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[mentalfloss]

So the PS3 Move version moves the player for you?

 

[iFootball]

PALGN: Virtua Tennis 4 Review

8/10

...While we can’t comment for now on the Xbox 360 Kinect or Wii Motion Plus implementation, the Move implementation is fantastic. The development choice of placing the player from a first person perspective and making movement automatic, while showing a racquet silhouette in-front of the player is excellent. No buttons involved, just one-to-one motion control, that while disorientating at first, is best played with enough space and actually attempting proper tennis strokes rather than flailing like an idiot. It's quite liberating to actually see the one-to-one racquet movement in your hand and play proper tennis shots by applying spin or slice, Single exhibition matches, both one and two player (but no doubles) and the ‘Net Play’ mini-game are excellent at showing off the technology and fun in bursts...

That's exactly what I needed to read

 

[KAL2006]

That's exactly what I needed to read

This is what I am looking for too, all I want is great Move controls with decent online play. I wanted Sports Champions 2 (with online play), but this game will have to do.

 

[Rabid Wolverine]

Any major differences between the 360 and PS3 versions?

Does the 360 version have 3D support?

 

[MonkeyKnuckle]

There's no OT for this is there? This is the newest thread I could find.

Anyway, I got this through today and captured some Kinect gameplay.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xN6d8lEheE

I also captured some footage of the mini games but I need to edit that and it's taking ages.

I'll write up a review tomorrow but first impressions are that it's pretty good and that's coming from someone who doesn't really like Tennis and hasn't played a proper Tennis game in years.

Kinect control is good as well, fairly responsive. I have next to no room though so it'd probably be even better with more room.

 

[JWong]

Are you holding anything while playing? Because playing like you're swatting flies is dumb.

 

[lorddct]

Any word if this will support 4 move controllers in a regular game and not mini games?

 

[darkwing]

Any word if this will support 4 move controllers in a regular game and not mini games?

good question hmmm

btw it doesn't do Move implementation very well

http://www.iwaggle3d.com/2011/04/how-virtua-tennis-4-fails-to-deliver.html

While you do get a warning if the sphere is not visible by the camera for more than a few seconds, all the system tracks is the PlayStation Move angle and velocity, not its actual position in the 3D space. It goes without saying that while convincing to the average users (assuming they figure out how to get past the title screen...), Virtua Tennis 4 motion tracking can hardly be considered as accurate as expected.

But more on that in my upcoming video analysis.

Another thing to mention is that most of what was "confirmed" here is nowhere to be found in the actual game. The Navigation controller is not supported at all (you can't move around freely) and there are no options to tweak the realism of the simulation either. As a matter of fact, you can play Virtua Tennis 4 from the couch and win matches on the hardest difficulty setting with little effort.

Finally, be advised the PlayStation Move is supported only within the above mentioned Motion Play section of the game, which includes the following: Exhibition matches (for 1 or 2 players, offline only) and a couple of mini-games. The meaty stuff like World Tour, Online play and basically the whole game is DualShock 3-only.

 

[Massa]

That's exactly what I needed to read

And that's why the review is kind of a joke. They completely failed to empathize and criticize that Move is restricted to playing mini games or simple matches - you can't play career mode with it.

This article otoh is all I needed to cross VT4 off my list.

 

[JWong]

Oh no! TTP CRUSHED MY DREAMS!

Gonna read his analysis.

 

[kunonabi]

I was thinking of getting the Wii version at first but not being to use motion plus for online matches and the lack of nunchuk support were deal breakers. Top Spin doesn't even use motion plus at all. I'll be sticking with Grand Slam Tennis.

 

[lorddct]

Nooo only 2 controls is it possible for them to patch it to support 4 in exhibit?

 

[Afrikan]

good question hmmm

btw it doesn't do Move implementation very well

http://www.iwaggle3d.com/2011/04/how-virtua-tennis-4-fails-to-deliver.html

welp, saves me some money....that was one of the main reasons I wanted to get the game. Same reason I passed on Top Spin 4.

Sports Champion's Table Tennis has spoiled me. :/

hopefully Sports Champions 2 will have Tennis.

 

[darkwing]

welp, saves me some money....that was one of the main reasons I wanted to get the game. Same reason I passed on Top Spin 4.

Sports Champion's Table Tennis has spoiled me. :/

hopefully Sports Champions 2 will have Tennis.

lol its funny that the best motion control tennis game is still Grand Slam Tennis >_<

 

[backbreaker65]

That's exactly what I needed to read

From one of the earlier reports, MOVE is only used in that 1st person mode and not in career mode, so its a big waste of time if you ask me. If that is still the case of the extent inwhich the move is used and how it is used.

