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HD Grand Slam Tennis 'delayed indefinitely' due to EA Sports Active
During yesterday's EA conference call, Peter Moore named yet another game that's been bumped out of its original release date: the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 Grand Slam Tennis. This delay is even more alarming than the constant movement of games out of this year and into Spring 2010, because, according to a statement given to Kotaku, Grand Slam Tennis has been "delayed indefinitely." The EA Sports rep assured that the game would actually come out.The delay, according to Moore, is the result of EA Sports staff being diverted from the tennis game in order to get the EA Sports Active expansion out by the holidays. As of right now, the only way to play Grand Slam Tennis is to get a Wii, which also lets you experience EA Sports Active and its upcoming expansion. How devious.
Analysts predict over ten million sales for MotionPlus
Both Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter and EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich expect the Wii MotionPlus peripheral to achieve sales of around ten million units in the US and Europe. The two just disagree on how long it will take. Pachter believes that the sales will happen early on, driven by bundles of early MotionPlus compatible software: "I think around 20 percent of Wii owners in the US and Europe will have bought Wii Sports Resort, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 or EA Sports Grand Slam Tennis," Pachter told Edge, "so that's around eight million." He added, "I think another two million will buy MotionPlus with new consoles."Divnich thinks three million units will sell through this holiday season, but it will take an additional year to achieve the ten-million-plus level of sales. "For the Wii MotionPlus, we currently expect the install base to reach over 11 million units by the end of Nintendo's next fiscal year in March 2011, a 15 percent penetration."Both analysts think Red Steel 2 is a risk that could pay off for Ubisoft. "Red Steel 2 may come along at precisely the right time, around when people are ready for another [MotionPlus] game," Pachter said. "The risk is really more a function of competition, compounded by the risk that Ubisoft could make a bad game." Both analysts believe that Red Steel 2 will be bundled with a MotionPlus.
EA Sports MotionPlus games coming out a week early
EA just released some awesome news for people hoping to have something to do with their MotionPlus peripherals when the device comes out on June 8. The company announced that the release dates for Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 and EA Sports Grand Slam Tennis are being bumped up a week, to match the release of the MotionPlus.Even better, the Tiger Woods/MotionPlus bundle is also coming out on June 8, so the peripheral will be available with a game from day one. Nice of EA to step up and do what, for some reason, Nintendidn't. Surprisingly, despite now being available alongside the MotionPlus, EA probably won't be able to boast the first game to support it -- or even the first tennis game. Sega hasn't announced an official date for Virtua Tennis 2009 beyond "June", but GameStop currently lists June 2.%Gallery-47656%
EA Sports MotionPlus bundles confirmed for North America and Europe
EA just sent out a press release confirming the rumored EA Sports Grand Slam Tennis and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 bundles for Europe. Both games will ship with included MotionPlus accessories this summer. "This exclusive and limited-time offer is exciting news for sports fans who want to enhance their Wii experience for a great value with the new Wii MotionPlus right at launch with both Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 10 and EA SPORTS Grand Slam Tennis," Peter Moore said in the press release. The bundles will retail for £49.99.In addition, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 will include a MotionPlus in North America at launch -- over a month before Wii Sports Resort! GameStop has already posted a listing for the bundle (at $59.99) and a free overnight shipping offer (enter the coupon code EAGLE). No idea why Grand Slam Tennis isn't also going to have a bundle, but at least there's one more bundled game, so you can get a MotionPlus for your second controller.%Gallery-47656%
Joystiq hands-on: EA Sports Grand Slam Tennis
click to enlarge EA Sports' entry into the Wii tennis game roster came out to play at its "Season Opener" event in San Francisco. We weren't so much interested in the fact it was a tennis title from EA as we were with its support for Nintendo's yet-to-be-dated Wii MotionPlus peripheral.It was a little odd, then, that we started off our play session without said Wiimote doohickey. We were essentially playing a more -- though not entirely -- realistic game of Wii Sports tennis, right down to the serve mechanic and the automatic on-court movement of our character. Thankfully, we learned that the game will support a Nunchuk for player-controlled movement -- and we eventually got to give MotionPlus a try.%Gallery-47654%
