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[dskillzhtown]

I hate you all! Especially the Madden Crew!





I bought this damn PING PONG game~!!

We knew you couldn't resist!!!

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/scorecard/06/01/pong.review/index.html

Rockstar Games, the same company that introduced wanton violence and degradation to the video game world through its Grand Theft Auto series, has brought the industry full circle through its new Xbox 360 title, Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis ($40).

That's right. Table Tennis. Or Ping-Pong, if you prefer.

At this point you might ask why anyone would want to play a Ping-Pong video game when there are so many other options to waste your precious geek time on. Why hit a little white ball back and forth across the screen mindlessly when you can throw 60-yard spirals with Michael Vick in Madden, hunt down terrorists in the latest Tom Clancy manifestation or, of course, drive around San Andreas with a fully-loaded semi-automatic?

That's a good question but, before you proceed any further with your skepticism, consider that the progenitor of all video games was little more than an eponymous Ping-Pong game.

Essentially, Rockstar's barebones take on pingpong doesn't involve that much more than the original. Therein lies the beauty of this title -- it's just Ping-Pong. You won't feel as though you have to waste time on fancy create-a-character game modes or take two hours to decide what colors and logos you want on your paddle. You just boot up the game, pick a character and play. Old-school gaming doesn't get much better than this, especially if you are sick of having to figure out what all of the buttons, triggers and joysticks do on these newfangled controllers every time you buy a new game.

As simple as the concept is, the game itself is quite difficult. The result of any given match often depends on the matchups; veterans of Street Fighter 2 can attest to how much depth and subtlety this can add to a game. Each of the characters have their own strengths and weaknesses. For example, the Swedish player, Jesper, is all power and no serve. Hit a popup to him and he'll smash it to pieces. But if you pick a finesse player like Juergen the German and put enough sidespin or backspin (or both) on your serve, Jesper is likely to hit it out of bounds and give you an easy point.

Just when you think you have a particular character or style of play down pat, you come across an opponent who munches on you Blanka-style. Get beat down enough times and you'll remember what Master Kan told Caine in Kung Fu: "It may take half a lifetime to master one system."

The different characters provide texture, but that alone wouldn't be enough to make for compelling game. That's why Rockstar added an ingenious bit of strategy -- the Focus Meter. The more spin shots you execute correctly, the more your Focus Meter fills up. You can then use this pent-up juice during a key moment in the rally to deliver a crushingly effective shot that, if played correctly, will result in a point. Even so, rallies often go on for 40, 50 or even 60 furious shots at a time. (Just a warning for the visually impaired: Your contact lenses will fog up at about the 45-shot mark.)

Put it all together and you get an experience so manic and engrossing that it's almost too much to take. Indeed, after a couple of hours you may want to transition to something less stressful, like Ghost Recon 2: Advanced Warrior.

Nice. It's good to see SI favorably review The Game Most Likely To be Included As An Olympic Sport.

 

[hyp]

so who's gonna setup the first GAF tourney? i'm sure we've all had enough practice by now.

 

[TJ Bennett]

so who's gonna setup the first GAF tourney? i'm sure we've all had enough practice by now.

I second that motion.

 

[Mrbob]

Can we get one going between 9 or 10PM central time tonight? Just need 8 people and we can get a quick tournament going right away. I love the quick tournaments.

PS -

Spoiler

Rockstar you damn well better put Jesper into GTA4 so we can all take him out!!!

 

[Willy Wanka]

I have to admit I wasn't really enjoying this for the first few hours I played it but then something just "clicked". It's amazing how much depth there is to the gameplay and I'm enjoying this a lot more than Top Spin 2 now.

 

[ant1532]

anyone want to play?

GT=Antpod

 

[Core407]

Just tried it and was put off for about an hour, but now I'm really digging it. Rockstar does a number with the game's presentation too. Great menus, nice sound effects, cool music and just an overal smoothness to it all that you don't find anywhere else. There is so much depth that I could see people still playing this a year down the road.

