Last summer, EA announced that they were working on a brand-new tennis franchise (the working title was “EA Sports Tennis”). The original press release noted that the title would be released on the Wii first, with MotionPlus support, and it wouldn’t come to “next generation consoles” [sic] until after the Wii launch.
We’re only just now getting our first look at the Wii version of EA Sports Grand Slam Tennis -- today, EA released eight screenshots and three player renders featuring tennis stars of yesterday and today: Ana Ivaniović, Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, and Pete Sampras. The game will be shown off to the press for the first time at an event on Thursday, which, sadly, we won’t be able to attend. (However, IGN put up an exclusive preview last week.)
I really like the look of this game. Obviously, the Wii’s hardware isn’t conducive to ultra-realistic graphics, so it’s good to see developers playing to the console’s strengths (as opposed to merely porting down the HD console versions of their games). If you look at the screenshots for Grand Slam Tennis, you’ll notice that the game has a stylized design without being overly cartoony -- player faces have clean lines and textures are simple.
And from what we’ve heard so far, the game will provide a realistic take on tennis (gameplay-wise), so expect something more along the lines of the Wii version of Top Spin 3, instead of a Wii Sports clone. Here’s hoping that Grand Slam Tennis delivers -- we’ll have to wait until this summer to find out. Check out the game’s official Web site for more details.
LAUNCH GALLERY (11 IMAGES)
Samit Sarkar is a founding Destructoid editor and go-to Sports guy. Samit was the son of the Duke of Knees, rescued from a burning village in the afghan desert by a golden condor. He is an ace Backgammon player and lost both legs in a whaling tour. He lives for free in a nursery in Scotland where he teaches monks how to capture butterflies without hurting them.
Likes
Confuse Ray,
Feel My Blade
A Mabari War Hound,
Snot,
Spiral Arrow,
Argo,
Dan Smith's critical hit bark,
Rolling things up into my life
Meet the rest of the team
| BBcode help |
| [b]Bold text[/b] |
Bold text |
| [i]Italic text[/i] |
Italic text |
| [url]http://www.dtoid.com/[/url] |
http://www.dtoid.com |
| [url=http://www.dtoid.com/]Web link[/url] |
Web link |
|
| [img]http://www.example.com/robot.jpg[/img] |
 |
Post a comment! You can also post a photo below:
Comment with Facebook
Click connect and comment instantly!
|
Comment with Dtoid
New? SIGN UP - it takes 5 seconds
|
14 comments | showing # 1 to 14
|
Comment with Facebook
Click connect and comment instantly!
|
Comment with Dtoid
New? SIGN UP - it takes 5 seconds
|
Comments policy
Destructoid is an open discussion community. You don't need to "audition" to post a comment - just speak your mind. We respect differing opinions on the site, so have at it. Be smart, funny, insightful, clueless, or cute -- but back it up with substance. Keep your cool, keep it fun. We only ask that you act respectfully and above all: don't be a troll and ruin it for everyone else. Don't bring down gamers or we'll, you know, gently shoot you in the face and stuff you into a flaming mailbox. Each comment is your opportuntity to make this community awesomer. Is that even a word?
Avoiding the banhammer only requires common sense: spamming, trolling, racism, NSFW stuff, and other forms of sucking will not be tolerated. If anyone is griefing please report abuse. Be good. Don't suck!
Contest:
7:00 PM on 03.10.2009
| 
Also needs more Sharapova. Wait no!! Kirilenko!! I want more Maria Kirilenko instead!!
No really, It's almost as pretty as Virtua Tennis 2!
Remember, this is Dtoid. Graphics mean more than gameplay, especially when there's on opportunity for some Wii bashing. You should know that by now.
*cough*
Also, normally I wouldn't bitch about photo-realistic graphics, but I seem to remember Virtua Tennis 3 for the PSP looking pretty damn sweet. (ie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bc_O-wcJvkM)
Hope it plays well.
,oh on-guard CleaningGuy. The Wii have Widescreen. Serious.