Virtua Tennis PS3 to use tilt

By Tom Bramwell Published 3 November, 2006

Tilt sensing for movement, shots.

SEGA has revealed that the PlayStation 3 version of Virtua Tennis 3 will support the Sixaxis' tilt function to move around the court and play shots.

It's an option, obviously, but if you turn it on you'll discover you're able to move the player around the court by tilting the pad.

Not only that, but apparently you'll be able to serve the ball and play shots using the controller like a tennis racket - swinging up quickly to lob, down quickly to slice, and horizontally for top spin.

Not quite the same as Wii Sports Tennis, then, but certainly enough to invite comparisons.

Otherwise Virtua Tennis 3 is expected to ape in many respects the arcade version, and is also due out on Xbox 360, PC and PSP next spring.

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.

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Comments (59) Latest comment 5 years ago

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

  • York #1 5 years ago

    Good.

  • Wash #2 5 years ago

    hmm is good to know games are being made that make an integral use of this tilt crap... its like 98 all over again. Ahh the sidewinder and its awesome tilt technology.

  • mingster #3 5 years ago

    You will try it.. then turn it off again.

    Yup sidewinder revisited.. gimmick not essential.

  • Darren #4 5 years ago

    Given the shape of the PS3 controller, I can't imagine swinging it like a tennis racquet is going to feel terribly realistic or even comfortable and without a handstrap like the Wii, who'd want to risk accidentally letting up of the controller and smashing their HDTV screens? :?

    Thanks but no thanks... I think I'll stick with the Xbox 360 version for its traditional control method plus rumble (so I can feel those shots) and online gameplay and play Wii Tennis with a PROPER motion-sensing control and rumble ta! /wink

  • Blerk #5 5 years ago

    I don't mind them doing this providing you can always turn it off. Stupid bloody tilting nonsense.

  • MikeJones #6 5 years ago

    I don't mind them doing this providing you can always turn it off. Stupid bloody tilting nonsense.



    Wii has no turn off option so the games BETTER use motion sensing correctly.

  • dr_faulk #7 5 years ago

    Diabolus Simius Dei

  • siro #8 5 years ago

    Wii Tennis is just recognizing that you've swung the nunchuk, not what kind of ball you wanted to play... so actually this VT3 seems to do more in the "sensing" aspect. Motion sensing still sucks donkey ballz in my book tho.

  • FiveManArmy #9 5 years ago

    @Siro: you don't use the nunchuk in WiiTennis. And it does read what kind of ball you wanted to play. In fact according to the developers it's almost impossible to play the same shot twice.

  • SeesThroughAll #10 5 years ago

    Unless the controls actually are a combination of tilting and analog stick, I'm not too confident about this. So we tilt the controller to move our avatar around, and THEN have to swing it in order to move the racket as well. How does the game distinguish between "move character" and "swing racket"? Sounds complicated, for the player as well.

  • spongebob #11 5 years ago

    So if this game has the same tilt sensing as Wii Tennis PLUS you can turn it off, doesn't it make it appealing to wider audiences?

    SeesThroughAll:
    I am sure they have done everything to make it as hard to play as possible. Sheesh.
    Edited by 1 at 03/11/06 @ 10:00

  • MadMirko #12 5 years ago

    Didn't you read the article?

    Not quite the same as Wii Sports Tennis, then, but certainly enough to invite comparisons.

    It's not the same, for one it's not integral to the game, it wasn't designed for the tilt control. It's just a gimmicky tack-on.

    Something akin to Monkey Ball, where you just tilt the world instead of moving an avatar AND coordinate it's actions, might work on the PS3 pad. But when you have only one piece of controller, are supposed to tilt and swing it AND press buttons / use a d-pad or analog stick... things are bound to get messy.

  • JonFE #13 5 years ago

    spongebob,
    are you actually comparing a control method that has been demonstrated in public and reported to work fine by a number of individual parties with something that no one outside the developers and maybe some SEGA seniors has even witnessed? How did you come to the conclusion that they are the same?

  • fizzer25 #14 5 years ago

    gonna laff my ass off when the whole fanboy euphoria of tilting dies down and they realise it is shite!!

    If i wanted to play tennis i would go to my health and racquet club not buy a ps3!!

    Anyway when are Sony gonna stop ripping off everyone elses ideas, when was the last time really thought of something themselves which was innovative?

  • JonFE #15 5 years ago

    disc, R* releasing Table Tennis for the PS3 is a distinct possibility (with or without tilt sensor support), but I would really like them to release it for the Wii with full Wiimote and nunchuk support :) That would really be something.