 

[purnoman3000]

I thought Jesper on Hard was bad, but then I ran into Luc. I even have him figured out but I just can't beat. I win the first game handily then he just blows up on me 11-5, 11-2 shit. I keep coming back for more though, like 2-3 dozens times. Everytime I lose I want to blow my brains out and punch the dirty **** in the face but then I just start up a new game. This time Luc.

 

[pilonv1]

I'm exactly the same, I can't figure out what his weakness is. I tried taking the speed off the ball (that's how I beat Jesper) but he just pulls a heap of bullshit out like hitting the side of the table. I got a set off him 11-7 but I cant get 2 sets in a match off him.

 

[Fredrik]

Wow. This is like the best game I've played on the 360 so far. IGN must be on crack if they gave it 7.8. This is what video games is all about. It's not about graphics, violence, guns, blood, whores, car-jacking, zombies and all that crap. It's about gameplay. And Table Tennis surpasses just about anything out on the 360 right now when it comes to gameplay. Hats off to Rockstar.

The only thing I don't like about it is that there is no career mode. But it's no biggie since the game is so much fun.
Since I'm a DOA-aholic I miss some jiggle and bounce on the female players too.

 

[Ramirez]

How the hell do you beat people online that use Jesper?I shut people out when they use anyone but that cheese master...these guys literally do nothing but use the A button and win because of his power...=\

 

[nubbe]

People online tend to go crazy when you dominate them with Jesper

Go Sweden!

 

[Nikashi]

Just picked this up, going to check it out inna bit, then hop online.

Gamertag: Nikashi

 

[whatdidyousay]

Add me to the Table Tennis fan list. Simple game in features, but it's excellent in terms of what it does offer. Just started playing a few days ago, won a tournament on Easy, and I'm too chickenshit to play online or try Hard.

 

[professor_t]

Add me to the Table Tennis fan list. Simple game in features, but it's excellent in terms of what it does offer. Just started playing a few days ago, won a tournament on Easy, and I'm too chickenshit to play online or try Hard.

I'm also too chickenshit to play online. Perhaps we should play against each other.

 

[Nikashi]

Okay, won the Easy tournament, completed all the training. I think I love this game already. It's so freaking basic, but perfectly excecuted. I'm gonna hop online now.

 

[Aruarian Reflection]

Online almost seems easy after playing against hard AI in singleplayer. I just had an incredible match with some random stranger. We were evenly matched and went to 3 games, deuce in the last one. So intense, so gratifying. He just me a friend invite immediately after the match

 

[RuGalz]

Welp let's get some GAF tourny going if enough people read this msg right now lol. Add me to friend list and I'll invite you to the tourny game I created. GT: RuggieX

Not sure where my headset is so I'm gonna be a bit antisocial...

 

[whatdidyousay]

I'm also too chickenshit to play online. Perhaps we should play against each other.

I don't know. I feel threatened by your avatar. I'm such a wuss.

 

[Ramirez]

Played someone usin Mark,I didn't even score a point :|

 

[dakiparu]

Can any1 please confirm people is starting using cheats to be in the top ten of the online rankings?
I see the first players have a number of defeats absolutely equal to the number of quits (they use to leave the match if they are losing). It happened to me a lot of times that my rival left the match before it ended and I now realize why...

Anyway I can defeat the powerful Jesper using Solayman most of times... Obviously using Jesper vs Jesper makes some of the most intense matches ever!

If anyone wants to try my tag is TERR0R FB (with Zero instead of O) :lol :lol

 

[thorns]

I am doing the final match in the hard difficulty, I am using Jesper. The opponent is Juergen and it's basically IMPOSSIBLE to beat, I must have tried 100 times. It's driving me crazy. Many times felt like throwing the controller out the window.. Any tips??
He always returns my shots, never makes any mistakes and puts the ball in the corner of the table all the time.

 

[dskillzhtown]

I am loving this game offline. I played one online game and it seemed that all the timing of the shots are completely different. I was hitting the ball "out" more times than I ever have in a match offline. Maybe I just need more practice online.

 

[jet1911]

Why all the Jesper hate? He rocks!

