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June 08, 2005
Tiger | Woods
Anna left a comment asking when you were going to get Tiger, so I got you this. (Sound's like a lot of birthdays, doesn't it?)
If you don't know my Mom, she's a serious golfer. If you don't know Macs, Tiger's the new version of Mac OS X. If you don't know golf... never mind.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2003 Demo (60MB)
http://www.macgamefiles.com/download.php?item=17718
This is a direct download from MacGameFiles. If you click this link Mom, a free demo version of "Tiger Woods PGA Tour" will download to your desktop. It will probably take about an hour to download, but it can do that in the background, even if you're doing web and email.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour is like a 1st person shooter, ie. you see from the point of view of the character, but you hit around golf balls instead of killing truckloads of hapless bystanders (or violent monsters - granted). You may have seen TV ads for this game: Tiger Woods is lining up a shot in a sand trap which suddenly sinks into the earth until it's about 30 feet deep. - ? - Maybe not.
From MacGameFiles.com:
This 4-hole demo of Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 2003, featuring the Sahalee Country Club, holes 10-13.
Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 2003 brings golf to life on the computer in a completely 3-D world with a brand new course and PGA TOUR golfer lineup. Put every skill to the test on eight pro courses, including the exclusive St Andrews Golf Links and Pebble Beach Golf Links. New rendering effects allow the grass to grow around your feet, making the rough rougher; weather effects let you "feel" the sun, the wind and the chill as the fog rolls in.
Initially, I was very skeptical about the whole idea of virtual golf. I couldn't imagine how one would hit the ball. Would you press a button? What's the point?
But the game is good. You use the mouse to make Tiger swing the club. It requires some timing, but it makes sense and feels very natural after a while in a very uncanny way. And I found the quality of every aspect of the game design really impressive. The environmental soundtrack consists mostly of birds, wind, and a crowd that responds in keeping with the quality of your shots. The sounds of the club swinging and the ball hitting the fairway are the epitome of high realism.
The editing is really good too. It seamlessly mixes TV style golf coverage with more cinematic transitional shots of Tiger addressing the ball. (It's funny the lingo that seeps in unaware. Where'd I pull that one from? ;-) The level of attention to detail is evident in the way the designers have cut from one shot of the ball in the air to the next while keeping the ball composed in exactly the same position relative to the frame. It makes it easy to follow the ball from one shot to the next.
In any case, it's certainly worth the download. And here's a tip: try playing very badly. Make Tiger embarrassed and ashamed. It's very amusing.
The file that downloads is called "Tiger 2003 Demo.sit". It will download to your Desktop. If you double-click it, after a minute of processing, it will create a new folder on your desktop called "Tiger 2003 Demo." That's the game. If you look in the folder, there's a text file called "ReadMe.txt." Open that and read "Playing the Demo." You only need to read until it's explained how to hit the ball and aim. And then you're swinging!
Oh, and Mom will get Tiger once she wears out her current version, Anna ;-) Otherwise everything will change just as it's become familiar and her book would be out of synch with her Mac - and I don't think the Tiger version of the The Missing Manual is even out yet. She'll have to make do with Tiger Woods. (Heh. I hadn't noticed - he has a golfy name.)
Posted by Brad at June 8, 2005 11:33 PM
