Update 2! Grab a 1280 x 720 (40mb)
crisp High Definition preview video of the upcoming paddle game here!
Got it? Saw it? Ok, let's
discuss what we've seen so far trash it.
This game is selling itself on it's graphics. I think the models, minus the first lady with the dead eyes, look fantastic. But what is up with the stiff animation? By contrast, the close-up movements in the 5 year old
Dreamcast Virtua Tennis look superior. Maybe it's a combination of how VT blurred the background a little? I don't know. These paddlers are extremely jerky - as if feet were cemented in the ground. I desperately hope they tweak those motion captures before it ships. At least the models look brilliant. Just look at that Dreamcast video again - amazing how far game graphics have come in such a short time. The specular lighting on the sweat looks amazing. Hope they insert that "bullet time" feature in the gameplay so we can enjoy it. I hereby predict every studio under the sun will be all about hyperrealistic sweaty boobies in 2007 - mark my words.
Update 1!
In 2000 this was hyper realism....

Look how far we've come in five years...
Kotaku just posted some
very shiny screenshots and a movie of the most anticipated paddle game since Pong. Do you see the sweat patches on this guy? If that is an actual effect and not just a character skin, i say WHOA. Looking at this and the recent games published by EA Sports, it appears all next-gen video game characters enjoy being convered in Crisco.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE: ROCKSTAR PADDLESHIT: NOT A JOKE?
Joystiq has the scoop on Rockstar's upcoming violent table table tennis game, set in the city of San Dimas. The game definately looks next gen - but I'll let them do all that fancy shadow-pixel-jello talk. In this urban third person brawler, you grimmace and grunt at opponents, hurling little rubber projectiles at them TILL THEY DIE! Or paddle back. Fack the poh-lice.
RockStar Table Tennis 40mm