 

[RuGalz]

I haven't lost to a Jesper online yet. Most of the players using him seem pretty dumb...probably thinking they can just press A all day and win... A good Liu Ping player is much more problematic imo.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

So I spent most of my recent playtime unlocking all the players and venues. (The outfits seem like they're going to take a while.)

Cassidy's basement level is really amazing, as is Solayman's Stadium. There's this crazy Egyptian guy who shrieks randomly during all his matches.

Unfortunately it seems like while I was away, the online community got significantly better. So I'll probably finish my Krazy Kwest to get every character every medal before I reappear. Barring, of course, any GAF tournaments, which I will happily take part in.

 

[RuGalz]

XBL players are just so awesome. Beat a Jesper 11-0, player drops and submit a negative review saying I'm unsupportive. :lol Then another Mark did the same thing. Fk this game and online players.

 

[Treo360]

XBL players are just so awesome. Beat a Jesper 11-0, player drops and submit a negative review saying I'm unsupportive. :lol Then another Mark did the same thing. Fk this game and online players.

Lesson learned? Play in GAF friendly environs.

 

[Speevy]

This game rocks! I'm going to use my third free month of Xbox Live and I'll try to get online, but honestly I'm not sure if Table Tennis will support my dialup rig. the way Marble Blast Ultra does.

Anyway, great game. Some guy had traded it in so I picked it up as part of Gamestop's deal today.

 

[Treo360]

Damn you bastards! I've been trying to get some GRAW going, looks like it's been replaced

 

[RuGalz]

Lesson learned? Play in GAF friendly environs.

Like sit around for an hour trying to get someone to play? Besides, it's the only way to play in ranked match.

 

[Speevy]

Anyone want to give me my first loss online? I'm mainly just doing this for kicks, so don't expect a serious match. Make sure you have a serious connection though.

Gamertag: speevyofwar

I usually play after 9 PM EST. Also, LMK if there are some cool matches going on and I'll spectate.

 

[dakiparu]

I haven't lost to a Jesper online yet. Most of the players using him seem pretty dumb...probably thinking they can just press A all day and win... A good Liu Ping player is much more problematic imo.

After more than 10 hours online, I can now affirm that Solayman is da man! I can defeat everyone using my Solayman! I suffered a loss only against HALEY, but I have now learned how to defeat her... IMO Liu Ping is one of the weakest character ever together with Mark, Carmen and Cassidy. Juergen, Haley and KUMI ate their best could be very dangerous due to their powerful effects.

 

[thorns]

After more than 10 hours online, I can now affirm that Solayman is da man! I can defeat everyone using my Solayman! I suffered a loss only against HALEY, but I have now learned how to defeat her... IMO Liu Ping is one of the weakest character ever together with Mark, Carmen and Cassidy. Juergen, Haley and KUMI ate their best could be very dangerous due to their powerful effects.

Carmen is very good I think.

Another question, does anyone know why you can change number of sets / points in game in RANKED matches? You can basically have ranked matches with 1 set of 7 and 5 points per serve? RANKEd matches shouldn't be playable with anything other than default settings or am I missing something here? Is there a way to contact Rockstar about this?

 

[RuGalz]

Carmen is very good I think.

Another question, does anyone know why you can change number of sets / points in game in RANKED matches? You can basically have ranked matches with 1 set of 7 and 5 points per serve? RANKEd matches shouldn't be playable with anything other than default settings or am I missing something here? Is there a way to contact Rockstar about this?

Does it matter? People just drop when they start losing anyway. :lol

 

[RuGalz]

After more than 10 hours online, I can now affirm that Solayman is da man! I can defeat everyone using my Solayman! I suffered a loss only against HALEY, but I have now learned how to defeat her... IMO Liu Ping is one of the weakest character ever together with Mark, Carmen and Cassidy. Juergen, Haley and KUMI ate their best could be very dangerous due to their powerful effects.

He's definately good when you can control the accuracy. Not my style though. The reason Liu Ping can be deadly is his wide angles. And to me it's a bit harder to read which direction his hitting from his animation. Meh, we should play some, I've not played online because I'm tired of people dropping in the matches. (Already put 40 people on avoid list...)

