This past weekend's Wimbledon final between five-time champion Roger Federer and main rival Rafael Nadal was an all-time classic even before it finished. From Nadal overcoming a huge deficit in the second set to take a 2-0 lead, to Federer fighting off two championship points in the fourth in an epic tiebreak, to both players refusing to be broken in the fifth as night descended upon the stadium, it was a match for the ages.

With so many tennis lovers pumped up after that intense match, many of them will turn to videogames to let off that extra steam in the digital realm, or to replay their favorite moments from Wimbledon. 2K Sports has recently released Top Spin 3, and the next-gen versions of the game feature crisp visuals, smooth, lifelike animation routines, and a host of real-life players including cover athletes Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova, and Andy Roddick.

Nadal Plays Hard to Get

Taking a cue from the recent trend in bringing legendary athletes to sports games, Top Spin 3 also brings you players like Bjorn Borg, Boris Becker, and Monica Seles. What really separates the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions from one another is that Wimbledon winner Rafael Nadal is only available as a PlayStation 3 exclusive. If you're able to secure the rights to (arguably) the best player in the world, why not include him in all versions? We're sure that money was involved somewhere here, and wrapping up some sort of exclusivity is part of the cutthroat console wars these days, but it's the gamers who play Top Spin 3 on a non-Sony platform who are the only losers.



Top Spin 3 features a nice variety of different venues to choose from, including the U.S. Open, the Sony Ericsson Open, and venues in London, Australia, Dubai, and pretty much anywhere you can stick a pin on a map. The courts themselves look great, with realistic crowds and plenty of unique details that set them apart from each other. The Atlanta court, for instance, is set in a track and field course, and you can watch joggers running laps before the game begins. The drawback to all this lovely detail is that the game will stutter and get quite choppy as the camera pans around. There are other minor frame-rate issues during gameplay, but none quite as noticeable as when a court is first being displayed.

If you've been playing tennis videogames over the years, Top Spin 3 will take some serious getting used to. The primary reason for this is the new system for setting up your swing. Instead of simply pressing a button to smack the ball back across the court, you have to hold down a button to prepare your shot and then release it to begin your swing. Timing here is crucial. Release too early and you'll whiff; release too late and you'll watch the ball fly past you. The ideal time to begin your swing tends to be when the ball takes its first bounce on the court.