Nintendo Wii Fanboy

This week, plenty of games are waiting for eager new players to pick them up and save them from the boring life of sitting on some store's shelf. The most notable title for us is the latest entry in the Tony Hawk franchise, Proving Ground. It's a return to the roots of the franchise and nothing like Downhill Jam. We can't wait to see how it plays on the Wii.

Releases for the week of October 15th are:

• Tony Hawk's Proving Ground
• Guilty Gear XX Accent Core
• Mercury Meltdown: Revolution
• Rockstar Games Table Tennis
• Avatar: The Burning Earth
• Backyard Football
• Legend of Spyro: Eternal Night
• Victorious Boxers

By now, we should have learned never to expect online multiplayer, or really, any online capabilities at all in Wii games, and yet still we hope. Is an online tennis-type sports game too much to ask for? Apparently, yes; Rockstar has confirmed that their Wii version of Table Tennis will not feature online multiplayer.

So what gives? Why is Rockstar's Table Tennis port lacking the online mode that graced Xbox Live? "All the focus is going into making it the most advanced control system on the Wii," said Rockstar reps, in what has to be the most disappointing explanation of the month. It's not like the two are mutually exclusive. The real question here is who's at fault -- Nintendo or Rockstar? -- but we may never know if it's the Wii's basic online infrastructure or lazy developers looking to put out ports as quickly as possible and using controls and "family-oriented" play as an excuse to avoid extra work.

The upcoming Top Spin Tennis doesn't look like it's set to feature online play, either; every time we see the game mentioned, the focus is on that "family-oriented" play, which, in our experiences, means forget connecting with anyone outside your home. We may be waiting a long time to take some sort of tennis or table tennis game online at this rate.

Well, these screens certainly pick us up, considering we were downright appalled at the first footage of the game. Now, these screens, well they tell a very different story. From a graphical standpoint, we are very much digging what we see, but with a game like this, until we can get it into our hands and give it a good play, we won't know either way.

Still, we're excited again!

See also: Table Tennis motion sensing explained

When I played Rockstar's Table Tennis at PAX, I had a really difficult time seeing the relation between my actions and what was happening on the screen. Sure, if I moved the Wiimote, the paddle would move (most of the time), but the direction or speed of swinging didn't seem to matter as much as the d-pad-based spin controls (which mattered in that they made the ball a different color). I kind of assumed that the game really didn't take the specifics of my motions in account, rather using the swing as a trigger for a canned "swing" action.

Apparently, that's not true. Rockstar sent Wired's Chris Kohler details about the control schemes, and apparently your Wiimote movements do affect your shots like you would expect; as in, you can actually aim your swing and position the ball. This is true even in the mode in which ball placement is mapped to the joystick. In fact, the Wiimote controls are the same in all three control schemes, meaning that it would be fairly easy to try the others once you've gotten used to one. I like that; it adds a little bit of choice and replayability to the game.

At this point, I feel like my problems with the controls may be partially due to their newness and to the venue in which I was introduced to them. I'm not entirely convinced that they aren't just nuts, but I'm at least interested in giving the game another chance in a location that isn't full of the din of hundreds of World of Warcraft CCG games and virtuoso Rock Band performances.

There were some mixed opinions on the look of the port of Rockstar's Table Tennis for the Wii, but it's likely we all hoped for a good game, regardless of looks. Unfortunately, from our own JC Fletcher's impressions at PAX, it looks like we're not even getting that. Instead of something that builds on the smooth controls of a game like Wii Sports, Table Tennis sounds like a nightmare. Like us, were you hoping for something better, or were you expecting a less-than-optimal port experience? Or, just to make sure all bases are covered -- does the complicated control scheme actually seem appealing to you? After all, different gamers prefer different things.

The first gameplay trailer for Table Tennis on the Wii has made its way out of Leipzig and boy does it look ... well, it looks bad. Seriously, the difference in graphics between the Xbox 360 and the Wii versions are huge. That's not to say the game doesn't look like a fun time to us. It's the opposite, actually, as we know in our heart of hearts that the game will be all kinds of fun, but come on. We know the Wii can push better graphics than this.

