Hello Everyone,

With the release of New Minna no Golf yesterday, I have decided that we should also start a new. To help with the community and grow the support for New Everybody’s Golf, this site along with it’s database has been moved to a new location. At the moment there is not much, I haven’t had much time to theme it and set up for anything other than having a stream for it and a new community discord channel.

Since the game is now unified with the brand Everybody’s Golf…And also that there is no real need for me to be updating everyone with information about the series now that they have good media coverage and English support… our new community website for the series will now be at Everybodys.Golf!

Please support the new community there as we explore the new game and come up with information to share and guide others through this series. It would be good to see the new players and old veterans band together and make this a good new place to get your Everybody’s Golf fix.

Thanks for supporting the Mingol.Community here at Shihiko.net. I will keep this site around, likely disable a lot of user interaction but since the database here is duplicated over there, all accounts will work there as well and once we have a proper system set up there it should be easy to communicate with other golfers.

Also we are looking for co-hosts or streamers for the new community channel. If you have the time and want to stream or talk about golf, feel free to join us on this adventure.

Shihiko.

Let’s go over the review of what is currently happening in the world of Minna no Golf. Game was announced two years ago that it was going to be in production for release this year 2016, however during this year’s Tokyo Game Show, it was revealed that they are releasing it in the summer of next year. [Which roughly reads as August 31st 2017.]

9/16　15:00（つまり今）
TGS2016　公式ニコ生放送で
「ＮｅｗみんなのＧＯＬＦ」が放送されます（されています！）
15:00～15:40（予定）https://t.co/K3B8IOp0iG pic.twitter.com/Gy2kc5siyv

— ClapHanz (@Clap_Hanz) September 16, 2016

According to the event plans, First Public Day of the Tokyo Game Show was scheduled to be Team Battle Demo. The Last Public Day is just a normal demo where you can try out the game in the open course setting.

As a bonus for attending the event, you register your PSN account at the event and you will receive the PlayStation Booth Companion Costume for use with the game when it is released.

There was also a special New Mingol Event on stage during the first public day. It was broadcast and recorded on the day on YouTube. Here is the video starting at about 30 minutes into the clip:

I can actually see myself in this video… Anyway that onto the report, since there wasn’t anything else that officially happened for New Mingol.

Tokyo Game Show Day One:

I caught up with a couple of Mingol friends, and we went to test the game out. Maronpafe actually went all out and registered to try it through PlayStation Plus and turned up with a Tokyo Game Show Supporters ticket which gives you access to certain parts of the event earlier than other people. Because of this Maron actually was able to try out the Team Battle mode.

Sadly while I was there fairly early too, with standard ticket when my turn came around I noticed that they were not doing the Team Battle Mode anymore. Regardless I was able to test the demo completely and see what the fuss is all about.

So what did we learn from the Demo:

• There is no other shot modes at the moment except for Traditional 3 Click.
• Just/Perfect Impact is now a big deal to progress for the game:
  • Putts now require you to set impact.
  • Increases your status for certain attributes which require you to Just/Perfect Impact.
• Points system seems to have changed but since we were not able to make any special shots likely due to not enough stats or not implemented, we weren’t completely sure what was changed.
• Successfully making a long putt over 3m distance will increase Kuru Kuru / Backdoor shot status.
• Hitting a long drive, or probably out distancing your longest drive will increase the Power Stats.
• Near Pin, Just/Perfect Impact will increase your Control Stats.
• Performing a successful spin shot will increase Spin or Side Spin Stats:
  • This may be a problem in game design later down so I would probably hope they put caps for character stats.
  • What happens to players who enjoy playing with low shot hitters? Naturally over time their character becomes  a High hitter?
  • How about players who enjoy having/playing with characters with Natural Fade/Draw?
  • There are some shots in this game that you wish for certain statistics in order to make a shot, so having too much of a status can hinder the performance of specific shots.
• Shot height for approach mode is now higher again similar to that of Mingol 5, but the game appears to be performing with a hybrid branch of Mingol 5 and 6 physics in the engine.
• Since the courses are now 9 Holes connected together we can once again tee off to other fairways and take risky shortcuts. In the Demo you can do this on the Par 5 to make an Eagle using a single power shot to the alternate fairway of the L shaped fairway.
• Team Battle from what we saw was just 4 vs 4 but without a personal experience I have no comment on this at the moment.
• So far the progression system seems to be on the right track, but some of the points I mentioned now makes me wonder where it will all go when we reach end game.

