Golf FORE you! "Everybody's Golf" Hits GameZone with a Hot Shots Golf 3 Interview

by The Badger 

You know, they say if you can't laugh at yourself, someone else will be glad to do it for you. I've been on the course with more than one golfer who could have stood to have a little more of a sense of humor about the game... Hmmm. Maybe I'll buy them Sony's Hot Shots Golf 3, soon to debut on the PS2. Featuring fully realistic golf simulation, and humor to boot - this franchise just keeps getting better as technology advances. This release has great features such as the addition of caddies, a particle grid system to get the difficulty just right, great PS2 graphics, and enough characters to suit the many personalities we know you've run into on the greens! 

We had the chance to have some fun and have a little Q&A session with Taku Imasaki, SCEA Producer, about this upcoming title. He's got plenty of respect and humor for the "great game of golf," and gaming combined!

What kinds of things have you added or changed for this 3rd installation of the Hot Shots Golf series? Did you take fan feedback into account along with critical feedback?

In Hot Shots Golf 3, the characters are modeled in 3D, and there are even caddies now! Plus they all 'speak', adding more to their personalities. The courses are now super-realistic, filled with interactive objects. The game always had a great engine, but thanks to the power of PlayStation 2, the golf ball & course physics are now even more sophisticated, making the game so addictive and hard to put down. The features where we took most fan feedback were the putting system and character design.

With 15 golfers to choose from, one has to wonder where you find your inspirations for so many unique characters. Are you ever inspired by real athletes, celebrities, or even your co-workers (haha)?

Following the original concept of the Japanese title "Everybody's Golf", we made sure we picked typical people we see in real life, and kind of exaggerated their personalities a bit. That's why you see your typical valley girl, Hollywood guy, psychic lady and such. Yes, some were inspired by celebrities, and some by co-workers, but I won't disclose any details...

Can you tell us a little bit about how the National Tournament Mode will work? 

Players of Hot Shots Golf3 will be able to log on to SCEA's Web site and download a National Tournament entry password. Entering that password into the game will open up a "virtual National Tournament" with certain regulations. You will play that tournament, and once you complete, the game will provide you with a tournament password that has your results encrypted in it. You will then go back to our Web site and type in that tournament password, and the Web site will determine the winner. The Web site will also be able to sort you in different categories, like where you're placed in the state you live in, within the same age category, blood-type, etc. We're planning to hold one tournament a month, for a total of 6 months. Everybody get ready!
 

What kinds of courses will make up the 6 courses in Hot Shots Golf 3? What kinds of research do you have to do to best recreate these courses?

To make sure the game appeals to golfers, we picked true-to-life settings for the golf courses, while avoiding any licensed names. We tried to be as global as possible, including typical Japanese, Hawaiian, American, and British golf courses. Research? Played a lot of real golf (^o^) No, seriously... this game is designed so it would even work as a golf simulator.
 

Will gamers have any choices on difficulty levels? Will there be any other configuration options? 

here is no typical difficulty setting feature, but this game has so much depth and unlockable features. The game will start off with being easy for anyone, but as you progress, tough courses, tough tournaments, and tough characters to beat will open up gradually.. The game will also load you with various equipment that'll change and improve the character's attributes.

How does the "particle grid" system help make the golf experience more realistic? How was the particle grid system brought into the process?

I personally think this new putting system works closest to putting in real life than it has ever been before. The more you spend time and study, the more patient you are will bring you good results. Coming up with the putting mechanism right in Hot Shots Golf 3 was one of the hurdles for the team. The original Hot Shots was considered too easy, Hot Shots 2 was considered too hard. With this new particle gird system, we think we've finally got it right. 

How difficult was it to incorporate "time of day" factors into gameplay? Will these factors increase the gamer's challenge level through visual means (like being "blinded" shown by bright lightning), or will it be something gamers will see happening as their shots go foul?

The team wouldn't consider it was difficult, the PlayStation 2 actually gave them the abilities to incorporate something they've always wanted to include. Yes, it will affect the gameplay, and requires the player to be strategic in where to hit your ball so you can minimize difficulties for the following shot.

What role will the seven caddies play in your game? Will they provide simple comic relief, or will different combinations result in better/lesser performance?

Technically they're there just to be funny and cheer & cry with you, but they have so much personality that some sensitive players WILL see different results (^o^).

Does blending fiction into fact make your work more challenging or less challenging when you work on a game like this? What are the most difficult things to do when trying to create a more comical/fast-paced experience out of an otherwise somewhat slow moving sport?

You have to understand that the comical part of this game is just a different 'layer' that sits on top of a great golf game engine that can work tremendously well as a simulator. So, when designing the game engine, the difficulties the team faces is the same with any other developer that makes a true-to-life simulation game. 

Adding the fiction portion is more challenging from a creative aspect, obviously because you have to come up with these wacky characters, items and such. But it's very fun, and that's what we're going for, because we want to be different from the many PGA & Links golf games out there.

How do you think the treatment of golf in video games has changed as the sport has become more popular? 

I think we're seeing the first wave of 'adventurous' golf games as we speak. Golf games that appeal to younger audiences, like Cyber Tiger, and Swingaway Golf. I can't wait to see many, many more.

Do you ever run into situations where you might have to confront licensing issues with popular brands/personalities?

Not so far, but as these stylized golf games become more popular, and depending on the direction we take with our game, we might have to face those situations in the future.

Do you think games are becoming harder or easier to make as technology advances? 

Easier to make games, but harder to set-up (investments, gathering resources) to make them. 

Who do you think will most enjoy this game? What is the target audience you visualized when creating Hot Shots Golf 3?

Just like the original Japanese version, the target audience is everyone, from casual gamers to hardcore gamers plus non-gamer-but-golf-enthusiasts. But realistically, I think anyone who spends at least 15 minutes on this game will be able to enjoy this game.
----------------

The Badger would like to thank Taku Imasaki and SCEA for their time in giving us the "gopher's eye view" of the Hot Shots PS2 debut.