISC.

• Mid-round saves!
• New Courses: Atlanta Athletic Club, Royal Melbourne Golf Club, The Els Club, The Dunes Course at Costa Navarino, and TPC San Antonio.
• New golfers including Zach Johnson and Bubba Watson
• DLC courses will be folded into your career events.
• Import XP from Tiger 11

I am loving all of these things for TW12. This is going to be an awesome game from reading some of this.

I'm especially happy about the DLC courses. Finally they'll be worth a damn besides something to just play a Play Now round on. Having them be folded into your career events is awesome, something I've been wanting for the past year with TW11.

[NatureBoy]

Thanks for the info JB. I have been excited as heck since I heard the news today. I can't wait to play it. I'm also very happy EA is releasing the game in March this year. Last year's game was released in June, which was too close to NCAA Football 11 for me to get into. This will get me a lot more time to enjoy the game this time around.

[JBHuskers]

Thanks JB. Great info. I am excited about this as well.

Looking to the future, will the TGA fire back up again?

Yep we will sometime in April.

[cccgolfer08]

this game is going to be sick! never been so excited for a video game!

[HawkFan]

Sweet when this game comes out I will be getting it and I can not wait to get into a league with you guys.

[JBHuskers]

Doesn't matter which system between 360 and PS3 you have it for as we combine them for the league.

[cdj]

The PS3 will have a Collector's Edition for $69.99 with 19 courses included.

[CLW]

Not sure which is the official new "news" thread.

[skipwondah33]

Should I expect my trophy from last season then as well?

[cdj]

No Kinect support.

From Kinectaku:

While EA's next golf game, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters is heading to PlayStation Move and Wii, the Xbox 360 version won't be supporting Microsoft's motion-controller gadget. According to EA Sports top dog Peter Moore, it's not due to a lack of effort, just a lack of time.

"The team basically ran out of time from a development perspective. We were looking at how we could integrate the technology that is Kinect, which is obviously doing very well, and put it into a game that requires you to hold something to have that real element of integration and authenticity."

It likely didn't help that this year's Tiger outing is launching months before its usual Autumn release, but at least we know the company investigated a hands-free approach to golf, so we could yet see Tiger come to Kinect in future instalments.

This line strikes me as odd:
- We were looking at how we could integrate the technology that is Kinect, which is obviously doing very well, and put it into a game that requires you to hold something to have that real element of integration and authenticity. -
That must mean they were looking to add Kinect support from UI or something else, and 'holding something' goes against what Kinect is - where you are the controller.