Will Virtua Tennis Wii include MotionPlus?

Mike Bantick
Tuesday, 17 February 2009 09:39

Your IT - Entertainment

Sega have unveiled details on their Wii-Sports Tennis killer, Virtua Tennis.  There is every indication that Virtua Tennis will feature the more accurate control option of the Wii Remote MotionPlus peripheral.

I think it is safe to say that the single most played game on many Wii consoles is the bundled Wii Sports.  And then within Wii Sports the most popular game would have to be Tennis.

Though Super Smash Bros holds the top spot as far as time spent on the console, but for pick up and play fun, it is hard to beat the glorified pong that is Wii Sports Tennis.

Publisher SEGA are hoping to give Wii owners an expanded tennis experience with Virtua Tennis:

SEGA Europe Ltd. and SEGA of America, Inc. today announced that the Virtua Tennis series will, for the very first time, be released on the Wii system and will hit stores in May 2009.

Wii owners will finally be able to take to the courts in the fans number one tennis game, boasting all the features and arcade action that has made Virtua Tennis the most critically acclaimed and best selling tennis series available.  Virtua Tennis 2009 for Wii includes the same impressive player roster as Virtua Tennis 2009 on other platforms, meaning top stars such as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams will all be in game, as well as players new to the series such as Andy Murray and Ana Ivanovic.  Over 40 vibrant court environments will be playable within single player, multiplayer and online modes giving Virtua Tennis 2009 an impressive online and offline depth for a Wii title.

“So many features of the Virtua Tennis series are perfect for the Wii platform,” commented Gary Knight, European Marketing Director SEGA Europe. “SEGA are excited to be able to finally bring this to fruition, and the multiplayer Court Games in particular will be great fun to play with the whole family in the comfort of their homes!”

The list of Court Games has also been updated for Virtua Tennis 2009, meaning the return of old Virtua Tennis favourites, some revamped classics and 5 new games. Virtua Tennis 2009 for the Wii will also include the official Davis Cup® license and the World Tour Mode, which will allow Wii owners to experience Virtua Tennis online

Great!  Davis Cup on the console has been a long time coming. 

Rumour has it that we will be putting fizz on our top-spin returns with the added bonus of the Wii MotionPlus peripheral.

The MotionPlus add on is due to be released in May this year, and reportedly adds a new level of accuracy to Wii games programmed to accept the device.  Something that will be very welcome to Wii owners frustrated by inaccurate controls.

According to a TechRadar source “[SEGA] confirmed that Nintendo's much-improved motion control tech will be used in the third-party tennis game from Sega, making it one of the first third-party games to make use of the new tech.”

Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC owners can also look forward to a version of Virtua Tennis 2009 this coming May.