Videogamer writes: "The king has had a long reign. SEGA's Virtua Tennis series has sat almost completely unchallenged as the premier tennis video game for years. Contenders have come and gone, yet few have been able to go a full five sets with the arcade master. Top Spin has been one of the better challengers, but after a few weeks with each of the previous two games we went straight back to VT. With Top Spin 3 we instantly felt like we were playing something with great potential. Like when a new wonder kid burst onto the scene, we were just praying it wouldn't slip off the rails.
Here's a tip: start with the game's training mode. You might well think that you've played VT so you'll be able to jump straight in to TS3, but you'd be wrong. We made that mistake and spent ten minutes wildly swinging and missing before admitting defeat and heading back to the main menu. TS3 doesn't play like VT. Instead of simply holding down the shot button and letting the game hit the ball, in TS3 you need to release the button (and swing) at the right moment - just about as the ball bounces on the court."
OPM: Thousands of Brits will be inspired to pick up a racket this week on the back of Andy Murray’s success at Wimbledon – but in this heat, and given our hand-eye co-co-ordination, we’ll be sticking to the virtual type. Looking to fill your week with some ace-smashing antics? Then join us in revisiting PlayStation’s finest tennis efforts…
Gamepyre writes: "When Virtua Tennis 2009 first came out I was very excited about the game; I was so excited that I actually went and got it on release day.
Virtua Tennis 3 has been one of my favorite PSP games, and I could not wait to see what the 2009 Xbox 360 version of the game brought to the table. After playing the game, I was very disappointed in Virtua Tennis 2009; not because it was a bad game per say, but because it wasn't anything new from the previous release."
Another week and another episode of Distributed Failure is here for your listening pleasure. This week's "What They've Been Playing" features discussion on Top Spin 3, Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, Fight Night Round 4, Battlefield 1943, Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, and much more! They follow that up with some gaming news including the latest update on EGM, the addition of prizes to 1 vs. 100, and the announcement of a new Mechwarrior game.