Non-golf related things in the Demo:

• Golf Cart Driving was cool, but you sort of miss the ridiculous running speed that is associated with the crazy Caddies in the older versions of Mingol.
  • It is also a annoying to drive around when you happen to hit something and the cart stops completely. I drove along a bridge designed for the Golf Cart but there was some really strange collision detection going on making the experience not very satisfying.
  • If they are going to make the cart driving something interesting, maybe rather than make it a simulator make it actually fun to drive. It really felt like I would just pop in and out of it for the increased Speed to travel around the course, but if the only bonus is the speed feels like wasted development. Maybe a Speed Golf Mode that requires you to race other players while using your golf carts would make good use of the feature.
• Fishing… I really don’t know what to say about this feature.
  • In the Demo, it appears fishing required you to talk to the NPC to begin but this could be just for introducing the feature to players trying the Demo.
  • Fishing also has it’s own status or progression bar.
  • There appears to be a competition mode for fishing also where you can fish against other players to see who catches the biggest fish. This is also shown in the presentation.
• Character Customization… should have been something that was shown but it was not.
  • Demo machines were set with character designs already set, but I think with the low amount of content being shown it would have been a good distraction to show us the character set up options.
  • You can see the TGS Booth Companion Costume on the machines that were supposed to be used by the companions. The blue team during the presentation event also used the costumes for their characters.

Tokyo Game Show Day Two:

Most of the experimenting was done during the first day, but I returned on the second day to help a friend with shopping and also get a T-shirt from Final Fantasy XIV battle challenges. During then I had a discussion with my Mingol friends and we came to the conclusion that the reason why Team Battle was no longer shown during the first day and the presentation for it was changed/cut short was that there was an issue with the system. Many questions were still left unanswered but some of us got a hold of one of the three producers… yeah Three Producers.

• Most information seems to be kept under wraps, they wouldn’t even disclose if there would be support for Advanced Shot or any of the other shot styles.
• Talking to the Associate Producer from Sony, I received confirmation that the Team Battle Mode was having issues hence the mode was discontinued on the first day and the presentation for the game was slightly modified.
  • In the video/presentation you will see that fishing and running around doing random things seems to have taken up quite a bit of time.
  • During Team Battle, the rules of the game was changed so that it was more about who finished all three holes first instead of the actual Team Battle system. It was a shame because we all wanted to see the girls beat the guys right?

Since ClapHanz has been advertising nearly every single day for the last year or two I had a little talk with the Associate Producer to see if I could help them out. If their issue is about how to make the right Mingol Game, think I would be able to help. If it is about the lack of people working on the game… Then that would be a different issue. Well that ball is in Sony/ClapHanz Court now, so let’s see what happens!

What do you all think will happen? Will we end up with someone who is passionate about the game for most of their life working on the game or will the success of New Mingol be clouded in mystery?

Hello Everyone, so the time has come for us to say goodbye to the most fun online service for the Everybody’s Golf series. I did say I would be streaming something for it so the plan is to get as many people into a Grade Free Tour and then do a few game rooms after. Preferably matches or strokes with the top 3 players of the Grade Free tour we play.

Last Day of Everybody's Golf World Tour. I will be streaming this Grade Free Tour. It's in 9 Hours on Floor 7. pic.twitter.com/krNlMXnwBT

— Shihiko (@Shihiko) October 31, 2013

Not sure how to get the time right for everyone for this tour, but it is on Floor 7. GMT 0:00 AM [6:00PM CST 7:00PM EST 4:00PM PST]. It is Intermediate Euro Classic 18H Normal Timer and has players booked. The stream will be up at www.shihiko.me or USTREAM if you want to watch it.

Thanks for the great memories and friends~ Everybody's Hot Shots Golf World Tour Out of Bounds. Farewell~! pic.twitter.com/Cz8Fnbpln7

— Shihiko (@Shihiko) November 1, 2013

Was going to post this the other night after the post of Pac-Man but ended up playing Everybody’s Golf for the night and forgot all about it…

アシストモードはオンライン使えないよな・・・ｗみんごるインストラクターできないね。一人でGOLFモードだけの機能ね。アイデアは悪くないな・・・オンラインでもほしいけど、ラウンド中に迷惑になりそう。 #みんゴル6 pic.twitter.com/Y8UWDVLTz3

— Shihiko (@Shihiko) August 22, 2013

So the new things added was an Assist Mode and some VTR Encoding options. Assist Mode is nice if you have friends you want to teach the game to but find it hard to verbally explain what to do when playing offline. Assist Mode is only available in Single Player and does not work Online. Basically it works using a second controller and you can put a cursor on the course while the main player is playing the game.

