PuppetSlave
Member
Looking forward to impressions VOOK! 
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EA Sports Grand Slam Tennis (Wii)
- Thread starter grimmbomb
- Start date
Ydahs said:
Yeah in Perth. There is no street date on either both will be out tomorrow.
Quick impressions!
Interface is clean, Music is fine, Pat Cash is commentator (the only one I've noticed could be more) - doesn't say much. Played some quick Exhibition play first to get the hang of it and that works well. But then jump online and just had a 40 minute match with some French guy (playing as Nadal).
Online is great, not MUCH lag but was playing a game in France so yeah twitched a couple of times, was great battle was going between 40 and Adv all the time for 15 mins had the room cheering. Leaders boards are good too (I'm now ranked 5th worldwide, Bozon is above me grrr), there is also a country leaderboard and Australia is now 3rd thanks to my efforts - I am indeed the first Aussie to have it no one else is on there.
Online has the EA online perks like adding buddies from people you play, adding people off the leader boards and even adding people from your Wii Friend List.
World Tour/Tourney mode looks promising the AI is pretty good. There is some party modes but I didn't try them.
Now the bigger issue, controls! Played with the Nunchuck and without. The game is serviceable without a Nunchuck it works fine but they'll be times where a player (mainly online) follows a pattern but your AI doesn't latch onto it and you keep failing to reach the ball in time. Luckily the nunchuck can be plugged in and taken out at any time. You do use A for Lob and B for a short stabby type shot and I know some people think Motionplus could of ended that but it's doing enough I think as it is and you can put (I don't know tennis terms so I'll use Golf) draw and fade as well as spin on.
edit: Oh sometimes if you move too far/fast without swinging it registers your body movement as a swing which can trip you up.
Didnt bother playing without MotionPlus so cant help you there.
Any questions? I'm buggered from playing
I apologies for any crap usage of english above
Haunted
Member
Thanks for that. Seems very nice, although the most interesting part for me are the motion+ controls.VOOK said:Yeah in Perth. There is no street date on either both will be out tomorrow.
Quick impressions!
Interface is clean, Music is fine, Pat Cash is commentator (the only one I've noticed could be more) - doesn't say much. Played some quick Exhibition play first to get the hang of it and that works well. But then jump online and just had a 40 minute match with some French guy (playing as Nadal).
Online is great, not MUCH lag but was playing a game in France so yeah twitched a couple of times, was great battle was going between 40 and Adv all the time for 15 mins had the room cheering. Leaders boards are good too (I'm now ranked 5th worldwide, Bozon is above me grrr), there is also a country leaderboard and Australia is now 3rd thanks to my efforts - I am indeed the first Aussie to have it no one else is on there.
Online has the EA online perks like adding buddies from people you play, adding people off the leader boards and even adding people from your Wii Friend List.
World Tour/Tourney mode looks promising the AI is pretty good. There is some party modes but I didn't try them.
Now the bigger issue, controls! Played with the Nunchuck and without. The game is serviceable without a Nunchuck it works fine but they'll be times where a player (mainly online) follows a pattern but your AI doesn't latch onto it and you keep failing to reach the ball in time. Luckily the nunchuck can be plugged in and taken out at any time. You do use A for Lob and B for a short stabby type shot and I know some people think Motionplus could of ended that but it's doing enough I think as it is and you can put (I don't know tennis terms so I'll use Golf) draw and fade as well as spin on.
edit: Oh sometimes if you move too far/fast without swinging it registers your body movement as a swing which can trip you up.
Didnt bother playing without MotionPlus so cant help you there.
Any questions? I'm buggered from playing
I apologies for any crap usage of english above
Good to know I have a good game to fall back to if they do not deliver, I guess.
PuppetSlave
Member
Thanks for the impressions VOOK. Any more impressions the game play aspect? Like, is it more IGN then EURO?
Can I assume since your not actually complaining, motion+ works pretty well?
Can I assume since your not actually complaining, motion+ works pretty well?
PuppetSlave said:Thanks for the impressions VOOK. Any more impressions the game play aspect? Like, is it more IGN then EURO?
Can I assume since your not actually complaining, motion+ works pretty well?
Works fine for me I'm not a "expert tennis game player" like the Eurogamer guy, and well actually that statement is ridiculous because this is completely different to any other tennis game before it - so his 'expert opinion' means fuck all.
Yeah I read Bozon's review and what he said gels more with me, Eurogamer missed the point I think.
I reckon it works good.
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
VOOK said:
The website claims you can get the bundle in stores on the 11th, too. The online date might just be for shipping.
