how much can be done in a year????? they should give it a couple, if not 3, years and then come back to the table. EA will have about 4 or 5 skates out by then and anything hawk brings will look new and refreshing cause people will be sick of skate! YOU KNOW IT"S THE TRUTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

freespeech

Former Neversoft dev posted his thoughts here:
[ludicrazor.blogspot.com]

JadedLion

They should totally make a Tony Hawk MMORPG. Think of all the righteous grinding in store for the player. ='D

AcerBandit

@Anemone:

Yes. You are.

A lot of people complained about the controls and yes the learning curve is steep but they are the most accurate and intuitive controls for any skateboarding game ever.

bennifer3000

That's great and all, but since when did Mr. Hawk start writing code for video games? I'm serious. What's the guy going to bring to the table, more "rad" moves? To say it another way, would bringing John Madden to the EA think tank really improve his series any?

sonofnone

How do you revive the dead?

KM91

add some physics for christ's sake. and not realism for the sake of realism but because it's what makes skate boarding fun and challenging. doing a grind uphill and picking up speed is just stupid.

Neopolitian

People that complain about the controls obviously have no patience to learn the precision.

I have no problems with the controls whatsoever, but then again, I play on the 360 version. I can see how the PS3 would aggrivate some, because the two analogs are way too close and you wind up hitting your other thumb when you roll towards eachother.

To each his own.

NMC ONE WAY

I think the words "annual installment" is the key. There's just too many of them. You can't "keep them wanting more" if the players can go out and rent 4-5 different versions of the game at any given time.

Quilt

Maybe I'm the only one who felt that Skate had the worst controls of any game that has ever been created. I haven't bothered with the Tony Hawk games since 3, but they used to be fun. If they want to improve the game they should strip out all the new shit that they have added and go back to the old simpler controls. It shouldn't be hard since Skate is about as much fun as a drawer full of damp socks.

Anemone

They've mentioned that a Skate sequel's in the works.

As far as the Hawk games go, THPS1,2, and 3 were definitely fantastic, and THUG was, as a lot of people have said, really fun with memorable levels. I wouldn't mind seeing the series get a fresh breath of awesome.

tk.

They could start by calling it something respectable again. Not "Tony Hawk's OMG Punk Rawk Awesome Nostalgia Trip". Maybe something like Tony Hawk's Skatefest 2009/2010/etc.

EA Black Box needs to get on Skate 2 also. A new city, new challenges, and deeper create-a-skater and I'm there.

bennifer3000

Whoops, meant Activision. sry

axiomatic

Tony... DUMP EA! Problem Solved.

axiomatic

I know all the fans are raving about THPS 4, but i really enjoyed THUG, and American Wasteland, because it had a story to hold the game together. No, the story wasn't great, but it was enough to keep it interesting. I hope they'll do something Like THUG again, because while Skate is a great game, it's not my cup of tea.

Pasha

@mariospants: They already released that. It was called Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4.

All right, the online play was limited and it wasn't massively playable, but it did introduce a lot of adventure elements that the series didn't need. I don't want to talk to non-player characters! Just let me skate!

Also, if Skate was such a big hit, then why have I heard nothing about a sequel?

ManekiNeko

Oh, wait, I need another stab at this:

Tony Hawk
+ Activision
+ Really Huge Franchise
---------------------------------
= No Risks Taken

I predict an action sports-based MMORPG called "Tony Hawk's World of Wheelcraft".

mariospants

All i can say is Good luck Tony...youll need it

Darknickle

Hey Tony: 720 remake as a downloadable. Fuck that other shit.

mariospants

@dead_red_eyes: WOW... Billy Pepper. I used to think he was so rad seeing him on the original 411s but after seeing him in Big Brother's SHIT vid, I hated the dude. Seeing the way that he acted to that lady made me wanna personally kick his ass.

On the fair side, I have met Bam quite a few times, and when hes not on the cam, he's pretty relaxed, but still uber douchey. Thats one benefit of being in the skate industry, its not hard to meet everyone. Just go skate at spots that they frequent...

And fuck Billy Pepper. Hes right up there with Javier Nunez who pushed me over when I was a little kid at a Zoo York demo. Dick...

NMC ONE WAY

@NMC ONE WAY: - "I know its a game and all, but some of the stuff is just too lame for skateboarders. THPS is a joke."

Agreed. I fucking hated that they incorporated Jackass into the series. Bam Magera is such a douchebag ... just like Billy Pepper (Element days). You remember him?

dead_red_eyes

@Witzbold: - "One thing that I liked which was in THP8 was how you could get off your skateboard and move on foot. Its one thing I really wished Skate had. D:"

You and me both brother.

Tony Hawk is fucking dead to me.

dead_red_eyes

Having played about five different Tony Hawk games on the X-Box, PS2, DS, and 360, I have to say that Tony has finally "jumped the shark". SKATE is a much better game than Tony Hawk.

pupaboy3

I am pretty sure they covered everything in the first 50 games. I don't think that there is anything left to jump a skate board off of or on to. Maybe if they did an underwater skating game, that would be "fresh and innovative". Who wouldn't want to do a 360 ollie off of a shark's head??

