---
title: 'The Best Sports Game Nobody Played'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=7cMc4M5QJvM'
video_id: '7cMc4M5QJvM'
date: 2026-07-01
duration_sec: 1529
---

# The Best Sports Game Nobody Played

> Source: [The Best Sports Game Nobody Played](https://youtube.com/watch?v=7cMc4M5QJvM)

## Summary

The video explores Rockstar Table Tennis, a surprisingly high-quality table tennis simulation released by Rockstar Games in 2006. Despite being overshadowed by the company's controversial hits like GTA, this E-rated game showcased advanced physics and animations, serving as a tech demo for the RAGE engine. The creator shares his personal journey to beat the game on expert difficulty and calls for more players to join the online community.

### Key Points

- **Setting the Scene: 2006** [0:00] — The year is 2006, the seventh generation of gaming has begun with Xbox 360. Rockstar Games is at its peak with GTA San Andreas, which became the best-selling PS2 game.
- **Hot Coffee Controversy** [0:52] — A hidden mini-game (Hot Coffee) was found in GTA San Andreas, causing the ESRB to re-rate it AO (Adults Only). Stores pulled the game, and Rockstar patched it out to get an M rating back.
- **Rockstar's Surprise: Table Tennis** [2:36] — In 2006, Rockstar released a rated E table tennis game, shocking fans expecting another controversial title. It was developed by Rockstar San Diego, known for Midnight Club, and later Red Dead Redemption.
- **Not a Joke: Serious Simulation** [3:38] — The game is a full simulation with detailed ball physics, cloth/hair physics, impressive animations, satisfying audio, and a techno/house soundtrack. It was built on the Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE).
- **Gameplay Mechanics** [6:40] — Controls: left stick moves athlete, right stick controls paddle and spin. Charge shots by holding direction, aim with left stick. Focus meter fills for faster/accurate shots; manual focus shot with right bumper.
- **Criticism: Lack of Content** [10:01] — Reviewers noted the $40 price tag offered only exhibition matches, tournaments, and online play. The game does one thing exceptionally well but lacks variety.
- **Wii Port Issues** [10:28] — The Wii version automated movement and used imprecise motion controls, losing the core experience of the 360 version.
- **The Expert Challenge** [13:20] — The creator attempts to beat the expert tournament using Yesper, a tall Swedish character with high power. He relies on a guide from TrueAchievements.com for an ace serve exploit.
- **Ace Serve Technique** [15:20] — To serve an ace: position Yesper 4/5 steps right, 1/2 steps back. Load the black bar to max on the third time, then up-down pattern four times, aim left. Works on most opponents.
- **Final Boss: Jurgen** [20:02] — After defeating Mark, the creator faces Jurgen. He initially uses the ace serve but then decides to win without it, relying on skill and determination.
- **Victory and Call to Play** [23:46] — The creator beats the expert tournament and celebrates by playing online with his friend Cameron. He announces live streaming events on April 18 and May 2, urging viewers to join.

### Conclusion

Rockstar Table Tennis is a forgotten gem that delivers a pure, satisfying sports experience. The video is both a nostalgic tribute and a plea for more players to revive its online community.

