While much of the gaming world was celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Sega Dreamcast’s launch in North America, a big name in bar/arcades saw a release of its latest iteration. That would be Incredible Technologies’ Golden Tee PGA Tour 2025, a series which remains as one of the most prolific video arcade games around.
Golden Tee PGA Tour 2025
Let’s start with the official game trailer:
If you don’t want to spare the minute to watch, here’s a quick list of the new additions to the game, per the official Golden Tee PGA Tour game page:
- Five brand new GT courses.
- Two More real PGA TOUR courses.
- Three re-teed Classic GT courses.
- Three new seasons of content, tees and pins!
- Nationwide Score IT contests.
- Brand new GT Tour mode for massive cash prizes.
- Closest to the Pin returns.
- More player customization.
One thing to note is that what was made instantly available today was the digital version, which can be downloaded to existing GT machines. If you don’t have one yet, you can order either a standard model (which is just the pedestal, no stand/panels/TV/marquee) or a Deluxe (comes with everything except for the 4K TV you see below) and by the time it would get into your hands, it will have 2025 on it. Home users have to wait though – IT does give a slight bit of time for commercial locations to enjoy it first (given how slow things have been lately, perhaps more time would be warranted for that).
As far as I am aware, there are no art changes, so there is no need to purchase a physical update kit.
Game Videos
Here’s a trailer of one of the new courses; you can find the rest on the Golden Tee YouTube channel.
Here’s a video of the game being played, which might be of interest to some more than a pre-cut trailer:
Overall
Golden Tee 2025 doesn’t appear to have anything revolutionary about this release, but not every annual update needs to go there to make GT buyers happy.
The series does occupy a rare space in our industry, in that its versions are continually some of the most popular arcade games out there, but it seems to exist within a realm separate from all of the other video arcade titles on the market. There was even a time in the past where someone at IT scoffed at being lumped in with video arcades at all, though no matter how you slice it, that’s the reality of the market.
Big Buck Hunter is in a similar boat, although I do tend to see that one in more places than I see GT. Although, last I heard (someone from IT can correct me if this has changed), if you run a bar, you can’t just buy one of these – you have to go through an authorized operator (not distributor) who can place it in your venue for you. That’s the same business model as used with most dart boards, although back when I was in sales, it was irritating since all I could effectively sell were home editions.
Still, it’s one of the most affordable games around and thanks to the loyal install base, this upgrade will be available across thousands of locations out there. This makes it something of an envy – any manufacturer out there would love to come up with the next “Golden Tee,” as that would mean they would have the next big hit.
What are your thoughts on Golden Tee PGA Tour 2025? Would you like to see it at a bar or arcade near you?