 

[Krakatoa]

Does it support Kinect?

 

[MonkeyKnuckle]

Does it support Kinect?

Yes, I posted a video of some gameplay above. It's the same story as the move as in you can only use it in exhibition mode and some mini games. It also supports two players at once.

 

[Krakatoa]

Yes, I posted a video of some gameplay above. It's the same story as the move as in you can only use it in exhibition mode and some mini games. It also supports two players at once.

Awesome thanks for the info.

 

[JWong]

I guess I'll just do swing practices if it's raining. 8(

 

[RS4-]

Ugh the camera angle in the kinect mode when you're close to the ball

 

[iFootball]

And that's why the review is kind of a joke. They completely failed to empathize and criticize that Move is restricted to playing mini games or simple matches - you can't play career mode with it.

This article otoh is all I needed to cross VT4 off my list.

Oh crap... I trust TTP reviews so, not sure what to do.. I really wanted a good tennis game for my Move

 

[Arpharmd B]

Wait, am I reading this right? So I will not be able to play versus matches using Kinect over Xbox Live?

If so that is fucking terrible! While I play the game competitively with controller, I was looking forward to playing my sister over Xbox live with the more casual Kinect controls.

WTF Sega. Is this true?

 

[darkwing]

Sega goofed on this one regarding motion controls

 

[CrunchinJelly]

Wait, am I reading this right? So I will not be able to play versus matches using Kinect over Xbox Live?

If so that is fucking terrible! While I play the game competitively with controller, I was looking forward to playing my sister over Xbox live with the more casual Kinect controls.

WTF Sega. Is this true?

It was announced months ago, brah.

 

[jlevel13]

It's a real shame that two tennis games have come out this year and they've both somehow got motion controls completely wrong. It's a bummer for me because the main reason I bought a move controller last year was in anticipation of having some great tennis games to play. Hopefully Grand Slam Tennis HD will be revealed at E3 or something - or Sports Champion 2 with online.

 

[darkwing]

It's a real shame that two tennis games have come out this year and they've both somehow got motion controls completely wrong. It's a bummer for me because the main reason I bought a move controller last year was in anticipation of having some great tennis games to play. Hopefully Grand Slam Tennis HD will be revealed at E3 or something - or Sports Champion 2 with online.

yeah pretty hopeful about SC2, can't wait for E3

 

[Arpharmd B]

It was announced months ago, brah.

That's a bummer.

I only intended on using Kinect to play my sister, she is not a hardcore gamer and only has Kinect...

Anyways, I love Virtua Tennis and played 3 competitvely, I was always going to play competitvely via a controller, not Kinect or Move, so I'm not -too- bumbed out, but Sega lost a sale because my sister won't be getting it if she can't play me with Kinect over Live.

 

[iFootball]

..It's a bummer for me because the main reason I bought a move controller last year was in anticipation of having some great tennis games to play...

this...

I'm probably just going to cancel my pre-order and wait until the price drops considerably to pick it up...

Edit: Well, first I'll probably wait for the Move-supported demo to at least give it a try... no date has been announced though

 

[onQ123]

Kinectronic.com: Virtua Tennis 4 Review (Kinect) 1/5

 

[Lighting Gels]

Despite being quite different from any previous VT, this game is great.
Forget about previous iterations, give it some time as everything feels so different and start enjoying this new Virtua Tennis, gentlemen.

 

[Noxia]

I only take notice of Eurogamers reviews. I hate motion control games so the issues with it don't bother me at all. Here is the review for those interested: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-04-29-virtua-tennis-4-review
Scored the same as TS4

 

[CrunchinJelly]

Despite being quite different from any previous VT, this game is great.
Forget about previous iterations, give it some time as everything feels so different and start enjoying this new Virtua Tennis, gentlemen.

Yeah, it's not as good as VT1 and 2, but I don't think there will eve be a tennis game as good as those two.

I've finished World Tour, done Arcade four or five times.

World Tour mode is kind of crappy, it's become some kind of dumb card RPG or something. It's too easy to run out of days and get star penalties. I was like -60 stars in Year four!

 

[Zutroy]

As much as I love VT, I can't help but feel this is gonna drop in price pretty quickly, so I'll wait a few weeks before I pick it up.

 

[Dawkins]

Got it yesterday and boy, you can see from the first second this is an AM3 game and not a Sumo digital game. Sooo good, Sega arcade perfection.