## Transcript

The year
is 2006.
Bye-bye. Hello and welcome to my kitchen
where it is 2006. The Xbox 360 just
dropped in the seventh generation of
gaming has officially begun. Ah, but
when it comes to the previous
generation, one company could easily be
crowned as the titan of the industry,
releasing hit after hit after hit. That
company's name, Mad Cats Games. Just
kidding. Rockstar Games. And their
biggest hit, Grand Theft Auto San
Andreas. A critically acclaimed boundary
pushing cultural juggernaut that
eventually became the bestselling PS2
game of all time by like a lot. And then
CJ was modded into every game ever made
every time as well.
>> All right.
>> But San Andreas was also a magnet for
controversy. Video game violence
naysayers would be the least of
Rockstar's concerns. Once a secret s
I'm spelling it out because my small dog
is in the kitchen right now. Miniame was
found buried in the game's files known
as the hot coffee mod. This shocking
news caused the game's rating to be
re-evaluated by the ESRB to AO, adults
only. I'm spelling it out cuz my dog is
afraid of adults, forcing stores to pull
the game off shelves or keeping it, but
with a slapped-on AO rating sticker. You
can actually still find these online,
but they are NOT CHEAP.
Rockstar would patch this stuff out and
quickly get an M-rated version back on
store shelves, but the reputational
damage was already done. Between the
already controversial violence present
in the GTA games, edgy releases like
Manhunt, and now you're telling me
there's an SSX tricky miniame, Rockstar
was quickly becoming the coolest company
in the world. At least according to
Little Brothers Everywhere, Daily
Magazine Global. Please let me watch you
play. I'm going to need to see that
game. I know you're saying it's not good
for me, but I know it is. I know it's
good for me, and I need it inside of me.
I need it in my blood. I It's good for
my livers. It's good for my eyes. So
anyways, 2006, dawn of the seventh gen,
and everyone is waiting with baited
breath
>> to see how Rockstar, notorious bad boy
billionaire, is going to push the
controversial boundary this time. Let's
see.
Okay,
but
Timothy Shal wasn't even born yet.
I remember being a beautiful,
precocious, gorgeous baby boy, waltzing
into GameStop in the mall, seeing this
game on display,
and just waiting for some sort of
punchline. Was Rockstar seriously making
a rated E game about table tennis? To my
knowledge, this is the only game ever
developed by Rockstar to receive an E
rating and one of only three games ever
published by Rockstar to get an E.
Accompanied, of course, by Monster Truck
Madness 64 and Earthworm Gym 3D, also
known as The Thinking Man's Blunt
Rotation. Many people at the time
theorized that table tennis was a joke,
only made as a big FU to anyone who
criticized Rockstar in their frequent
reliance on all things controversial.
Just listen to this quote from lead
designer Benjamin Johnson regarding the
game's reveal to the public.
>> It was bizarre seeing people sit down
and hold a controller and they're like
they're waiting on somebody to run out
from the crowd and mug me or mug one of
the characters. I'm like, "No, dude.
It's just a table tennis game. Chill the
[ __ ] out."
>> But years later in like 2012, pre-apoc
apocalyptic events, obviously, I found
this game in a bargain bin at Shopco,
which yes, has a K in it. But unlike GTA
or Shopco, table tennis does not have a
K47
anywhere to be seen or anything
satirical or violent or controversial
whatsoever. No flying cars cheat this
time, Mom. Don't worry, the minivan is
got all toes all toes down in the
garage. You're okay. And once I actually
played this game, I realized that maybe
the punchline wasn't this game's
existence, but that Rockstar was dead
serious about making the best table
tennis game this side of my kitchen has
ever seen. Many at the time wrote off
this $40 disc as a glorified tech demo
for Rockstar's new Rockstar Advanced
Game Engine, aka Rage, intrigued only by
the concept of what a theoretical GTA in
HD might look like. But Rockstar said,
"No, no, no. This is not some half-ass
demo. This is a fullon table tennis
simulation with detailed ball physics
and cloth physics and hair physics and
some of the most impressive animations
and models ever seen at the time that
somehow still hold up 20 years later.
All accompanied by supremely satisfying
audio design and an incredible selection
of like techno and house music that is
all in service to put you into a peak
rallyinduced flow state. Table Tennis
was developed by Rockstar San Diego, who
was really only known for the Midnight
Club series, but would go on to make a
little game called Red Dead Redemption.
So, Table Tennis is really kind of the
progenitor for all of Rockstar's biggest
games. Oh, you love how beautifully
rendered Arthur Morgan is as he emotes
across the American frontier. Lu Ping
slammed so that Arthur Morgan could ham
it up and chinwag with every single
person he meets. I talked to every
single person in the video game world
