November 28, 2001

7:44 AM

I've been accused in the past of only posting serious news item type links - so just to prove that i'm no stick-in-the-mud here is a fun link. It requires shockwave plugins..... ladies and gentlemen i give you.... table tennis!! please enjoy this during work hours.
posted by Spoon (31 comments total)

fantastico. my workday is ruined.
posted by gwint at 7:55 AM on November 28, 2001

how do you beat those people?
posted by Danf at 7:58 AM on November 28, 2001

The first guy is easy. The second kicked my ass.
posted by jpoulos at 8:09 AM on November 28, 2001

Goddamn it, Spoon! I'm supposed to be looking for a job here!

Still getting my ass kicked by the German guy...
posted by BT at 8:19 AM on November 28, 2001

nothin like gettin spanked
posted by panopticon at 8:19 AM on November 28, 2001

waaaay cool. hard to control the spin on those side shots though.
posted by th3ph17 at 8:22 AM on November 28, 2001

I can't play the game in real life either.
posted by ZachsMind at 8:29 AM on November 28, 2001

This is a very cool game. I got Three points against the first guy.
posted by MaddCutty at 8:40 AM on November 28, 2001

i can beat the first guy...the next two school me, and the last one i can get about 12 points on....the difference in the play styles and how they react is pretty amazing. as in real life, i always lose it on the kill shots.
posted by th3ph17 at 8:40 AM on November 28, 2001

If you get fed up playing table tennis, you could always take out your frustrations on some soccer players. Not as fun as the table tennis link, but waaay more twisted.
posted by arco at 8:42 AM on November 28, 2001

15-Love at NetbabyWorld is another cool time waster (as are all the Netbaby games).
posted by ry at 8:52 AM on November 28, 2001

Once you get your timing down, you can beat all of them pretty easily with sharply-angled smashes. Just move your mouse forward really fast in a straight line as you make contact with the ball.

If you angle your serves just right, the opponent won't return them, either.
posted by MegoSteve at 8:55 AM on November 28, 2001

I was damn good at table tennis - you should get the chance to choose your play style, I play like number 3, none of that Euro style, chopstick style rocks :)

Beat em all upto the last guy - is it just me, or do you get some mad spins?

Whats everyone's favourite addictive game then? I just found an updated version of an old classic - kickups :)

Be frustrated at your malcoordination
posted by Mossy at 8:56 AM on November 28, 2001

Aaaaargh!!!!!! It has BSOD my computer, there goes all my work ;-((

Now, any suggestions for how I tell my boss my days work is gone? Other than 'The dog ate it' that is.
posted by iain at 8:57 AM on November 28, 2001

Does anyone else here notice that the more Socialism, the harder the opponent is? The Chinese and Swedish guys are really good.
posted by adampsyche at 9:04 AM on November 28, 2001

The Chinese and Swedish guys are really good.

That's because in real life, the two players with those names are really good.
posted by liam at 9:16 AM on November 28, 2001

shit, mossy! damn you for bringing kickups into this. i can resist any stupid flash game — shoot umbrellas at the chicks; wormy thing in the cavey thing; table tennis — none of these pose much threat to my productivity. but kickups, now that is deadly. (why?! it's so stupid. but i just can't stop.) oh, and don't forget 3-d pong.
posted by gassire at 10:45 AM on November 28, 2001

Woah.. 3d Pong... that's just crazy. (Crazy fast too).. :)
posted by Dav0xor at 11:19 AM on November 28, 2001

must... stop... kickup-ing...

must...


stop...


...



...one more game...
posted by jazon at 12:06 PM on November 28, 2001

I really like Snowbowling. (Blame Joel on Software for leading me to that one.)
posted by straight at 12:27 PM on November 28, 2001

just kicked the german guy's ass. Man, you can put some MAD english on that ball!
posted by xochi at 12:56 PM on November 28, 2001

Way of the Stick eats up some work hours.
posted by transient at 1:48 PM on November 28, 2001

It was 13-12 in the heated game with the Japanese guy. After several tries, I was winning! Then the phone rang and, to avoid stares, I had to answer it. Friggin' work, I HAD him!
posted by Tacodog at 2:27 PM on November 28, 2001

Agh, Swedish dude too good, the rest are not that hard.. (ego).

Because I wish to destroy all productivity (spite), here's the original kick-ups .exe file for your computer!

or here if it don't direct link..
posted by Mossy at 2:58 PM on November 28, 2001

it took me an hour but i finally beat all four guys...woohoo...

*hint: they don't like severe serve returns aimed at the corners.
posted by physics at 3:07 PM on November 28, 2001

Took me two hours:

21-10
21-10
21-15
21-15

That swedish bloke was a right pain..

* my hint: try to get the killer curve shot, a lil twitch of the mouse will do it..
posted by Mossy at 4:41 PM on November 28, 2001

The owner of the table tennis web site, Henning, did not create the game. He downloaded it from another company's site and posted it to his own.

At least he's honest about it.
posted by ktheory at 6:37 PM on November 28, 2001

wow, thanks so much, this has changed my life
posted by quarsan at 1:04 AM on November 29, 2001

Argh, it's gone!! Where will I go now?
posted by speicus at 8:29 AM on November 29, 2001

apparently the guy put up the table tennis game and it didn't belong to him. The folks who programmed it promise it's "coming soon" so I'd just keep an eye on Raketspel. They're also the ones who programmed Rally Trophy, (posted by dancu earlier today). There's some other fun stuff on their site as long as you can guess your way through the directions in Swedish.
posted by xochi at 11:15 AM on November 29, 2001

Alternatively, you could click the link for their English version of the site.
posted by etc. at 3:07 PM on November 29, 2001