  • Zomoniac #16 5 years ago

    Thanks but no thanks... I think I'll stick with the Xbox 360 version for its traditional control method plus rumble (so I can feel those shots) and online gameplay and play Wii Tennis with a PROPER motion-sensing control and rumble ta! /wink

    Wii Tennis doesn't have proper motion sensing control though. You don't move the character and the game often decides for itself what shot type you will play. Observe.

  • chupachups #17 5 years ago

    "So if this game has the same tilt sensing as Wii Tennis PLUS you can turn it off, doesn't it make it appealing to wider audiences?"

    The Wii doesn't just have tilt, it has position sensing in 3D. That means if you want to swing your racquet a certain way in Wii Tennis you just swing the controller the same way, exactly as if you were playing real tennis.

    You can't do that with the PS3 because it doesn't sense position at all, just tilt, and there's more to tennis than tilt.

    I know Sony would love people to think the PS3 controller has the same capabilities as the Wii, but it doesn't, it only has a fraction of them.
    Edited by 1 at 03/11/06 @ 10:31

  • CrumpledPaper #18 5 years ago

    I like how if it's an option, suddenly it becomes a "gimmicky tack-on". I guess most Wii games are just forced gimmicks, then? Come on..

    As for VT, I'm glad it's an option. That's one of the nice things about Sixaxis, developers don't have to force the controls on the game, and can default to traditional controls if they want. But I will try the motion sensing mode and give it a fair trial..hard to say if I'll like it or not from the description. The shots sound fine, but I'm wondering how motion on the same pad will work - but if it fluidly detects transition from player motion to shots, it could be cool.

    Also, for the poster above, the sixaxis also detects motion along axes, not just tilt around them, as the VT controls amply illustrate. Tilt is used for player motion, motion along the axes is mapped to your shots.
    Edited by 2 at 03/11/06 @ 10:38

  • spongebob #19 5 years ago

    I am just using the previews and semi-reviews of Wii Tennis as a referral. There have been reports of it lacking a real use of the controller and that's why I was comparing it and Virtua Tennis on PS3.

    I know it's a touchy subject, because all the Wii fans are scared that what if Virtua Tennis on PS3 is as fun as Wii Tennis. That would be so wrong, wouldn't it?

  • Razz #20 5 years ago

    @Siro: you don't use the nunchuk in WiiTennis. And it does read what kind of ball you wanted to play. In fact according to the developers it's almost impossible to play the same shot twice.

    OWNED! @:D

  • spongebob #21 5 years ago

    It's always a competition, isn't it?

  • Razz #22 5 years ago

    That's one of the nice things about Sixaxis, developers don't have to force the controls on the game, and can default to traditional controls if they want.
    The same applies to the Wii mate
    Edited by 2 at 03/11/06 @ 10:56

  • Razz #23 5 years ago

    spongebob: Wii Sports Tennis is very simplistic though, it's made for byte sized games. Couple of minutes of fun. Doesnt have to be deep or complex as there are more games in the Wii Sports package.

    Thank you.

    It's barely a full game. Yes it has tournament mode etc.. but it's a facet of the whole Wii sports package.

    Of course I expect Virtua Tennis 3 to be a better tennis game than the one in Wii sports!

    I'd be shocked if it wasn't.

    Wii Sports: Tennis, is merely a taster of whats to come. I can't wait for Mario Tennis Wii, virtua Tennis wii, or fingers crossed R* Table tennis Wii.

    That's when the true comparisions will begin :)
    Edited by 4 at 03/11/06 @ 11:02

  • Darkedge #24 5 years ago

    amazing how many people are reading so much ability into the sixaxis controller.
    Shame very few of them have got it right or even have a clue about how it works, they are just assuming too much.

  • Razz #25 5 years ago

    Well after that Warhawk demonstration at E3 what would you assume? :)
    Edited by 2 at 03/11/06 @ 11:05

  • spongebob #26 5 years ago

    amazing how many people are reading so much ability into the sixaxis controller.
    Shame very few of them have got it right or even have a clue about how it works, they are just assuming too much.

    I assume you, "Darkedge", have tried it or developed for it, because you have the knowledge we others lack.
    Edited by 1 at 03/11/06 @ 11:08

  • Normski #27 5 years ago

    "(of Wii Tennis) In fact according to the developers it's almost impossible to play the same shot twice."

    That sounds like a selling point to me... a game that you can't master, because you have too little control!

  • Razz #28 5 years ago

    o_O Do you not just get it or something? Or you being stupid on purpose?

