Advantages: Great fun.
Disadvantages: Difficult to find a court, expensive.

...The game of real tennis is the same everywhere. The name given to the game differs in different countries. In Great Britain it is called Tennis or, to distinguish it from Lawn Tennis, Real Tennis or Royal Tennis. In the USA it is called Court Tennis: in France Jeu de Paume (hand ball): and in Australia Royal Tennis. The various names throw light on the development of the game. Tennis originated in France before the 12th century. The whole appearance of a tennis court is influenced by its origins. The first courts were to be found in courtyards immediately adjacent to a castle or in cloistered monastery quadrangles. Originally the players played with their hands (jeu de paume). Later they used gloves, then short bats to hit the ball. The game became very popular and in the 13th century it is said that there were as many as 1,800 courts... Read review

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Advantages: a really nice middle
Disadvantages: Kashmir Willow

...LOOKS This Bat in my view is one of the best looking bats around and has not got to much pictures on the bat like the Kookaburra angry beast. I think the blue and red go very well together and really look good. Even the grip fits in with the style having blue slashes on it done by "the beast". The beast itself is not overdone but it still noticeable from a distance. I think the fact that the wood is unbleached giving it a more white effect looks better for it's style than a darker wood. I love the looks because you can really show the bat off and not worry about being seen bating with it. POWER The middle on this bat is awesome you can hit a cricket ball miles and you really know when you have caught it right. As for the bat itself it is very forgiving of bad shots and has a lot of power. The bat has great power considering... Read review

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Advantages: All in opinion
Disadvantages: All in opinion

.... Equipment: *********** First and foremost you will need a table tennis bat – this can be very confusing as there are a wide variety to choose from. They come with different rubbers (smooth or pimples), also no bat has the same handle, they come in different shapes and designs. A good table tennis bat will set you back £25 -30 plus but there are cheaper ones out there. When buying a bat comfort is a must – its no good paying a lot of money on a bat if it doesn’t feel comfortable. You won’t be able to play properly and your technique will suffer. Table tennis balls are graded in quality from 1 to 3 stars. The three star balls are the best; they last longer and have a better bounce. One star balls crack and split easy. Playing table tennis in a tracksuit or any type of sport clothing is far better than playing in jeans or trousers (I have... Read review

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Advantages: An absolute classic album
Disadvantages: None

...Is it really thirty years since this album was originally released ?(well coming up for 29 to be precise becasue it was originally released on 21 October 1977). This is rightly rated as one of the greatest albums ever produced, and despite their only being seven tracks on the album, each of them is quite lengthy in nature. This is definitely a case of quality and quantity. If there is anybody out there who has never heard of Meatloaf, or have only grown up with the later stuff such as I'd do anything for love (but I won't do that) then you haven't lived. This is the ultimate in classic rock, and there really isn't a weak track on the album. Bat out of Hell is Meatloafs (aka Marvin Lee Aday) second album and by far his most successful. The artwork on the album cover is second to none and depicts a motorbike riding off like a bat... Read review

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Advantages: Great game for keepin the muscles in shape
Disadvantages: I'm too old to play now Grrr!

...My first memories of Table Tennis were in the late forties when I was given a Table Tennis set for Xmas. The large box contained a net and two fixing brackets, two balls and two bats, which, as it was just after the war, had something like sandpaper instead of the pimpled rubber that we get now. The opened out dining room table served pretty well as a “Ping Pong” table being about six feet long and three feet wide. It was under such conditions that I learned to play and love the game of Table Tennis. When it came to playing on a full size table many years later, the rainy days in the house playing Table Tennis and trying to emulate the great Johnny Leach, held me in good stead as I had learned the art of placing the ball just where I wanted to. On a small table you have to be careful or you keep losing points and matches... Read review

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Advantages: Full of classic songs, The man is superb
Disadvantages: Could have added a few more tracks maybe

...Oh well, I thought I would try my hand at writing a review about a music CD for once, I have avoided this, as although I like to listen to music, I seem to struggle actually writing opinions on it, I guess it down to my limited musical terms vocabulary or something DOH, so here goes. Meatloaf, you either love him or hate him, I personally love him (well not literary if you know what I mean), he has got to go down as one of the most expressive and hard-working rock legends out there, I mean have you ever seen him perform, the guy puts everything into it. Anyway, I have owned the “Bat out of Hell” CD for many a year, and have to say it is one of my all-time favourites, it was actually first released in the late 70’s but is absolutely age-less and every track is written the famous music writer, Jim Steinman, who has... Read review

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Advantages: Great fun and can keep you fit.
Disadvantages: None I can think of?

...to the now familiar bat. Table tennis became an Olympic sport in 1988, with singles and doubles competition for both men and women. =THE BAT= The bat has evolved over the years and now a wide variety of sponges and rubbers are available. Various rubbers can be used to change the characteristics of the bat. Be it fast, slow or intermediate, depending on your game style. The rules of the game state that one side of the bat should be red and the other black. This was changed because red used to donate a fast rubber and black a slow rubber. Now all rubbers come in black and red so you can’t get an advantage by knowing which rubber is being used. Blades, that the sponge and rubber are glued to come in different materials, from wood to carbon fibre. The blades have an effect on the speed of the bat... Read review

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Advantages: Great music and lyrics, well written and performed
Disadvantages: Songs tend to be a bit long

...While the Bay City Rollers have always been my favorite group, I love Meat Loaf too. I know these acts are so different from each other that it can be really hard to believe that anyone could like both. So go ahead and call me crazy. I don’t know if I can put my finger on any one quality that Meat Loaf has that I like about his music any more than I could about the Bay City Rollers. For me, it’s a combination of things. I like hard rock anyway, especially since some the best rock bands, like Heart, comes out of Seattle and I just live on the other side of the state in Spokane. But I digress. What I like about Meat Loaf is that he can be so hard rock in a song and in that same song do this about face and the song becomes slower, kind of tender and, well, sometimes almost loving. I particularly like Meat Loaf’s CD, Bat of Hell... Read review

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Advantages: graphics, easy to play, nice mini-games
Disadvantages: soundtrack, need more variety in shots

...The tennis games never had a real good title in the PC, and the only thing which came closer was Topspin. But Sega's Virtua Tennis 3 has managed to look better than Topspin 2 in a number of aspects. I could never actually stop playing this game from the day I started and finished this game. Even after finishing it, there is enough fun left in the game to play a match or two every day. This replayability factor keeps the gamer asking for a quick sequel. The game also asks for a less powerful system compared to Topspin 2, but delivers more. Also called Sega Professional Tennis, the game's featres may be more than what the gamer would have expected. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Operating System: Microsoft Windows 2000/XP Note that for Windows 2000 and XP you will require the latest Service Packs and administrator privileges Processor: 2... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Graphics, rane of difficulty settings, enjoyment
Disadvantages: no online mode small arcade features bring it down

...Virtua Tennis has always been an arcade style game instead of being realistic. Virtua Tennis 3 although contains great lifelike graphics is stil unfortunately cursed by the cheesy arcade factors such as the classic small explosion when the racket and ball collide and the line of yellow mist which follows the ball giving it a tail like structure. These features in the game (I believe) bring a tacky and childish part the the otherwise great game. Some would disagree with me but I want to play a sports game that is completly realsitic and although Virtua tennis has toned down the arcade like idea these tiny modifications bring you out of the illusion that this game is real life and you are infact watching a game of tennis being played at Wimbledon. Apart from the arcade defects the graphics are infact pretty amazing. This game, like... Read review

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