and not a lot of people in real life,
you know? I told my therapist that one
time and all he said was, "Chad, this is
soing sad. Use code therapist for your
first $500 deposit on gamble, gamble,
gamble gamble gamble gamble gamble
game. The title of this video is
obviously a bit hyperbolic, but be
honest with me for a second, Twitch
chat. Have you ever played this game?
Have you ever even heard of this game?
Or are you per chance some sort of
uncultured toad uh specimen? If the
answer to any of those is no, or I guess
yes, can I please teach you how to play
this game so that someone other than me
and my friend Cameron are playing it
online? We literally only match with
each other when we play online. Cuz yes,
you could still play it online. Please
play with us.
Wait, why are you saying no? It's
It's cuz the It's cuz the toad thing.
It's cuz I literally called you a toad
specimen like 5 seconds ago. That's on
me and I hope to gain your trust back.
Honestly, I I'm I'm a I'm a straight
shooter. I call it like it is. I call
you a toad specimen. You don't play the
game with me. And I accept that. And I
think honestly if we use code therapist,
we can 10x skate
is not this game. But it is a game I
imagine a lot more of you have actually
played. Well, you know how in skate the
left stick controls your guy and the
right stick controls your board? Table
tennis is kind of like that except the
board is your paddle. And well, you
don't have a T-Mobile sidekick or P-
rod, but you know what? You do have
gratitude for your existence. The
direction of the right stick will
dictate the type of spin you apply to
the ball. Uh the color correlating to
the corresponding face buttons aby,
which you can also use if you prefer to
spell. Once the ball is heading your
way, you can begin holding a direction
to start charging the power of your
shot. Once you begin charging, the left
stick no longer controls your athlete,
but controls the direction of the ball,
both left to right and also distance
from the net. As you are aiming the
ball, the controller will begin to
vibrate and will vibrate more violently
the closer you are to the edge of the
table or the net. As you successfully
charge shots, your focus meter will
begin to fill. Once full, you will
automatically enter full focus mode,
where your shots become faster and more
accurate. You can also manually consume
some of your bar by holding right bumper
and doing a focus shot, which helps if
you're trying to make a really desperate
save, or if you just really want to slam
that thing with a lot of accuracy and
speed. Service starts quietly, but as
the rally builds, the music fades in.
And if both competitors reach max focus,
the lights dim and the sounds begin to
echo. This, my anonymous viewer, is
Rockstar Table Tennis.
The first time you successfully slam
that ball to the edge of the table and
make it spin off into the cosmos after a
long rally, you will understand why this
game is so beloved by those who have
chosen to serve. But mostly just me and
Cameron.
Yeah, I just hacked into this video. You
know how? because my client here wasn't
using a VPN to protect his IP address.
Hi, I'm Jakey. Jakey and Jinky,
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let's get back to the worldwide uh debut
of the featurelength film Jardy [ __ ]
Many reviewers at the time, even those
who loved the gameplay, criticized the
game for a lack of content given the $40
price tag. And honestly, I think that's
pretty fair. You can do exhibition
matches. You can do tournaments of
varying difficulty. You could play
online when people were actually
playing. Please play with me. That's it.
Much like me, struggling to maintain eye
contact with the barista as I order my
coffee, table tennis does one thing, but
it does that one thing exceptionally
well.
Every time without fail. Table tennis
was eventually ported to the Wii as
well, which I know sounds great in
theory, but I think it practically loses
everything that makes this game so
special and unique. With the default
control scheme, your movement is
automated. And because the regular Wii
remote motion sensing isn't very
advanced, you flick in the general
direction of the table you want the ball
to go in, but you control the spin by
holding a direction on the D-pad. You
can connect a nunchuk to control your
athlete and guide your shots, but like
at that point, why would you opt to
shake plastic and look at ugly graphics
when the 360 version is literally right
there? I can literally see it. It's like
peeking around the corner like it's
doing some sort of stealth mission. Why
is Why is it set up like that? In an age
where so many games are trying to have
hundreds of hours of bloated gameplay
and every possible mechanic thrown into
the kitchen sink. Shout out to my
kitchen sink. Often resulting in just
being kind of like a jack of all trades
situation. Yes, I am referring to
Crimson Desert, which I will probably be
making a video about on my second
channel, Ball Creative. If you don't
know, we're over there. We're doing
