THQ making a disc golf game for Wii

[Jerrod]

Well not a disc golf game but a game that has disc golf, but it's not like any of us would play the other games anyways right?






THQ Inc. today announced Big Beach Sports(TM) is anticipated to bring outdoor sports action to beach goers worldwide in summer 2008. Currently in development exclusively for the Wii(TM) system, Big Beach Sports will let gamers compete in a number of exciting outdoor sports including American football, volleyball, soccer, cricket, disc golf and bocce right
on the beach.

“Big Beach Sports drops players into a seaside resort setting with a wide variety of compelling outdoor sports to play and master,” said Randy Shoemaker, director, global brand management, THQ. “Sports including bocce, cricket and disc golf are making their Wii debuts and combined with the inclusion of more traditional games like soccer, American football and volleyball, Big Beach Sports will be an appealing title for the growing audience of Wii gamers.”

“The innovative Wii Remote(TM) controller has revolutionized sports gaming, letting us involve the player like never before,” said Steve Dauterman, senior vice president of product development, THQ. “Big Beach Sports applies the control scheme to each of the varied sports featured, letting players pick up and play the games they know and learn the ones they don’t know.”

About Big Beach Sports

Developed by HB Studios Multimedia, Big Beach Sports drops players into a seaside resort setting where up to four players can compete in sports including volleyball, soccer, American football, bocce, disc golf and cricket. The single player tournament structure encourages players to master each sport through the use of creative control combinations and real-life sport motions.

About THQ

THQ Inc. (NASDAQ:THQI) is a leading worldwide developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software. The company develops its products for all popular game systems, personal computers and wireless devices. Headquartered in Los Angeles County, California, THQ sells product through its global network of offices located throughout North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. More information about THQ and its products may be found at www.thq.com and www.thqwireless.com. THQ, THQ Wireless, Big Beach Sports and their respective logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of THQ Inc.

[SkaBob]

Let's just hope they do a better job of it than was done with the disc golf minigame in monkeyball for the wii....

[worthdan]

if they do it right then disc golf and bocce both would be a blast!
and agreed, monkeyballs disc sucked.

[Donkeypuncher]

It really depends on how serious they are about the game. If it's aimed toward kids, then I doubt it's gonna be very good. If they go all out and use realistic mechanics and real physical properties of throwing a disc, then it would be awesome. It's like the difference between tiger woods golf and hot shots or mario golf.

What I really want to see is a disc golf game like the virtual golf games they have. You know where you get a club and hit a ball at a screen, then a projector calculates the flight and angle of the ball and shows it on the screen.

[AciDBatH666]

Ive already decided that I'm getting a Wii if they develop a worthy game.
There's already been some topics here about it.

Only thing is, if I get a wii, I'll be hand making my own SUPER durable wrist strap. Because I've already launched a disc at full speed in my room once. I was trying to go thru the motions of a change in mechanics in my drive, and I did it slow a few times and fast twice as many times... Then all of a sudden I LAUNCHED an Orc at prolly 60 mph across my room hitting the corner of my 22" Widescreen monitor. LOL.

So yeah, they'll need to contain that power in that wii-mote. HAHA

[Donkeypuncher]

I can't count how many times I've launched a disc in the house on accident. Nailed a huge 15'x10' bay window, luckily it was double paned glass so it just left a smudge. I used to throw them at the couch full speed, until I lodged a champ orc 3 inches into the wall.

[JR]

I can't count how many times I've launched a disc in the house on accident. Nailed a huge 15'x10' bay window, luckily it was double paned glass so it just left a smudge. I used to throw them at the couch full speed, until I lodged a champ orc 3 inches into the wall.

Big thumbs up for the window manufacturer. I would've thought that glass would break when hit at those speeds with a disc. I think that you've officially acid tested your window for lack of molding imperfections

[ChUcK]

Why haven't they made a serious DG game for the WII yet? I'm no marketing expert, but the DG forums have been riddled with various threads clamoring for it. I would expect WII sales to jump and the game would be huge (at least bigger than they would expect), even if it wasn't particularly polished.

