Hot Shots Golf 5 Screens

It's looking pretty good. I found myself wishing Home would have taken this cartoony look in real evironments, instead of the sort of boring one they went with. Imagine how much cooler it would have looked. Oh well, this game is certainly looking interesting, but I have to wonder if they are making any innovations with regards to gameplay. If it's the same press button, wait for bar to fill, press button again kind of gameplay, count me out. It should have some sixaxis functionality at least IMO.
 
I was playing this almost my entire Saturday. I'm liking it even more than I thought I would.

Single player is addicting because you keep unlocking items/costumes/golf clubs. Plus you keep leveling up the characters you play. You gain new characters by beating them in the tournaments. It does also allow you to switch between the playable characters you have unlocked. I think there is 20 playable characters total. Different caddies are also unlockable.

I played a couple rounds of multi player. I was surprised that so many people are playing already! There multi player model is kind of interesting. It's divided into multiple floors (servers I guess). Each floor has multiple "lobbies". The lobbies are 50 characters max. And this is the "Home" like community environment where toon characters are running/playing around or chatting to each other while they wait for the match.

To join a match you have to go into one of these lobby areas and once in the lobby you have access to the game schedule of that server. There are games starting at regular intervals. And you have to basically enroll yourself in a game in advance of it actually occuring. The disadvantage to that is that you can't just pop in to the game and be on a course instantly like that. Sometimes you have to wait 20 or more mins just because its currently a bit hard to find a game that isn't full that isn't starting within 20mins

What I would do is book tee times even as far as an hour in advance . Then I would exit the multi player part of the game and play some SP and then rejoin the lobby a few mins before my game was about to start.

Each game has 50 players max. And because you have to join them well in advance they are almost always full. Players that suck can retire early if they choose to. You don't actually see the other players rendered on the field. Everyone plays their hole at the same time. Once you complete your hole, you are returned to this scoreboard area for a min or two while you wait for the rest of the players to complete their hole. This is where you get to see how other players did compared to you. You'll see your position on the score board move up and down after every hole as well as other statistics. Plus it gives the players a chance to chat with each other between holes.

Before I got the game, my initial fear about MP was that it would just drag on and be really slow when you have to wait on a lot of other players. But this system seems to keep the game moving along at a nice brisk pace. While keeping the sense of competition is still very strong.

The community lobby areas seem quite lively. You've got 50 characters in each lobby either waiting for their tee times or just hanging out and chatting. And the Japanese players seem to be really enjoying themselves in it. Your avatar is customizable. And as you progress in the game you get upgrades for your in lobby avatar character. Plus it has a basic gesturing system which is fun. You make gestures by moving the left analog. If you click on the left analog your cursor changes to a hovering finger over other players avatars and you can inspect personal information about them. Like a basic personal stats and any greets they left for other people to read.

Right now there is only 2 themed lobby areas that I have seen. Just a really typical western hotel lobby looking place. And then a very Japanese style ryokan hotel complete with an onsen and everything. In one of the ingame videos I saw there were other themed lobbies. So they must either be unlockable for higher level players, or they have not made them available to players yet. Maybe more content updates will be patched in later.

Speaking of patches, the game did require a patch for MP immediately after logging in.

Anyway, it's a quality piece of software. If it hasn't already sold well, I expect word of mouth will carry this game even further and give it legs as far as sales are concerned. The community aspect of it is unlike any other current playstation game out there. I suppose Final Fantasy Online is the only other PS game with a community aspect that is even close. But that is subscription based. And this is free. It's not even a full priced game! I only payed 5380JPN ($45USD) for it at retail!
 
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inefficient said:
Anyway, it's a quality piece of software. If it hasn't already sold well, I expect word of mouth will carry this game even further and give it legs as far as sales are concerned. The community aspect of it is unlike any other current playstation game out there. I suppose Final Fantasy Online is the only other PS game with a community aspect that is even close. But that is subscription based. And this is free. It's not even a full priced game! I only payed 5380JPN ($45USD) for it at retail!
Click to expand...


