There's not a person who can, with a straight face, say they didn't like Wii Sports. Sure, there are the "too cool for the room" people, but even those who consider themselves staunch oppositionists to waggle at least had fun playing Wii Bowling and Wii Tennis. Whether or not they dove down deeper and became addicted to the baseball and boxing games is an entire other story, but in my experiences anyone who says they didn't enjoy Wii Sports in the least is a god damned liar. Since then, most companies have completely failed to take advantage of Wii owners' undying need for something a little deeper, and many publishers have tried to create the next big sports game for the Wii. Brunswick Bowling, Rockstar's Table Tennis, and even Nintendo's own Mario Sluggers were notable disappointments, and with a few small exceptions almost all of the sports games on the Wii paled in comparison to its competition on the other systems.

Looking to change that stigma is EA, who comes to 2009 prepared to capitalize on Nintendo's Wii MotionPlus attachment. Both Tiger Woods and EA SPORTS Grand Slam Tennis will be launching with support for the peripheral this summer, promising true 1:1 play. While I'm going to let Luke take on Tiger Woods later this week, I did get a chance to play some of EA's tennis game. While I didn't walk away stunned, I felt it was an entirely positive experience, and I am extremely excited to see how the game turns out.



Much of my time with Grand Slam Tennis was hands-off, which gave me some time to appreciate the game while being played by someone who knew what they were doing. I watched, admiring the game's cute, Pixar-like artistic style, and tried to observe exactly what was going on, asking questions whenever one popped into my head. I noticed that there didn't appear to be any control of the character besides the swings, and was told that there will, indeed, be nunchuk support, giving players a bit more control of their character. This made me happy, since I felt like it was a much better way to play, but was quickly presented with a question: do you really need control of your character's movement in a tennis game? Besides being able to move towards and away from the net for tactical reasons (which is available by tapping on the the D-Pad), will there ever be a time that the motion would be more than holding left or right? Is there an excuse in tennis to move away from where the ball is going? I thought about that as I continued watching, waiting for him to plug in the Wii MotionPlus.

See, for most of the time, the walkthrough was shown without the Wii MotionPlus attachment. I stood there, listening, noting important features, all the while staring at the mystical cube in his other hand. It wasn't that I didn't care about Grand Slam Tennis, but the addition of MotionPlus is what set it apart from other games, and I became utterly giddy when it was finally plugged in. He bent his wrist around and the character mirrored the act. He swung to the left and so did his avatar. He swung to the right and, as expected, his movements were entirely copied.



Wherever his arm moved, his character's arm moved, and it truly looked like 1:1 control. I took over and messed around with it as well (after a brief stint spent fighting with the MotionPlus's calibration), trying to feel how it adds to tennis. If I held my hand back, preparing for a forehand, the character would move into position for the swing, even if it meant running to the other side of the ball. It's willing to let you play however you want to play, and it gives a level of control otherwise impossible without the enhancement.

In other words, it feels exactly like you're probably thinking it does. When the controls work (and I assume they'll be cleaned up before launch) it's the closest thing to a tennis simulation ever created, and despite looking a bit cutesy it might be the most realistic tennis game on the market. It still has some time for more polish, and hopefully it's time well spent, because there's a good chance the Wii is ready to fulfill its purpose when the MotionPlus is released. There's no doubt in my mind that EA SPORTS Grand Slam Tennis is worth keeping an eye on this summer, and be sure to check back for more information leading up to its release.