It's in the game

Recently EA announced their intentions to place a larger emphasis on developing games for the Wii from the ground up. To fulfill that promise EA has announced two games that will use Nintendo's Wii Motion Plus: Tiger Woods 10 and the new Grand Slam Tennis. With the details released this week about these games it seems that EA is taking this promise very seriously. Both of these games have jumped to the top of my wish list.

EA promises an all new realism that can be obtained only through Wii Motion Plus. They have obtained one-to-one motion control. Whatever you do in your living room, the on screen character will also do. Although the controls in Tiger Woods 09 were very good overall there were two main problems: first, the controller reading draws and fades was inconsistent; second, putting was unrealistic, you would choose a putter distance, for example a five foot putter, then you would have to swing full power for it to go five feet. Both of these issues have been remedied with the use of Wii Motion Plus (you can even push or pull putts now if you twist your wrists during the putts). Also added to the game this year is an actual crowd at tournaments; no longer will there be applause and jeers from an invisible audience. Also the weather conditions in the game will reflect the actual weather conditions at that location thanks to a link to the Wii Weather Channel.

EA has built also created a new franchise, Grand Slam Tennis, from the ground up for the Wii. It already has a lot of great things going for it besides Wii Motion Plus. It is the first tennis game to have Wimbledon in it. It also has many of the legendary players from days past such as Pete Sampras and John McEnroe. I also love the visual style of the game. Having more of a caricature style works much better with the Wii.

The early hands on with the game and Wii Motion Plus have been outstanding. Where the ball goes depends not only on the timing of the swing, but on the speed and position of the wiimote as well as the length of the backswing and follow through that you take.

I have expressed some concern before about Wii Motion Plus making games too realistic to the point that they are no longer fun to play. However, it seems that EA is walking this fine line. It seems like the games are still accesible. Hopefully these games will also provide a deep control experience that takes practice to fully master.