え～エンコードは解像度低いな・・・使わないほうがいいか。でもこれで誰でもいいショットアップロードできるようになるね。ナイスアップデート・・・次はアシスト機能見てみるか。 #みんゴル6 pic.twitter.com/IUxqUPgNAQ

— Shihiko (@Shihiko) August 22, 2013

VTR Encoding which in my opinion is totally not worth it unless you have something that really must be shown to everyone. The resolution is quite low but this is mainly because the encoding is done in real time while you watch a VTR replay. It’s quite easy and seamless to set up and upload a video to YouTube, but the quality is poor and low resolution. On top of that they stick a watermark on the video similar to the screenshot ones.

Now about Pac-Man… He’s got pretty cool sounds from his games haha… Interestingly enough he starts with MAX loyalty and his gear set puts you up to 11 Power Shots on 9 Holes. Might be worth buying for Erika and those who have low powers, it’s an ugly ball though and would have been nicer if it was kind of similar to the Smiley/Docomodake Ball designs. I mean why didn’t they just use a standard 2D Pac-Man image instead of the awkward 3D rendered version.

Lobby part costs 300 JPY and pretty much just turns you into a Pac-Man with no other lobby parts available to use. Nothing much to really say about that, also since screen shots of the game contained lobby characters that had names of the English localised characters you can expect Pac-Man to be available on the international server in the near future.

To those who watch the Golf Streams, some streaming equipment is acting up and there will be no golf stream for maybe a week… That doesn’t mean I cannot record for YouTube, they are different parts of equipment in the system. Might be a week of no golf stream… however there is Final Fantasy XIV stream if anyone is interested in watching me explore the world.

Another year goes by and our beloved series is now 16 years old… Last year we received Erika for our loyal support, this year who knows what is happening… Maybe a special sale in the stores?

That aside, so what is happening so far that we should recap on for the Minna no Golf series?

At the moment we have Minna no Golf 6 on the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 3. No news has been announced for the PlayStation 4, however one of the trailers did indicate a small image where a hole was shown on the interface. This does not mean there is golf coming for the PlayStation 4 soon, but it does indicate there is that idea… I wouldn’t be surprised if there is some what of an announcement at TGS this year with a release date that is maybe late 2014.

This isn’t all that strange of a theory as the developers tend to shy away from the community and releasing updates when they are forced to work on a new title. The idea that the PlayStation 4 development is easier to get into would also mean that creating a new game is not going to take as long as it did for Minna no Golf 5.

Minna no Golf games used to average around one and a half to two years of development. Following all the titles and spin off releases you will see the average durations that ClapHanz works with and it will give you an idea that a new Minna no Golf game is not unlikely. With that said, if they are working on a new adaptation to the series I hope that they don’t drive the series to the ground.

I would like to see is past innovations making a come back in future games…

• 100 Player Tournaments
• Match Profiles
• Match Ladders
• Level Ranks that matter
• End Game you work for and can feel proud of achieving
• Overhaul on the loyalty system, grinding just so the character is usable online is bad for online growth.
• Courses that cater to different characters and play styles.
• Old lobbies, the developers put the work into making these in the past and there was many designs used why waste valuable assets?
• Old Game mechanics that are selectable or based on shot styles… If they are already branching out different shot styles, why not branch out different mechanics too?

Though this isn’t all that I have to share about what they can do to the upcoming titles, there is always the possibility of new features and concepts that are still yet to be explored [I have a lot… >,<]. Given the opportunity to come up with ideas, what would you like to see in the next instalment of Minna no Golf?

