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RETAILBIZ: VIRTUA TENNIS 2009 38 MCV 01/05/09
WWW.MCVUK.COM
VIRTUAL REALITY: Sega’s latest tennis title is its most realistic yet, with full MotionPlus support for the Wii edition
Sega is set to serve up another critical and commercial ace this month with the return of its highly rated tennis sim, complete with a very special Wii edition…
by Christopher Dring TENNIS AND video games have gone hand-in-hand since Atari helped jumpstart the games industry with Pong back in 1972. Pong was the first in a long history of classic tennis simulators, from Tennis on the NES, to Namco’s Smash Court Tennis, 2K’s Top Spin, Nintendo’s Mario Tennis, and of course the endlessly popular Wii Sports tennis. Yet one of the most acclaimed tennis franchises is Sega’s Virtua Tennis series, which first appeared in the arcades in 1999 with a Dreamcast edition arriving a year later. The game was a massive critical and commercial success, and spawned several sequels. The most-recent title, Virtua Tennis 3, continued the tradition of critical admiration and big sales when
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it landed on Xbox 360, PS3, PSP and PC back in 2007. And now Sega is set to unleash its most promising Virtua Tennis game yet: Virtua Tennis 2009, which is under development at Sumo Digital, the talented team behind last year’s hit Sega Superstars Tennis and 2007’s Virtua Tennis 3.
Retailers can expect casual and hardcore gamers to relinquish cold hard cash for a superb sports sim. Ben Payne, Sega “Virtua Tennis is the number one tennis franchise in video games, both critically and through sales,” explains product manager Ben Payne. “We expect our unrivalled fanbase and heritage to drive strong sales across the four different SKUs that we will be
releasing in May. It is the must have tennis title for home console owners, and we’re confident it’ll do well.” The 2009 edition boasts a plethora of gameplay refinements and additions that are certain to excite gamers. The title contains all the new players, licences and courts a tennis enthusiast could dream of, with an updated match engine, allowing for improved volleying, service and net action. Players set to star in Sega’s much-anticipated sequel includes Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Maria Shaparova. And they will be joined by licensed content, such as the ability to play in the Davis Cup. Virtua Tennis 2009 also features a full online mode, with web rankings and online career mode, 23 well-known players, an impressive player creation
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