Links 2004 gets premium update

If you've already spoilt all the good walks in Links 2004, then you'll be pleased to hear that Hawaii's Kapalua Plantation course will be made available as a premium download via Xbox Live this week.

According to a posting at the official forum dated January 5th, with confirmation from Microsoft Game Studios group program manager Daryl Welsh, the new course will be priced at $4.99 including entry into a sweepstake to win various golfing prizes.

It's not yet clear how much the course will cost European Live users as it has yet to show up on the game's downloadable content page, but, to give you some idea, premium content packs for Xbox Music Mixer cost £5.99 in the UK compared to an American price tag of $9.99.

As you can see from the forum thread linked above, the response to the announcement has been mostly positive, but there are a few voices of discontent complaining bitterly about XSN Sports problems that currently blight the game. Indeed, one user swears blind he'll never give the Links team "another cent".

Attempting to justify the premium content decision, Daryl Welsh told the forum: "In order to release Kapalua Plantation we've had to bring on a lot of resources that are focused exclusively on this effort, keeping our main team focused on the Links 2005 version for the Xbox."

Welsh also promised that any players who purchase a premium course would not have to do so again when Links 2005 is released, presumably later this year.

Although Links has failed to light up the charts on this side of the pond compared to the success of EA's dominant Tiger Woods brand, it's an entertaining Live game that we found mostly agreeable.