Here’s the thing: about 15 years ago me and some of my friends (Gabriel is included, here) spent far too much time getting ridiculously good at Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf on the Nintendo GameCube. I can vividly remember shooting in the high 50’s on a regular basis, surrounded by snacks and watching the wee hours of the morning approach. After all the time we spent in the game, our characters were maxed-out and outfitted as well as they could be and we just loved sitting around and challenging one another to one absurd round of golf after another.
As you’ll hear me lament time and again, since that time my console gaming activities have basically vanished. I don’t regret anything that caused that to happen (wife, children, and career), but it is clear that my days as a console gamer are long gone. The last thing I played regularly on my living room TV for any extent of time was Zelda Breath of the Wild, and that was because my daughter joined in and played along with me. Most of the games I enjoy now on my phone I wouldn’t play with my kids around. PUBG Mobile is a perfect example: I love the game and play frequently on my devices, but I wouldn’t have PUBG up on the screen in front of my kids due to the graphic, violent nature of the game.
Honestly, most of the games I’ve been into on Stadia have fallen in this category. Metro Exodus, Doom Eternal, PUBG, and Zombie Army 4 aren’t exactly titles I want my young kids getting eyefulls of, so I tend not to play them on a regular basis. Additionally, they don’t lend themselves to snackable play, either, demanding much more dedication than I’m willing to give at this stage of life.
A game like Tiger Woods Golf, on the other hand, could be the exact type of game I’d be excited to play just about anywhere. Whether its handing the controller around the living room to play with others (my wife loved Tiger Woods Golf though we both played separately before we met) or getting in a quick round at lunch, playing games like PGA Tour 2K21 on Stadia will be a group effort and a family-friendly one, too.
Additionally, this will be the first Stadia game I’ll be happy to play with my controller. For me, first-person shooters are better with mouse/keyboard or on-screen controls on my phone with a bit of gyro-aiming thrown in. I find thumbsticks to be the least accurate of these methods, so this fact adds an additional layer of ‘meh’ to the current Stadia experience for me. As a casual gamer, using a controller is so much more approachable, but the games I play are so much better with a mouse and keyboard. It’s a real conundrum.
With the full backing of the PGA and what looks to be a lot of similarities to the past versions of Tiger Woods PGA Tour, I think this series is going to be a massive hit and the type of variation Stadia needs right now in its catalog. Set to debut on August 21st, I know that I’ll be eagerly awaiting the launch of this new game and will be first in line to plunk down the $59 (or $69 if you get the additional add-ons in the Deluxe Edition). With tons of coursed, custom courses, custom gear, and career modes, this may just take the place of PUBG Mobile as our go-to game during our daily lunch breaks. If you can’t tell, I’m pumped!
