14 DAY TRIAL // Most announcements related to changing dates for videogame releases are some sort of a delay. Thus, we're rather pleased to report that Electronic Arts is announcing that it has decided to launch both Grand Slam Tennis, the first videogame simulating the “white sport” from the publisher, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 for the Nintendo Wii on June 8, which is a few days earlier than the initial date of June 16.
Both of these games have been designed so that they can take advantage of the Wii Motion Plus add-on, which is set to improve the motion tracking capabilities of the Nintendo Wii console. When the Japanese developer initially announced the new piece of hardware, Electronic Arts was one of the first publishers to pledge its support and to announce games that could take advantage of the Wii Motion Plus.
The publisher also said that Grand Slam Tennis and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 would arrive on June 16 regardless of the date on which Nintendo released its new piece of hardware. Getting the games out earlier might allow Electronic Arts to receive more exposure for them and to generate more sales.
The two videogames do not require the player to have a Wii Motion Plus attachment in order to be playable, but they are made in such a way that they can detect it and can offer a superior gameplay experience with it present. The new Tiger Woods game for the Nintendo Wii also comes with the Wii Motion Plus bundled for a limited period of time, which can make it a great offer for some people.
For some time, Nintendo will have to contend with having a player base split in two, with some players adopting the Wii Motion Plus rather quickly and some not using it, which might create some problems in the relation with developers that have to support the hardware add-on while also making the game run without it.