Devil's Advocate

I'm really surprised that people like this game. I played it recently and pretty much thought it was horrible. Here's why:

1) the gameplay gets really old really fast. Since this is TABLE tennis, there's not a whole lot of movement necessary and just couldn't imagine playing for hours on end.

2)Characters. I thought they looked goofy. The graphics are good but something doesn't look right.

3)Character movement. Why must the character move only in lateral jumps of 3 feet? The table is only 5 feet wide man.

4)Being a person that owns a ping pong table, I just couldn't stand playing a game on the TV that I could actually play. If you actually play ping pon, I don't know how you can think that this is an accurate simulation.

This is just my opinion. I didn't play the game long so maybe I didn't give it enough time, but those who play video games frequently enough know that within the first 30 minutes, if you can't find anything redeeming with the game, then the game is not for you. This game was not for me.

Hmmm, well I think the SOCOM series are and continue to be the best games on the market. The multiplayer is absolutely the best online experience I have ever had, with all of the 3 games in the series. I've played Ghost Recon, even GRAW, and Rainbow Six. I've even done so with the glorious Xbox controller and yet those games sit and get dusty while I'm logging on to S3. I guess its not for everyone, but to me, it is hands down the absolutely best game out there.

The eight hour acheivement concerns me in that those whoe are overly concerned with Gamer points (and joystiq leads you to believe that everyone is) will just log in, and join a room and just walk away after they are tired. These types of games already suffer from those that aren't playing, are team killing and so forth. These achievements, while inane to begin with, may possibly proliferate these sort of unwanted behaviors.

I am a fan of the SOCOM series, and whilst I am still enjoying the gameplay in SOCOM 3, I have already begun to wonder what will come next for the franchise. That being said, I am not looking forward to a unified pay online system for the PS3. It is my personal opinion that XBOX Live sucks (please note that I was a member of the service for 2 yrs). I do not enjoy having one gamertag for all of my games, I don't like having to pay for online service. And I have preferred most PS2 Online servers for each game that I have attempted to use online, granted some were not as good as Xbox Live).
During each of the recent discussions regarding PS3 having a unified service, I have been concerned that this appears to be a popular idea. I have come to the conclusion that I am in the minority when it comes to my opinion regarding online services, but I can only wish that the PS3 does not continue the trend of constant surveillance and updates and patches that the genre seems to be heading.
With "advergaming" (a word I distinctly despise) and points systems to purchase maps and new items for gameplay, am I the only one concerned that the industry is progressing towards a state that it is becoming exceedingly more complicated and costly to sit down and play a video game?

Games that are intended to have a real ranking system are always faulted by one thing. The people at the top are always cheaters. Either they just straight up cheat, or use the intricacies of the system to "rank up" as fast as possible. When looking at the top 10 and seeing completely impossible scores, it discredits the entire system in my opinion.

What's up with that?

If its as buggy and poorly done as NHL 2K6 by Take-Two, then I want no part of it. I need my baseball games to be done well and Take-two has yet to impress in this arena.

Maybe this is a satirical piece on a satire. Ever thought of that?