Playing Next Generation Tennis is like playing a match and watching it live on TV at the same time, with slow motion replays, umpire announcements, realistic player behaviour and crowd noise all adding that touch of authenticity. With over 10 game modes (including 4 hidden ones), Next Generation Tennis offers a broad palette of pleasures, from the most classic to the most innovative. Check out the attached shot of two of the world's top tennis starts, Gustavo Kuerten (curly hair) and Sébastien Grosjean (brown hair) enjoying a game of Next Generation Tennis at this year's E3 (for a high-resolution image contact adam@lunchpr.com ; for player biogs, see below).

The Career mode, for example, lets the user create a player profile (man or woman) and take on the greatest players on the professional circuit. As an upcoming bright hope of the tennis world, the player’s aim is to reach the very top after twenty seasons. Taking part in training sessions and winning at singles and doubles will improve the player’s abilities as he strives for perfection.

The player created can then be reused in the other game modes (see ‘game features’ below). A password will be provided at the end of each career to enable the player to compare his performance with hundreds of others on the game’s official website…

Certain modes take full advantage of the Multiplayer mode (such as the ‘Challenge’ mode which allows the player create his own tournaments) while others are pure arcade style (as in the ‘Two against one’ and ‘Race’ modes in which the player must defeat as many opponents in a row as possible in one-game or one-point matches). In most modes, the player can unlock bonuses related to his performance (new modes, court types, locations, players, kit and videos).

Thanks to the help of the teams at Roland Garros and the US Open, who provided exact plans of their stadiums, the development team were able to produce faithfully accurate models of the most famous courts at Roland Garros and the US Open, as well as of 6 other courts with different surfaces (grass, synthetic). The playersb (including ten top professionals – see Appendix, below) must prove themselves on the authentic courts of these world-famous tournaments, in front of crowds who react to their performance.

For the creation of Next Generation Tennis, Wanadoo put together a team of over 17 people from Carapace and 5 from Spark, all passionate about sport and with experience of developing top level games. Their CVs include titles such as Rayman 2, F1 Racing, Dinosaur, etc…

To this team we added the specialist experience of Alain Solvès. A trainer on the professional circuit, he defined each player’s profile, giving them personal playing styles and tactics in order to increase the game’s realism. His input was crucial in ensuring that the game reproduced all of tennis’ many subtleties.

Next Generation Tennis - Game Features
A true tennis simulation

2 official licences: Roland Garros and US Open, with 6 faithfully recreated courts

4 main types of shot available (lob, top spin, normal, slice) as well as side spin

Ball behaviour tailored for different surface types

Realistic player behaviour based on their playing styles and preferred surfaces

Over 500 animations created with motion capture

Artificial Intelligence developed with the co-operation of a professional trainer

F.T.F sound banks used for background sound effects + Surround sound

Rich and varied content

12 courts and 4 different surfaces + different locations + 3 training courts + 2 hidden courts (sand and ice)

10 professional players (including 4 women) with playing styles modelled on their temperament and faithfully recreated physical appearances

The possibility of playing a man against a woman in singles or doubles

Arcade and simulator modes:
Arcade: play successive opponents in singles or doubles
Exhibition: singles, doubles, or two against one
Challenge: create your own tournament
Career: create a player and aim to reach the highest level after 20 seasons. Compare performances on the Internet
Race: defeat as many opponents in a row as possible in one-game or one-point matches

Training

Numerous bonuses (hidden modes, locations, kits, players, courts...) to be unlocked in all game modes

Up to 4 players in Multi Tap on PS2 and LAN on PC