"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]

The newspaper tells the story of Joshua Anglin, who went 115-15 as an amateur boxer, but broke his hand five times. Boxing was not going to work out. Playing an unspecified version of Tiger Woods on an unspecified model of the Xbox, Anglin decided to trot down a new athletic avenue.

From the paper:

"I was a boxer my whole life," Anglin said. "I got hurt and played Tiger Woods golf one day on Xbox and thought it would be really fun. So I went out and played [on an actual course] and kind of got good at it quick."

So good, in fact, that Anglin recently placed fifth in the annual Broward County Amateur Men's Golf Tournament at Jacaranda Golf Club in Plantation. His three-day 221 (74-72-75) was just four shots off the pace set by Fort Lauderdale's Jeffrey Walker.

So, perhaps, games do inspire imitation in real life? Sometimes?

Video Challenge Is Game Changer [Sun Sentinel]
Note to readers: The Jan. 3 Sentinel article does not appear to be on the newspaper's site yet.

In many ways 2009 was like most for sports games - every major team sports title put out a new version; Madden sold a ton for EA Sports; cover athletes were leaked and/or announced; titles such as EA Sports' FIFA and NHL followed their own strong traditions, while ones like THQ's UFC Undisputed broke new ground. Kotaku's roundup of 2009 is not of the routine stories however, but the ones that had the most lasting impact on this year, and should into next year, too. We invite you to continue the discussion in our comments.

The Race is Over for NASCAR
In early February, EA Sports announces there will be no sequel to NASCAR 09, ending a series going back under various names to 1998. The title's biggest problems were in the franchise's poor sales and limited growth potential. Later, EA Sports boss Peter Moore reveals that the NASCAR development team has been repurposed to its upcoming EA Sports MMA, and the publisher has no plans to restart the racing franchise.

Lawsuits Threaten College Titles' Realism
In May, former Arizona State and Nebraska quarterback Sam Keller files a class-action lawsuit alleging that the NCAA and EA Sports use and/or profit from the use of college athlete's likenesses in video games, without their permission. Keller's complaint points to the two-faced nature of the college sports authority, which requires its athletes' adherence to strict amateur codes while reaping millions off, in effect, their labor. But compensating Keller, or any other athlete, for the use of their likenesses while they are still in school would render them ineligible. Keller's suit points out how easily identifiable he and other players are in the NCAA games - indeed a cottage industry has cropped up to rename roster files, which are disseminated via the EA Sports Locker feature in both its football and basketball titles. Later in the year, former UCLA standout Ed O'Bannon also sues on the same grounds, but said he would use the suit to create a trust fund that could compensate players after they graduate, to preserve the value of the products in which they appear without violating their rights or eligibility. Neither suit has yet gone to trial, but NCAA Football and Basketball without realistic rosters would seriously damage both titles.

Mixed Martial Arts: The Sport of the Future
UFC 2009 Undisputed by THQ debuts in May and is immediately that month's biggest seller, helping put a gold star over mixed martial arts as the newest it-franchise for sports gaming. Although THQ has the UFC license for foreseeable future, rumors that EA Sports has eyes for the sport come true at E3 2009, when EA Sports MMA is announced. Voluble UFC boss Dana White unleashes invective at EA, saying the publisher years before had told his outfit, "You're not a real sport," and "EA doesn't give a [expletive] about mixed martial arts." White also warns fighters they "won't be in the UFC," if they sign on to EA Sports MMA. EA Sports boss Peter Moore doesn't respond directly to White, but says he's backed MMA in video games going back to 2000 on the Dreamcast. Meanwhile, EA Sports MMA signs names such as Fedor Emelianeko, Randy Couture, Jason Miller and, ultimately inks a deal with MMA promotion house Strikeforce. Word spreads that UFC 2010 Undisputed is due in May - and EA Sports declines comment on a rumor that EA Sports MMA won't be out until September.

