Golden Tee Golf

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An image of the freestanding cabinet for the latest version of Golden Tee, Golden Tee LIVE 2008

Golden Tee Golf (also known as Golden Tee) is a golf arcade game series by Incredible Technologies^[1]. Since its inception in 1989, the trackball-controlled arcade game has become a standard integrated fixture of barroom popular culture, right alongside the pool tables, dartboards and jukeboxes.

1 About
2 History
- 2.1 Golden Tee Fore!
- 2.2 Golden Tee LIVE
  - 2.2.1 LIVE Tournaments
3 Gameplay and Controls
- 3.1 Controls Overview
- 3.2 Golden Tee LIVE Options
4 Reception
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] About

There are many versions of the game that have been created throughout the years, but a fairly consistent feature between them all is the availability of a variety of 18-hole courses with different themes and levels of difficulty. A common motif among many of these courses, especially in more recent versions, is the existence of shortcuts or trick shots to help cut strokes off the player's score. These shortcuts can often make it easier to birdie, eagle, or in rarer cases double eagle than in most golf video games and especially more than in a real round of golf. Another common feature among many of these courses is that the front 9 (first 9 holes) is set up to be easier than the back 9 (last 9 holes). The first couple of holes will normally have wide fairways, flat greens, and low wind speed. The last couple of holes will almost always have hard-to-reach fairways, high winds, and/or heavily-sloped greens.

One thing that Golden Tee has done to separate itself from other video golf games is to add replayability to each course. Even though a player might select the same course twice in a row, they may notice some interesting differences that exist between their current game and their previous. The tee boxes may have moved, the winds may have shifted, the pin placements on the green may be different, it might no longer be raining, the water may have risen and the lake may have frozen over - creating a shortcut on a hole that wasn't there before. These changes occur each time a new game is started, creating a unique experience every round.

In addition, there have been many celebrity sound and video recordings that have been built into the game throughout the years. Sportscaster Pat Summerall and professional golfers Peter Jacobsen, Gary Player and Laura Diaz have all contributed sage advice, sarcastic remarks, and witty criticism to the many versions of the game. A celebrity known only to the Golden Tee world, former Golden Tee World Champion Steven Sobe, has been added to the LIVE versions of the game as a mentor for new players, showing them the basics of the game every time a game is played.

Finally, the creators of Golden Tee are also very fond of adding easter eggs into their games. Things such as bigfoot, dead bodies, and groundhogs holding Coca-Cola cans are just some of the things that Incredible Technologies has strategically programmed throughout the nooks and crannies of their virtual golf courses, normally when you decide to veer off the beaten path.

[edit] History

Name	Year
Versions
Golden Tee Golf	1989
Golden Tee Golf II	1990
Golden Tee 3D Golf	1995
Golden Tee '97	1996
Golden Tee '98	1997
Golden Tee '99	1998
Golden Tee 2K	1999
Golden Tee Fore!	2000
Golden Tee Classic	2001
Golden Tee Fore! 2002	2001
Golden Tee Supreme Edition Tournament	2002
Golden Tee Fore! 2003	2002
Golden Tee Fore! 2004	2003
Golden Tee Fore! 2004 Extra	2003
Golden Tee Fore! 2005	2004
Golden Tee LIVE	2005
Golden Tee Fore! Complete	2005
Golden Tee LIVE 2007	2006
Golden Tee LIVE 2008	2007
Golden Tee 2008 Unplugged	2007
Golden Tee LIVE 2009	Unreleased (2008)

The original title "Golden Tee Golf" was introduced in 1989^[1]. A 2-D video golf experience, it was Golden Tee Golf's competitive nature and cutting-edge trackball control that formed the model of success that the game thrived on ever since. The original title paved the way for the success of Golden Tee 3D in 1995 and Golden Tee Fore! in 2000. Throughout the years the game went from a small nightly tradition for some, to a pop-culture phenomenon for many^[1].

In 2005, a new era of Golden Tee was introduced with the release of Golden Tee LIVE^[2] – a revolutionary always-online version of Golden Tee. LIVE utilizes state-of-the-art technology to bring many entertaining features to Golden Tee's already strong portfolio.

[edit] Golden Tee Fore!

Golden Tee Fore! added features such as player identification, statistics tracking and online tournaments. Player identification was enabled through the use of the Golden Tee Card (a.k.a Golden Tee Gold Card). Players could then use the card's ID number to create an online user account which could be used to track statistics such as average score and greens in regulation. The ID card also allowed the player to enter into weekly and monthly online tournaments which weren't held in real-time, but took the course of days or weeks to complete.

[edit] Golden Tee LIVE

The original version of Golden Tee LIVE debuted in 2005^[1]^[2], and there have since been two version updates; namely Golden Tee LIVE 2007 and Golden Tee LIVE 2008^[3]. Along with an updated game engine and loads of customization features, Golden Tee LIVE added the availability of secure wireless updates via the Sprint network. The ability to communicate in real-time with the main player information databases allows for immediate tournament score updates, instant rewarding of prizes, and the ability for players to pay with their credit card.

