Wii "Table Tennis" Will Make You Look Like This

When they're not busy making "Grand Theft Auto"s, "Manhunt"s and "Midnight Club"s, the fine folks at Rockstar Games are making games about Ping-Pong. And why not?

In May of 2006, with just a few weeks of build-up, the development company gave us "Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis" for the Xbox 360. At almost exactly the same time, the Wii had its coming out party at E3 and people around the world became enthralled with the idea of swinging a remote control as if it was a tennis racket. Perhaps that Wii thing and that Rockstar game should merge? This week, 16 months later, it finally does with the release of the game for the Wii.

Last week, Rockstar Games brought the Wii version to our office. People have seen the game in motion, but I didn't think people had seen much of the game's players in motion. What does it make you do? How does it differ from what you do when you control "Wii Sports" tennis?

Take a quick look at Multiplayer deisgner Gerald Flannory's attempt at the game:

So what did we learn from our session, aside from the fact that I stink at the game (not pictured, coincidentally)?As you can see, the "Wii Sports" wide arm-swings (or quick wrist-flicks, for you cheaters out there) don't apply. This game asks you to make jabs and stabs. This is because Rockstar's game is faster and because it requires you to flick in any of four directions (up-left, up-right, down-left, down-right) to place your shot in a different quadrant of your opponent's table. Spin is applied with the D-pad.Players can use the nunchuk if they so choose, applying spin with the thumb-stick in a configuration more akin to the 360 controls.Graphically the game is a step down from the 360 version, which was used to demo the graphics technology -- the RAGE engine --  that will power "Grand Theft Auto IV." (See the perfectly solid Wii verision here; see the showpiece 360 version here). A Rockstar rep told me that the Wii game is using a modified version of the engine -- maybe just bits and pieces. When I futiley tried to nail him down on what parts it uses, he heard my questions as "Does this mean 'GTAIV' could be done on the Wii?" That wasn't exactly what I was asking, because that's crazy-talk. I could get no specifics.

The original 360 version of the game was developed by Rockstar San Diego. This new one was made by Rockstar Leeds, the studio that most recently did the heavy lifting on the "GTA" games for the PSP. That means EA isn't the only company putting its PSP developers on the Wii. But unlike EA, this game doesn't appear to be co-developed for both Wii and PSP. At least, that's what Rockstar is telling us now. With a perennial like "Table Tennis," who knows what platform it will be on 16 months from now.

The game retails for $40.

Note that it is not just Rockstar's first game for the Wii (soon to be followed by "Manhunt 2" at the end of the month). It's also the first Rockstar game for a Nintendo home console since "Smuggler's Run: Warzones" hit the GameCube in 2002. Considering that "Smuggler's Run" was the only Rockstar GameCube game, the prospect of "Table Tennis," "Manhunt" and an announced Wii version of "Bully" amounts to a massive increase in development support from a company that has traditionally had very little to do with Nintendo products. Certainly, that's another testament to the Wii's stellar success.