  • CrumpledPaper #29 5 years ago

    "The same applies to the Wii mate"

    The alternative to not using the motion sensing etc. on Wii is a very limited controller. The Sixaxis retains the full form and input functionality of the traditional dual shock, if you don't want to use the motion sensing. Developers are pretty much compelled to find some way to use it on Wii, whether it's good for the game or not - unless they can get by with a d-pad and a couple of buttons.

    And yes, I know there's a classic controller, but it is optional - a developer cannot develop a game as if everyone is going to be using it, they have to accomodate the wiimote/nunchuck.
    Edited by 2 at 03/11/06 @ 13:00

  • Razz #30 5 years ago

    And there's the Gamecube controller. Which Smash Bros Brawl uses.

    Remember? The four ports on the top of the console... they;re not just for GCN games you know.
    Edited by 2 at 03/11/06 @ 12:51

  • glaeken #31 5 years ago

    I wonder how all those people who un-intentially tilt controllers around in games already are going to cope with tilt control? I guess they might adapt to it quite well.

    For my part until I try these motion sensing controllers I just can not help thinking it is going to be far less direct and responsive than a conventional controller and will just feel like playing a game with a really sloppy control scheme where the challenge is as much coping with the controls as the actual game

  • CrumpledPaper #32 5 years ago

    "And there's the Gamecube controller. Which Smash Bros Brawl uses.

    Remember? The four ports on the top of the console... they;re not just for GCN games you know."

    A gamecube controller does not come as standard with Wii.

    We might as well start talking about what you can do with eyetoy or eyetoy+sixaxis on ps3 if we're also considering optional peripherals on Wii.

  • Tomo #33 5 years ago

    Personally, I think a more inspired use for Virtua Tennis is if you tilted the controller left or right after you pressed X or whatever for spin effects. People are forever moving their hands around in the heat of a battle and that would seem like an intuitive natural solution.

    Anyway, this can't hurt. You're all playerhaters.

  • Razz #34 5 years ago

    The options there though. And that's the point.

  • FiveManArmy #35 5 years ago

    @Normski "That sounds like a selling point to me... a game that you can't master, because you have too little control!"

    I think you misunderstand. If you were to record every swing you did with a tennis racquet in real life, you'd never do exactly the same thing twice. You'd never perfectly match the speed, direction, angle of the face, amount of spin etc. It doesn't mean you have less control. Far from it, potentially you can control all those variables just by one swing of the controller.

  • Rambaldi #36 5 years ago

    LAYDEEEES AND GENTLEMEN! IIIN THE BLUE CORNER WE HAVE THE SIXXAXIS AND IT'S HALF-ASSED SHOEHORN TILT MECHANSIM. IIIN THE RED CORNER WE HAVE A SPORTS GAME WITH ONLINE PLAY.

    /turns on 360

  • doctor__no #37 5 years ago

    Here's the diagram of how you control in Virtua Tennis PS3:

    http://co ntent.imagesocket.com/images/70...

  • SeesThroughAll #38 5 years ago

    It still looks like it would take quite some getting used to.

  • nickthegun #39 5 years ago

    My mrs has been trying to tilt control virtual tennis for years. Its about time technology caught up with her....

    /you should see her play locoroco...

  • SeesThroughAll #40 5 years ago

    The Tilt controller for the PS3 might actually be better at some games.

    I disagree. For those games, it would just control exactly the same, not better. Some Wii games do NOT use the nunchaku.

    Locoroco, Marble Madness, Super Monkey Ball and Mercury

    Fully agreed on that list, let's hope at least some of them become downloadable in the future... and add to those others like Klax, Afterburner and little "duck hunt games".
    Edited by 1 at 03/11/06 @ 16:09

  • SeesThroughAll #41 5 years ago

    Oh yes, Katamari would be sweeeeet...

  • mingster #42 5 years ago

    that link to how the controller will work in VT confirms for me that this will be something you will try a couple of times but revert back to normal control.

    You will definately be struggling to play properly using that tilt setup.

  • penhalion #43 5 years ago

    yea so imprecise that you miss every shot!

    God Sony really need to put rumble back in and ditch this sixaxis stuff fast. Didn't they learn anything from Microsoft's attempt? Even Nintendo provide the Nunchuk attachment with a real analog stick in order to actually move the characters about!

  • drumbaby #44 5 years ago

    Cool...a nice option. Much better than putting your eggs in one basket.

  • Rambaldi #45 5 years ago

    As I've said (a few times) before: it all (6axis and Wii) smacks of SteelBattalion/SteeringWheelItis i.e. fun, fun, fun, er, bored...

