To celebrate the release of SackBoy in Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds, we’re putting together the first official LittleBigPlanet golf course where each hole is designed and created by the LBP community.

The best 9 holes and a driving range from North America and the most popular 9 holes and club house from Europe will form the official LittleBigPlanet golf course. So not only can you win individual glory at having your hole selected, but your creation will forever be part of this course!

Every winning entry will be awarded a LittleBigPlanet prize crown, so start drafting up your designs and switch to create mode! The Challenge has officially begun!

How to take part:

To enter, simply create and publish your hole or driving range in LittleBigPlanet before midnight on April 14, 2009 (Pacific Time). What makes a good hole? That’s entirely up to you – think Hot Shots Golf, think LittleBigPlanet, mash the two together and see what you come up with.

So that we can easily identify entries, and if you live in the US or Canada, you need to name your level in a specific way:

“LBPGolfNA” for US entries and “LBPGolfCA” for Canadian entries

You can then follow this name by either “Driving Range” or “Par 3, 4, 5″ etc, depending on how long or difficult your level is. For example:

“LBPGolfCA- Par 4” is a moderately difficult, average length hole from a Canadian Creator.
“LBPGolfNA- Driving Range” is a driving range from a US Creator.

(Note – Driving Range levels are limited to the US for this Challenge.)

We’ll then have a two-week voting period from Tuesday April 14 to Monday April 27 where you can play, vote and “heart” your favorite golf levels. Media Molecule will select the 9 winning holes and driving range for North America from eligible levels that get the best ratings during this time.

Click here for US Terms & Conditions

Click here for Canadian Terms & Conditions

Good luck and we’ll see you on the links!

So now that your bestest wish has been granted, what more could we do for you? Well, for starters, we could also include a couple of cool outfits to dress up your Sackboy.

Obviously your next question is: when can I get my hands on this greatness? Well friends, here’s the catch — you’ll have to wait until tomorrow. I know it must seem like an eternity to some, but if you factor in eating and a good night’s sleep, you are looking at a little over 16 hours of wait time. Then of course if you consider school/work you’re practically down to 8 hours; and take into account commuting and you are down to 5 hours; and let’s not forget those 5 hours you spend daydreaming about Hot Shots Golf and clicking through YouTube. So you see, if you factor in all those events, the download is but a few minutes away!

Once today has whizzed on by, you’ll have to follow these simple steps below:

• Turn on PLAYSTATION 3 console and log onto the PlayStation Network
• Go on to the PlayStation Store and purchase Sackboy
• Insert Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds disc into PS3
• Go to the online portion of HSG, download new patch
• Voila! You are now the proud owner of one Sackboy and his many outfits.

See you out there on the links!

As you might have noticed, we’ve started to roll out some new costumes for the wonderful cast of Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds. The first batch was a hit, but with the second batch we wanted to throw in a little something extra.

Something that had a little more kick.

Something that could be heard above the chatter … something like VOICE CHAT.

Yes, your eyes do not deceive (and pretty soon your ears, too): the Clap Hanz team has been arduously devoting their time to make sure that Voice Chat, a feature you the fans have been asking for, was flawlessly implemented into Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds.

So now all users, for the low price of FREE, will be able to enjoy a friendly tit-for-tat with their fellow Match Mode players. Simply download the most recent Hot Shots Golf update (available now through any interwebs connections near you), go online and start chatting away with your fellow golfers.

I envision it to be something like this

P1: Nice putt
P2: Why thank you
P3: Yes indeed, that was a great putt
P1: I’ve been practicing offline
P4: Who here has some Grey Poupon?

I know that most of you have gotten the full HSG:OoB experience, but for those of you that have not, its very simple:

1. Make sure your PS3 is connected to the internet
2. Log-in with your valid PSN account
3. Boot up Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds
4. Go online
5. Watch the Hot Shots Golf online goodness stream its way into your PS3 via internet magic!