Trash Talk on the Court
NBA 2K10 is again the consensus leader among pro basketball titles, but NBA Live 10 is a significant improvement over previous years' lackluster offerings. This year, it becomes easily the most competitive, and heated, rivalry among published sports titles. It gets personal when EA Sports is praised for putting out a comprehensive patch that it says was built with community feedback. A representative of 2K Sports, in a post later taken down, goes into a forum to question whether such a patch could have been built and passed certification so quickly - which implies EA Sports began work in advance of the game's release and knew it was shipping substandard code. The NBA Live team returns fire on its blog with a wave of screenshots showing people offering NBA 2K10 for sale on Craigslist, insulting its quality, and pledging allegiance to NBA Live.

Catch a Tiger with Tail
Golf superstar Tiger Woods' failure to keep it in his pants is the subject of a hilarious machinima re-enactment from China, but as the scandal wears on it starts getting less funny and starts costing more money. As Woods' major corporate sponsors such as Accenture and Gatorade begin dropping him or scaling back his appearances, the question is put to EA Sports, which has the golfer at the front of both its console golf title and an upcoming free-to-play online version. At first EA Sports stands by its man, but later issues a second statement that, reading between the lines, is a little more qualified in its support. Woods is taking an indefinite leave from the PGA Tour heading into 2010, and it becomes clear that as long as he is away from the course, EA Sports will face these questions.

Iced Hockey
Not a poor game, but not exceptional in its later years, the consensus still places 2K Sports' NHL franchise a distant second to EA Sports' NHL in 2009, and that seems to be enough for the Take-Two leadership. In December, the game is conspicuously left off a corporate filing that announces upcoming dates and platforms for other sports titles in 2010. Asked if NHL 2K has been canceled, a 2K Sports spokesman replies only that no plans have been made for that property, which is taken as a "yes," by most. Furthermore, the same listing shows NBA 2K10 - by far 2K Sports' best team property - as "TBA" for the platforms to which it will release. This likely means the end of that series' brief Wii experiment.

Baseball Been Bery, Bery Bad to Take-Two
This was a terrible year for horsehide under the 2K Sports brand. MLB 2K9 wasn't just a regression from the series' previous offering, it went out the door with a staggering number of glitches in the product. Terrible graphics and even comical player faces also contributed to the savage reviews it received. Spinoff titles like The Bigs 2 and Front Office Manager, concocted to help offset what one analyst thinks is the $40 million paid for MLB exclusive licensing back in 2005, failed to sell according to expectations. In December, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick singles out the company's baseball franchise for blame when the company announces it will miss earnings projections. Two weeks later, Take-Two announces a $137.9 million loss for the fiscal year.

Here's the original statement, sent out by EA on December 2:

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.

Supportive! They're rooting for the big guy, and will be backing him all the way. Thing is, that was at a time when Tiger was still a golfer. And was only facing allegations of sleeping with a handful of ladies who were not his wife.

Two weeks later, though, Woods has not only taken an indefinite break from the sport (not helpful for a company making a video game based around him playing golf), but it appears he's slept with every porn star and cocktail waitress north of the Mexican border. Meaning he's now less of an asset, more of a liability. And a fresh statement from EA reflects this.

This was sent by an EA Sports representative to the New Britain Herald yesterday:

We respect that this is a very difficult, and private, situation for Tiger and his family. At this time, the strategy for our Tiger Woods PGA Tour business remains unchanged.

Hmm. Interesting. "At this time". Carefully-worded phrase, that. It's the real-world marketing equivalent of "we have no plans". Sure, the strategy at this time remains unchanged, but by January or February (or at least until after Tiger Woods Online launches early next year), well, who knows.

In other words, while it's hardly an outright sacking, it's also no longer a guarantee that Tiger will be the face of EA Sports' golf franchise next year. Especially given the fact that he may not even be playing golf by the time next year's title rolls around.

Lee Carvallo, now's your chance!

Drzewiecki: EA has no plans to take Tiger off PGA game [New Britain Herald, via Go Nintendo]

"Forget about any golfers picking up the sponsorship slack," says Michael K. Ozanian. "According to E Poll Market Research, aside from Tiger, they generate no buzz with consumers."