  • captainrentboy #46 5 years ago

    The way that the tilt sensing has been applied to this sounds awfully shit to me,like a few of you have said most peeps will give it a go for 5 minutes then go back to the standard controls.That whole tilting malarky for serving and lobbing just sounds like an annoyance.

  • spongebob #47 5 years ago

    I like how you fanboys seem to already know how these new games will play with the new controller.

    I wish I had a similar talent. I'd definitely use it to predict soccer game results.

  • JediMasterMalik #48 5 years ago

    ^lol

    So true, you guys seem to already know that the motion sensing is a waste of time in this game, and others before you have played it. Be happy with near-endless minigames for the Wii, but stop pretending like you know how this controller works, you don't.

  • Rambaldi #49 5 years ago

    Look, here's the thing: try moving your pad around when you're playing a game. Really pretend that what you're doing is having an effect on what you see on screen. No really, have a go if you're so keen.

    Give it five minutes before you slouch back in your comfy spot thinking: fuck this

  • Rambaldi #50 5 years ago

    "I like how you fanboys seem to already know.."

    a Spongebob post supported by a Jedi post

    /is overwhelmed with a hilarious sense of irony
    /is sorry for being drunk and sceptical

  • JediMasterMalik #51 5 years ago

    There's nothing wrong with Scepticism. It's a good thing in fact, but when it's all directed at a single console and it's games, it's not mere scepticism. It's also not scepticism to criticise something which no one has tried or knows enough about. Just give the thing a chance, ok?

  • Lex_Luthor #52 5 years ago

    "Just give the thing a chance, ok?"

    Think about who you're trying to reason with.

  • foglord #53 5 years ago

    nice addition, but has the lasting power of a Michael Jackson wife.

    i still believe this "motion sensing" fad will be over sooner than later.

  • Rambaldi #54 5 years ago

    @Lex

    He's trying to reason with someon who bought one of those crappy Sidewinder pads back in the day, whose used steering wheels and light guns extensively and who bought Steel Battalion. He's trying to reason with someone who looks at consoles (believe it or not) in an objective light and from the point of view of a product designer.

    I think I've every right to have the opinion that novelty inputs wear thin after a while. I'm all for having a blast on them, but I just know that after a couple of months with a Wii or a Sixaxis, I'll get bored and yearn for a more traditional approach. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

    But hey, buy a PS3 and knock yerself out by all means!
    Edited by 2 at 04/11/06 @ 10:12

  • Rambaldi #55 5 years ago

    P.S. I do realise that the 'novelty input' approach of the PS3 is not an integral (and indeed an optional) part to it's interface but that's not the only reason I'll be keeping away from it:

    -Poorly ergonomicaly designed pad (despite a golden opportunity to move it forward)
    -High price point linked with a force-fed movie format war
    -Focus on Eastern rather than Western exclusives (personal preference)

    That said it does look good in these areas:

    -Processing power
    -Web browsing
    -OS

    But I ask myself, if the processing power advantage is arguable (bottlenecks, less dedicated graphics RAM etc.) and I can browse the Internet on my PC and I going to shell out THAT much for a console and a couple of games?

    If money was no object then, yeah, I'd get one. If I'm bringing home a good wage though and I'm put off then (from a product design point of view) Sony have dropped the ball. I'm at least entertaining the idea of a Wii (to satisfy my curiosity) because of it's price and it;s far more interesting list of unique features.

  • JediMasterMalik #56 5 years ago

    They're not focusing so much on Eastern games like you say, what about Motorstorm, heavenly sword, resistance, and lair? All western developers.

  • Lex_Luthor #57 5 years ago

    "P.S. I do realise that the 'novelty input' approach of the PS3 is not an integral (and indeed an optional) part to it's interface but that's not the only reason I'll be keeping away from it:"

    If you're "keeping away" from it, why is it you seem to be in every thread about it? You seemed quite fond of having a go at others for slagging off a console "they have no interest in" in some 360 threads not long ago. How about practising what you preach?
    Edited by 2 at 04/11/06 @ 17:05

  • Rambaldi #58 5 years ago

    As long as I can back up my bullshit with degree of logic I'll keep going. I'll also continue to enjoy crossing swords with those who don't appear to back up their own ;)

    P.S. I don't mean you by that!
    P.P.S At least above I was trying to give a balanced view on the PS3 (pros and cons)
    Edited by 2 at 04/11/06 @ 17:17

  • Takeuchi_Riki #59 5 years ago

    Mates sign please!
    http://ww w.petitiononline.com/doa4ps3/pe...