April 25^th, 2006 (1:31pm) - SEGA has announced they will be publishing Virtua Tennis 3 for the PS3 and the Xbox 360. Virtua Tennis 3 promises to give gamers the opportunity to experience new levels of realism never thought possible on a home console system.

The Virtua Tennis series has been well-received by critics and fans for its ease of play but difficult to master gameplay. With Virtua Tennis 3, the series returns with enhanced photo-realistic graphics and advanced player animations that perfectly match the behavior and mannerisms of individual professional players. Next-generation systems allow gamers to see the most detailed expressions on the faces of their selected players as they battle to win heated tournaments around the world

"This is shaping up to be an outstanding title - a genuine next generation sports game," commented Matt Woodley, Creative Director of SEGA. "Instant appeal and all the best of the VT brand is being added to an array of new gameplay features. Virtua Tennis 3 provides a must have in-depth experience - though I’d say the graphics alone are reason to buy and the quality is so sharp and clear you can even see the veins on the players necks!"

Take on the world’s greatest tennis stars on any court surface worldwide; with newly added players and improvements to the game’s AI, Virtua Tennis 3 has upped the challenge to becoming the top seed of the tennis world. In Career Mode, gamers will travel the world and take on the biggest stars of the tennis world. Improvements to the Player Creation Mode allow gamers to customize their own tennis star with increased detail like never before.

No Virtua Tennis title would be complete without the popular and addictive mini-games, and Virtua Tennis 3 is no exception. In addition to the popular mini-games from previous titles used to sharpen players skills, there will be a whole host of brand new games to keep players in top form.

Virtua Tennis 3 is due for release in Spring 2007.