GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 3 - January 2008

‘FORE’ward progress | GPWA TIMES t h e marketing and communications field. “We’re pulling players from three different verticals. We pull in the golfer, of course. We pull in the casual gamer, who likes to play video games but has been shut out of the multi-player experience, and then we have the gamblers. We found that poker players and UTour golfers are cut from the same cloth. So really, UTour is the perfect type of game for that demographic.” The game itself is also a huge draw because of the authenticity of its graphics and the ease of play. UTour offers three fictional courses – Richmond Pines, Hanwell Fields and Sakura Country Club – that all exhibit breathtaking views and pristine conditions. And, as with real golf, green speed, pin placements, wind, weather and undulations both in the fairway and on the green, as well as the length of the rough, all differ on a daily basis. There’s even a “chat” option where you can praise – or, even better, chide – your playing partners. Stroke play, match play and a Stableford Plus system are all available. There is also a driving range game and a putting green game as well as tournaments with cash prizes for all different levels of players offered around-the- clock. In the near future, nightly shotgun tournaments – UTour’s answer to sit-and-go poker tournaments – will also be featured on the site. In November, UTour also began offering a handicap system that has become wildly popular. “We’ve found that about 50 percent of our games are being played using the handicap system,” reports Haines, a Toronto native who began his career in the video game business back in 1999 as one of the founders of Hip Interactive, which went on to become the largest video game distributor and publisher in Canada. “It’s great because it allows anybody to challenge anybody of any skill level and have a fair match. It levels the playing field and it’s a lot easier to use than a skill ranking system.” UTour’s allure also stems from the fact that it is easy to download, learn and play – a perfect fit for the non- hardcore gamer that SkillGround has targeted. “The play mechanics are very simple,” says Haines, who added that SkillGround will have a white label deal in place by the beginning of March with SportingBet,