Updates & Acquisitions

August 10, 2024

This is getting to the point where I should probably slow way, way down on acquiring more golf, because the boxes are only getting bigger and I'm gradually running out of good shelf space (especially for my other hobbies: playing card collecting, and retro computing.) But we've got some particularly odd and unusual acquisitions this time around that necessitate me once again providing Multimedia Content. Let's cover it from least to most interesting.

This is British Open Championship Golf, a golf simulation from Looking Glass Studios, of System Shock and Flight Unlimited fame. This is a budget re-release version of it, very unhelpfully indicated as a "Special Edition" by publisher SoftKey. The back of the case, as ever, explains much of what is to be found in this game; however, what's missing from it is only mentioned in the fine print at the bottom of the case!

Rather than passive-aggressively alluding to it, I should explain that, throughout the late 1990s, SoftKey took up business selling budget-priced "Special Editions" of various games from other publishers. They didn't make especially clear what's so "Special" about these "Special Editions" - what you're buying is essentially a heavily cut-down version of a full-version game that does not realize that it isn't a full-version game. In British Open's case, there is supposed to be an entire second disc containing the St. Andrews course, but this Special Edition only has one disc, containing Royal Troon. This is far from the only game SoftKey did this with; cut-down versions of everything from Tomb Raider to Gangsters littered bargain shelves and collectively ruined my trust in those shelves for years to come. So, British Open remains on Golfshrine's wishlist. (Wait, it wasn't on there before? Ah, I'd accidentally left some misinformation on there; the game I'd said was by Looking Glass was The Golf Pro featuring Gary Player, which was in fact by Empire Interactive instead. I think that's coming in the mail soon, incidentally.)

The next item of interest here is Tee Time from GameTek, a 1995 MS-DOS release from the wonderfully named Really Interesting Software Company (RISC). I'm not able to get sound to work on it, for some reason, and the included CD-ROM contains all of 4 megabytes' worth of data and no audio tracks. The game is already known to MobyGames, but not under this title - the European release is just called Hole in One. Visually this one's got a strong Amiga feel to it, and small wonder, the folks at RISC made two other golf games that came out on Amiga alongside their DOS versions: International Open Golf Championship, and Ryder Cup: Johnnie Walker, the only golf sim I know of with an alcohol brand sponsorship. MobyGames is telling me that RISC also contributed in some form to Gremlin Interactive's Actua Golf series (which exists in Golfshrine as VR Golf '97 and Fox Sports Golf '99), but I cannot ascertain as to how.

Here's another handful of smaller items, from bottom to top:

Don't they just integrate nicely? Now we can all tell at a glance what I've got. I probably ought to invest in properly thick card stock and a decent cutting table, but I've already got the graphics figured out, so I'm most of the way there. Anyway, about SimGolf...

In 1996, Maxis released SimGolf, a straight golf simulation game with an included (very detailed) golf course architect and a several-hundred-page instruction manual, more than half of which is dedicated to said architect. Some things happened, and Maxis got absorbed into the Electronic Arts imperium, but in 2002, the new EA-controlled Maxis produced another SimGolf game, with development handled largely by Firaxis Games, the company founded by gaming legend Sid Meier and company. Sid Meier's SimGolf isn't strictly a simulation of golf so much as it's a golf course tycoon game where you can (kind of) play on your courses after building them. You use the intuitive terrain tools to place down fairways, roughs, tees, and facilities for your country club, and your primary goal is getting NPC golfers to play at your course, pay the green fees (they'll tip extra if they like the course), and potentially buy memberships. However, among the "NPC" golfers roaming your course is a player-insert golfer, initially named Gary Golf. Through Gary, you can test your holes to make sure that they're playable, or even challenge the NPCs to match play or start tournaments at your course. Once you've gotten your foot in the door, you get to rename and customize Gary Golf, down to inserting your own face to use as his portrait, and editing the things he says when things happen around him.

Sid's SimGolf unfortunately came to me in a form that did not include a CD key, but I was at least able to find one somewhere on the internet (and wrote it down on a case-insert for posterity). Also unfortunately the game seems to not want to run on a modern Windows platform, thanks to SafeDisc protection, but that's where my other hobby (retro computing) comes in, as I have at least two computers in service right now that run Windows XP. Dated, schmated. This is what they're good for and I wouldn't get rid of them for anything.

But as much as I'd love to elevate my disc tray inserts as the most important thing this week, here's the real highlight of today's update: remember when motion control was the hip trend?

This not-large-but-very-heavy box contains the GameTrak Game System for PlayStation 2. These also existed for PC and the original XBox. For a mere 10 bucks, I obtained this well-worn box containing a complete, functional GameTrak unit and a copy of Real World Golf, one of only three games released for this fascinating gadget.

The GameTrak set includes a very heavy base unit, a foot-button attached by a small wire, two gloves, and a hollow plastic golf club. Real World Golf was sold separately, but the seller helpfully included it in the box for me. With the gloves attached to both the base unit and my hands, you may see a glimpse of how exactly the GameTrak System works. Would you believe it's all wires?

The GameTrak, unlike a certain revolutionary game console that would have come out mere months after this one, does not handle its motion-sensing by accelerometers or gyroscopes. Rather, you clip a pair of gloves into a pair of weirdly joystick-like protrusions in the very heavy base unit, strap them on to your hands, and then... lift. The sensing is handled mechanically, by a pair of spring-loaded coils of wire, and the base unit is somehow able to sense the positioning of your hands by reading the tension of those wires. The included plastic golf club contains no actual electronics; it's only there to help you form your stance and ensure that your hands are moving correctly. You could just as easily throw the thing away and use any solid rod-like object in your house.

I didn't find this setup unintuitive (apart from how exactly you're supposed to strap the gloves on - turns out that little loop is for your pinky-finger) or particularly laggy or inaccurate, but I did find I was having difficulty hitting the ball at full power. (Any visible lag in this video is a result of me not perfectly syncing up the two video sources.) The majority of your interactions with the device, apart from the actual golf swing, amount to you raising your left or right hands to stand-in for D-pad presses, and the foot pedal to confirm things or pause the game. I feel like there is some generous auto-aim going on, as I only really screwed up one putt, but you might notice it doesn't help me avoid a triple bogey. It might take some effort and persistence to get good at using the GameTrak, but honestly, I'd rather stick with Wii Sports, as it requires a bit less setup.

I resolve to slow down on the purchases for a while though; there is just so. danged. much. to fit on the Golfshrine shelves right now, and I'd like to focus my energy on either securing a proper income (or... somehow making Golfshrine sustainable? ;) ), or migrating some of my older projects and parallel interests over to this space. We'll see how that goes. In the meantime, thank you for sticking with me so far. Yet more to come when it comes.