Xbox 360

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06

Honestly, this is like a lot of EA Sports' next-gen products - it's a fine game and a nice addition to any 360 library, but probably not worth upgrading to if you already own the current-gen edition of Tiger 06.

Unless you're not a fan of analog swinging, I don't know that you can go wrong with this title. It's solid in all the right places.

As I said earlier, there are only six courses, and this is where I have to stop praising Tiger 06. I can understand six courses in a game like Hot Shots Golf. I can't really accept it with Tiger 06, especially when the current-gen versions have twice as many locations. Sure, you can still hit the beautiful coast of Pebble Beach or the super-difficult TPC at Sawgrass, but after six courses, there isn't anything else. It also doesn't help that there's only the Career mode to play in the Xbox 360 version. You can play online, which is nice and works out well without much holdup. But between career and online gameplay modes, there isn't much to do here. Because of that, I don't know how to recommend this title. I mentioned at the start of this review that Tiger 06 is a great game, and I'd like to repeat that.

EA Sports takes its very first swing at the next-generation of golfing video games and while Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 isn’t a hole in one, it does manage to land on the green and finish under par. The presentation of this Xbox 360 launch title is the biggest improvement over the previous generation, followed by the harder difficulty. Without a doubt, this will please the serious golfing community that has demanded more simulation from the series. In the process, however, the game has been stripped of courses and modes offered in the Xbox, PS2 and PC versions. Whether or not you’re a golfing fan, you’re going to enjoy your time on the green as long as you don’t despise the sport. The Xbox 360 edition, though, is going to appeal more to the hardcore golfing fan with its emphasis on simulation rather than substance.

Golfen ist ein Altherrensport. Wer seine besten Zeiten erlebt hat, der geht auf den Golfplatz. Franz Beckenbauer, Olli Kahn und viele andere Männer unserer mehr oder weniger Prominenz gehen da mit gutem Beispiel voran. Gleiches gilt auch für die Weltelite, denn ein Jack Nicklas oder Bernhard Langer sind auch nicht mehr die Jüngsten. Wie gut, dass es junge und dynamische Profispieler wie Tiger Woods gibt, die sich gegen dieses Klischee stellen und zeigen, dass Golf eben nicht nur für Herren und Damen jenseits der Ü40-Party einen Tages füllenden Sport darstellen kann.

The Xbox 360 version of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 features a picture of a dead-serious Tiger, his right arm raised in defiant celebration. Clad in his familiar final-tournament-day red, Tiger strides along, confident in his ability to finish off an opponent--perhaps with a 20-foot putt or a 300-plus-yard drive. The expression on his face says he's all business and very little fuss. That's also an accurate description of the game this photo appears on. While Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 for Xbox 360 is missing many of the features that round out the game on current-gen platforms and the PC, what remains is a challenging, enjoyable game of golf that, in some ways, exceeds the more fleshed-out versions.

Um es ganz bewusst überspitzt zu formulieren: Die Umsetzung für Xbox 360 ist im Vergleich kein gutes Spiel. Grafisch wird Besitzern einer beliebigen anderen Fassung nur eine frisch polierte Neuauflage geboten und die Anzahl der Optionen wurde stark beschnitten. Würde die eigentliche Simulation nicht auf einem konkurrenzlos guten Fundament fußen, wäre das Projekt „Next Generation Golf“ für EA beinahe in die Hose gegangen. Was zu sehen ist, wirkt roh und unausgereift, denn so detailliert die Gesichter z.B. gezeichnet sind, so leblos wirkt die Welt um sie herum. Abgesehen davon wünsche ich mir nichts sehnlicher, als dass den Entwicklern ein Weg einfällt, jenes störende Glänzen tiefenscharfer Texturen in Zukunft einzuschränken. Ich habe keine Lust, mich die nächsten fünf Jahre mit Figuren aus Kunststoff zu identifizieren.

As a dedicated fan of the Tiger Woods PGA Tour franchise, it’s great to see the series always make an appearance as a launch title for a new console or gaming system. Whether it’s the Nintendo DS or Sony’s PSP, the Tiger Woods games are there. So it wasn’t a surprise to find Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 among Microsoft’s new gaming machine called the Xbox 360. Yet some launch titles have the reputation of being a rushed production and, sadly enough, it’s the case with this version of EA Sports much-loved golf franchise. The good news, though, is that it’s still worth your attention if you like golf.

For a first shot at golf on the 360, it’s a good start, and a lot of fun. If you’re a fan of golf, you’ll most certainly enjoy EA and Tiger’s first efforts. It’s not exactly a Major contender yet, but you can most certainly win The Tour Championship with this one.

While Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 isn't without its flaws -- I would have appreciated more courses and it does take a long time to "master" -- it is probably the best of EA's launch sports titles for the 360.

Nevertheless, Tiger Woods makes an encouraging, if tough, start on the 360. The game will no doubt look quite different in a couple of years and the hard-drive gives the option of more courses being available, but in the meantime, get online and prove your worth.

Clearly, the best thing about Tiger’s first 360 foray is the ability to absolutely smash an unsuspecting spectator in the head, groin, and/or kneecap with an errant drive and see him double over in agony. It’s so much fun that this should have been its own game mode. Tiger Woods vs. John Daly in a match to see who sends the most gallery members to the hospital? You know you would pay for that.

For a sport that isn't as season-centric as the NFL or NBA, Tiger sure comes out to play each and every year. In Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06, however, it seems the digital club-swinger is in a slump. Perhaps porting the game over to the brand spanking new Xbox 360 will be the shot in the arm that the series needs. Or, maybe it's just the same thing with a prettier candy shell. Which do you think?

Electronic Arts has done it. The promised next-generation of Tiger Woods PGA Tour has arrived. Only, there's a catch: very little about it is actually next-generation. Certainly, it's still a reliable and enjoyable golf experience, but it does nothing to advance the series. In fact, it even strips it of important features and options that fans might expect. Even the visuals, which are respectable, aren't enough to have you wondering how they pulled off some leap in realism. In other words, there's no ambitious new era of videogame golf being ushered in with the 360's launch. What EA is giving owners of Microsoft's Xbox successor is something to tide them over, a stand-in. It's something that will satisfy the casual consumer that perhaps only plays the Tiger games sporadically, or those hungry for something at launch, but not those who have been following the franchise for years.

A l'instar des autres titres EA Sports proposés pour le lancement de la Xbox 360, cette version de Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 a été amputée d'un certain nombre d'éléments qui faisaient justement la force des moutures PC et consoles 128 bits. On se retrouve avec un titre beaucoup moins riche et dont les restrictions se répercutent directement sur l'intérêt du jeu. Quitte à choisir, autant privilégier une version moins chère et plus aboutie.

It's easy to pass this edition of the Tiger Woods franchise off as a loss. Initially, you probably would. However, days pass and you continue to drive balls down Pebble Beach's fairway, sub-par game or not. You'll finally accept that no matter the exterior, you're obsessed with trophy balls. Forty hours later, when you eagle that final par five to earn an acknowledgement proving you spend too much time playing, it somehow feels like $60 well spent on an average video game.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 on the Xbox 360 could have been the definitive version of the game. Its increased difficulty, combined with all the features and courses of the previous, games would have made for a great launch title. With only six courses on offer though, and some missing features, it's hard not to feel a little short-changed. If you want to play golf on your 360, Tiger still plays a great game, but don't expect to find a game bursting with content.

I don't understand quite what the idea was here. Granted, I was a bit unpleasant about Tiger Woods 2006 the first time (well, strictly speaking I was warmly receptive of it the first time - the issue was that the first time was actually in late 2001), but this 360 game seems to have missed the point. It's different content (about half as much) and lined up in a different way, but the actual game you play is basically identical.

If the next generation of sports gaming was all about nailing the new, redefined spectators square in their testicles, complete with appropriate animation, than EA would have nothing to worry about. For in the "man getting hit by golf ball" category, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 lands a perfect ten out of ten, followed by many, many replays of this instance. Unfortunately, golf mustn't be judged by its hilarious mishaps but for its mechanics and the content that compliments it and in this case, Tiger Woods on the 360 is barely par for course.

Tiger Woods 06 will not, though. It's a decent game that nails the essentials by reprising the gameplay mechanics and bumping up the delivery, but like too many of these EA launch games, it delivers less content than the same games released on technically inferior platforms. The fact is, if you already own a Tiger game for a current-gen machine, you own a better one than this. Numbers don't lie, and neither do we.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 for the Xbox 360 is a major disappointment. It’s another game where you can see the potential for the console but instead you’re stuck with a game that was rushed out to stores. There is no way I can recommend this game for anyone, even if it is the only console you have. It is simply not that much fun and $60 is a steep price to pay to be frustrated.

If you own Tiger 06 on any other platform I cannot recommend the 360 version on looks alone, not to mention the hit in the features department. You could also save yourself $10 and buy Tiger 06 on the PS2/Xbox/GameCube and walk away with a more complete Tiger experience. I only hope next year’s Tiger, as well as Madden and NBA Live, are full featured games and not ghosts of their former selves.