Top Spin and Table Tennis on Wii

by Alexander Sliwinski { Aug 22nd 2007 at 8:30PM }

Now if Take-Two would just come out with a badminton sim they'd have a Wii racket trifecta. Today 2K announced famous tennis game Top Spin would be making its way to the Wii in spring of '08; this follows the recent announcement that Rockstar's Table Tennis would also make its way to the console. Above you can see the video for Table Tennis on the Wii, which premiered at the Leipzig Games Conference.

A tennis game on the Wii is about as natural as peanut butter and jelly. We've been clamoring for a solid tennis experience since Wii Sports served up its first tennis ball. Of course, to compensate for the graphical downgrade that'd inevitable with the Wii, the games will have to make up for it in the ol' controls department. Top Spin says that it will use both the Wiimote and the Nunchuk; the Nunchuk controls the player and aiming, while the Wiimote will control force and style. Both games sound like they're perfectly suited for the Wii but, like all things with the console, the controls make or break the game.

Tags: tabletennis, taketwo, tennis, topspin, wii

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Jeff @ Aug 22nd 2007 8:39PM

So is the Wii ever going to get anything other than watered-down sports games that involve swinging some sort of handheld object? And fitness sims?

I know the comeback... "but it has Zelda!" Yeah, that was great like 20 years ago. It would be nice if a Nintendo console would have something other than Mario and Zelda and a bunch of minigames.

hvnlysoldr @ Aug 22nd 2007 8:43PM

Trauma Center. Swinging wildly will get your patient killed.

Meloche @ Aug 22nd 2007 8:58PM

But it has Metroid!

>_>

Zaphod Beeblebrox @ Aug 22nd 2007 9:00PM

No.

Ska Oreo @ Aug 22nd 2007 10:45PM

I love how you can say that without even trying the game. Sure the graphics are dumbed down quite a bit, but it looks like it plays exactly like the 360 version(except you know you swing the Wiimote).

bender @ Aug 22nd 2007 11:17PM

Hate to burst your bubble Jeff, but Nintendo has more than Mario and Zelda.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nintendo_characters

Burnt Meatloaf @ Aug 23rd 2007 3:45AM

It's kind of ironic that everybody who wants to bash the 360 says it only has sports games.

Zaphod Beeblebrox @ Aug 22nd 2007 8:55PM

Looks ok, until you see it move. What kind of animation is that? Those characters look like they have to take a dump but are not allowed to until they finish their game.

Darkness @ Aug 22nd 2007 8:59PM

I think that's how it looks in the 360 version as well. Looks pretty good for a 360 port.

Zaphod Beeblebrox @ Aug 22nd 2007 9:03PM

Why do they have to move like a crab? I have never played RS tennis game. Do they move like that in RS's game? Even Wii Sports tennis with no legs has better movement than this.

Darkness @ Aug 22nd 2007 9:10PM

Check out the 360 version...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h__AAHQ6YPA

I could probably find a better video, but this works to show how the players move in the game.

Zaphod Beeblebrox @ Aug 22nd 2007 9:32PM

Thanks, they appear to move much faster and more fluidly. Their feet and legs move around more also.

Chris Robinson @ Aug 22nd 2007 8:57PM

Honestly, as a tennis fan, if Top Spin can get the controls down it would make my Wii purchase completely worth it. I have my doubts though.

bender @ Aug 22nd 2007 10:00PM

Wii Fanboy had an article on this game and they seem to be dissapointed with the graphics on Table Tennis and I have to agree with them. I have already seen more fluid motions in games like RE4 and MP3. If they get the controls down, I might pick it up, but I'll have to wait and see.

Ska Oreo @ Aug 22nd 2007 10:57PM

See here's the thing, sports games never take full advantage of a system's hardware. For example, every sports game on the ps2 or xbox looked ok, but they didn't look as good compared to games like Ratchet and Clank or Halo.

bender @ Aug 22nd 2007 11:26PM

I'm not saying that sports game take full advantage of a console's hardware, I'm just saying, I think they can do better.

Burnt Meatloaf @ Aug 23rd 2007 3:51AM

They only put in as much effort as required to sell it. For some reason, people keep buying this crap, so the fault lies with the community, not the developers.

Borat @ Aug 22nd 2007 10:04PM

The video doesn't show how the user plays the game. That's the main point!

Raynre @ Aug 22nd 2007 10:43PM

I love how the ball magically flies towards the paddle...

Ska Oreo @ Aug 22nd 2007 10:43PM

It looks ok for a Wii game.

Ethan @ Aug 23rd 2007 12:48AM

wow, that looks horrible. the shirts dont even move. Im a huge tennis fan, and I think Ill stick with the 360. beat topsin 2, Virtua tennis 3, and table tennis, great games, amazing graphics.

Truong @ Aug 23rd 2007 2:09AM

There is a real fun online ping pong game over at the nabisco world website that I play at work all the time. It's very enjoyable. Check it out below.

http://www.nabiscoworld.com/games/default.aspx

Thomas Henwood @ Aug 23rd 2007 6:53AM

On 360 it is much more fast paced than that. The inaccuracy of the Wiimote means that you can't respond as quickly as on 360 which seems to take the fun out of it.

Almack64 @ Aug 23rd 2007 10:14AM

"The inaccuracy of the Wiimote" ??

What the heck are you talking about. The IR pointer feature may be a little inaccurate but this wouldn't use the pointer. All the other inputs (comming from the accelerometers and buttons) are just as accurate as anything else.

please expound upon your comment if you are speaking of something else or are you just confused about your facts.