I've been playing without M+ some hours. I wanted to try without M+ first because I wanted to know how M+ improves the experience and how different it is. I wanted to know how it compared to Wii Tennis as well. So here are my first thoughts on the game without M+. I will add M+ impressions later.
- Swinging is a b it laggy. Just a bit, heh. It's not like Wii Sports Tennis where you swing and instantly your avatar does the same. Here you need to anticipate the shot just a little bit. After a few rounds you don't even realise you're swinging slightly earlier, but all in all it doesn't feel as natural as it could be. The problem is that the motion triggers and animation, although the effect on the ball depends on how you do the movement.
- I've been playing Grand Slam mode for the most part. You start with a shitty character. You have to play against people that is much better than you, so after three Grand Slams I've won a total of zero matches. However I'm having fun and my character is improving little by little. Grand Slam mode is good, it seems quite fleshed out, but I don't see it being "the eternal 1P experience".
- AI usually is good for both you and the computer, although manytimes you'd wish your character would face a rival lob with more decision. You have to wait for the ball to be in an open angle to hit it, but by doing this you allow your rival to regain the position.
- Rivals run too much. I know, my player is garbage, but come on, everybody runs like Nadal. You can shot to the side, he will reach the ball, you shot the opposite way and he will reach again, although with sokme problems. Then you shot the other way again, and again he will reach the ball. Probably with a better player this wouldn't happen, but still, winning points sometimes is a matter of trying too hard.
- I've tried nunchuk movement and I don't like it. This is a game where you need to ready your shot, so using the nunchuk is distracting. However, sometimes you'd wish you'd be using it to get inside the court. There should be an option to push your rival without having to go to the net. Sometimes you have the point won, but your character will stay far behind, out of the court. It makes things more difficult.
- Presentation is ace, except for the lack of pointer menus and some odd animations here and there.
- Without M+ is the best tennis game on the Wii. It's like Wii Tennis, just deeper (albeit a bit less easy to play).
- Swinging is a b it laggy. Just a bit, heh. It's not like Wii Sports Tennis where you swing and instantly your avatar does the same. Here you need to anticipate the shot just a little bit. After a few rounds you don't even realise you're swinging slightly earlier, but all in all it doesn't feel as natural as it could be. The problem is that the motion triggers and animation, although the effect on the ball depends on how you do the movement.
- I've been playing Grand Slam mode for the most part. You start with a shitty character. You have to play against people that is much better than you, so after three Grand Slams I've won a total of zero matches. However I'm having fun and my character is improving little by little. Grand Slam mode is good, it seems quite fleshed out, but I don't see it being "the eternal 1P experience".
- AI usually is good for both you and the computer, although manytimes you'd wish your character would face a rival lob with more decision. You have to wait for the ball to be in an open angle to hit it, but by doing this you allow your rival to regain the position.
- Rivals run too much. I know, my player is garbage, but come on, everybody runs like Nadal. You can shot to the side, he will reach the ball, you shot the opposite way and he will reach again, although with sokme problems. Then you shot the other way again, and again he will reach the ball. Probably with a better player this wouldn't happen, but still, winning points sometimes is a matter of trying too hard.
- I've tried nunchuk movement and I don't like it. This is a game where you need to ready your shot, so using the nunchuk is distracting. However, sometimes you'd wish you'd be using it to get inside the court. There should be an option to push your rival without having to go to the net. Sometimes you have the point won, but your character will stay far behind, out of the court. It makes things more difficult.
- Presentation is ace, except for the lack of pointer menus and some odd animations here and there.
- Without M+ is the best tennis game on the Wii. It's like Wii Tennis, just deeper (albeit a bit less easy to play).
To be honest, my player doesn't make much of an effect. He's that bad :lolModel 500 said:
But at least you get to do different types of shots, depending on how you swing the wiimote. In some way it's a bit like pressing buttons, but very well done so you don't realise. Wii Tennis feels more natural to me. Although GST is pretty close.
I've been playing with the face as the face...and it's been fine for me...although I've been getting the problem of it detecting backswings as swings...and the nunchuck chord getting in the way, and when I try to "flip" the wiimote to get untangled, a swing is registered.
I'll try what is suggested above, see if I notice any difference.
EDIT: Also, I'm pretty sure the motion plus is constantly "resetting" itself to zero...It detects changes in motion, not relative positions...So I'm guessing this will have no effect at all...
In fact, the game often states "if M+ feels 'off' (my word, forget what they use exactly), hold the wii remote still for 2 seconds to recalibrate".
EDIT 2: Haha, okay, as soon as I type that I get a loading screen that says "the side of the wii remote is the face of the racket". They have it face up, not face down though.