The gamespeed is a lot slower than VT3, similar to VT2. It's a bit different compared to previous games, so you have to get used to the new gameplay first, but you'll manage that pretty fast and then it's awesome. They really worked on the playstyles and every player plays really different, much more than in other tennis games I've played.

What I really liked so far is how deep the gameplay is and despite that, how quick can get into the game and have a blast with your friends. But as you play more and more you recognize how complex the game mechanic is.
For instance, you try to make a slice stop and you have to do a lot of things right before taking the shot (positioning to the ball, on the court, direction your player is moving, read the style of shot of your opponent, power, when you realease your shot button etc) but there's a difference on how successfull your shot is depending on the surface and on the player you play with and how good your player is on the surface. This is so cool as you really got a lot of things to do exploring all these different abilities ans combinations.
Just played with Tommy Haas on grass court vs Andrea Seppi and it's a totally different game than playing on hardcourt vs Del Potro or on sand vs Fernando Gonzalez. Every game and combination needs a very different tactic and it's a lot of fun how subtile you can change the spin, length and style of your shot and how your opponent reacts to it.

Also, I really like that the game has a lot of character. Graphically, it's not a killer as VT 3 was back then, but AM3 managed to give the players a lot of charisma using cutscenes and it's a big difference compared to the rather sterile Topspin 4.

I really liked Topspin 4, but after playing VT 4 I decided to put in Topspin 4 again and turned it off after 5 minutes. VT 4 is so much more exciting.

 

[H_Prestige]

Got it yesterday and boy, you can see from the first second this is an AM3 game and not a Sumo digital game. Sooo good, Sega arcade perfection.

The gamespeed is a lot slower than VT3, similar to VT2. They really worked on the playstyles and every player plays really different, much more than in other tennis games I've played.

What I really liked so far is how deep the gameplay is and despite that, how quick can get into the game and have a blast with your friends. But as you play more and more you recognize how complex the game mechanic is.
For instance, you try to make a slice stop and you have to do a lot of things right before taking the shot (positioning to the ball, on the court, direction your player is moving, read the style of shot of your opponent, power etc) but there's a difference on how successfull your shot is depending on the surface and on the player you play with and how good your player is on the surface. This is so cool as you really got a lot of things to do exploring all these different abilities ans combinations.
Just played with Tommy Haas on grass court vs Andrea Seppi and it's a totally different game than playing on hardcourt vs Del Potro or on sand vs Fernando Gonzalez. Every game and combination needs a very different tactic and it's a lot of fun how subtile you can change the spin, length and style of your shot and how the opponent has to react to it.

Also, I really like that the game has a lot of character. Graphically, it's not a killer as VT 3 was back then, but AM3 managed to give the players a lot of charisma using cutscenes and it's a big difference compared to the rather sterile Topspin 4.

I really liked Topspin 4, but after playing VT 4 I decided to put in Topspin 4 again and turned it off after 5 minutes. VT 4 is so much more exciting.

This was my biggest issue with VT3, along with the diving. I know it is an arcade game, but there was no reason for the ball to be that fast.

I've been playing a lot of TS4 lately, and while it is excellent in many ways, putting in VT3 again made me realize how lifeless the Top Spin series is. Not only that, but in VT3 there are virtually no loading times. It's almost gamecube fast, whereas TS4 I'm staring at a loading or saving screen about half the time. I also like how smooth the visuals in VT3 are. Full 1080p and 60fps. Is VT4 like that?

 

[Tailzo]

This was my biggest issue with VT3, along with the diving. I know it is an arcade game, but there was no reason for the ball to be that fast.

I've been playing a lot of TS4 lately, and while it is excellent in many ways, putting in VT3 again made me realize how lifeless the Top Spin series is. Not only that, but in VT3 there are virtually no loading times. It's almost gamecube fast, whereas TS4 I'm staring at a loading or saving screen about half the time. I also like how smooth the visuals in VT3 are. Full 1080p and 60fps. Is VT4 like that?

I'd like to know that too.

 

[Dawkins]

Got an old TV so I can't tell much about how it looks on a HD TV, but it looks good on my TV, a lot of colours, a lot of life in it, runs smoothly. Also, no more baseline diving, you can lob over players and it takes a bit longer for your player to execute a shot, so the pinball-effect is almost gone. This also has an effect on net play, so if you serve the ball and try to go to the net it's a bit harder to reach the ball when you had the wrong angle/direction at first as you got less time when you want to change direction. It's a lot harder executing a drop shot at mid-court while running forward.
Also, yes, virtually no loading times in VT 4 again. Maybe about three-four seconds before a match.