 

[PhatSaqs]

Reading about all of the dropping shit is saddening.

 

[DaCocoBrova]

I love this game, but two things really annoy me.

Lack of camera views.

During the menu screen, when they're volleying in the background, the camera pans and tilts, giving a much different vantage point. At those angles, you notice the spin and subtleties w/ the ball physics which are all but lost during the gameplay since your choice of camera angles is limited.

I really wish there was a custom camera (in all sports games really) that allowed me to position the camera to my liking instead of just the two same-ish views that they offer.


Player movement...it's sluggish.

Maybe because I use 'Yes'per pretty much exclusivley, but I notice that sometimes during volleys, my character will move without me moving him. Like I'll tap to the right for a side step, but he ends up to the extreme right, almost like I kept pushing to one direction. Hard to explain, but the points that I lose are usually due to that.

 

[truffleshuffle83]

Reading about all of the dropping shit is saddening.

i havnt had one match drop and ive played over 50 games online. unless youre talking about people dropping...its pretty prevalent in player matches, but in ranked you only play to 7 anyways.


oh and DCB, i saw jesper c-walkin no joke

 

[Matrix]

Ive played over 50 ranked games and have had like 4 or so people drop on me when I was up like 10-5,5-0,games like that.


So far I havent found the community that plays this game to be a bunch of droppers.

 

[dakiparu]

Ive played over 50 ranked games and have had like 4 or so people drop on me when I was up like 10-5,5-0,games like that.


So far I havent found the community that plays this game to be a bunch of droppers.

Yes, I think the dropping community is not extended atm, but you know if some malicious people realize the advantages of dropping this could be a spriding cancer...Anyway it will be sufficient for Rockstar to make a patch to throw at the end of the ranking those who have a number of losses equal or similar to the number of drops.
Let's have fun and ignore people cheating all the time.

 

[RuGalz]

Ive played over 50 ranked games and have had like 4 or so people drop on me when I was up like 10-5,5-0,games like that.


So far I havent found the community that plays this game to be a bunch of droppers.

You must have been lucky because 99% of the time I played ranked match people dropped. Over the weekend of roughly 3 hour trying to play online, I had 1 complete match. Reading various forums, it doesn't seem like I'm the only one facing this problem; plus, look at the leaderboard, besides a few on the top rest of the players have almost as many DNF as Wins. The ratio of Wins to DNF should really be considered for placement on leaderboard kind of like what Blizzard has been doing.

 

[truffleshuffle83]

how do people drop in a ranked match its only to 7??

 

[RuGalz]

how do people drop in a ranked match its only to 7??

People drops after like 2-0, 3-0. Or they expect to plough through competition with Jesper and realize it's not the case and drop after a long rally.

 

[DaCocoBrova]

oh and DCB, i saw jesper c-walkin no joke

 

[Klocker]

... The ratio of Wins to DNF should really be considered for placement on leaderboard kind of like what Blizzard has been doing.

well absolutely, otherwise it's ridiculous.

I guess I'll stick with friends & unranked games.

 

[Core407]

I can't figure this game out at all.

 

[Matrix]

You must have been lucky because 99% of the time I played ranked match people dropped. Over the weekend of roughly 3 hour trying to play online, I had 1 complete match. Reading various forums, it doesn't seem like I'm the only one facing this problem; plus, look at the leaderboard, besides a few on the top rest of the players have almost as many DNF as Wins. The ratio of Wins to DNF should really be considered for placement on leaderboard kind of like what Blizzard has been doing.

Sorry you cant get many ranked games completed.I just played 4 ranked games just now and went 2-2,no drops.My record is now 39-29,thats a hell of a lot of games I have played,can all that be luck? 4 or 5 drops in close to 70 ranked games :\ Thats beyond lucky.

I dont get the point of dropping in a ping pong game and the people who drop just get bad feeback from me and DNF,droppers are f-ing stupid.

 

[CB3]

I proclaim myself GAF Tennis Master. No one can hang with me! (cept Ramirez, who tied me)

Me And FMT hit something like 100 rallies. At that point i was laughing and i couldnt even concentrate :lol