The new Tiger Woods for the Wii with the new motion plus, is as close to a simulation game I have found. Of course after a while with all the player upgrades and the 300 plus yard drives it does become rather unauthentic. However, is WGT not venturing into those same murky waters, with better clubs and better balls, etc? I mean, if you had a driver that could carry 300, what would have been the best score on the qualifying round at Bethpage? 52? 57? Completely unrealistic! Ok, maybe they speed up the greens to make it tougher right? But how many do you alienate by doing so. I asked my greenskeeper the other day why he always put the pins in the easiest spots on the weekends. He laughed and said: "because it speeds up play and it makes it easier for the duffers. They score better, they come back. We make it too hard, they get discouraged and we lose them and their money". Same principle here folks. WGT has to strive for balance. Not make it too unpleasant for the first timer where he thinks screw this, this game sucks, versus the master who thinks that the game is too easy and provides no more of a challenge and off to better things.
I say to WGT, keep it as real as you can for as long as you can and never mind the grumblers who think they can hit it 300 in real golf.
I think that the community at large here (the core if you prefer)are "purists" , meaning that we know shots are not always hit perfectly, that wind affects play, and that sometimes, no matter how hard you try or practice, the ball will not go in the hole.
I am reminded in this debate about the old conflict between Tecmo Super Bowl and the Madden Football games. For me, it was always Tecmo. They were the pioneers in player tracking, rankings, overall stats, etc. Sure the presentation wasn't as good as it could have been, but they were the best. EA copied it, put some bells and whistles and all of a sudden Madden is the undisputed king of football video games. I like playing Madden, but I prefer Tecmo. I like T-Dub, but I prefer WGT. Let's hope the marketing dollars don't kill off this gem.