I have seen the future of video games, and it is ping pong. That's not a complicated metaphor, or even a metaphor at all. I literally mean ping pong, as in table tennis. More specifically, I mean Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis, which just came out for the Nintendo Wii.

The biggest game for this Christmas season is Halo 3, the latest incarnation of Microsoft's science fiction shooter. And the critical favorite will almost certainly be Bioshock, a thinking-person's shooter set in the art deco ruins of an underwater utopian community gone to seed. Both feature gorgeous graphics, complex controls, and convoluted backstories that make Heroes look simple. And they have absolutely nothing in common with Table Tennis, which I think could become a surprise hit.

Table Tennis, a version of which came out last year for the Xbox 360, is just that — nothing more. The graphics have great detail, but you can't see much more than yourself and the player across the table. The controls involve waving the "Wiimote" in a way that takes a minute to learn and, it seems, hours to master. There is no story, and the only unusual-looking character is a practice robot that serves up shots like a pitching machine. Unlike Halo, which has generated Hollywood interest and spawned a spin-off comic, it's hard to imagine this even generating a sequel.

And that's what's great about it. At a time when video games have become complicated enough to frighten off the uninitiated, this is simple enough for anyone to pick up and play. Like ping pong itself, it won't get boring for those who can find worthy opponents. And the game is made with a certain amount of artistry, for those who take their simplicity seriously: The movements look real and the spin physics are realistic.

What's ironic is that the game is made by Rockstar, the developers of the Grand Theft Auto titles, among the most complicated video games around. In those games, players can do almost anything they wish, from killing a cop to driving an ambulance. Here there's really not much to do at all; the entire virtual world consists of a green table with a net. As in real world ping pong, there's only so much to do. But I bet I'm going to waste quite a few enjoyable hours this winter doing it.