Anyone playing Top Spin on Xbox?

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Jackeh said:

I think the starter kit is £40 and that's it for a year. You won't have to pay anything until a year after you registered. Downside...you need a credit card.



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If you go with the 2-month trial, it's £4.99 a month, which makes it 10 X £4.99 = £49.99 a year. So getting the started kit is cheaper but I liked the convenience of just signing up with the game straight away.

I'm thinking of getting Rainbow Six at some point to play co-op with a mate, so I'll get a free headset with that.

 

I'm guessing it's going to be 4.99 a month when my beta tester privileges run out then /versus/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Not too bad I s'pose.

I'm getting top spin next week sometime so give me some time to train up and i'll give anyone a game.

 

just wanted to ask again maximum just to clarufy this, can you make a charachter thaty uses both hands on the forehand and backhand as someone i know just bought an xbox for this game only and really wants to create a monica seles player but a friend of his said you couldnt make player that uses both hands on each wing. Also I said he could so just to clarify am i right or is his friend right. Thx m8.

 

Ok, I've just checked the character creation for female players, and it seems your friend is correct. You can choose left or right handed player, then specify single or two-fisted strokes on backhand only.

That's a pity - I guess not many players on the ATP tour use two-hands on the forearm, Monica Seles was quite unique in that respect.

It's getting quite competative on the Topspin servers these days - loads more players seem to be joining and it's tough work keeping my ranking at a decent level. I'm still in the 1,500 mark at the moment. Looking forward to the official xsn sports tourneys when they start later this month.

Oh and Jackeh, give me a shout when you're online with Topspin and I'll play you.

 

Can you play people in the US and Japan like you could on DC PSO or is it restricted to Europe?

How does the lag online affect things like risk shots which are supposed to require accurate timing?

 

Yep, you can play folk from any part of the world. I've already played quite a few matches with Americans, as well as folk from mainland Europe.

The network connection does vary quite a bit depending on who you're playing, but for the most part it's excellent. If the connection is really bad the game slows itself down fractionally, which you have to adapt to. And yes, serving can be tricky if the connection sucks.

A good idea is to have a chat with your opponent before the match, and if the speech is not very clear just say your farewells and quit. That way you can ensure quality games most of the time.

I hear the xsnsports.com topspin tournaments start tomorrow. Must get my custom character in shape. So far I've been sticking with Michael Chang for my online matches.

 

aww nuts i didn't know you needed a broadband connection to play xboxlive, its good but at the same time shyt for others too. i got a internet service provider freeserve not boradband, can anyone recomend a broadband service in the UK for me which is fairly cheap and very fast????????/

 

Top spin's xsnsports tournaments are finally up and running. I've joined the rather appropriate 'Edinburgh Cup'. /versus/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Only two folk signed up for this particular tourney so far.

 

I've just set-up a tournament. It's called Pro Clay Cup and starts in a few days time. Please sign up if you're interested.

 

Are you coming across any broken areas in the gameplay yet? Can people use the same tactics easily over and over again to win?

Have you encountered any risk shot abusers?

 

No, the game is bloody amazing. It's so much better than anything I've played in a long long time, and yes that includes Evo. Won my first xsnsports.com match last night as part of the Edinburgh Open! It's so cool...the site displays complete stats for all games.

For anyone who actually has the game, it's only 5 days to go before the start of my Pro Clay Cup....10 spaces remain, so hurry and sign-up.

 

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just wanted to ask again maximum just to clarufy this, can you make a charachter thaty uses both hands on the forehand and backhand as someone i know just bought an xbox for this game only and really wants to create a monica seles player but a friend of his said you couldnt make player that uses both hands on each wing. Also I said he could so just to clarify am i right or is his friend right. Thx m8.

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Hope I'm not just reiterating what's already been said... But as far as I know, you can't create a player using a two-handed forehand... And yet, Jan-Michael Gambill is in the game, and true to form, hits with two-hands on both wings (except on certain occasions--like real life).

BTW, I really am loving this game. I've had it for a day now and bought it with the X-Box. It's a total blast and currently my favorite Tennis game (I play too many of them nowadays).

On the above subject... I wish you could customize stroke and volley styles. Maybe even a few more serve styles (though what's in there is fine). Would be kind of nice to create a player with the "Clay-Courter racquet points straight up on backswing" loopy forehand and other little things here and there. Little things like that...

But the game's already loaded with a a lot of little details either unseen in other tennis games or just well-refined here. As much as I'm having a blast with this game for hours on end, I do hope a Topspin 2 eventually comes out.

Now I just gotta signup for X-Box live soon and get my @$$ whooped online. I've been hearing about how vicious the online competition is on this game.

