The 7 Best Golf Games For PS4
Special Honors
100-Foot Robot Golf Fans of the giant mech genre of anime will immediately recognize the avatars employed by this title. As you play your way through holes built into various landscapes, you'll find that just about everything around you is destructible, and you're liable to have as much fun wreaking havoc on your environment as you will trying to sink a birdie. playstation.com
Editor's Notes
October 07, 2020:
With licensing complications making it harder for game companies to integrate a large number of pros and courses — certainly compared to the massive rosters and locations included with old tiger Woods titles — you might find companies you once relied on for a comprehensive experience lacking a bit. If that's something that's important to you, you might want to consider a game like PGA Tour 2K21, which has a significant number of both.
Another big variable is realism, and if you prefer a game that pushes the system's graphics to their limit while giving you a lifelike playing experience, The Golf Club: Collector's Edition is an easy pick, though it should be noted that it's probably the most difficult game short of grabbing your clubs and heading to the links. If you're on the other end of the spectrum, and you loved games like Wii Golf, a title like Everybody's Golf VR or the regular Everybody's Golf is the way to go. In addition to lacking the virtual reality interface, one positive difference in the non-VR game is that it has a few extra courses available as DLC.
December 10, 2018:
There's a clear demarcation between the first two choices on this list and the ones that follow them. Fortunately, fans of both realistic and arcade-style gameplay can be satisfied with our top picks.
The Best Selling Gaming System, A Brief History
When it debuted in 2013, Sony promised it was designed for gamers, and this was proven with the inclusion of numerous exclusives that makes the XBox One's appear dismal.
With four major consoles that bear its name and nearly 500 million sold collectively worldwide, PlayStation holds precedent above all the other gaming systems. In 1994, when Sony debuted the original PlayStation in Japan, it featured a CD format that allowed for interlaced audio, and more storage capacity to support full motion 3D rendered content. It wasn't the first of its kind, but it started a revolution, and one year later when it launched in Europe and North America, sales surpassed those of its competition, the cartridge formatted Super Nintendo.
When the PlayStation 2 premiered five years later, the brand continued to prove itself as a leading gaming system, despite rivaling with the Microsoft Xbox. What separated the PS2 from others at that time was its capacity to play DVDs, support USB, and its backwards compatible ability with most PS1 games. It was a rare bird, and Sony made a huge splash in sales on the first day, and in one year it sold over 100 million units.
Sony continued to set gaming standards with the PS3, but the PS4 is the one that has solidified them as an entertainment powerhouse. When it debuted in 2013, Sony promised it was designed for gamers, and this was proven with the inclusion of numerous exclusives that makes the XBox One's appear dismal. But its most impressive aspect was its integration of virtual reality, which may not be perfect by any means but is significantly more affordable than competitors. However, with plans to improve the PlayStation VR by way of tweaking its motion controller, Sony continues to impress the gaming world, and give us an idea of where that technology is heading.
Can Playing Video Games Help Your Actual Game?
Video games have a bad reputation. The media tells us playing them will destroy our intelligence and that heavy exposure can turn nonviolent people into menaces, but contrary to urban legends and other studies, gaming in moderation can be beneficial.
The ability to separate an object from its background is contrast sensitivity, and it is typically the first sight ability that degrades as we age.
When it comes to children and sports video games, to be specific, researchers theorize that practicing the game on a computer program encourages kids to apply those same skills outdoors. When that theory was put into practice it revealed that the fast-paced interactive aspect of gaming can improve reaction time and decision making, unlike the effects of television that seemingly render children comatose. This holds true for adults too, as one study yielded results indicating ten hours of play increased the cognitive functioning in older players by three years, when compared to those who chose to only complete crossword puzzles. When it comes to golf video games, research indicates those gaming skills can also be implemented in real life.
A recent study looked at the connection between real and virtual golf, and found that video games may actually knock a few strokes off your score. Granted this study focused on the use of motion controllers over push-button, there's still plausible evidence that playing sports related video games can improve focus, hand-eye coordination, and an important aspect to playing golf, contrast sensitivity.
Imagine you're on the fairway and you've just launched a ball towards the green, and you're watching the ball appear smaller and smaller the further away it travels. The question now is are you able to watch the ball the entire time it is in flight, or do you lose sight of it when it reaches a certain distance? The ability to separate an object from its background is contrast sensitivity, and it is typically the first sight ability that degrades as we age. However, it has been shown that it can be improved with a little training, and these studies have used video games to prove it.
In one analysis, two groups were divided where one bunch played an action video game and the other played a more latent one. The results concluded that the team that trained with the action game saw a 43 percent improvement in their ability to distinguish varying shades of grey, and the others saw no advancement at all. We can now theorize that by way of moderate practice, playing golf video games can help the brain's visual processing better ascertain the location of the ball in flight and where it will eventually land, so you can apply that same capability in the real world.
How To Choose The Best PS4 Golf Game
Selecting the right golf game for your PS4 is like deciding which kind of cake to eat. Most cakes taste delicious, but some people sway more towards chocolate and others prefer vanilla. The best means in making a choice is asking yourself whether you prefer simulation or arcade style gameplay. One offers more of a challenge and the other leans toward predictable fun.
Simulation gaming is slower but appears more realistic and has a more natural feel that parallels closely to real life. Arcade style offers a faster experience and are known for their abstraction, and sometimes whimsical graphics. For a pragmatic experience you should consider a simulation that allows you to customize courses, and authorizes you to implement the same clubs you would choose in the real world. If you're more interested in user friendly involvement, an arcade style will be easier to access and maneuver while providing a sense of entertainment that can be well suited for group play.
It doesn't take professional skills to master golf games that lean towards realism, and there's certainly no age requirement when it comes to the arcade variety, it really depends on which style you're more into. You may find it fitting to keep one of each style in your collection, so you'll have both options for whichever mood arises.