He's talking about all products, not just video games, but if Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk can't sell shaving cream, they probably can't push a $60 title either. Tiger Woods has been the lead endorser of EA Sports PGA Tour series since 1998 - only John Madden has a longer association on the title of a sports video game. EA axing Tiger is a far different thing than AT&T or Accenture (although Nike and Gatorade have comparable product lines in play here too.)

This is all speculation of course. EA Sports' latest guidance is this stand-by-your-man news release. It's got a major release coming up with Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online, a free-to-play browser-based product that's been in a closed beta already, with another coming up soon. And as said above, if Woods is so toxic that he can't rep a game, EA Sports would have no reasonable fallback. Of course this scandal is a disaster for Woods as a business; it's not a party for his corporate partners either.

Tiger's Troubles: The Winners [Forbes]

You have to go through about a minute of this video to get to the germane portion. In all, it's a nice use of Grand Theft Auto IV, but what's up with the its-a-me-Mario voice? Elin Nordegren is a woman and a Swede, not an Italian dude.

New Tiger Woods Video Game [Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.]

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]

Tiger came on the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon show last night to see if he could make up for his humiliating loss earlier that day, and after a bad start on both their parts, Woods did manage to pull out on top, but it definitely wasn't a pretty round of golf.

But when I arrived at the EA Mobile hands-on session, the only game they had to show me was Scrabble. Which came out like a year ago. What gives?

Well — to EA Mobile, what's important here is "delivering on the promise of mobile." To do that, says VP Travis Boatman, a company has to have a great device to work with with a great operating system and a great merchandising-distribution platform.

"We've always believed in mobile," said Boatman. "We're in this for the long haul. And it's not going to stop here."

So when we got Scrabble on both Facebook and iPhone last year, that wasn't the end of it for EA Mobile. With the release of the Apple 3.0 firmware for the iPhone, they've connected the two versions so you can play against up to four people cross-platform (well, cross iPhone/PC).

I have to admit, this is pretty slick. You can see the moves your PC-bound buddy makes without refreshing the screen on your iPhone and you can even carry on a chat in the chat box.

But as nifty as it is, it's still not Wolfenstein RPG.

Look for the update to your Scrabble app sometime tomorrow or — if there's some SNAFU on the Apple side — sometime over the next few days.

Speaking before an audience of very serious businessmen and women (the kind who'd no doubt be this game's intended audience), EA's Chief Operating Officer John Pleasants said:

This year, we're going to come out with a dedicated online Tiger product… that will be a leader in this move to become an online service company, as opposed to strictly a software shipment company.

This will be a new product, not just the PC version of the existing series, and Pleasants adds that its funding will be heavily reliant on microtransactions.

Like - and we're just wildly speculating here - $1.00 for a new Nike Tiger Woods golf shirt. $5.00 for a new Nike Tiger Woods driver. $2.00 for a new Tag Heuer Tiger Woods wristwatch. $0.50 for a mulligan. That sort of thing. Actually, that doesn't sound very wild at all. It sounds downright plausible.

EA Prepping Free-to-Play ‘Tiger Woods' This Year? [GameCyte]

Swimming is a the sort of sport that is extremely exciting...for swimmers. 505 Games realizes this, and while there will be a healthy dose of watersports in Phelps' game, it won't be confining the action to the swimming pool.

“Swimming will be a part of it, but it won’t be set in an Olympic pool going back and forth,” said Adam Kline, president of 505 Games, the company releasing the series. “This is a pure action game”

A pure action game? With Michael Phelps? What the hell could they be planning? "Michael Phelps: SwimSpy"? A remake of Ecco the Dolphin? I mean, pardon my lack of enthusiasm, but as G4's Adam Sessler points out in the Daily News article, "Swimming — in even a Mario game — is a miserable experience".

Despite skepticism on the part of just about everyone in the gaming industry, 505 games remains unperturbed about the title.

“We will spend a very pretty penny in marketing this project because it’s important to us,” Kline said. “We believe it’s the next Tiger Woods project. ... It could be here for the next 10 years.”

