Grand Slam Tennis: EA Sports Tennis Game

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 9:19 pm

The favorable impressions seem to be outweighing the negatives so I went ahead and opened my copy.

I love it so far! The tips in this thread really helped me not get frustrated early on. I had no trouble at all with the tutorial. I'm playing on easy and having a great time. I love that there are faults, lets, unforced errors, etc.

So far after an hour or so I've certainly had instances where I "wiffed", but only a couple times did I think WTF? Usually, it was totally my fault and I lost my composure. It's not a "real workout", but I will say that last game I did get tired during a grueling stretch.

So far, so good! BTW, I'm playing with WiiMotion Plus only...no nunchuck.

Spooky · Post by **Spooky** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 9:17 am

toonarmy wrote:No, Wii games do not get patches. I am not sure what could be patched in GST anyway. There is no point in "tuning" it. If people spend the time to learn to utilize the controls as intended then there is no problem. It takes some time to get things down, but once the learning curve is met the controls are not an issue at all and you can focus on beating the smart AI. The whole point of the MotionPlus is to give the user finer control over games. Thus, it will take more user skill and practice to be successful.

Okay, I completely agree. But are you seriously not running into at least one incorrectly registered swing (or non-swing) per 'game'? Not per match, but per 'game'. One's that make you lose the point?

If it weren't for that I would have kept the game. I was starting to get a good feel for the controls and having fun until I my onscreen character would do something totally unintentional.

I also could not stand the calibration issues. Seemed like almost every other point my player would be out of sync.

Fix those two things and we'd have a hell of a game.

Here's another beef I have with it...

I like a good learning curve and the rewarding feeling of starting to nail shots, BUT, I wanted to play this game with family and friends too. The problem to me is that much of this learning curve is spent trying to overcome design flaws, NOT playing more realistically. How much fun is it to have friends and family trying to play and explaining to them..."okay...now you have to hold your remote VERY still for 2-3 seconds parallel to the ground for it to 'calibrate'"...or..."yeah...don't worry about when your player swings when you didn't mean to, that will happen every once in a while, it's because you're not playing EXACTLY like real tennis", etc...

A bigger disappointment is that VT '09 is kind of a mess as well but for different reasons.

toonarmy · Post by **toonarmy** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 10:17 am

Spooky wrote:
toonarmy wrote:No, Wii games do not get patches. I am not sure what could be patched in GST anyway. There is no point in "tuning" it. If people spend the time to learn to utilize the controls as intended then there is no problem. It takes some time to get things down, but once the learning curve is met the controls are not an issue at all and you can focus on beating the smart AI. The whole point of the MotionPlus is to give the user finer control over games. Thus, it will take more user skill and practice to be successful.
Okay, I completely agree. But are you seriously not running into at least one incorrectly registered swing (or non-swing) per 'game'? Not per match, but per 'game'. One's that make you lose the point?

If it weren't for that I would have kept the game. I was starting to get a good feel for the controls and having fun until I my onscreen character would do something totally unintentional.

I also could not stand the calibration issues. Seemed like almost every other point my player would be out of sync.

Fix those two things and we'd have a hell of a game.

Here's another beef I have with it...

I like a good learning curve and the rewarding feeling of starting to nail shots, BUT, I wanted to play this game with family and friends too. The problem to me is that much of this learning curve is spent trying to overcome design flaws, NOT playing more realistically. How much fun is it to have friends and family trying to play and explaining to them..."okay...now you have to hold your remote VERY still for 2-3 seconds parallel to the ground for it to 'calibrate'"...or..."yeah...don't worry about when your player swings when you didn't mean to, that will happen every once in a while, it's because you're not playing EXACTLY like real tennis", etc...

A bigger disappointment is that VT '09 is kind of a mess as well but for different reasons.

No, I am not seeing unregistered swings. My only problem at first was moving my wiimote too much once I did my backswing. Once I learned to take my backswing, stay steady, then swing forward, I had no problem. I honestly am not seeing the issues you are, and I certainly cannot see any design flaws with the control. I think they are unbelievably responsive.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 12:43 pm

Spooky wrote:But are you seriously not running into at least one incorrectly registered swing (or non-swing) per 'game'? Not per match, but per 'game'. One's that make you lose the point?

