I have to amend my previous comment... I finally "got" the Move controls! It took about 20 minutes of trial and error on the practice court just focusing on one side at a time. At first I couldn't control where the ball was going, it always reported my timing was off, and I never got over about 15% power. Now I can place the ball where I want with over 80% power and good timing - consistently! It turns out that, just like in real tennis, swing preparation is the key.
Prepare for the shot by taking your backswing very early with the Move controller. At first try taking your backswing before the ball comes out of the ball machine until you get the hang of it. Hold the Move controller in the backswing position with the lighted ball facing away from the screen/PS eye. You should feel the Move controller vibrate if you're doing it right. Keep holding this position, and then after the ball bounces in front of you complete your swing. Use the in-game help screens to learn how to complete your swing to obtain a desired shot type and placement. A low-to-high forehand swing across your body will produce a top-spin shot, a flat forehand swing ending on your forehand side will produce a shot down the line, etc. Once you get the hang of it, it's pretty addictive! Backhand shots work exactly the same - start the back swing as early as you can and keep it behind you until you're ready to follow through. Again, you should feel the Move controller vibrate while you hold your backswing position if you're doing it right. Also, if you look closely at the player on the screen he will imitate your backswing preparation if you do it properly.
Oddly enough I was able to figure out the backswing by seeing the reflection of the Move controller in my TV screen bezel. That's when I noticed the correlation between pointing away from the screen and the controller vibration.
Again, there is nothing gimmicky about this. Early preparation with the backswing is exactly the way to perform a real tennis swing with power and consistency. However I will say that the current demo is far too forgiving with missed swings, to the point of making it confusing and difficult to tell what to change in order to improve. For example, on the practice court you can take a half backswing about shoulder-high on the forehand side and just hold it there, and your player will swing (albeit poorly) anyway. This is not helpful, and I hope they fix that in the final game.
Next I need to work on the backswing during a game while running around. And I'm definitely excited for the full release!
I agree that the Move controls aren't great yet - not even up to the level of the Wii Motion Plus version from a couple of years ago. But I pre-ordered it anyway. The presentation is that good. So I'm hoping for some good multiplayer modes and a patch to refine the Move controls.
Comments 2
Re: First Impressions: Grand Slam Tennis 2
I have to amend my previous comment... I finally "got" the Move controls! It took about 20 minutes of trial and error on the practice court just focusing on one side at a time. At first I couldn't control where the ball was going, it always reported my timing was off, and I never got over about 15% power. Now I can place the ball where I want with over 80% power and good timing - consistently! It turns out that, just like in real tennis, swing preparation is the key.
Prepare for the shot by taking your backswing very early with the Move controller. At first try taking your backswing before the ball comes out of the ball machine until you get the hang of it. Hold the Move controller in the backswing position with the lighted ball facing away from the screen/PS eye. You should feel the Move controller vibrate if you're doing it right. Keep holding this position, and then after the ball bounces in front of you complete your swing. Use the in-game help screens to learn how to complete your swing to obtain a desired shot type and placement. A low-to-high forehand swing across your body will produce a top-spin shot, a flat forehand swing ending on your forehand side will produce a shot down the line, etc. Once you get the hang of it, it's pretty addictive! Backhand shots work exactly the same - start the back swing as early as you can and keep it behind you until you're ready to follow through. Again, you should feel the Move controller vibrate while you hold your backswing position if you're doing it right. Also, if you look closely at the player on the screen he will imitate your backswing preparation if you do it properly.
Oddly enough I was able to figure out the backswing by seeing the reflection of the Move controller in my TV screen bezel. That's when I noticed the correlation between pointing away from the screen and the controller vibration.
Again, there is nothing gimmicky about this. Early preparation with the backswing is exactly the way to perform a real tennis swing with power and consistency. However I will say that the current demo is far too forgiving with missed swings, to the point of making it confusing and difficult to tell what to change in order to improve. For example, on the practice court you can take a half backswing about shoulder-high on the forehand side and just hold it there, and your player will swing (albeit poorly) anyway. This is not helpful, and I hope they fix that in the final game.
Next I need to work on the backswing during a game while running around. And I'm definitely excited for the full release!
Re: First Impressions: Grand Slam Tennis 2
I agree that the Move controls aren't great yet - not even up to the level of the Wii Motion Plus version from a couple of years ago. But I pre-ordered it anyway. The presentation is that good. So I'm hoping for some good multiplayer modes and a patch to refine the Move controls.