EA unveils MotionPlus tennis game

By Tom Bramwell Published 20 August, 2008

For Wii first, other formats later.

EA is working on a new tennis game using the Wii MotionPlus.

EA Sports Tennis, which may be a working title, will be released on Wii in 2009 followed by other platforms with different control schemes.

EA Canada is hard at work on it, apparently, and EA Sports is promising "innovative ways to play" as or against the best players of past and present. So, no room for Henman then.

However, if Timmo fancies picking up a virtual racket, he will be able to once again attempt to conquer the hallowed turf of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, home of Wimbledon.

EA's press release doesn't quite state whether the game has an actual Wimbledon licence, but we assume it's on the shopping list if nothing else.

"As we look to expand the EA Sports brand and captivate sports fans from around the world with rich new interactive experiences, it was obvious that the renaissance we're seeing in the sport of tennis provides us with a big opportunity," said Peter Moore, EA Sports president.

"Our new tennis franchise, coming first to the Wii, will put fans right into the action and provide the excitement, tension and drama that true champions feel in legendary matches - like the classic from Wimbledon just last month."

We'll try and dig up some more details when we talk to Peter Moore today.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (14) Latest comment 4 years ago

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

  • viper_h #1 4 years ago

    The best brains at EA are sill trying to figure out how to open the doors to their offices.

  • LazyDan #2 4 years ago

    I'd have thought MotionPlus golf would've been the first place to start... Wii Sports Golf is good fun but annoyingly inprecise when it comes to fiddly shots like putting. Still, this ought to be fun if they pull it off.

  • robson_wii #3 4 years ago

    I would like to see Wii tennis improved: better top-spin, slice and smash execution. Wii tennis was good as an introduction and still played occasionally but boxing always wins it for me.

    @LazyDan: I found Wii Golf better to control if you faced the TV and swung parallel to the TV as opposed to standing perpendicular to the TV and creating a real swing. Still not as good as my real golf but a good start though...

  • SwashbucklingStuff #4 4 years ago

    I really don't see the problem with putting on Wii Golf. When doing normal golf shots i.e. driving and iron shots you needs to swing the remote like a golf club which everyone can do. Don't make the mistake of swinging the remote like you do for the other shots when putting. When you put,swing the remote like a putter - e.g. keep your arms straight and swing it like a pendulum and it should be fine.

  • Darren #5 4 years ago

    I always wondered why EA made games of most major sports but never bothered with tennis. Seemed so strange really. While I'm keen to see the results of their efforts, EA rarely get these things right first time (although the graphics and presentation will be top-notch no doubt!) and I'm betting that it'll be a good few years before they finally 'perfect' the game, assuming that it doen'ts go the same way as their late lamented F1 series!

  • seasidebaz #6 4 years ago

    The best brains at EA are sill trying to figure out how to open the doors to their offices.

    Apparently every time they do figure it out they bring out their yearly update which changes the core door mechanisms again...

  • Arwin #7 4 years ago

    I love MotionPlus ... but bring it to the PS3 please. ;)

  • Redeye #8 4 years ago

    Could be fun...be interesting to see if they include a MoPlus option in next year's Tiger Woods, too.

  • BartonFink #9 4 years ago

    How interes.... zzzzz

  • Canyarion #10 4 years ago

    They'll bring it to the 360 and PS3 later? Will they downgrade the controls? Or could MS and Sony have something similar in development? Not that I think it would sell good enough on those consoles...

  • zzyzx #11 4 years ago

    Actually, if the tennis game falls under EA's "All Play" initiative for accessible Wii games, do NOT expect solid graphics. The first two All-Pay releases (NCAA Football and the ever-popular Madden) each have taken Nintendo roughly back to the N64 era (some would say SNES, but that's just pouting).

    Truly, they are a step in the graphics department - and that's judged by Wii standards, not by unrealistic comparison to PS360.

    Maybe it's just me, but I'll be happier if/when I read that 2K plan to integrate motion plus in Top Spin 4 - especially since they've already gone through all their "Year 1" problems. You can bet that EA won't get it right on the first try, either. I'll just skip to year two, thanks.

  • thiswaynow #12 4 years ago

    Can't wait for this... shame it's not coming until 2009

  • konniehuqfan #13 4 years ago

    was the cheap shot at Henman really necessary?

  • HammyWammy #14 4 years ago

    Sounds kool. But being EA, they'll use this as a stepping stone to start introducing the tennis games on the other systems. They'll most properbly have more opitions, On-line, better graphics & we'll be given better motion controls with restricted (ps2/under par gamecube) grapics with no on-line.