I'm off today so I've been playing a bit this morning. I'm probably having those incorrect swings on average once every other game...however I can go long periods of time without an issue. I can also go into practice mode now and put the ball where I want a vast majority of the time. I've improved tremendously with the game each match. I'm finding that the more I play the more I get the timing down. As much as I like it I will admit that there seems to be animation/control issues that hurt the game a bit. We'll see if I can minimize those issues like some apparently have.

I'm generally one that *hates* control issues, but I'm not getting that frustrated because I'm improving. If I can get down to where I'm only having a few control issues a set then to me the "highs" will be much better than the lows."

I'll freely admit to playing the CPU on "Easy" so far, but I have to commend EA for having great variety in play...balls go out wide, long, hit the net and bounce in, hit the net and go out, hit the net and drop down, there are aces, double faults, lets, etc. I think it would have been easy for EA to make the game a lot more "friendly" by keeping the balls in play but it is fantastic in that regard.

Spooky · Post by **Spooky** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 3:20 pm

Leebo33 wrote: I'll freely admit to playing the CPU on "Easy" so far, but I have to commend EA for having great variety in play...balls go out wide, long, hit the net and bounce in, hit the net and go out, hit the net and drop down, there are aces, double faults, lets, etc. I think it would have been easy for EA to make the game a lot more "friendly" by keeping the balls in play but it is fantastic in that regard.

I definitely agree with that. A GREAT variety of shots and forced errors.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 3:34 pm

Spooky wrote:
Leebo33 wrote: I'll freely admit to playing the CPU on "Easy" so far, but I have to commend EA for having great variety in play...balls go out wide, long, hit the net and bounce in, hit the net and go out, hit the net and drop down, there are aces, double faults, lets, etc. I think it would have been easy for EA to make the game a lot more "friendly" by keeping the balls in play but it is fantastic in that regard.
I definitely agree with that. A GREAT variety of shots and forced errors.

Well, that has me looking forward to the PS3/360 title upon reading that!

Spooky · Post by **Spooky** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 3:43 pm

Okay...I am officially insane (as if that need to be clarified)...

Upon realizing that VT 2009 was pretty much junk for the Wii, I exchanged it BACK for GST. I had to try it and was really hoping it played better (I knew it did not have true 1:1 mapping but I still had hope it would implement a better control scheme).

I am definitely having that same attraction that many others have mentioned about 'just one more game' and 'I'm just starting to get the hang of this' addicition quality. I had that feeling yesterday after playing it for about an hour in the morning but was also just as frustrated with it's 'quirks' so I just had to see if VT was more to my liking.

I am now dertermined to see if I can actually truly reduce the amount of incorrectly registered swings/non-swings by being more disciplined. I am also going to use the Nunchuck exclusively and force myself to learn to play with it.

I also believe it will be a better game for freinds and family if I make sure they use the remotes WITHOUT the M+ attachment. That hell is specially reserved for me only.

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 3:47 pm

Like Leebo, I have to commend EA on their likeness of the characters. Johnny Mac is just ruthless even on easy. He positions himself at the baseline just like he did in real life and you just cringe when he comes to the net. He's a notorious serve and volley type player. His likeness and persona in the game is scary. I love the animation of his when he loses a close call and just slams his racket to the ground.

This game is a gem in the rough. No question that it's held back from some control issues but it's so good that you're compelled to fight thru it at times.

Leadfoot5 · Post by **Leadfoot5** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 4:24 pm

I'm really loving the learning curve and challenge as I move into my third day with the game. Following the initial M+ control learning curve, I managed to win Wimbledon on Easy. Whereas Medium was brutal on the first day, I am now finding a perfect challenge, and have yet to win a match, although most games end up at deuce, and if I lose, it's 2-4 or 3-5. Makes for some really exciting matches. I keeping meaning to take this game out of the Wii and give TW10 some time, but I keep playing "just one more..."

toonarmy · Post by **toonarmy** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 5:42 pm

Leadfoot5 wrote:I'm really loving the learning curve and challenge as I move into my third day with the game. Following the initial M+ control learning curve, I managed to win Wimbledon on Easy. Whereas Medium was brutal on the first day, I am now finding a perfect challenge, and have yet to win a match, although most games end up at deuce, and if I lose, it's 2-4 or 3-5. Makes for some really exciting matches. I keeping meaning to take this game out of the Wii and give TW10 some time, but I keep playing "just one more..."

