Best-Selling Golf Franchise for the PC Earns its Xbox Tour Card This Holiday Season

May 14, 2003

Microsoft Game Studios announced today at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles, Calif., that Links 2004 will be an exclusive Xbox title and the featured golf game in Microsoft's XSN Sports™ brand.  Links 2004 will feature international superstar Sergio Garcia, who enjoyed another standout season in 2003 with a total of nine top-10 finishes.

Gamers, sports fans and golfers will finally be able to experience what real golf is like on a video game console as Links 2004, from the best selling golf franchise in history, comes to Xbox.  Links 2004 delivers real tournament competition that comes to life with dramatic TV style presentation, commentary and analysis. Golf fans worldwide will have the ability to compete online in friendly matches or in worldwide tournaments against the elite golfers utilizing Xbox Live.

XSN Sports is changing the way sports gamers compete online and offline.  Links 2004 will utilize XSN Sports' exclusive technology to unite sports fans and gamers through web-based devices for an intense and competitive golf experience. Acting as the ultimate tournament director, golf fans can control and build worldwide golf tours with friends, compete online using Xbox Live and even receive match results on a cell phone or PDA from a centralized website http://www.xsnsports.com/.  This new web based technology, exclusive to XSN Sports titles, will allow gamers to view their tour's scores, standings and stats each morning on a virtual sports page.  Whether it is on the course, on the driving range or online, Links 2004 will be looking to with the Grand Slam this year.

A solid addition to the XSN Sports portfolio, Links 2004 features a Real-Time Swing option, providing players with complete control over every shot and giving advanced players the opportunity to draw, fade, punch, chip or flop to win a hole. The left thumb stick acts as the club with ball physics factoring in speed, tempo, direction and course conditions in real time.

With graphics only possible on the Xbox, courses in Links 2004 come to life with animated water, ocean surf, 3-D trees, divots, galleries of golf fans that react to players' shots, and golf course wildlife including birds, ducks, squirrels and gophers. The lifelike courses feature sun-cast shadows that change depending on the time of day, birds that are frightened when a ball hits a tree, and ducks that will scatter when a ball hits the drink.  In addition, "Links golfers can traverse the world to play on a variety of challenging golf courses, including Greywolf (Alberta, Canada), New South Wales (Australia) and the Four Seasons Resort Aviara (California).

"Having created the top golf game on the PC, the Links development team has welcomed the opportunity to produce the best golf experience on the console," said Dave Curtin, studio manager for Microsoft Game Studios.  "With graphics never seen before, internationally acclaimed championship courses, Xbox Live and our experience with creating the world's best golf video games, we are sure Links 2004 will land at the top of the leaderboard."

Golf fans can play as golf superstar Sergio Garcia or as other professional golfers to perfect their game. Gamers also can create a character with unique physical characteristics, skills, apparel and personality. Players can be aggressive and take risks or be conservative and lay up. Links 2004 has a personality to suit every type, and each character's celebrations and audio commentary will match their personality.

Links 2004 will begin ripping 300 yard drives and sinking 20 foot putts this holiday season. 

 Xbox (http://www.xbox.com/) is Microsoft's future-generation video game system that delivers the most powerful games experiences ever. Xbox empowers game artists by giving them the technology to fulfill their creative visions as never before, creating games that blur the lines between fantasy and reality. Xbox is now available in the continents of North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.