Of course, outside of the Voice Chat feature (something you’ve long been waiting for), we also have some new costumes for Sonia, Kate, Felipe, Bloom and Suzuki lined up for you.

Judgment day has come, all bow before the one known as Kratos!

Yes, all the rumors are true: Kratos, the one and only, has made his way to Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds… and he’s looking to claim his rightful seat as the God of Golf!

In all honesty, integrating Kratos into Hot Shots Golf was by far one of the best experiences, as we got to work closely with the God of War team and the casts of characters (voice over, animators, etc) that created Kratos in his original form.

If I had to pick one of the most fun parts, it would have to be our VO sessions and watching (listening?) T.C. Carson jump into the Kratos role in a completely new environment… trust me, there were plenty of eye-watering-side-splitting laughs that day…

But aside from VO, the Clap Hanz team paid a great deal of attention to all of Kratos’ characteristics when animating him and hi chain-drivers.

So starting this Thursday, Kratos will make his way down to your local PS3 via download. You can take him out to a nice single player round offline and once you’ve mastered his technique, give it a go online against all the puny mortals that dare defy you.

- ChrisHM

But enough of my plans… lets talk Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds update, and particularly about the blog post for each update… which among other things, usually had a comment such as this:

So is there never going to be a US demo of this game? I’m not dropping $60 on a game I’ve never played before.

or one of these:

Will the demo of this become available on the US store as well? And if so, when?
Really want to play this game, but would love to get the demo first.

or sometimes something like this:

Is there going to be a demo of Hot Shots Golf for those that would like to try it in order to make a decision if they want to buy it?

Well, for all of you that so patiently waited for the Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds Demo, this one goes out to you: as of today, Thursday, June 26, 2008, all North American users can now download the HSG:OOB Demo from the PSN store!

The demo is quick in-depth sample of the Hot Shots Golf experience. You’ll be able to start off with beginner character Jasmine, perfect the new advanced swing system and graduate onto intermediate player Felipe. If you’ve got a friend about, just jump into the offline multiplayer option (max 2 players) and hit the links.

So now, with the demo being released, you’re weekend should no longer be plan-less. Here’s how I see it playing out:

- Thursday: Play demo with Jasmine; perfect character and new advanced swing system
- Friday: Perfect Felipe; buy Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds
- Saturday: Build up your favorite character’s loyalty
- Sunday: Get online and join a couple of tournaments; dominate the competition.

Looking forward to seeing you guys online!

As you’ve most likely already experienced (and shame on you if you haven’t) the greatness that is traveling through Hot Shots Golf (Africa, the Alps, Japan), there is no amount of text that could possibly describe the Dingo goodness that you’ll be sure to experience with the new course… drumroll please… Oceania Resort Course!

True, true – just turn on your PS3 and get a-downloading, once that’s completed, log on to the PSN store and purchase the key to access the content. Vegemite not included.

This is a complete 18-hole course (with a long and regular tee variation). It’s also by far one of the most difficult courses on the Hot Shots line up, with plenty of natural obstacles such as sand traps, waterholes, rocks, and kangaroos. Ok, maybe not kangaroos, but they will be on the course – so make sure to not feed the animals (especially the alligators!).

As far as design goes, we’ll, it’s always to the Hot Shot standard. You’ll have traffic flowing through, some hot air balloons floating about, etc. The course is littered with various “out-back” nods… and it even comes complete with a giant lobster.

You’ll be able to play this course both online and offline, we’ll have some special tournaments set up for it as well. Check out some more the images below.

That’s about it folks, I’m about to have a Tim-Tam slam and get going on another 18-hole round. See you guys on-line!

With this in mind, we’ve also computated all the computations needed for a true global online tournaments experience, so make sure to set all PSP’s on Wi-Fi this Tuesday, June 3rd and get ready to open up and get to know your fellow Hot Shot Golfers from across the globe!

Tis true, now for the first time in Hot Shots history, all people from across the world can join hands (virtually) and hit the links for both 16 player friendly matches and blood curdling tournaments. After each hole, all the participants will line up to show off their crazy costumes, scores and swap quick one-liners with the preset chat system… throw down a full yo mama battle (ok, so maybe I exaggerated a little bit)!