I am getting my butt kicked a lot too, but I still enjoy it. I am glad EA made the game harder rather than easier. When I start winning on the hard difficulty level I will have a real feeling of accomplishment. Most tennis games are easy to master once you figure out the weakness in the AI. Not so with GST so far.

Spooky · Post by **Spooky** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 6:31 pm

Okay...I'm an IDIOT! My sincerest apologies to all on this forum that I incorrectly persuaded into thinking this game is a mess.

IT'S F*CKING GENIUS!!!!!

That is all. Carry on...

(oh...and I'm not kidding...)

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 6:33 pm

You guys really are not making it easy to hold off on rental. I've never read a game that's been as helter skelter as this game in terms of reviews among gamers. Of course, the sample size is much smaller compared to game such as Madden.

I am curious about the difficulty. Does it seem that the CPU can run down balls that they shouldn't be able to reach?

Spooky · Post by **Spooky** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 6:40 pm

sportdan30 wrote:You guys really are not making it easy to hold off on rental. I've never read a game that's been as helter skelter as this game in terms of reviews among gamers. Of course, the sample size is much smaller compared to game such as Madden.

I am curious about the difficulty. Does it seem that the CPU can run down balls that they shouldn't be able to reach?

Here's my problem with winning against the AI:

Right now I am still not using the Nunchuck. The CPU on medium difficulty will place shots in that perfect spot that my player is in no position to get to. I have no idea if my manual control would be much better. The CPU does not make miraculous saves or unrealistic shots IMO. Just great placement and lack of placement by my player. It's not too difficult to overcome...just have to be patient.

Playing humans is a completely different story. Just played a ranked game online and I am literally shaking from adrenaline. SICK battle. I lost 3-2 but we had a crazy back and fourth match and I was placing 85% of my shots perfectly (well, at least exactly where I wanted them to go).

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 6:44 pm

Spooky = the new Tjung

Spooky · Post by **Spooky** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 8:02 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:Spooky = the new Tjung

I totally deserve that.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 8:15 pm

Thanks Spooky. You've definitely put a lot of time in to this game, so comparing you to tjung is a bit unfair. If you recall, tjung simply played a game for 15-20 minutes before declaring it crap. You at least are putting significant time in to it.

Db, have you had a chance to play this game? Was curious to hear how you liked it knowing that you used to play competitive tennis like I did.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 8:41 pm

sportdan30 wrote:Db, have you had a chance to play this game? Was curious to hear how you liked it knowing that you used to play competitive tennis like I did.

Not yet man...should be here tomorrow. Gamefly shipped it yesterday along with Tiger 10 for the 360 (I bought the wii version), but I only got Tiger. Weird. Hopefully it wasn't stolen or something.

grtwhtsk · Post by **grtwhtsk** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 12:36 am

Hoping my rental gets here from GF, and soon!

DChaps · Post by **DChaps** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 4:52 am

Thanks for all the impressions and control tips, especially from you spooky! Like you, I am having a hell of a time with the controls not registering shots. I guess it is me and the learning curve, etc. but after a couple of days with the extremely intuitive and responsive control of TW 10 with WMP, this one has me much more frustrated. Seeing you get through it gives me some hope, but I do think these control issues are why you are seeing such mixed reviews on the game. Learning curve or not, that can get people frustrated pretty quickly. I love the presentation and style of this game though. Perfect for the Wii.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 6:48 am

One thing that has helped me is that I return the Wii mote to a position where it is somewhat parallel to the ground and the end is pointing at my belly button between every swing. Also, when my opponent is serving I will stay in that position and sway the remote left/right a bit to see if the Wiimote is in sync. I pay particular attention to the height. If I'm swaying low I look to see if my character is doing the same. If not, I will try to sync it up before they serve.

Spooky · Post by **Spooky** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 9:14 am

Okay...Forget what I said...this game sucks!!!

Kidding...

You know what's strange? When I played for lie 2 hours yesterday I basically had no motion control issues. The first day I had tons. There was one point the first day where my on screen character was rocking back and fourth constantly and I was not moving the remote. Yesterday, nothing. Now, I did try to rest the remote parallel to the ground and very still between each point, but I swear I don't think that mattered. I then played with my step-daughter and she was swinging the thing around like mad and it seemed totally responsive throughout...

