Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 Creators Go Head-To-Head With Students
Full Sail grads who worked on the new game at EA Tiburon played it with students and answered questions about EA, the industry, and more
Like its namesake, the Tiger Woods PGA Tour series is the undisputed champ of golf games. The franchise first hit consoles back in 1998, and the most recent entry is still as popular as ever – debuting in the top five during its first month of release, with over a quarter-million copies sold.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 was developed at Florida-based studio EA Tiburon, and features the talent of a number of Full Sail graduates. With the design team on a short break before starting production on the next iteration of the series, our gaming department was excited to welcome five of these grads back to campus for an "EA Game Night" event.
EA Game Night provided current gaming students with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity – to go head-to-head against these grads on the same courses they helped create. The event was led by Justin Morgan, 2001 Digital Media graduate, and Program Manager for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game, who was backed by fellow alumni Brandon Chulianski, Cameron Lee, Justin Edwards, and Christian Brandt.
“This year Tiger Woods continues what we consider to be the ultimate golfing experience,” Morgan said. “The opportunity to come back to Full Sail and show off the game is really amazing for all of us.”
Three high-def gaming stations were on hand, allowing students to try their luck against the team of developers – with Justin telling the line of competitors, “As you’re playing, if you guys can think of a good idea or something that should change – let us know. We’re always open to any new ideas.”
The EA team went on to challenge dozens of students throughout the evening, all while fielding questions about the game’s development process between rounds. This included everything from how difficult it is to come up with new features each year, to Tiger’s role in actually developing the gameplay mechanics.
“He wants it to be as accurate as possible, so he usually comes by for a week and gives his input,” Morgan said. “He sits down with our design team and talks about what he thinks is realistic and what could be changed. It’s really great to get golf advice from Tiger Woods. He’s very professional and works with us really well.”
Before wrapping up the evening, the Tiburon team also took the time to speak with current students about their final game projects, as well as offer advice on how to best prepare for a career in the video game industry after graduation.
“The people I know who have had the most success in video games did so because of their individual passion for gaming,” Justin said. “How much you’re willing to commit, how much it really matters to you. That’s the thing I’d say about that all the guys who worked on Tiger Woods – this really matters to them, this is what they’re here to do, and this is what their lives are about. So it’s all about commitment, and how far you’re willing to push yourself.”
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 was developed at Florida-based studio EA Tiburon, and features the talent of a number of Full Sail graduates. With the design team on a short break before starting production on the next iteration of the series, our gaming department was excited to welcome five of these grads back to campus for an "EA Game Night" event.
EA Game Night provided current gaming students with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity – to go head-to-head against these grads on the same courses they helped create. The event was led by Justin Morgan, 2001 Digital Media graduate, and Program Manager for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game, who was backed by fellow alumni Brandon Chulianski, Cameron Lee, Justin Edwards, and Christian Brandt.
“This year Tiger Woods continues what we consider to be the ultimate golfing experience,” Morgan said. “The opportunity to come back to Full Sail and show off the game is really amazing for all of us.”
Three high-def gaming stations were on hand, allowing students to try their luck against the team of developers – with Justin telling the line of competitors, “As you’re playing, if you guys can think of a good idea or something that should change – let us know. We’re always open to any new ideas.”
The EA team went on to challenge dozens of students throughout the evening, all while fielding questions about the game’s development process between rounds. This included everything from how difficult it is to come up with new features each year, to Tiger’s role in actually developing the gameplay mechanics.
“He wants it to be as accurate as possible, so he usually comes by for a week and gives his input,” Morgan said. “He sits down with our design team and talks about what he thinks is realistic and what could be changed. It’s really great to get golf advice from Tiger Woods. He’s very professional and works with us really well.”
Before wrapping up the evening, the Tiburon team also took the time to speak with current students about their final game projects, as well as offer advice on how to best prepare for a career in the video game industry after graduation.
“The people I know who have had the most success in video games did so because of their individual passion for gaming,” Justin said. “How much you’re willing to commit, how much it really matters to you. That’s the thing I’d say about that all the guys who worked on Tiger Woods – this really matters to them, this is what they’re here to do, and this is what their lives are about. So it’s all about commitment, and how far you’re willing to push yourself.”