Regardless of your play style (casual or hardcore), you’ll quickly find a match to fit your golfing needs on any of the 12 courses and 11 new characters.

See you again next week with more on Hot Shots Golf Open Tee 2!

Lucky hole-in-one
Hot Shots Golf June 3rd for you
Chicken nugget pet

Yes, it is true – Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 has now gone gold … and yes, you can also have chicken nuggets as pets.

Characters
We’ve got 11 new characters to unlock and level up, but the fun part is that you’ll also be able to unlock all the characters from the original Open Tee; however, it will not be in the traditional unlocking system: you’ll have to explore each course with different characters and costumes, as special combinations will be required to find each original Open Tee character – it’s one gigantic HSG party.

Unlocking New Items
As you move up through the Challenge Mode, new items will be made available for you. Spend some time in the Wardrobe testing out different combinations – you’ll notice that certain items will boost your character’s power, accuracy and spin. The more items you unlock, the more you’ll be able to unlock your character’s potential!

Courses
Keeping true to the Hot Shots Heritage, each course is designed with one thing in mind: fun. Fans of the series will be glad to see some of the classic Open Tee courses returning as well as be treated to brand new greens in exotic locations (no passport required).

Hole-In-One Mini Game
If you’re looking for a quick-feel-good-fix, jump into the Hole-In-One Minigame and try to beat your own score and sink the holy grail of hole-in-ones! Perfect for that quick 15 minute Hot Shots fix.

So ends this week’s Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 update. See you all next week, and in the meantime, feel free to write some HSG Haikus – Chris out.

True, Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 is set to launch this coming June 3rd, so you best start getting ready to revisit the greatness that is Hot Shots on the go.

For the next few weeks, we’ll be delivering weekly updates on some of the new game features, videos, screens, etc. As usual, we’ll also be at hand to answer some of your questions and listen to you comments.

You’ll be pleasantly surprised to learn that in vein to its PSP heritage, Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 will have over 300 customizable options for you to dress your character (of which there are 22) in the usual Hot Shots crazy nature. If you’ve ever dreamed to don a penguin (the animal, not the villain) outfit, here’s your chance. You say you like Dutch Flower dresses? Open Tee 2 has that too. Panda bears? Check. Dracula, bunny, log, astronaut, matador, hula skirts, Eskimo: check, check, check.

Even if you think your darkest fantasy is to be an equine French maid with a pet chicken named Roscoe is not doable — think again.

So besides an infinite matrix of combinations at the tip of your fingers, Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 has 16 player global online gameplay, 8 player ad-hoc games, an addictive mini-game, and really cool secret unlockables. You can check also out a brand new Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 video showing the character customization in action on Amazon.com. Yes, there’s going to be plenty to talk about for the next few weeks, so make sure to come back and check the PS Blog for more info.

You might have been hearing some news around the interwebs on pricing, availability and player level – but lets make it official:

• Each character will be available for purchase over the PSN at .99 USD.
• Alex skill level will be intermediate; Gloria’s is expert.
• Both characters will be available to purchase on the 15th.

Now, in previous posts there have been some comments of the content being on the disc and needing a key to unlock it, so let me go ahead and clear that up for you: all the content on the physical disc can be accessed without additional purchases – it’s that simple. The “core” or “shell” of the on-disc game has a sort of plug-and-play feature that lets us quickly deliver content (such as characters and new courses) without clogging up your pipes, which also makes it easier for you to purchase the new content from the PlayStation Store (once you decide to) and access it right away. So if you’re tired of getting schooled by some young punk – you can quickly gain access to one of the more advanced players and unleash your mighty golf wrath upon them.

Everyone, regardless of buying new content or not, will be required to download the new patch. It just keeps the game running smoothly… some wonky things start to happen online players are running different version of the game.

That’s it for today’s Hot Shots Golf news… cue the exit song…