As far as I'm concerned, the community aspect sounds a great deal like Monster Hunter 2. The basic setup of the servers also sound similar.
There are big servers, then there are sub-lobbies within the servers in which you can chat in. But this game is totally free for online. That's a big plus over Monster Hunter series.

Plus, as far as I can go by memory, this game had pre-orders up to 300k or 500k. Sold over 150k in the first days.
 
Somehow, this was the most recent Hot Shots thread I can find.

Anyway, Amazon has Out of Bounds for $50. I didn't need much of an excuse to get the game in the first place, so, this is icing on the cake for me.
 
Awesome game. I'm surprised how fun it is online, people with their unique avatars goofing around in the lobby, the online matches are quick and fun. Single player courses are quick and easy to play through, not to mention rewarding. I supposed it could be made even more accessible but it's pretty accessible as it stands.
 
I'm having a lot of fun with it myself. I'm not very far into it, though, and I'd like to get some more practice and get some higher-rated characters before venturing online.

I already miss my old caddy from HSG3, though. Mel was the best.
 
Read this thread earlier and decided the positive feedback was a reason for a nice stroll downtown to pick up the game, and am I glad I did it!

A really charming, fun and solid game - now if only I was any good at it ;)
 
Btw, just noticed something I haven't seen other PS3 games do (not that I have too many of them). When you play the online mode, press [select] when you're in a lobby, and out pops the XMB friends list w/ message box. Which is nice, and what I'd use the in-game XMB for 99% of the time.
 
xmu said:
Btw, just noticed something I haven't seen other PS3 games do (not that I have too many of them). When you play the online mode, press [select] when you're in a lobby, and out pops the XMB friends list w/ message box. Which is nice, and what I'd use the in-game XMB for 99% of the time.
Click to expand...
I think the same feature exists in Burnout Paradise.

Now reading this thread has convinced me to order this game also. Looking really forward to it.
 
Silent said:
I think the same feature exists in Burnout Paradise.

Now reading this thread has convinced me to order this game also. Looking really forward to it.
Click to expand...

Umm I thought you just have Burnout's own in-game friends list which has the same look'n'feel as the game menus. Might be wrong here, but at least I haven't bumped into that. Then again, not sure if I've tried all the keys :)
 
No, Silent is right, I've seen screenshots. This wasn't in the demo, but it is in the full game.
 
xmu said:
Ok I stand corrected :) Gotta try it out then, anyone have any idea which button brings it up?
Click to expand...

If you go to the pause menu, on one of the screens it will tell you what button to hit. I think its triangle. I can't remember off the top of my head.

patsu said:
It sounds interesting but I have never played a Hotshot Golf game before. What is its appeal ? I am thinking of buying a game this week and this might be it.
Click to expand...

IMO, the appeal is in its accessibility, lighhearted "atmosphere," and tight controls. Its an enjoyable, family friendly, group friendly, game.
 
patsu said:
Recently, a few of my Resistance clan mates quit early to play this game. Then I found this post about their lobby: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=10556065&postcount=210 and read this B3D thread.

It sounds interesting but I have never played a Hotshot Golf game before. What is its appeal ? I am thinking of buying a game this week and this might be it.
Click to expand...

Isn't Demo still on UK PS Store. It's a little less than the Japanese demo but should represent gameplay.
We loved the demos, bought the full version but gave it as a gift to another couple, since they liked the demo during a visit as well.
Of course now, I'm planning to buy another one, but for some reason having bought once is stopping me. :|
 
I don't have a UK account. Hate to mess up my PS3 Desktop with too many accounts. :)
My JP account is very bare, created it only to download the GT:p demo. Have not logged in there since then.

But I did forget to check out the US PSN to see if a Hotshot Golf demo is there.


EDIT: Nope, no US demo. Was deciding whether to get HSG or MLB The Show. Guess I'll have to create a UK account to try it out then.
 
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Hotshots is very fun, its a very good golf game, but its less serious than Tiger Woods, at least on the surface ;)
And the online part is also more of the casual fun, but its very competitive in a fun way.,with a serious undertone to it. I think its great fun to see the other players standing around me hitting the ball at the same time as I am on the course playing and in between holes you get to chat (only text) with the other players about how the last hole went etc. Great fun, definitely worth the money in my book.
 
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