Sony Moves Hot Shots Demo Up

via ign

Have you marked your calendar for 3/21 as the day you'll get your first glimpse of next generation Hot Shots Golf? Well hope you used pencil, because the date has changed!

Sony Japan announced today that the PlayStation Store demo of Hot Shots Golf 5 (Minna no Golf 5 in Japan) will make it out on 3/16, a few days prior to the original 3/21 release date. The company cited worries about overloading the PlayStation Network servers by releasing the demo just prior to the 3/23 European PS3 launch. Hot Shots Golf is one of Japan's most popular PlayStation franchises.

The demo was also promised for "PlayStation TV" retail kiosks late last month. Your friendly IGN Japan staffers have been visiting the local Tsutaya every day for the past two weeks in hopes of getting an early glimpse, but have met nothing but disappointment every time. We'll keep checking back, though, and will offer a full report once we've seen the game.

Gamers outside of Japan should note that the Hot Shots demo is currently set for release only in the Japanese PlayStation Store. Of course, if you do a bit of research, you shouldn't have much trouble downloading it no matter where you happen to live.