More details of MotionPlus in EA Tennis

By Robert Purchese Published 23 April, 2009

Plus: Murray! Evert! Navrat! Stich!

Grand Slam Tennis producer Thomas Singleton reckons "anything is possible" with the new Wii MotionPlus controls.

His game will be among the first to support the clip-on gyroscopic sensor, and he's happy to admit being instantly won over.

"In certain respects I think it has changed the way we look at product design since it allows us to play to our strengths more than ever before," he writes. "It's a great piece of technology and when you combine it with creative minds, anything is possible.

"Wii MotionPlus is something that will appeal to the masses because it is innovative technology that takes the Wii experience to new heights.

"People don't need to know how to play videogames," he adds, "they just need to know how to perform real-life sports motions to enjoy the Grand Slam Tennis experience."

Grand Slam Tennis launches this summer and, for just ten pounds more than usual (RRP GBP 49.99), will come bundled with a Wii MotionPlus attachment.

Singleton reveals that the biggest difference when using WMP to play Grand Slam Tennis will be backswings and the ability to force opponents onto forehand or backhand returns.

Wrist rotation, he adds, can be detected and spin can be added to the ball after contact. And that's not all.

"I'm sure that when I, like many others, have a racket in my hand, one of the first things I do is spin it just like the pros. And with Wii MotionPlus detecting racket rotation, my in-game character can spin its racket too," writes Singleton.

"Personally I enjoy playing the game with and without Wii MotionPlus," he adds. "If I want to play tennis and not have to worry about my backswing and just worry about the ball placement then I'll play with just the Wii remote.

"If I want to get 100 per cent consistency in shot types and want the freedom to run around my forehand or backhand, then I'll play with Wii MotionPlus."

EA also revealed the remaining players that will appear in Grand Slam Tennis, taking the total to 23. These are Andy Murray, Chris Evert, Martina Navaratilova, Pat Cash, Justine Henin, Michael Stich, Lindsay Davenport, Kei Nishikori, Leyton Hewitt and Venus Williams.

Between them they count 135 Grand Slam titles and 50 Wimbledon crowns. Where's Tiger Tim?

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (18) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • MisterCraig #1 3 years ago

    ''If I want to get 100 per cent consistency in shot types and want the freedom to run around my forehand or backhand, then I'll play with Wii MotionPlus''

    If I want to get 100 per cent consistency in shot types and want the freedom to run around my forehand or backhand, then I'll play real life tennis with my friends.

    Discuss.

  • Santino #2 3 years ago

    "Discuss"

    no, tennis can be expensive to learn and the weather in aberdeen is crap 50 weeks out of the year.

  • roz123 #3 3 years ago

    Now you can do it when your friends are not available to play with you.

  • Pac-man-ate-my-wife #4 3 years ago

    100 per cent consistency doesn't mean "same as playing Tennis in real life". It just means that you can perform the same action over and over to produce the same results. Just like Guitar Hero isn't the same as playing Guitar, this isn't the same as playing tennis. To be at all playable they'll make concessions to us malco's so you'll still get a decent game, despite not being able to play in real life.

  • Nasty #5 3 years ago

    "I'm sure that when I, like many others, have a racket in my hand, one of the first things I do is spin it just like the pros. And with Wii MotionPlus detecting racket rotation, my in-game character can spin its racket too," writes Singleton.

    Ahh sowing the seeds of idiot things to do with your wiimote. I predict a glut of "I span my racket and broke my controller posts"
    Edited by 1 at 23/04/09 @ 17:44

  • Ninja_Tino #6 3 years ago

    I shall discuss what a stupid point you're making. They're not trying to make an alternative game to tennis, simply a realistic tennis game.

  • MisterCraig #7 3 years ago

    Ok, Ok!

    Pretty quick to get upset there Tino. I said discuss, and not defend aggressively.

    I'm personally most interested in Tiger Woods '10, simply because golf these days is very expensive.

    Plus, I'm sure my old man will happily buy it sinse games are far more forgiving than real life.

    Peace.

  • gaselite #8 3 years ago

    One wonders if MotionPlus was part of Nintendo's plans all along, and they tested the viability of being able to launch a peripheral widely and successfully with things like the Wii Wheel with Mario Kart, as well as drawing on their experience with things like the N64 expansion pak. If so, and it turns out to be a success (and I can't see why it wouldn't) it'd be staggeringly impressive business from Nintendo.

    I must say I am constantly amazed and impressed by the success that Nintendo have had with Wii, especially relative to their past couple of home consoles, even if I'm not particularly impressed by the console itself. They deserve massive credit for what they've done in a business sense.

  • Darkjinxter #9 3 years ago

    Quote - "Wrist rotation, he adds, can be detected and spin can be added to the ball after contact. And that's not all."
    The clue here is in the 'can be detected' which is good, but being detected is one thing, the game acting on it accurately is another. In simple terms it will liekly boil down to - "turned wrist" >> slice.
    The degree of slice will likely be a dice roll.

    Smoke 'n' mirrors.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #10 3 years ago

    Ah, but will you be able to buy custom shirts in an in-game store so you can put a 'Vote For Pedro' T-shirt on Andy Murray?

  • stampax #11 3 years ago

    cant wait for this. Hope it's online play as well.

  • jonsaan #12 3 years ago

    These comments are very telling on how terrified the devs must of splitting their potential audience by going soley down the motion plus route.

    Does this not simply overcomplicate gaming matters for most wii users anyway? The beauty of the current system is it's simple and fun. Will not introducing wrist spin and advanced control techniques just leave most of the wii demographic scratching their heads? Will they even care?
    Edited by 2 at 24/04/09 @ 10:53

  • Ryze #13 3 years ago

    @gaselite

    It's looking like they're going to split the market with this add-on, while they've already harmed several games that have already been developed, and ruined their reputation with gaming enthusiasts.

    Far from a stroke of genius, I'd say. More like an 'Oh, shit' cobled together hardware patch. We'll see, but I hope that this is a massive hit. The games that follow may entice me to finally pick up a Wii.

  • JahB #14 3 years ago

    Does this not simply overcomplicate gaming matters for most wii users anyway? The beauty of the current system is it's simple and fun. Will not introducing wrist spin and advanced control techniques just leave most of the wii demographic scratching their heads? Will they even care?

    it might swing some hardcore gamers to the wii, if M+ actually works as advertised.

  • jonsaan #15 3 years ago

    Mad world sadly shows that most 'hardcore' gamers look to othe systems for such games.

  • DB2k #16 3 years ago

    I hate people ending comment with the word "Discuss". Its another Americanism that deserves a kick in the scroats.

  • MisterCraig #17 3 years ago

    USA

  • uglygamer #18 3 years ago

    ''If I want to get 100 per cent consistency in shot types and want the freedom to run around my forehand or backhand, then I'll play with Wii MotionPlus''

    If I want to get 100 per cent consistency in shot types and want the freedom to run around my forehand or backhand, then I'll play real life tennis with my friends.

    Discuss.

    LOVe that post.