Virtua Tennis 3 Interview with Producer Mie Kumagi

In an exclusive interview that SPOnG scored Virtua Tennis 3‘s producer Mie Kumagi, they talk about how the third installment of the series have changed from the previous ones in terms of character AI, graphics, gameplay modes, and more. But before we get into that, a little info on the producer: Mie Kumagi is the first female president to head any Japanese game development studio, and she has been working with Sega since 1993. For purposes of brevity, let’s refer to her as MK.

According to MK, the dev team built upon the Virtua Tennis concept of “Super Play with Simple Control”, but did not neglect to add new elements such as running shots, and upgrading the topspins, slices, lobs, and drop shots. The interview also tackles the characters to be featured in the game, such as Tim Henman, Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Maria Sharapova, Venus Williams, to name a few. They also talk about the party games included in the game, as well as the new “World Tour” mode, which is really just the updated and improved version of the career mode featured in previous VT titles.

MK also discusses the animation improvements integrated in Virtua Tennis 3, saying “I believe we’ve successfully achieved a realism that is close to live television broadcasting.” And as for improvements in the AI, Kumagai says that the players move characteristically and think like their real-life counterparts: Federer tries the all-around play, Nadal uses his powerful strokes and uses quantity of motion as his advantage, and tons more.

MK also shares with us the game’s Create-a-Player option, which features fully customizable clothes, equipments, and accessories for your chosen player. The game environments also feature arenas such as buildings and tennis courts with various surfaces and impeccable lighting. Wanna know more? Simply click on the link below for the full SPOnG interview.

In an exclusive interview that SPOnG scored Virtua Tennis 3‘s producer Mie Kumagi, they talk about how the third installment of the series have changed from the previous ones in terms of character AI, graphics, gameplay modes, and more. But before we get into that, a little info on the producer: Mie Kumagi is the first female president to head any Japanese game development studio, and she has been working with Sega since 1993. For purposes of brevity, let’s refer to her as MK.

According to MK, the dev team built upon the Virtua Tennis concept of “Super Play with Simple Control”, but did not neglect to add new elements such as running shots, and upgrading the topspins, slices, lobs, and drop shots. The interview also tackles the characters to be featured in the game, such as Tim Henman, Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Maria Sharapova, Venus Williams, to name a few. They also talk about the party games included in the game, as well as the new “World Tour” mode, which is really just the updated and improved version of the career mode featured in previous VT titles.

MK also discusses the animation improvements integrated in Virtua Tennis 3, saying “I believe we’ve successfully achieved a realism that is close to live television broadcasting.” And as for improvements in the AI, Kumagai says that the players move characteristically and think like their real-life counterparts: Federer tries the all-around play, Nadal uses his powerful strokes and uses quantity of motion as his advantage, and tons more.

MK also shares with us the game’s Create-a-Player option, which features fully customizable clothes, equipments, and accessories for your chosen player. The game environments also feature arenas such as buildings and tennis courts with various surfaces and impeccable lighting. Wanna know more? Simply click on the link below for the full SPOnG interview.