why in 1986 did a few golf games come out then BOOM! everyone was taken over by golf fever for the next 10 years? its a game for rich old men, make it make sense.
None of that happened.
>Why were there so many games for [insert sport here]? Who would want to play [insert sport here] on [insert platform here]?
>>12441425The real question is why golf died around the fifth gen
>>12441842Neo Turf Masters killed the need for any new golf games. Can't fix perfection.
Real answer is, there were people who unironically enjoyed golf and enjoyed watching golf, and for a good amount of time, Golf games were basically a major benchmark of tech (see Links 386)
>>12441842I suspect it was just that golf games had a relatively small group of people playing them from the start, which was fine when video games were cheaper to produce, but then with rising development costs thanks to 3D it became unsustainable. I guess the PGA series survived a little longer than the rest, maybe thanks to having Tiger Woods name attached to it.
>>12442086>thanks to 3DI should say graphics improvements, since obviously a lot of golf games were already using simpler 3D graphics.
Golf games didn't die until ~2010 or so. Just like any other bit more niche game.At least after 2003, Links and later PGA (Tiger Woods) were available and some others.After PS2 generation ended, fun little games died and everything became bit too serious.One of the best to this day are Links 2003 and Tiger Woods 2004.These days it's all about commercial slop and battle passes as usual.
>>12442274Sorry for the somewhat incoherent post but I'm at early stages of dementia.
>>12442086I just hate golf games that are basically just RPG sludge.I'd rather pick a character with a specific build/parameters and learn the courses with them than start out with a horribly crippled character and wind up with a perfectly accurate, giga backspinning, 400+ yard bomber that approaches every hole and every course the same after 20 hours of suffering.
>>12441425>its a game for rich old men, make it make sense.Most golf games started out on computers. A lot of computer owners were rich grown men. >>12441842The development teams making the games were smaller in the 80s and early 90s. Leader Board golf was basically just made by the Carver brothers at Access Software. Then the team grew some with Links in the 90s, Links 386 Pro had like 16 people involved in the making according to the credits. And by the time of Links 2004 (the last Links game before Access was sold and closed down) there were over 100 people involved.
>>12441425>why in 1986 did a few golf games come out then BOOM! everyone was taken over by golf fever for the next 10 years? >its a game for rich old men, make it make sense.Golf was extremely popular in the late 80s to early 90s in Japan because of the bubble economy, which is why there are a shitton of Golf games from Japanese devs from around that time
Golf may be the only sport where video game golf is far more enjoyable than playing the real thing.
>>12441425>its a game for rich old menYou obviously just hate White people
>>12441834Ice Hockey (NES) was best. Fatties all day.
>>12441842People had to start making fully 3d course maps and tweaking physics so the ball responds appropriately to the world. A lot of early 2d golf games didn't even have slopes except for maybe on the green.
>>12441842Tiger Wood's insane wife ruined golf for everyone
Best golf game, coming through
>>12441425late 80s through the mid 90s was the golden age for golf popularity. especially in bubble-era Japan, where basically every Jap took up golf as a hobby as an affectation of western Old Money behaviour. that's why. it was a simple fad of the era, just like extreme sports around Y2K.
>>12442278you want a casual party golf game, and that's fine, but some people want a deep single player experience they can sink dozens of hours in.
>>12444712That isn't depth. That is wasting time on a single-player experience where most of the game fucking sucks, all roads lead to one homogenized gameplay style, and all builds end up maxed out and hyper-optimized.
>>12444718that applies to any RPG if you want to be reductionist. they get to a point where you're a master of every skill and ability once you've played long enough.
Sensible Golf was great. noboy 'members it except me
Golf is boring, Zany Golf for mehttps://youtu.be/71mk1xpx_t4?si=p5xVQUxvhPEROUtc
>>124414251986-1989 was when more home PCs move from monochrome to color, and PCs got good enough to show a visually pleasing golf game. Before this, golf games were crude arcade representations of golf and had no appeal.Golf games were the killer app for the boomers (real boomers not meme 30 year old boomers) as they made up a sizable percentage of IBM clone PCs in mid to late 80s. Kids had a c64 or maybe an amiga but a $5000 home PC with a color monitor was something your dad owned. The PC demos in computer stores in the late 80s were all golf games for a reason, especially with the arrival of VGA visuals.
>>12446205Links in 1990 especially. It looked absolutely amazing for the time. >Links>LOOM>Wing commander>686 attack subThese are the reason people opened wallets for VGA monitors and out of all those, links was the best looking.
>>12441425Public golf courses actually weren't that expensive back in the '90s. Near where I grew up, you could play a full course for $20, with club and cart rental tacking on a bit more. That's how they would try to push memberships, by harping on the discounts. That same course is now private today, members only. Pretty much none of the shit I did as a kid is still around or affordable, nowadays. No more go kart cart tracks, skating rinks, arcades, movie/game rentals, mini golf, or paintball ranges. All gone by the end of the aughts.
>>12446397adjust for inflation. $20 in 1996 is equivalent to like $50 today, which is a bit more expensive than what the cheap course a mile down the road from my neighbourhood charges.
