Play it again, Sam

Editor's note: Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 2004 comes out this month, and fans everywhere could not be happier. On the heels of this highly-anticipated release, PGATOUR.COM spoke with Sam Player, the Senior Producer for Tiger Woods 2004. We spoke to the man who led the design of this ground-breaking game about collisions at home plate, a game called Scramble, and the ultimate video game experience.

1) Where did you get your start in gaming? I've been playing video games my whole life, starting from the Atari 2600 to coin operated games. I thought I wanted to be a sports writer, but I got into marketing because I knew I wouldn't really make any money. From there I got a job with a gaming company ... I guess all those irreverent days pumping quarters into machines paid off.

2) What is your favorite cartoon? The Simpsons. No doubt. Although, i do have an 18-month-old daughter, so I guess Blue's Clues is getting up there.

3) What is your favorite retro game? Wow. That is a tough one. I guess I'd have to say Scramble, the old arcade game. I actually spent a good amount of time playing it with John Elway one day when he was at Stanford and I was like, 10. [Editor's note: Scramble is sort of a cross between Space Invaders and Defender. And the final score of the titanic clash between the 10-year-old Player and the future Hall-of-Fame quarterback will never be released.]

4) What was the first game you ever designed? 3D Baseball for Sega Saturn and PlayStation.

5) How do you want to be remembered in gaming? As a manager who people enjoyed working for and made successful games while doing so. Or how about, we made good toys and had fun doing it.

6) Who is your favorite athlete you have worked with? Tiger Woods! He was very accommodating and wants to get it right. He can do a lot of cool things with golf clubs, and he has fun while doing it, which is great.

Sam Player is the Senior Producer for Tiger Woods 2004. (Getty Images)

7) What is the coolest thing you've ever designed? In 3D Baseball, we were one of the first games to orchestrate the collision at home plate between the runner and the catcher. It was so real, it was scary. It took awhile to figure out how to do it, but once we did, it was really cool.

8) What did you want to be growing up? I wanted to be the beat writer for the San Francisco Chronicle, covering the Giants. Until I actually got to do it in an internship and I got so bored during the third inning of an Expos game that I decided against it.

Plus, being a 19-year-old kid who looks like he's 12 and interviewing Will Clark when he clearly did not want to talk to me was tough. The fantasy sort of burst.

9) What is your favorite non-sports game? Probably Quake, if I had to pick one. I'm not really playing it now, though. I've got a wife and kid who really into that stuff.

10) What is your favorite non-gaming hobby? Golf! I play every chance I get. That's pretty much my life: work, golf, daughter. But not necessarily in that order.

Special bonus question!
What is your favorite part of Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 2004? The EA Sports Game Face. It's so ground-breaking that it has to be seen to be believed. You come as close as you can to putting yourself on TOUR without actually swinging a club. I mean, you can turn yourself into a video game character -- that's the ultimate experience.