It truly is crazy how things just kinda 'clicked' for me yesterday. I'm embarrassed that I did not see the beauty of this game right away, especially since I knew there was going to be a big learning curve.

Oh, and another concern I had is gone as well. Family and friends can easily pick up and play this game as a casual gamer (I think(. As long as they are not expecting to be hugely competitive it should be okay. Take my 11 year old step daughter...She was swinging away, only slightly disciplined and was getting surprisingly decent results. Of course she's get a few crazy shots bu we were playing doubles and she really didn't care or know why some shots were wild. Also, you can always pop out the M+ and have it play much more like Wii Sports.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 9:51 am

I found this post by Sillelak @ gamefaqs. It really sums up the issues and the resolution to so many problems people are having. Many of you have already touched upon it, but for those of us who have yet to play, it sounds like it could be very helpful. Without further adeu:

Off the bat, I just want to say, I enjoy GST a great deal. It's really grown on me since I first got it.

That being said: there is one significant issue, and I think it's led directly to the wide range of opinions of the game.

The issue is - there is no visual confirmation of calibration beyond the game itself. Also, if you are uncalibrated for a round, you stay that way - there doesn't seem to be any fixing it. As annoying as Virtua Tennis' "Ready?" message between each round is, at least you KNOW that you are calibrated going in. The best way to see this issue, I feel, is when your opponent is serving. If you are properly calibrated, and the Wiimote is centralized, then you should see almost 1:1 movement on your racket as you move it left, right, or center. If you are NOT, then when holding it to the center, your character's racket will be shifted either left or right. This seems to be a bigger issue when there is no replay, and thus less time to re-center and calibrate. Virtua Tennis gives you a moment BEFORE you serve or receice to confirm your calibration. GST should, but does not.

The people who are NOT experiencing issues are likely:

1. Returning to the center "tennis stance" after each round just out of habit
2. Have their sensor bar placed so their Wiimote is pointing properly forward when they are in tennis stance

If these two conditions aren't met, your game is likely to be far more frustrating than fun.

That being said, I still think, overall, GST is the better game - especially when it's calibrated. However, the lack of any real confirmation of calibration is an understandable near-game killer for many people. EA has gone to great lengths to "hide" the calibration in order to generate a smoother appearance, which is admirable, but at the same time, can be infuriating for the player

Spooky · Post by **Spooky** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 10:19 am

Yeah, the calibration thing is a major headache. NOT becasue it's always an issue, but becasue it can be an issue every once in a while but you are never quite sure if it's you or bad calibration. Plus, like the post above states, theres no confirmation or feedback that you have correctly calibrated.

PLEASE do not let that concern sway you away from this great game though.

So, my impressions have all come strictly just from a gameplay perspective, not from an overall 'package' one. In other words, some may be a bit let down by the career mode which does seem a tad bare bones. But the game absolutely shines when things totally 'click' and you are in a match (especially against another human).

My shot recognition issues still appear once in a while but now, like others, the frustration is gone and the pros way outweigh the cons.

I have completely gome from the Eurogamer reviewers stance to the IGN one. Seriously, if you have not, read them both and start with the Eurogamer one. then read the IGN. that is the exact transformation I went through and seems like others are as well.

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 10:36 am

Spooky, are you saying even though you are getting better results, you don't really know what you changed in your motions, etc?

Maybe you just had something like IR interference the first times you tried? (Bright light in background) The symptom of the guy twitching around with no motion sounds like IR interference.

Spooky · Post by **Spooky** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 10:41 am

webdanzer wrote:Spooky, are you saying even though you are getting better results, you don't really know what you changed in your motions, etc?

Maybe you just had something like IR interference the first times you tried? (Bright light in background) The symptom of the guy twitching around with no motion sounds like IR interference.

No idea. Sorry. I am a bit more relxed and deliberate with my swings, but it's not like I was swinging like a madman the other day. It could very well have just been bad timing adn things could get quirky again, but the difference is that now I am not concerned about it or worried. I know I love the game now. When that sh*t is happening and you're on the fence about the game or are getting frustrated then it magnifies it big time.