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Nintendo serving up Pilotwings, ping pong?
Mysterious games have shown up in the far reaches of the no-man's-land known as GameStop's "Coming Soon" list. We've speculated that a Pilotwings game was on the way forever, and now it looks like ... GameStop is also speculating that a Pilotwings game is on the way. The release date is listed as March 6, 2009, but that's likely just a placeholder date, especially since the whole entry is just a placeholder anyway. Depressingly, the fake release date is five days after the listed release date for Sadness.Another interesting new game with a less distant fake release date: a game simply called Ping Pong, published by Nintendo. Its December 31, 2008 release date is most likely also a placeholder, but the very possibility of a new, full-size ping pong game from Nintendo should be great news for fans of Wii Play, Rockstar Table Tennis and/or Balls of Fury. (Somebody's probably a fan of Balls of Fury, right?)We don't mean to get your hopes up, since the further out into the future you go, the less accurate the GameStop "Coming Soon" list is. Thus, we are calling these rumors at best.
Because playing Table Tennis with a fake racquet attachment would be silly
You weren't actually thinking about playing Wii Play's table tennis the Wü's Ping Pong Game with a tennis racquet peripheral, were you?Pssssh. Come on, now. Why would you do that when all the cool kids (read: not cool kids) are using these? After all, how can you go wrong with a "Ping-Pong Bat," which are currently being sold over at DealExtreme for the random price of $16.14.We'll give $10 to the person who guesses the next peripheral to come out on the Wii.* We're betting on some Wiimote maracas for the upcoming Samba de Amigo, since Sega just announced they won't be making any.*We won't actually give you $10 if you guess right, you silly rabbit.[Via Technabob]
Today's movie tie-in video: Balls of Fury
Rockstar must be hoping more than ever that the Wii version of Table Tennis is a hit, but movie tie-in, Balls of Fury, bounces in as another ping-pong option. Do we have high hopes for a movie property? (Especially this movie?) No.But the game trailer is entertaining, especially if you haven't heard of the movie, as we hadn't. Here's hoping that Christopher Walken is a playable character. He's our weapon of choice.See the trailer for this Fall, 2007 DS and Wii game after the break.
Ping Pong with Penny Arcade, to the pain!
After feasting upon the flesh of Seattle import vendor Pink Godzilla, the Penny Arcade crew are thirsting for new blood in their quest to destroy all competition in their sick and twisted game of ping pong. No, not Rockstar Table Tennis (though the developer's hand would explain the violence), but actual, honest-to-goodness, physically exerting ping pong. Gabe is making the call to anyone in the games industry who might want to take on the comic crew (and yes, it's more than just Tycho and Gabe). A few rules: Bring seven people, ranked in order of skill Matches will adhere USATT Table Tennis rules, lasting 11 points per game with service rotation every two points. Each match will be best out of five games. Doubles teams are optional "Victory as of right now means street cred and bragging rights," according to Gabe, with the future possibility of a pong league and "some sort of trophy to pass around. Anyone interested should e-mail Gabe (address on the PA page) with the subject line reading "PING PONG CHALLENGE!" Since Joystiq HQ is spread out far and wide over the world, we'll likely not heed the call, but industry types who have no will to live some paddle skills should bring their A-game to Penny Arcade's underground lair. But be warned of Robert Khoo's insatiable thirst for gamer blood, demonstrated in the video embedded after the break.See Also: Joystiq's Weekly Webcomic Wrapup
Custom Rockstar Table Tennis 360
Give Llamma.com credit for coming up with a Rockstar-commissioned Table Tennis case mod that goes beyond the usual paint job and faceplate. One of these babies is destined for a future give-away, but if you have the time and desire to build your own ping pong prize, they provide a list of supplies and directions.[Thanks AoE]
Rockstar Table Tennis demo coming soon
Major Nelson conquered his fear of calendars to report that Rockstar would be serving up the long-awaited Table Tennis demo "very, very soon." That was three days ago. Now he better Prey it shows up.[Thanks X Budd}
Rockstar's Table Tennis is no joke
Rockstar's second-floor party pad sits at the top of a long flight of stairs just off of Bowery in Manhattan's Chinatown neighborhood. As I climbed those stairs on my way to an invitational afternoon of beer, food and Rockstar Games Presents: Table Tennis this Saturday, I half expected the door to burst open and a bunch of clowns to yell "April Fools!" It just didn't make much sense that famously reticent, infamously too-cool-for-the-media Rockstar had actually invited members of the press to see their latest game, nevermind a lowly blogger. But for once, they're probably happy to be talking about something other than whichever version of their marquee Grand Theft Auto series has been released, been hacked, been banned, been recalled, been reissued, been whatevered. Instead, when the door to the flat opened I was greeted by a bevvy of Rockstar marketers, three huge HD displays, and three Xbox 360s spinning a pre-release version of Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis. Turns out the game is no joke and that Rockstar's serious about seeing that the game sees the exposure they believe it deserves.
Rockstar presents Grand Theft... Ping Pong?
It's been revealed unto us: the "unexpected" new 360 game that IGN promised to unveil is none other than... Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis! Yup. The bad boys behind Grand Theft Auto are intent on delivering a game experience that puts you inside the seedy, gritty world of underground table tennis... actually, it's not like that at all. Rockstar's Sam Houser says:"We wanted to create a sports game with the intensity of a fighting game and the sense of speed and control that would make playing it a more intense and more visceral experience than has previously been possible with sports games. It's not just about looking better, feeling better or animating better but about using the power of the hardware to make a game that engages with you on a different physical and emotional level."We knew they were working on a new franchise for the Xbox 360, but this isn't quite what we expected from them. Wait--franchise? There're going to be more than one. I can see it now: Table Tennis 2K7. The first version of Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis is due in May for a refreshing $39.99.[Thanks, Matt]
