Little-known fact: I played the pants off of Virtua Tennis 3. I really love the simple controls and the concept of winning by out-smarting your opponent and setting them up over several shots. Simplicity in a sports title is really rare these days and should never be a reason to write the game off as too casual. This year, we’ll see online play added and even more (sometimes better than the game itself) mini-games. What we won’t see, despite the official website’s now outdated banner, is Virtua Tennis 2009 released in May.

According to RubyEclipse, site administrator for the Sega of America forums, the multiplatform game is delayed and will have an early June ship date. Sega will update the game’s information pages accordingly. Although we’ve received no official word on the delay, RubyEclipse mentions they are probably polishing off the Wii version.

We have seen three Virtua Tennis 2009 videos on the PlayStation Network, and I’ll admit – the game doesn’t look that much better than the first PS3 version. But it’s really never been about looks with this series. I’m excited about all of the new features and can’t wait to get my hands on the full game in June. In the meantime, maybe Sega will release an early demo on the PSN if we ask nicely. Their previous demo for Virtua Tennis 3 was stellar, so here’s to hoping we’ll see one soon.

[Source]