What about the International versions of the game… I have only one thing to really say about this to Sony/ClapHanz: World Server – Save your resources and maintenance costs and run one server. Patches can take longer to put together and localise, we don’t care we just want to play with others who enjoy the game… I’ll help translate patch notes in record time if there is no one to do it. 😛

Good day everyone, recently I’ve been continuing my PlayStation Move Challenge on Minna no Golf 6. At the same time I’ve also been playing around with my YouTube Channel and updating it with several new features and settings for the playlists. As you may also know I have tested around with the Twitch.tv Live Streaming as well… While playing around with the YouTube channel I noticed that Live Streaming is available there if I have 1000 subscribers.

Though I’ve never thought having subscribers mattered, knowing that the basic requirements for this features on YouTube requires 1000 subscribers means it’s time I actively try to get subscribers to my channel.

Why subscribe to my channel? If you like what I do here on this site but would like better content served more frequently, by subscribing lets me know that you actually are interested in what is happening and would want to see more in the future.

Rather than having a Twitch account and a YouTube account, everything will be centralised to the YouTube account and videos are not deleted unlike how they are removed if you don’t specifically choose to save it on Twitch.

In the upcoming release of Everybody’s Golf 6 or Hot Shots Golf World Invitational on PlayStation 3… I would like to Live Stream events and organise activities on the server so it would make it a lot easier to hold events if everything was located in one place.

If you’ve already subscribed to my YouTube Channel, Thank you for your support. We know that Minna no Golf is a very niche game, so even getting 500 subscribers maybe near impossible… It doesn’t hurt to try right? 🙂

Hello Everyone, this post is not related to Mingol but I guess I sometimes make these posts too…

As most of you see, this site doesn’t display advertising, generate revenue or ask for donations. It is something I do on the side while doing what I really enjoy which is Designing & Creating Games…Hence why I respond quickly and update when there is news for Mingol. Though I don’t work for ClapHanz, I do work for a small company called Shihiko Studios. 😉

Recently we released a new game called Spot This! [AppStore: Spot This Game] and we would like everyone to be able to try it and play it with their friends. Sadly it is only for the iOS systems, but if you don’t have an iOS device you could ask your friends who do to try it because it’s FREE. 🙂 [ Unlike the Lv.4 Gear Set 😛 ]

@spotthisgame 1.1 is now on the AppStore. It includes the fix for the random bug, have fun inviting your friends! SpotThis.me

— Shihiko Studios (@ShihikoStudios) May 22, 2013

Other ways you can show your support for this site and our game is to retweet or embed this tweet about the game so that other people can give the game a try. The more people who play the game the more time we can spend on improving it or working on a new game. 😀

If you would like to play the game with me you can add the Player ID “Shihiko Studios” on Game Center and I’ll accept your challenges! 😉

For more details about Spot This Game:

• Website: SpotThis.me
• Twitter: @SpotThisGame or @ShihikoStudios
• AppStore: Spot This! Game

As some of you may know, I have a decent arsenal of equipment when it comes to game capturing. During the earlier days when I first got a HD Capture device my friend mentioned that maybe I should do streaming with it… I never tried because I thought it was a waste of resources and time. Fast forward a few years, I have more equipment and the bandwidth to do it some what decent. There are many streamers for other games out there and there are also streamers for Minna no Golf in Japan.

Though Minna no Golf is not the only game I play, there is a niche where no one else is streaming it well… Since Minna no Golf 6 is not satisfying enough for me in terms of fun, I thought maybe things like playing with PlayStation Move or Streaming may improve the enjoyment of the game over all. So I have started a new site, for now it is located at Shihiko.me and if it works out well I will probably change the site. Shihiko.me was a domain I had purchased for no real reason other than it was cheap at the time.

Why didn’t I just stream to this website? Well I would have to mess with the files already available here at this site… If I then decide that it isn’t something I want to continue to do or lack of interest it is easier to shut down one site than to take apart this site.

If you would like to participate in the stream, or have suggestions and ideas for things to do to improve entertainment value or would like to be featured on the stream head over there and sign up. The current back end for the stream is using Twitch.tv so if you already have an account there feel free to follow the stream at Twitch.tv.

Live Stream: Shihiko Channel

Twitch: Twitch.tv Shihiko

Since I was able to restore some of the data I lost from the wipe, I am considering to stream golfing sessions in the future… I’m not sure what people think of this, but if you like the idea or have any suggestions to improve how it works.. Let’s hear it.

Looks like you only needed to participate in 3 or more days to receive the three Famitsu Ranger masks. Green, Pink and Red… Different to Minna no Golf 5 where we received Blue, White and Black.