Sony have a long standing relationship with the world of tennis. So to celebrate the start of Wimbledon, we’ve taking a little look at how tennis has entertained us on PlayStation and how Sony continue to innovate away from the DUALSHOCK. So lets rewind back to 2007 and PlayStation 2, which saw the release of Everybody’s Tennis. Developed by Clap Hanz, the team behind the hit golfing series Everybody’s Golf, it featured the same cartooney graphics and simplistic controls as it’s golfing sister and later saw a release on PSP in 2010.
The PSP version featured a little addition from it PS2 counterpart in the form of a mighty Helghan solider, yes when the Helghast aren’t slaughtering the ISA, they’re a dab hand with a tennis racket. Everbody’s Tennis is available on the PlayStation Store right now.
A little more recently the PlayStation 3 saw the release of SEGA’s long running tennis series – Virtua Tennis 4, celebrating it’s 10th anniversary. The PS3 version boasts PlayStation Move compatibility as well as support from stereoscopic 3D gaming. The PlayStation loving didn’t stop there, with the PS3 version also being graced with four exclusive Legends players.
At E3 2011 SEGA announced Virtua Tennis 4 with be joining the PlayStation Vita launch line-up. It’s promised that the Vita version will take advantage of the systems unique control and social features. It’s being handled by the same team behind the PS3 version and so far it looks almost identical too.
If you pop onto PlayStation Home right now you can take part in the Baseline Battle mini-game, which puts you in the role of a tennis ball machine and pits you against the wave after wave of robots. If you can hold off the robotic attack long enough you’ll be rewarded with various Virtua Tennis 4 goodies for you Home personal spaces.
Away from the virtual courts, Sony’s involvement with tennis continues. In March it was announced Sony had acquired UK-based tracking technology company Hawk-Eye famed for being used to call tricky shots in various sporting events including Wimbledon. Maybe Sony will use Hawk-Eye’s expert tracking capabilities to take motion gaming to new heights on their next generation consoles. Until then it’s thanks to Sony that those awkward calls will continue to be a thing of the past.
Sticking with Wimbledon, it was recently announced that Sony had partnered with the BBC to broadcast the the Wimbledon Finals in High Definition 3D at various cinemas and Sony Centres throughout the UK. To celebrate Sony being the official 3D partner to Wimbledon, Sony has released thousands of virtual tennis balls all over the internet. For a chance to win various Sony prizes from PS3s to 3D Televisions and Wimbledon tickets head over to bonuc3d and help track down those stray balls.