Judge for yourself by checking out the trailer past the post break.

It's been little under a month since the official announcement that Rockstar would be bringing its budget Xbox 360 title Table Tennis to the Wii. That, of course, has made us very sad bloggers, as if there is any game deserving a port to the Wii, it's this one. Seriously, we can't wait to ping pong it up (if only we had confirmation of Wi-Fi compatibility).

Now, word comes that Rockstar will be at the Leipzig Games Convention to unveil the next installment in their Midnight Club franchise and, more importantly, show off the Wii version of Table Tennis. Until then, we'll just have to wait it out until some video manages to find its way onto the net or Rockstar dishes out a press release confirming the inclusion of Wi-Fi.

In a move that just makes good sense, Take-Two announced that the (previously) Xbox 360 exclusive title, Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis, is heading to the Wii at last. It was rumored that the game may be making its way to Nintendo's latest, but now that we have confirmation, it's time to get out the paddles and start working on that signature smash.

If you played the original, then you know as well as we do that this was a pretty slick game on the 360. We can only hope that Rockstar is going to be among the first of the third parties to get in there and show everyone just what the Wii can do, graphics-wise. Someone needs to, because with the exception of the upcoming Big Three from Nintendo, most third-party titles tend to be hovering around GameCube level, and we know the Wii can do more than that.

No real details are yet available on the game -- not even so much as a screenshot -- but Take-Two promises we'll be getting our table tennis on this fall, and the game will utilize motion controls.

[Via Joystiq; also, thanks, Brian!]

The rumor mill is at it again, churning out log after log of potentially possible prospects in the gaming world. The latest of which is the rumor that Rockstar is planning on bringing its Table Tennis game to the Wii. While we'd agree that the gameplay of said title would suit the console's control scheme perfectly, along with Rockstar's recent support of Nintendo by bringing Manhunt 2 over to the Wii (lending a bit of credibility to the rumor), we believe a couple of things will ultimately get in the way of this happening.

But that's not to say we don't want it to happen, we just don't think it will. First of all, the game runs on the RAGE engine (which also powers the upcoming Grand Theft Auto IV), allowing for some spiffy high-res graphics. Toning them down would turn this already beautiful game into something a lot less appealing to the eye. Of course, that isn't the end of the world, but asking consumers to pay near the same price for it on the Wii with sub-par graphics and new controls might be a problem.

We do think the controls would be superior on the Wii, however. They could map the face buttons of the 360 controller onto the d-pad of the Wiimote and use the B trigger to control your Focus shots, which would feel smooth and natural. But, in changing the control scheme to such a set-up, we have a feeling we'd get pretty tired playing a match on the Wii (and the nunchuk cord could possible get in the way). Regularly, points can get up to 70-80 volleys between opponents before they are rewarded.

And what about that nunchuk? You need it, otherwise Rockstar would be turning Table Tennis into a slicker-looking Wii Sports: Tennis as the game would control the movements of your character, increasing the potential for even higher volleys per point. How do you guys feel about the possibility of this game coming to the Wii?

[Via Go Nintendo]

Take-Two Interactive has been in the news a lot lately. We've seen everything from trailers for GTA IV and the company's very public floundering, but it's the latest that's of particular note to Nintendo fans: Take-Two has stated, quite firmly, that they are committed to producing games for Nintendo.

Great! Welcome aboard the good ship Nintendo, where we welcome third party developers. But what will you bring us? Chairman Strauss Zelnick keeps stressing Grand Theft Auto -- even to calling it the company's "James Bond," but will we see a GTA on the Wii? We want specifics! Manhunt 2 isn't enough. If we can't get an original new gen game of our own, what about a port of Rockstar's Table Tennis? That's one port we might not complain about. Anything else you'd like to see Take-Two turn out?

It must be video day around here. This time, it's snippets from Wii Play, courtesy of IGN, where they have a load of new movies from the successor to Wii Sports. We've included two after the jump -- the crazy cow racing and a somewhat lackuster round of table tennis. We're really dying to see a good long volley, but it looks like we may have to wait until Wii Play is nestled in our own Wii. Oh well! Until then ... videos! Check 'em out after the jump.