"Our relationship with Tiger has always been rooted in golf," Moore wrote on his official blog late Monday. "We didn't form a relationship with him so that he could act as an arm's length endorser. Far from it. We chose to partner with Tiger in 1997 because we saw him as the world's best, most talented and exciting golfer."

That said, a close reading of Moore's post finds he is mentioning only PGA Tour Online - but not the retail console version endorsed by Woods, and the fourth-biggest selling sports title on the market. I asked an EA spokesman if "on the masthead of this game," was applicable only to PGA Tour Online or to the series as a whole. "Right now, we're focused on Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online," was his reply.

Moore notes the extensive investment EA Sports has made in Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online, which attracted 75,000 people to an eight-month closed beta. "We have spent considerable time developing and testing this game; we're proud of it; and we are releasing it in open beta later this month," Moore wrote.

Woods, of course, has lost deals with AT&T and Accenture since a bizarre car crash Nov. 27 stoked rumors of Woods' infidelity, which later exploded into allegations of liaisons with multiple mistresses. Woods then announced an indefinite leave from the tour while he worked to repair his marriage and family life. In addition to acknowledging sordid rumors very damaging to his widespread public acceptance, Woods' leave also takes him away from the environment where he is most useful to a sponsor paying him millions.

Moore portrayed the decision as one made in the interests of product quality, saying that Woods remains representative of his division's "It's In the Game" slogan regardless of what has come to light in his personal life.

"By his own admission, he's made some mistakes off the course. But regardless of what's happening in his personal life, and regardless of his decision to take a personal leave from the sport, Tiger Woods is still one of the greatest athletes in history," wrote Moore.

EA SPORTS Moves Forward with Tiger Woods PGA TOUR Online Launch in January [Peter Moore's Blog]

Says EA:

Our strong relationship with Tiger for more than a decade remains unchanged. We respect Tiger's privacy, we wish him a fast recovery and we look forward to seeing him back on the golf course.

Of course, this would be different had he hit her with a fairway metal. But the truth is, it would seem EA Sports needs Tiger more than he needs it. Who else would they find with even half the star power? Going back five years, the most famous Majors winners not named Woods are Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Padraig Harrington and Retief Goosen. Hell, you'd probably sell more with Lee Carvallo.

Sponsors Stand by Tiger Woods After Apology [Reuters]

As you can see in this video, the biggest addition to the game is the ability for it to detect your wrists position and translate that into the angle you are holding the club. What that means is that if you twist your wrist or body during a swing you'll end up with unintentional fade or bank shots.

It didn't appear that the actual swing detection was any more precise than it is with just the remote, but that makes sense.

Playing through several rounds of golf both ways, I can say without hesitation that MotionPlus adds a whole new facet to the experience, making it much more precise and a bit more dependent on player skill.

On Monday, enthusiastic gamer Jimmy Fallon announced that Tiger Woods would be on his show this Thursday, saying he wanted to play him on the Wii because it was the only way he would have a chance.

Today, Electronic Arts confirmed to Kotaku that Woods has accepted the challenge and that the two would be playing rounds of golf on the Wii version of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10. I'd assume it will include MotionPlus, which means Fallon better start practicing.

According to video from the official site, via 360 Sync, EA Sports' latest Tiger Woods branded links game features an awesome unlockable costume, the CEC Mining Hazard Suit from EA's Dead Space. It doesn't appear to grant the golfer any special abilities, like, say, better extremity dismemberment against your fellow golfers, but it does make the intangible "experience" far greater.

Oh, and it also unlocks the "No Known Survivors" achievement apparently, boosting your Gamerscore by 35 points.

Sure, guest characters bizarrely appearing in golf games is nothing new. But how can you not appreciate this?

Dead Space Meets Tiger Woods 10; Unlockable Costume [360 Sync via Joystiq]

There's no point in releasing a shiny new piece of Nintendo plastic if there's no games to support it, so EA is moving up the release dates for Tiger Woods 10 and Grand Slam Tennis one week in order to coincide with the release of Nintendo's Wii MotionPlus, which both games support. Makes sense, doesn't it?

"This was important for us to bring in our ship dates for Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 10 and EA SPORTS Grand Slam Tennis to hit right at the launch of the new Wii MotionPlus accessory in North America," said Todd Sitrin, Group Vice President Global Marketing, EA SPORTS. "Fans deserve great games that use the new accessory, and now they'll have two that deliver authentic sports motion as soon as the Wii MotionPlus hits stores."

Both games will now hit stores on June 8th in North America, with the Tiger title available as a bundle with the Nintendo accessory for $59.99.

"On the Wii, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 10 and EA SPORTS Grand Slam Tennis bring the authentic motion and excitement of championship golf and tennis to life for fans of all ages and skill levels," said Peter Moore, President, EA SPORTS. "With the new Wii MotionPlus, slicing a winner on Centre Court at Wimbledon or dropping an 8 iron pin high on No. 17 at TPC Sawgrass have never felt better. We couldn't be more excited about the dynamic new EA SPORTS experiences coming this year to the Wii."

The Wii MotionPlus add-on will let PGA Tour 10 players experience a "near-perfect 1:1 swing", according to EA.

In EA SPORTS Grand Slam Tennis, players try to win the four slams in Grand Slam career mode with their customized character at Wimbledon's Center Court.

Tiger Woods and Grand Slam are two of at least five games EA Sports is developing specifically for the Wii for release this year. The only other game mentioned of the five in the release is EA Sports Active, which will use the Balance Board.