[edit] LIVE Tournaments

In the U.S. versions of the game, 18-hole LIVE tournaments cost an additional $1 to play,^[4] beyond the normal cost to play 18 holes. When the option to "Play for Prizes" is selected, the player will be automatically entered in a 50-person tournament, where each person is playing the same course with the same teeboxes, wind speed and direction, pin placement and other conditions. These tournaments fill up in queues, of which there is one for each course available for LIVE play. When a new person or persons (up to 4 per machine) enters a queue, the system checks to see if there is room for them in an existing tournament for the course they have selected. If there is no room in an existing tournament, a new tournament is automatically generated behind the scenes and they become the only person/people playing in that tournament until other players join. Upon completion of the 18 hole round by all 50 players, the tournament entry fees of $1 from each player, for a total of $50, is divided up between the top 20 spots as shown in the table below.^[5] In addition, the bottom 30 each receive one of the game's Virtual Balls as consolation.^[5]

Place	Prize
1st	$10
2nd	$8
3rd	$6
4th	$4
5th thru 10th	$2
11th thru 20th	$1
21st thru 50th	Virtual Ball

[edit] Gameplay and Controls

The game is scored the same way a real game of golf is scored - there are even penalty strokes given when the player finds a water hazard or hits past an out-of-bounds marker. The game's primary control feature is the requirement of the player to use a trackball, which determines the power and distance of each golf swing, as described in the section below. In most versions of the game, the player must also use the trackball and start button to navigate through the menus to select the course they wish to play, along with other play options. The player is given a choice of whether they want to play a full 18-hole round, a 9-hole round, or pay for 3 holes at a time. If the player chooses to play 9 holes, they will also get to decide whether they want to play the front 9 or the back 9 of the course they selected.

[edit] Controls Overview

Turning Left/Right - Before each swing, the player has the ability to turn the player left and right, which effectively changes the initial direction of the ball flight. This ability is controlled by two buttons, namely "Turn Left" and "Turn Right", which can usually be found on the lower left portion of the console.
Fly By (LIVE only) - When tapped, used to view the "line" from ball lie to hole; when held down, gives the player a "heads-up" forward view from where their ball lies. Also used (in conjunction with "Turn Left" and "Turn Right") to control the volume level when held down.
Backspin/Roll - Before each swing, the player also has the ability to add backspin or roll to their ball. The main effect of ball spin is to help control what the ball will do once it hits the ground after flight. In general, backspin will pull the ball toward the player, whereas roll will push the ball away from the player. This action is controlled by a single button usually found on the lower right portion of the console, which did not exist on some of the earlier versions of the game.
Changing Clubs - Before each swing, the player may choose to change to a different club than was defaulted to them by the game. To do this, the player must roll the trackball straight to the left for shorter-distance clubs, and to the right for longer-distance clubs.
Backswing - Backswing involves rolling the trackball toward the player anywhere between the "A" and "C" designators that appear on the surface of the console below the trackball. In general, pulling to the "A" side will give the player a slice or fade effect (curve from left to right), while pulling to the "C" side will give the player a hook or draw effect (curve from right to left). In addition, the amount that is pulled back during the backswing will directly impact the ball's potential flight distance.
Forward Swing - Forward Swing involves rolling the trackball away from the player (toward the screen) anywhere between the "1" and "3" designators that appear on the console. In general, the initial direction of the ball flight corresponds to the direction of the forward swing, i.e. a swing toward "1" (which appears on the left side of the trackball) will result in the ball initially travelling to the left. Combined with the backswing direction/distance and the type of golf club used, a nearly-infinite array of possibilities is available with every shot.

[edit] Golden Tee LIVE Options

Customizing Golfer Appearance - At any point during a game of Golden Tee, the player may change their appearance by changing their gender, face, and clothing - hats, shirts, pants, shoes. Although the player's look does not have any direct impact on actual gameplay, it allows the person to express themselves in their own unique way. The player's gender, face, and clothing selections will automatically save and carry over from game to game, assuming the same ID card is used. Note that this is only available to players who have swiped their ID card prior to the start of the game.
Changing Club Sets and Balls - Once the player has chosen their play options and have selected their course, they are given the option to select which club set and golf balls they wish to use. Club sets can be purchased for $2 per set prior to teeing off on the first hole, and Virtual Balls can be purchased for $0.50 per dozen. The purchased balls increase or decrease features like ball spin, distance, and loft. This option is only available to each player prior to that player teeing off on the first hole and only to those players who have swiped their ID card. Once purchased, the golf club sets are the player's to keep permanently, however the ball total decrements every time a ball goes out of bounds or is lost in a water hazard. Note that there is no requirement to ever purchase additional clubs or balls, as the Stock set of clubs is automatically granted to the player and have an infinite supply of Stock golf balls. Below is a brief synopsis of each type of club available:^[6]
- Stock - These clubs are granted to the player free when they first create their account. This is a well-rounded set of clubs for most situations.
- Apex FTX - These clubs are helpful with longer-distance courses due to the lower loft on a couple of clubs.
- Apex 50 - These clubs are aimed at helping the player get up, over, and around hilly terrain due to the higher-than-normal loft options available.
- Edge "Hybrids" - This club set is designed to be a better set for rough terrain, and can also be a great set for some long-distance shots.

[edit] Reception

In the past twenty years, millions of people have played on over 100,000 units in bars and pubs of over a dozen different countries.^[1] The many versions of Golden Tee have picked up quite a variety of awards, including the 1998 AAMA award for "Most Played Video Game" and most recently, the 2004 AMOA Innovator Award for Golden Tee LIVE.^[7]

In recent years, the game has evolved tremendously. There are now yearly regional tournaments^[8] in which the winners from the three Golden Tee regions (Midwest, West, and South) form the Team USA for the Golden Tee world. This team will then compete in the annual World Championship for large monetary prizes and pride. There are also many other tournaments that take place throughout the year, ranging from localized 8-person double-elimination bracket tournaments to organized two day tournaments with qualifying rounds that draw hundreds of the top players from around the U.S. and Canada.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Categories: Arcade games | Golf video games