unscripted reviews. We're doing live
streams. Please stop by. Please clap.
It's really refreshing to return to
something so simple yet instantly
engaging. It's a type of sports game
that is unfortunately super uncommon
nowadays with these copypaste
microtransaction milk you for every
penny inside of your body annual
franchises. It's a game made with sauce.
The way the replays look, the little
emotes and unique personalities of each
character, the way the game slows down
cinematically for the focus shots, the
way that back sweat slowly accumulates
after intense rallies or me when I'm
recording a video in a small hot room. I
mean, for Chris sakes, the manual has a
history of table tennis in it along with
expanded details on every character's
strengths and weaknesses. Just imagine
if another revered AAA developer made a
conventional sports game. Like imagine
if Naughty Dog's next big game was a
basketball simulation, but it had all
the same production value and acting and
writing that they're known for and like
an actually good story in its campaign.
I would be over the moon to play a
sports game like that. Another thing
about Table Tennis that I failed to
mention yet is that it gets pretty damn
hard. Like back when I used to play this
game in high school, I could sometimes
beat the CPU on hard difficulty, but
expert, hell no, dude. These freaks are
streamers. But this time, I'm not a
17-year-old with back zits and a
beautiful smile and the heart of a
gentle hustler. I'm a 31-year-old with
back sits and a beautiful smile in the
heart of a gentle hustler. And I am
determined to beat this game on expert.
This isn't just a video about Rockstar
table tennis. This is a video about me
trying to beat Rockstar table tennis.
Tournaments are very arcadey and that
you have to win two games to 11, but
even if you lose, you can just rematch
that same opponent like hitting a
continue in Street Fighter. In order to
play expert, I first had to complete the
hard tournament. My athlete of choice,
Yesper, is a gorgeously tall Swedish man
with a wide reach and the highest power
rating in the game. Remind you of anyone
you know? Yesper's other stats are all
pretty much ass, but his primary
strength is his forehand top spin slams.
So, this basically means my tactic most
of the time is to just hit the ball as
hard as I possibly can. I breeze through
the first few opponents, experiencing
some really fun rallies along the way.
This game is so good. But my first real
hurdle was Slayan. Oh my god, his
backhand top spin is so crazy. His
serves are diabolical and his reactions
were so much faster than anything else I
had experienced.
Oh my god, he's so fast. It was
abundantly clear at this point that my
power level was nowhere near expert and
I needed all the help I could get.
Unfortunately, because apparently nobody
plays this game anymore, my resources
were pretty slim. But I did happen to
find an extremely comprehensive guide on
a familiar website. Where's our table
tennis general hints and tennis? True
true achievements.com.
>> Trueievements.com.
>> True achievements.com. Even when I was
down, True Achievements picked me right
back up. When I had no one else, TA was
there. Dude, I might love TA. I might
get TA tatted on my [ __ ] This detailed
guide not only broke down every
character, but exposed me to something
that my brittle, inexperienced,
juvenile gamer brain had had never even
thought about. Serving an ace. How to
serve an ace. Yesper. Standard position.
Four/5 steps on the right. One/2 steps
back. Load the black bar to when it hits
the max for the third time. Up down. Up
down. Up down. One, two, three, four.
One two.
Aim to the left.
Okay, it wasn't quite max charge.
No,
>> I did feel somewhat conflicted about
using this exploit, but also this kind
of reminded me of the first time I
played Dark Souls where I was just like,
listen, man, I'm taking whatever help I
can get. I'm using the best weapons. I'm
duping Souls. We can leave the gamer
pride for the other runs. I just want to
get to the end of this thing. However,
at least with Yesper, the service ace
didn't always work against every
opponent every time. Such as Kumi, who
was sometimes able to hit it back, so I
had to stay on my sweetest toes. I had a
nice comeback during a close first game,
but then I did this.
Yes sir.
>> Followed by a stomp in game two with
this psycho finishing blow.
>> Sweden takes the match. Young Su
couldn't handle the ace. Jurgen wasn't
much different. Hard tournament
completed largely due to the help of
sensei trueachchievements.com.
But now it was time for the main event.
I faced Lu Ping first which meant he was
way easier and the ace worked and I just
destroyed him. Haley was next and got
completely destroyed as well as did
Luke. And then I was thinking like man
maybe this isn't going to be so bad
after all. Even Sleman, my rival in the
hard tournament, was surprisingly easy
on expert in large part due to the A
serve actually consistently working. But
I was also consistently working him even
