Tennis is a strange sport for a video game. I think you'd be hard pressed to find 5 people you know who own a console and play tennis competitively. Now, most people don't play football either but that doesn't stop Madden from being a juggernaut franchise. The difference though is that everyone watches football while high level tennis television ratings are about equal to the John Deere Classic in golf. Didn't see it? Don't worry -- nobody else did either.
So why make a game that has no players and no TV audience? Well, because you can actually take your time to make a polished game. Without yearly refreshes and tight deadlines, you can do something like completely revamp your controls and create a game that makes sense. While EA is busy making games for kids on the short bus and your grandmother (All Play!), 2K Sports went the opposite route and made Top Spin 3 harder than ever. So while the learning curve is pretty steep, Top Spin 3 is absolutely worth it. ]]>