-Chanchai

 

just got the game and the xbox. totally love ite, im relying mainly on topspin and slices rather then flat powerful shots as im aalso a huge fan of conchita martinez who im trying to emulate. Shame you cant have twohandedforehands as im crazy about monica seles too.

 

he he...i knew you'd love it. It's cool how there's enough depth of play to allow you to emulate real tennis styles.

I personally love to play a continental baseline game, and tend to win most of matches on clay as a result. My play is inspired by some of the old French and Spanish players, like Sergy Brugera (spain) and Thierry Champion (france).

 

Still haven't registered for X-Box Live yet... Hopefully will be doing that over Thanksgiving.

I have been mixing stuff up quite a bit against the computer though, at least against the characters taken from real life tennis.

My main career character I created is a powerful aggressive baseliner type, mostly using power and angles. Been using topspin for the short-angle shots--usually trying to open up much of the court. Using slice a lot of the opponent has a high forehand or backhand rating, to sort of junk up the rally until I feel I can get good positioning. Starting to get the hang of Risk Shots when pulled wide or off court--not on the deadly level with those yet though. Flat/safe shots have been used when closing in on the short balls or I'm comfortable with an accelerating rally.

The AI isn't the strongest, but the only main gripe I have is that it almost always telegraphs the direction of its serve. Top Spin is far from being the only tennis game to do this--I think almost every tennis game I've played did this... On the plus side, it probably makes things less frustrating for a lot of people.

Well, I'm hoping to get X-Box live all setup soon and hopefully, play some of you guys /versus/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Definitely having a blast with it, and I hope that risk shots aren't killing the game as much as some people on other forums have made it seem like.

-Chanchai

 

Yea, Live is definately the way to play this game. And it's simply not true that risk shots are ruining the online games. I've played dozens and dozens of matches, some against folk in the top 100 rank, and never experienced players who abuse this shot.

Some lame folk online have tried using drop-serve and volly tactics over and over, but I find there's always a way to defeat them as the game is so well balanced. In this case a quick angled top-spun ball down the line stops them in their tracks.

Chanchai, give me a shout when you're live with Topspin and we'll play a few matches.

 

man i love volly drop shots, i was playing against schet who kept overpowering me and she smacked this almost unreachable passing shot down the line and i managed to drop shot it just over the net to the other side. Great stuff, i dont abuse the risk shots, only on my serve though an drop shots. Also i love the underarm serve. By the way how do i get the fourth skill as i was told inorder to get a 4th skill i would need to win a slam which i have but no more stars left???. Also how do i get a more powerful serve, my charachter is a powerful player, with ace skill and 5 stars on serve, but i can only get 115 MPH whereas ive heard other managed to get it at 146. However, my charachter is female, but surely i can hit harder then that

 

Why are you all going for baseline style play? No wonder the serve and volley player is becoming extinct in the real world /versus/images/graemlins/tongue.gif. That's the most satisfying style of play rather than slugging at the back of the court and wearing the opponent down. Love to bang in a huge serve forcing the opponent off balance and then finnish it with a cross court volley in VT2.

Have you come across any really good serve volley players yet?

Chanchai what did you mean by serve is telegraphed?

 

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Shoju said:

Why are you all going for baseline style play? No wonder the serve and volley player is becoming extinct in the real world /versus/images/graemlins/tongue.gif. That's the most satisfying style of play rather than slugging at the back of the court and wearing the opponent down. Love to bang in a huge serve forcing the opponent off balance and then finnish it with a cross court volley in VT2.

Have you come across any really good serve volley players yet?

Chanchai what did you mean by serve is telegraphed?



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No way man, baseline play is much more exciting and strategic. Getting a fast serve and hitting a winning volley is a tad repetative don't you think?

I'd say on Topspin, most o the top 100 players are serve & volly obsessed. It's a real challenge dislodging someone with a strong serve and good positioning at the net. It's then you need to pull out your topsin lobs and sideline slice.

Got my rank up to 800 last week - that's out of a good 30,000 players - but lost a few matches and am back down to 1100 or so. Any player ranked over 5000 means you'll have a tough match. Competition is fierce.

 

Vollying puts more emphasis on your serve and postioning and it ends points quickly and is more attacking, but some people do prefer longer rallys. People were complaining about the dominance of the serve and the lack of rallys at Wimbledon that's why the courts there got slowed down. It's good to hear both styles of play can be used effectively to win in the game though. I regret getting a GC instead of an Xbox now put I'll put that right eventually.

How does the online system work? Do you use the same connection that your PC uses and it will run through the same flat rate broadband subscription?