during his serves. I was growing
stronger, more resilient. My gamer body
was becoming one with the table.
All
right. I got to tell you something,
Daddy. All right? It's not intended to
be me. I have a purpose. You don't. And
if you think that's some sort of
blessing, it's not. It puts me at a huge
life disadvantage. It means I have an
obligation to see a very specific thing
through. And with that obligation comes
sacrifice. Okay? My life is the product
of all of the choices I've had to make.
Your life is the product. I don't even
know what your life is the product of.
You're just kind of making it up as you
go along because that's the kind of dog
you are. That's not the kind of person I
am. Okay. Carmen got freaking
annihilated 11 to1 twice. Two times in a
row. RETIRE. RETIRE. RETIRE. RETIRE.
CASSIDY. BRO, are you guys sure you're
experts? Young Su was more of what I
expected. He beat my giant Swedish ass
into the ground two games in a row.
Young Su required such a specific spot
on the serve meter for the ace to work
that after many failed attempts, I
eventually just gave up on doing it and
decided to beat him the oldfashioned
way. using my most valuable asset, my
gaming mind.
Nice. Game two required a crazy
comeback, and brother, I aimed to meet
the PC requirements to run this
comeback. This was by far the most
intense game of table tennis I had
played up until this point.
Let's go. Allow me to introduce you to
Mark, the second to last boss in the
expert tournament. That may as well have
been the final boss. The ace serve just
straight up does not work on Mark, no
matter what you do. But you know what
does work? Me. Except not really,
because I threw the first game by
hitting it into the net and had to
immediately drogue to diffuse my
burning intense fiery passionate
gamer rage. Game two went to OT and I
pushed that tiny white ball to the
absolute freaking edges of the earth.
Game three was like when Trunks
teleported out of nowhere and just cut
Frieza in half. I was operating on a
higher plane of existence. I knew what
Mark was going to do before he even did.
I was becoming a fully sentient table
tennis warrior.
Let's go. Jurgen, the final boss.
Everything led me to this moment. And I
took game one very quickly because the
ace serve worked without fail and it
felt very antilimactic. So I says to
myself, I says, "You know what? No, I do
have gamer pride." And that sounds like
something racist, but that's not what I
mean. I got to do this without using the
power invested in true achievements.com.
I got to do this using the greatest
resource of all, combining my gamer
hands with my gamer mind, and using my
gamer heart. Game two, unfortunately,
was Jurgen City because my safety
blanket of the ace serve was no longer
there and I needed to adapt fast. My
blade was sharp, but his steel was
sharper, more agile, more rare jewels
encrusted into the handle. But my gamer
heart was resilient. And everybody knows
when gamers are down, say it with me,
chat, they don't stay down. Horses don't
stop. And I don't stop either.
match point. I had run away with a hefty
lead. A lead that unfortunately was
starting to slip through my hands.
I just needed to lock in. I needed my
gamer heart to work in perfect harmony
with my gamer vessel, my beautiful,
brave warrior, Yesper. I needed us to
connect like when the tails infuse when
they're doing it in Avatar. But could I
do it?
>> Sweden wins the match.
>> I had done it. I had conquered a beast.
that 17-year-old me couldn't even dream
of. 17-year-old me could barely read the
name tags. And to celebrate, I played
online with the only other living
competitor still playing this game, my
friend Cameron. And we had an absolute
blast. Which brings me to the whole
inspiration for making this video.
Please play with us. On April 18th,
which is tomorrow if you're watching
this video the day it came out, and May
2nd, I will be playing this game from 1
to 5:00 p.m. roughly, EST, and live
streaming it on the Ball Creative second
channel. If you go to player match and
choose time tournament, you will very
likely be able to join one of the eight
player lobbies that I will be running
where it's a roundroin tournament, I
think, to like games of five. But even
if you can't join, you should be able to
spectate because that's a thing. I don't
know. I haven't been able to test it cuz
no one's playing. Apparently, there's
voice chat if you have an Xbox headset.
That is likely going to be really
problematic, but probably really funny.
I'm going to try to get my headset
working for that. So, please play with
us if you want if you can. I'm pretty
sure it's really cheap on the store.
Thank you so much for watching my video.
I love to make a video like this. I am
having fun this year. I making more
stuff more often. We are not existential
crisising anymore. Anyways, I hope to
see you over on Ball Creative for the
table tennis tournaments and I hope that
you're springing into spring and that
you are filled with gratitude and love
in your heart. Be well. Uh, farewell
from 2006.