When we were branding Racket:Next as “Virtual Tennis,” we needed to prove three essential concepts:
One… that Racket:Next could meaningfully and enthusiastically engage people, especially young people.
Two… that Racket:Next play was natural and bio-mechanically consistent with conventional racquetsport forehands and backhands.
Three… that we could quickly and inexpensively organise and conduct a full-blown global Racket:Next tournament.
The Bottom Line: We proved all three, with flying colours.
The first two, at the September 2019 Junior Davis and Fed Cup Finals, at the USTA National Campus, in Lake Nona, Florida.
The third, all over the world, at a global tournament conducted by the Virtual Sports Association and One Hamsa, the Racket:Next developer.
Not only did we prove these concepts, but we discovered amazing things that we never expected:
1. The Bio-Mechanics of the Basic Strokes – Forehand and Backhand – are instinctive, and evoked in Racket:Nx by the simple command to “HIT IT HARD!“
2. The Cost and Effort to generate interest and participation in in-person and on-line Racket:Nx competition is Small. Beyond this, in time, we believe that – on an event by event basis – it will become even smaller.
3. We can Effectively Inject the Most Advanced New Sport – Racket:Next – into the Most Acceptable Channel – the existing competition infrastructure.
We have since gone far beyond “Virtual Tennis” to “Virtual Racquet Sport.”
USTA National Campus, Lake Nona, Florida
Watch them… [6:56]
And while you watch, see if you can tell who were the players before [about half] and which were not.
Listen to them… [9:37]
Our biggest problem was getting them to stop, so we would count off their last ten strokes.
Solo Mode: This Single Player review is brilliant. But he is out of date about one thing and wrong about another.
1. He is using an early demo version of the game, on a PC-tethered VR headset. That’s why he had to be VERY careful about his Play Space. The current version of Racket:Nx on the revolutionary, untethered Oculus Quest, has a Guardian Zone that protects the player from coming too close to ceilings, walls, or a living room lamp.
2. Fully athletic Racket:Nx play [which he is NOT doing here] is much more strenuous than any traditional racket sport, because the ball KEEPS COMING BACK and the player KEEPS HITTING. The Racket:Nx ball never goes out of bounds or over the fence or into the net. PLAY IS CONTINUOUS, literally.
Multiplayer Mode: this is a hilarious commentary on a pitched, intense Two Player match.
Notice how the ball changes color for each player, so it’s always clear whose turn it is. The newer version of Racket:Nx is even more exciting to play… and to watch.
When we were in London during Wimbledon. This was one of our “Stars.”
Here are three more, in Orlando, last year.
JOSH
JONATHAN
PLAYER UNKNOWN