E3 06: Virtua Tennis 3 First Look

LOS ANGELES--In its second succession of PS3 trailers shown during the Sony PlayStation Press Conference, Sony showed off some of Sega-AM2's Virtua Tennis 3 in motion. Though perhaps not as breathtaking as some of the other trailers shown, the gameplay footage and close-up shots of the various tennis pros that the trailer was composed of definitely retained the realistic, sunny aesthetic that is key to the Virtua Tennis style. The animations looked especially natural, with one player diving on a clay court to save a shot being a particular highlight. The players' faces looked good, and though the video was edited very quickly, we were able to catch the names of famed tennis pros Roger Federer, James Blake, Rafael Nadal, and Lleyton Hewitt flashing in the corner.

There was plenty of the standard Virtua Tennis camera angle, perched high behind the back of the character being controlled, and one key video cut that went from a grass court to a clay court showed lots of subtle wear on both courts, just as you would expect to see on a real-life court. The only puzzling aspect of the trailer shown was the fact that there were credit indicators in the lower corners of the screen, making us wonder if Sega is retaining such an specifically arcade-inspired touch for the sake of style, or if the footage being shown was simply the Power Smash 3 arcade game. Either way, it has definitely whetted our appetite for Virtua Tennis 3, and we are eager to see more of the game.