 | Digital Release | Nintendo Wii Jul - Aug 2008 (AU, EU, JP, NA) PC January 09, 2016 - Humble Bundle October 05, 2017 - GOG.com Nintendo Switch March 23, 2017 (EU, JP, NA) PlayStation 4 February 23, 2017 (AS, AU, EU, JP, NA) Xbox One March 23, 2017 (EU, JP, NA) |
| Delisting | January 30, 2019 - Nintendo Wii August 09, 2019 - GOG.com August 2019 - ACA Edit (See Below) |
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| Developer | Nazca (NeoGeo Original) SNK (2008, 2017) |
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| Publisher | SNK (2008) Hamster (2017) |
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| Available On | As Neo Turf Masters PC (NeoGeo Classics Pack 2 [Humble Bundle]) Original Hardware Nintendo Wii As ACA NeoGeo Big Tournament Golf Nintendo Switch PlayStation 4 Xbox One |
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| Links | Arcade Archives homepage SNK product page |
Delisting
Neo Turf Masters was delisted on GOG.com on August 9th, 2019.The game was also delisted on Android and iOS around this same time. The Nintendo Wii version of the game was previously delisted on January 30th, 2019 when the Wii Shop Channel was retired. Although not delisted, the console releases from Hamster were edited in August 2019 to change all instances of the name ‘Neo Turf Masters’ to ‘Big Tournament Golf’, the game’s original Japanese title. As of November 2020 some digital marketplaces still reference the name ‘Neo Turf Masters’ on their websites but the content of the game itself has been altered.
The cause for these delistings and updates appears to be a legal dispute over SNK’s trademark of the Neo Turf Masters name brought on by Augusta National, Inc. The entity holds several trademarks relating to “The Masters” and “Masters Tournament”, and apparently felt that SNK’s golf game was infringing on their property. By the time the case was settled in favor of Augusta National, Neo Turf Masters had already been released on consoles, GOG.com, and mobile platforms. Rather than remove all versions of the game, the solution appeared to be an edit that changed the in-game wording. It is unclear why these changes were not applied to the GOG.com and mobile releases.
Interestingly, the 2016 NeoGeo Classics packs, released DRM-free through Humble Bundle, were seemingly exempt from the ruling and remain on sale. It is possible this release fell under SNK’s original trademark or was simply not specified by Augusta National Inc.
About the Game
BIG TOURNAMENT GOLF is a golf game released by SNK in 1996. Players can choose from a total of six golfers with different abilities and play on courses located around the world such as Australia or Germany. Players can test out their golf game skills against friends with game modes such as “STROKE PLAY” and “MATCH PLAY (2P battle only)”.
The “ACA NEOGEO” series has faithfully reproduced many classic NEOGEO masterpieces. Players can change various game settings such as game difficulty, and also reproduce the atmosphere of arcade display settings at that time. Players can also compete against each other from all over the world with their high scores. Please enjoy the masterpiece that built a generation for video games.
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Thanks to an anonymous reader for submitting this game to the site