Rockstar Games and publisher Take-Two — makers of the classic GTA series, the inspired The Warriors adaptation from last year, and several other gems — hosted a party/marketing event/tournament on Friday night to promote their newest game, the Xbox 360 exclusive (or “scloosy,” as those of us pretending to be in the know like to call it), Table Tennis. KFR and friends (including me, Andrew, Tammy, Devin, Melanie, and Allen) scored invites, and had a great time; Take-Two and Rockstar held the shindig in a loft in lower Manhattan, complete with three Xbox 360s hooked up to flat panel HDTVs, supplied lots and lots of beer and pizza, and gave away some sweet Rockstar-branded wristbands and T-shirts. We met fellow gamers, talked with the great dudes from Take-Two and Rockstar, and all lost to girls in the tournament (maybe not so big a deal for Tammy and Melanie, but for the rest of us, our egos are currently somewhere between wounded and vaporized). Like I said, a great time — details below!

First things first: the game itself. Table Tennis has stunning graphics, amazing ball physics, and a relatively quick learning curve. But what struck me most was the game’s joyful, old-school pass-the-joystick-around vibe. This is not to say that Table Tennis is Pong with updated graphics, as some ignorant critics have claimed; in fact, with the various spins and combos you can perform, the game has a surprisingly deep yet easy-to-learn control scheme. But Table Tennis achieves a pure sense of fun that is rare in today’s games. Highly recommended.

The first couple of hours consisted of beer, food, talking, and practice. Kudos to Rockstar’s and Take-Two’s marketing team; at no point did this feel like a corporate event. It felt like a genuine party. Word to Nintendo: events like this would work amazingly well with Wii and its motion-sensing controller. You can put KFR on the invite list right now.

Finally, the single elmination tournament began. Two of us made it to the second round (including Tammy, who really enjoyed the game, and played amazingly well for a non-gamer), but we were all eventually eliminated by girls. A testament to our suckiness at videogames, or the universal appeal and intuitive controls of Table Tennis? It’s debatable. Either way, great game. Thanks once again to Take-Two/Rockstar! More pictures after the jump!

Some hot “Table Tennis” action.

Devin’s shades failed to intimidate the competition. But he did look cool.

In addition to all the gaming goodness, I even got to meet ELO mastermind Jeff Lynne, my musical hero!

Even the losers get lucky sometimes! Or not.

Spread the word!