Rockstar's balls make headlines, once again.

Not even the world's top futurists saw this coming: Just a few months into the life of the Xbox 360, the most powerful gaming console available, a video game version of ping pong has captured the attention of so many people. Table Tennis, published by Rockstar Games and developed by Rockstar San Diego, promises realistic virtual tennis in stunning graphical detail. You'll need an Xbox 360 to play it, and the retail price is $40, which is $20 below most other games.

The training mode might call to some players as the way to acquaint oneself with the basics, but this is ping pong. Pong, nearly. Please. Whether you go online or not immediately is one thing, but get into a match and you'll see that the promised feast for the eyes delivers. The players are animated far more smoothly than should be expected of a game with a lower-than-average price tag for a very new system. It might help that the transition of player positions from one shot to the next in ping pong has to be extremely fast, but regardless, the movement of the ball and those smacking it around is fantastic. It's smooth, fast and feels real.

Even though the table in table tennis isn't terribly big, being in the right place at the right time is still rule number one. The more time you give yourself to prepare for a shot by staying in position, the better. Proper position assures you'll have time to hold down the button for the shot you want, which cranks up the power and gives you a moment to aim. The difference is huge. It's the difference between placing a shot and just flailing away and trying to keep the ball on the other side of the net. If you've played tennis or table tennis, this will sound familiar. The game recreates this fundamental, crucial mechanic extremely well.

There are different buttons for different spins and shots (topspin, backspin, etc), but playing against the computer in either exhibition or tournament mode doesn't require the mastery of anything but hand and eye coordination and basic tennis strategy. If you choose to spread your time out among the eleven characters, who all have different levels of skill in areas like power, accuracy and spin, that's a different story. In that case, you'll do a lot better if you learn all the tricks available. But if you plan to go online - which is where the fun is - one or two buttons and some practice might be all you need for most hackers.

Table tennis usually goes one of two ways. If the match is between one good and one novice player (or two terrible players), the points will go fast unless the good player gets bored and wants to humor himself. But matches between two skilled players can have points that reach dozens of volleys. That's when the online game gets interesting. With each point, the sounds coming over the speakers get more and more tense. Those are the moments when Table Tennis really delivers.

Some games are shocking in their simplicity, and that's all there is. Some, like Table Tennis, seem simplistic on the surface but actually offer at least a few levels of play. At first, you hit the ball back and forth, just trying to make contact. Shortly, you're putting more and more oomph into each hit and changing locations to either bury your opponent in a corner or keep them running. But you're still, really, just waiting for someone to make a mistake. Sooner or later, you might find yourself playing on a whole different level. That's when you realize you're toying with the new kids, and you'll either feel cruel, accomplished or possibly both. These levels, it seems, are what made fighting games so popular. It's also what makes Table Tennis so good.

But, alas, the score above is what it is for a reason. A few reasons, actually. First, the game has no career mode. There's no way to start off as a young stiff and work your way up the ranks, adding skills and accomplishments along the way. Career mode is no longer a feature in sports games, it's a requirement. It's like forgetting to have someone bring the ball to practice - you're better off not showing up.

Almost as important as building a star from scratch is the opportunity to create a star. While the rest of you were thinking of creating the best Forest Gump clone you could imagine, some of us were looking forward to setting up a virtual Gary Shandling, wristband and all. (That's a reference for readers older than dirt, so don't hurt yourself Googling it, kids.) Alas, no create-a-player feature is available. It's not as bad as leaving out career mode, and we may forever be spoiled by the robust creation tools in Fight Night, but that's the way it is.

The lull of new releases after the big show every year seems to get harder and harder to take. This summer, Table Tennis is there to ease the pain. It's a lot of fun - a keeper - no doubt. But $60 games are still a new concept, so $40 doesn't feel like that much of a bargain. With a few more features, Table Tennis would have been a full-fledged addiction.