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Clap Hanz's long overdue persistent online arcade golf title New Hot Shots Golf will finally tee off on 31st August in Japan, publisher Sony has announced. The game – which has been in production since PlayStation Vita port Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational launched on the PlayStation 3 back in 2013 – is the most ambitious entry in the long-running Minna no Golf series thus far, hence the long production cycle.

While we're not particularly keen on the character models this time – usually a strength of the franchise – it makes sense for the title to adopt a Mii-like structure, as you'll be creating your own character and taking him or her online to participate in all sorts of activities. Obviously hitting the links is the main attraction, but the multiplayer clubhouses will also contain fishing, buggy racing, and much more for you to interact with.

In addition to online play, there'll be offline activities and four-player pass-the-controller modes. The game will be available in two guises in Japan: standard (¥5,900) and an all-courses digital edition (¥9,200). The latter will ship with the main game, as well as two bonus courses, access to the title's Season Pass, a premium kart, and a cat costume. All versions come with a rabbit costume as a pre-order bonus as well.

There's no word on a European or North American release date just yet, but Sony has been showing it at Western conventions recently, so it's safe to assume it'll drop around the same time as its Japanese counterpart. Personally, we would have liked to see this one launch a little earlier in the summer – July time, perhaps – but it seems like it's been a difficult project, so we're just happy to see it finally dated.

[source youtube.com]