 

[JWong]

TTP made his video yet?

TTP are you there?

TTP!!!

 

[CrunchinJelly]

It looks like it might be 1080p to me. I'm not a ladder counter, but it looks very crisp on my TV, little bit of aliasing on the most tiniest of edges.

I guess we will find out for sure soon enough.

 

[H_Prestige]

Thanks for the info. This game is looking really good. I hope the player creation is strong because I'm not a huge fan of the roster.

I really wish I downloaded the demo before PSN went out

 

[Daante]

Got it yesterday and boy, you can see from the first second this is an AM3 game and not a Sumo digital game. Sooo good, Sega arcade perfection.

The gamespeed is a lot slower than VT3, similar to VT2. It's a bit different compared to previous games, so you have to get used to the new gameplay first, but you'll manage that pretty fast and then it's awesome. They really worked on the playstyles and every player plays really different, much more than in other tennis games I've played.

What I really liked so far is how deep the gameplay is and despite that, how quick can get into the game and have a blast with your friends. But as you play more and more you recognize how complex the game mechanic is.
For instance, you try to make a slice stop and you have to do a lot of things right before taking the shot (positioning to the ball, on the court, direction your player is moving, read the style of shot of your opponent, power, when you realease your shot button etc) but there's a difference on how successfull your shot is depending on the surface and on the player you play with and how good your player is on the surface. This is so cool as you really got a lot of things to do exploring all these different abilities ans combinations.
Just played with Tommy Haas on grass court vs Andrea Seppi and it's a totally different game than playing on hardcourt vs Del Potro or on sand vs Fernando Gonzalez. Every game and combination needs a very different tactic and it's a lot of fun how subtile you can change the spin, length and style of your shot and how your opponent reacts to it.

Also, I really like that the game has a lot of character. Graphically, it's not a killer as VT 3 was back then, but AM3 managed to give the players a lot of charisma using cutscenes and it's a big difference compared to the rather sterile Topspin 4.

I really liked Topspin 4, but after playing VT 4 I decided to put in Topspin 4 again and turned it off after 5 minutes. VT 4 is so much more exciting.

Thanks for the good write up summary.
Sounds really good!

 

[kobashi100]

So how is the A.I on World Tour mode?

On the last game it was pathetic as it was so easy. Does it get challenging quick or not?

 

[RS4-]

I really like VT4 over TS4. The latter had endless loading screens but I did like the shot mechanic in regards to timing things.

Played VT tour and right away your pro hits harder and moves faster than the TS career counterpart. Perfect serves with your pro in VT already hit 170? 190 kph or something lol. Only did two mini games (raising wall panels and the egg one) as well. I've yet to see the annoying roll/dive animation that was in the previous games.

I think it looks better than TS as well. But yeah, this is 20 mins or so of gameplay whereas I spent a few hours with TS. Haven't dived into the finer things just yet.

Haven't tried it with kinect either.

I can't remember if you get a difficulty prompt when you start career or if it was after you log in your account.

 

[SapientWolf]

Did they fix the endless BS diving?

 

[H_Prestige]

Did they fix the endless BS diving?

Yeah, I think so.

 

[CrunchinJelly]

Did they fix the endless BS diving?

Diving is basically out. I've done it just 2 or 3 times.

 

[Dawkins]

Regarding that new "Powershot" mechanic I had some doubts and thought it would end up to be like in shitty Sega Superstars Tennis or so but it really enhances the game, which comes as a suprise to me.

It's not overpowered, the shot-bar doesn't load too fast, an average gamer can reach the opponent's shots if he's concentrated but it really looses up a rally and makes it a lot more unpredictable. A powershot can change the momentum and save your ass and if you force your opponent to play out of style you can prevent him to load bis powershot bar.

I'm sure it's not been easy to implement something like that, but Sega managed to do it right.

 

[onQ123]

thesixthaxis Review: Virtua Tennis 4 – Move Vs. Kinect

 

[CaVaYeRo]

Preordered it for Move.

Hopefully it overtakes Grand Slam Tennis, which was fantastic.

Not at all, sadly

 

[Lighting Gels]

As I'm getting used tu it I'm loving VT4 more and more.
Not a lot of love for this game out there since people expected the same playability as in VT3... this reminds me VT3 first days with everybody complaining about diving and bad mechanics.