Oh joy! "Michael Phelps: SwimSpy 5: Swim Harder"!

The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that the Tiger Woods PGA Tour series of golf games has moved from EA's Redwood Shores team to Tiburon. The Orlando based powerhouse also develops EA's NCAA Football games as well as NASCAR titles. On the non-sports side, they were responsible for last year's Superman Returns. Yes, they make EA buckets of cash.

We're not sure if Tiburon is staffing up, but central Florida hopefuls would be wise to submit their resumes. With Mr. Woods Isleworth home within driving distance of Tiburon, he's sure to be hanging around the office more often. Michael McWhertor

EA Tiburon runs up score [Orlando Sentinel via Gamespot]

I can't really add anything to this spot. It's a Wii commercial. For Tiger Woods 2007. It's funny. Enjoy. Michael McWhertor

Apparently, the graphics boys at EA are so unfreakingbelievably talented, that Tiger Woods, who probably knows Tiger Woods when he sees him, was fooled by the photorealistic digital version of himself.

Speaking at the Montreal Games Summit, Glenn Entis, EA's chief visual and technical officer, said of Tiger's first take on e-Tiger:

"We really got no response. He just said, 'Yeah?', and it's like, 'Well, did you like it?'. His response was telling; he said, 'Well, when are you going to show me the computer graphics?'. We figured if you can fool a guy who sees that face in the mirror every day, it's got to be working."

Yeah, I don't really buy that line either. But Entis does admit that photorealism doesn't mean squat if you haven't got the non-robotic animation to back it up, which I do believe. The Tiger demo we got at E3 looked great in stills, but when he started speaking, total horror show! Michael McWhertor

Tiger Woods couldn't tell himself from game version [Eurogamer]

Oh, swell...

IGN Sports: I read how your strategy for Tiger Woods includes the ability to buy new courses. Does that mean you're holding courses back intentionally from consumer who buy the game in order to force them to purchase courses separately and spend more money?

Chip Lange: The Tiger team is taking a creative approach to it. You can either unlock or buy the courses, depending on your gaming preference. We look at this a lot like other stuff that goes on in the industry. IGN does this with premium subscriptions where there's a subscription service and you can get guides to games. I can pay for a subscription in order to unlock some stuff so I don't have to play the game all the way through, or now I can go this route. It's just another way to allow gamers the choice on how they want to play the game. That's the way the Tiger team is approaching this.

In other words, EA is now going to let you pay to get past hard parts of the game. If you want to unlock content, you can either do it by playing the game or you can pay them to unlock it for you.

Here's the question: exactly how long do you think it's going to take for a company like EA to make it flat out impossible for most players to advance or unlock without paying for it? Florian Eckhardt

EA Sports Tackles The Marketplace [IGN]

Electronica musician BT (the guy responsible for 'NYSC's Pop album) believes that the future for young composers is in video games. At the Vegas Music conference, he said game composers have the "best life." Continuing, he added, "I'm just one man, but I know many TV composers and none of them are happy with their job." BT should know, as his work has appeared on countless video games, including Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005. Wow, scoring a golf title and still singing video game music praises. Composing for TV must really, really suck. Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Siliconera]

I just got back from a behind closed doors with Electronic Arts Sports. Not being a sports fan, I immediately headed over to the Tiger Woods demo. It's amazing how realistic they were able to make him look using their new UCAP method.

After watching it for a few minutes I noticed that Woods' clothes looked strange and pointed it out to one of the demo guys. He said I noticed the clothes because Woods' face looked so real. My eyes, apparently, were drawn to the stuff that didn't quite match his face in quality.

The EA guy told me that they couldn't deliver the same level of graphics to Woods' clothes as they did his face. So his shirt, for instance, isn't actually animated. When Woods moves around the wrinkles in his shirt stay still.

When I pressed them, they said that only a few licensed golfers would get the full UCAP treatment. The rest would look like what we're used to. They also said that there is no difference, graphically, between the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game.

Related: Watch Creepy Tiger yourself!