I'll try what is suggested above, see if I notice any difference.
EDIT: Also, I'm pretty sure the motion plus is constantly "resetting" itself to zero...It detects changes in motion, not relative positions...So I'm guessing this will have no effect at all...
In fact, the game often states "if M+ feels 'off' (my word, forget what they use exactly), hold the wii remote still for 2 seconds to recalibrate".
EDIT 2: Haha, okay, as soon as I type that I get a loading screen that says "the side of the wii remote is the face of the racket". They have it face up, not face down though.
DayShallCome
Member
Anyone have impressions of Virtua Tennis? Just curious how the two games compare.
letsbereasonable
Member
I just bought this and tiger and another motion plus but am waiting for more gaf impressions before I crack them open. I'm still not sold on how well these games will use motion plus, but eager to be proven wrong.
DayShallCome
Member
AllGamer said:
My understanding is that you still need to use buttons. Virtua Tennis just uses motions, as far as I know.
letsbereasonable
Member
Model 500 said:
The two games and another motion plus ran me like $140. I'm interested in playing them, but only if it works remotely as well as advertised. I'd much rather have my $140 back than another half-assed motion experience, so I'll wait and see how the GAFthink ends up.
Cosmonaut X
Member
letsbereasonable said:
I think the "wot" is more to do with you buying them before hearing the "GAFthink" you're relying on - seems daft to splash out the money and then sit with them unopened waiting for opinions. Why not just hold off for a few days/weeks to get user feedback/reviews then buy/not buy?
letsbereasonable
Member
Plinko said:
I only picked it up today in the probable scenario that it is awesome and becomes tough to find for the next month or so like Mario Kart. The Best Buy I got it at had like 6-8 copies of the Tiger bundle, 8 separate motion plusses and way more copies of the non-bundle games. I agree that it's a bit odd, but I've only made this purchase and Punchout since Mario Galaxy at release as my last few new Wii purchases, so I've been waiting a while for something to buy for the system.
Fake-edit: Screw it, I'm opening them. Impressions incoming.
Cosmonaut X
Member
letsbereasonable said:
Heh! Good luck - just don't send us the bill! ;-)
Littleberu
Banned
Nicktals said:
Are you kidding me? That's ridiculous.
letsbereasonable
Member
Quick impressions from the ball machine before I have to go back to work:
It takes a few minutes to get the hang of it, but it works pretty well. This could be because I was in a hurry, but I found using the nunchuck to be a little better because you could at least position your guy on the side of the ball you planned to swing. The nunchuck didn't get in the way as much as I thought it would, but one that's wireless would definitely be preferable.
The Wii-sports style Motion-plus-only guy runs to the ball okay, but sometimes he'll be on the wrong side, or the wrong side you were planning on swinging from, and you'll biff the stroke. This was just during the training ball machine stage, so maybe I just need some more time with it.
Edit: I think I just figured this part out a little better. It seems to run and position the guy whatever way you've currently loaded the next shot, so you kind of have to pick forehand or backhand and stick with it until you swing. If you don't and switch stances midmovement he'll often still hit it, but it'll be some funky swing with a crazy ball angle. Might be effective online
The game does detect slice, forehand and flat strokes pretty well, as well as the velocity of your swing. I'm definitely looking forward to trying it out more tonight, especially if the online is as smooth as IGN described.
It's really not too bad. It seems like the most natural way to access the A button and B trigger for lob and drop shots.
It takes a few minutes to get the hang of it, but it works pretty well. This could be because I was in a hurry, but I found using the nunchuck to be a little better because you could at least position your guy on the side of the ball you planned to swing. The nunchuck didn't get in the way as much as I thought it would, but one that's wireless would definitely be preferable.
The Wii-sports style Motion-plus-only guy runs to the ball okay, but sometimes he'll be on the wrong side, or the wrong side you were planning on swinging from, and you'll biff the stroke. This was just during the training ball machine stage, so maybe I just need some more time with it.
Edit: I think I just figured this part out a little better. It seems to run and position the guy whatever way you've currently loaded the next shot, so you kind of have to pick forehand or backhand and stick with it until you swing. If you don't and switch stances midmovement he'll often still hit it, but it'll be some funky swing with a crazy ball angle. Might be effective online
The game does detect slice, forehand and flat strokes pretty well, as well as the velocity of your swing. I'm definitely looking forward to trying it out more tonight, especially if the online is as smooth as IGN described.
Littleberu said:
It's really not too bad. It seems like the most natural way to access the A button and B trigger for lob and drop shots.