I wonder just how realistic the game could be? could the WII controller recognize nose up/down, hyzer/anny, and would there be differences in amount of snap? Would playing this game bolster or hinder your real-life game? Would they make a specific controller for it a la guitar hero? Something shaped like a san marino roc, perhaps?

Perhaps it's better if they never make a DG game. Something you just have to actually experience. Like bocce ball, for instance, but apparently we will soon have a virtual version of that, too.

[stoneman]

Even if every person that plays DG bought it, I doubt it would be much of a blip as far as total sales go. DG is a pretty small market.

[some call me...tim?]

Yeah, but if a good game were made, it would transcend the DG market. How many people that play Tiger Woods actually make it out to a golf course?

I would love to see a Tiger Woods type game for DG, with real courses, players, discs, physics, etc. I think something that involved would have to be a bit further down the line, after one or two other successful DG games. But hey, I'm willing to compromise. I'd even be down for a kind of cartoony type game like Hot Shots Golf, as long as it was done well.

That being said, I don't know what to expect from this THQ game. Anybody know if this is different than the DG game that the PDGA was collaborating on? That'd be awesome if there are actually two games in the works. I'm kind of skeptical as to the quality of this though, being a "multi-pack" kind of game. Seems to me in order to do the sport justice, you'd need a game solely dedicated to it.

[jamsisjams]

The Wii Sports package is rather fun, in my opinion.

[Gumbo]

How many people that play Tiger Woods actually make it out to a golf course?

I sure don't play real ball golf, but you can bet I'm pretty good at Tiger Woods. I definitely think that a well made DG game would transcend the actual DG players by a significant amount.

[Desafinado]

That being said, I don't know what to expect from this THQ game. Anybody know if this is different than the DG game that the PDGA was collaborating on? That'd be awesome if there are actually two games in the works.

This is a different product- the other game which the PDGA is collaborating on is being developed by Autonomous Productions, and it's intended to be a WiiWare release- that is to say, not a stand alone product that you go and purchase in a store, but it will be available for purchase by downloading it through the Wii directly.

I've been in contact with the lead developer of this game a few times, we're actually going to get together fairly soon to play a round at my local course, which seems to have a pretty good chance of being included in the game

I'd say the dedicated DG WiiWare title has a much better chance of being realistic/well made, even though I don't know too much about either production at this point. THQ is known for being a 'shovelware' house, that has put out tons of crappy software they can make on the cheap. The fact that disc golf is only one small portion of the game is also a red flag.

Shayne(the lead at Autonomous Productions) has been really responsive to contact from disc golfers so far, and seems to be set on including all variety of throwing mechanics and modeling disc flight as well as they can, along with having the courses in the game be replicas of famous/scenic/challenging actual disc golf courses.

The only tidbit I've gathered so far is that you'd set your right/left handedness, then you'd grip the Wiimote like it was a disc, and execute a throwing motion, from which the game would detect which sort of throw you were trying to execute automatically- whether sidearm, backhand, overhead, roller, etc.

I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much, but there's definitely a possibility of a really excellent DG simulator coming out of this...

[Midnightbiker]

How many people that play Tiger Woods actually make it out to a golf course?

I sure don't play real ball golf, but you can bet I'm pretty good at Tiger Woods. I definitely think that a well made DG game would transcend the actual DG players by a significant amount.

Well, that being said, I know some people who love to play Wii Tennis, and I have invited them to the Tennis Court to play, and I even have extra rackets and equipment, so there is no out of pocket money for them but they still won't go play real tennis. I guess some people don't like to go outside.

[Grayson]

yeah, a game on the Wii would be nice, but I'm sure that not too many game production companies are going to be too enthusiatic about greenlighting a disc golf video game after the ultimate frisbee/disc golf game tanked on the Nintendo DS. By all accounts it was awful, which is to be expected on a platform like the DS...

I've heard buzz about a disc golf game on the Wii since the console launched, but if you aren't seeing screen shots are a dedicated site for it, it's still probably at least a year away.

i don't mind waiting, as long as it means they are actually working on a fine-tuned product. if it's gonna be crap, it's better if PDGA or any disc golf company doesn't have their name on it.

i'd still like to find the old Innova game for PC, i know it's supposed to suck, but it'd be neat to try it out.