Mr.SithNinja

they just need to stop making levels so damn big, seems they keep getting bigger every game..

thesillyone

Well, the modern Tony Hawk games have been kinda lousy, but Skate was terrible. Too precise, too realistic, completely lacking in entertainment value. Yeah, 20 tries to land a single grind, that's pure joy.

If you're a masochist, maybe.

I can only see this helping the Hawk series...but by how much, I don't know. Maybe it's too late. Who knows.

Archaotic

Tony Hawk Underground 2 had an atrocious story mode, but still had a pretty awesome classic mode. American Wasteland, though, was much better.

It was actually Tony Hawk's Project 8 that killed it for me. Changing things for the sake of changing them, and making things more realistic does not make it more fun. Tony Hawk's Proving Ground was just as bad.

aahpandasrun

Awe, I was hoping Tony would never change but I guess it was inevitable eventually. I really hate skate. The controls don't feel real at all. Flicking one joystick up and down is nowhere near similar to managing balance and pressure between two feet. At least the THPS series realized that it was still just a video game, and it didn't really bother me that it got more unrealistic with each iteration; that just opened up the possibilities for higher scores. I thought that the fact that you could pause Proving Ground at any time and set up your own ramps and stuff anywhere on the level was a lot more revolutionary then Skates bogus controls.

NeoStarr

I guess to me the real question is why the Tony Hawk series turned to crap in the first place? Is it because of Tony Hawk or is it because of the devs or both?

tazz77

The first Tony Hawk was a real blast in 1999 on PS1, but now...it's more of the same since THPS 3. I don't believe in this revolution.

theblob

THPS reached its pinacle with THPS2 on the Dreamcast. All the extra superfluos crap they've added since then hasn't been worth the effort.

Red_Rob

I love the THPS series but it's been dead for so long. Thug 2 killed it a lot with the whole jackass tour thing. At least is THUG 1 it was a good game with a good storyline. A nobody skater from a small town who's best bud turns into worst enemy after stealing and editing a buliding gap jump that you did and the tape turn your rival pro while your still starting from the ground up until you get to pro status the hard way meet your rival back at your old home town for good old showdown. LOL good times.

MURDERFACE

@zanzibarlegend: Im not too far from the city, just over the water in NJ. I frequent NY in the summers, and probably get looks from people because im nearing 30 and still doing this, but doesnt stop me from skating the downtown spots into Chinatown.

If you ever wanna check out some stuff, go to youtube and look up JIM DWYER, it will bring you right to a part I had in a video with a shop I ride for...

Back to topic on hand, I used to love the THPS series. I remember when I first played the demo and that damn Primus song playing over and over and over again... I thought it was truly groundbreaking at the time, which it was, but they killed it with too many sequels... Its a shame, because if they spaced releases and added less filler crap, it could be great still. Albeit completely unrealistic.

NMC ONE WAY

I will stick to Skate either way. Just the idiocy that went behind the challenge to hitch onto a dog was mind baffling. That alone is worth losing customers.

Liopleurodon

@NMC ONE WAY: I'm in the same boat as you. which is why im SKATE all the way. i don't need gimmicks to tie me in. i just want to skate the shit out of everything in site. im a nyc native. i used to get together with friends at 14th street skate all the way up to midtown at around midnight, when we reach midtown we would then session everything in sight until we reached lower manhattan again. Skate brings back those memories.

zanzibarlegend

Cases like these show the wonders of competition.

Grind_Axis

Okay. THPS was an amazing game... in 1999. It's dead now. Let it go. Let Skate run it's course. If Tony really wants another piece of the pie, make him a character in Skate 2 and be done with it.

Matt Hoffman and Kelly Slater knew when to quit.

ShaggE

I dont expect something revolutionary in a skate game which "skate" has done. I expect them to copy skate and put tony hawks name on it.

JackTretton

@MASOCHIST187: shame. i finished the game. and i still got my copy,that is until Skate 2 drops.

EB Games has the habit of making people trade in games on impulse for the new game on the block. gotta resist the temptation sometimes homey

zanzibarlegend

Tony Hawk for me was the same as the original Grand Theft Auto. Both of them were out for a while before I picked it up, in passing, and discovered how awesome they were. I loved listening to my own CDs while playing.
Then I played one of the newer ones (Underground?) and was sad to see that it turned to crap.

JRock

@Prinnygeddon!:

I'd say landing the first switch 540s and 900s in contest runs and being the first person to do a loop on a skateboard padless are pretty miraculous. People hate on Tony same way people hate on Shigeru Miyamoto - to look like they know it all.

new_pornographer

@zanzibarlegend: Yes all sausage makes me sad.

Granted my skater looked like a south african warlord which was totally awesome. :D

I kinda hope they fix the rag dolling in the next skate though, since for some weird reasons the arms were stiff as hell when you RD.

More styles of clothes would be cool too.

Witzbold

The THPS series is dead.

It died the second they incorporated any type of "Jackass" storyline to the games.

And usually I got super bored with the games anyway. It would be identical to the year before with subtle differences. Sometimes, the differences would be things like POOR FRAMERATE and BROKEN ANIMATION. What a letdown. From THPS 1 to 2, it was like night and day... but this crap, trying to recreate a series???... I dunno. I am a fan of skate, it works and I think I'm partial to it because I skate in real life. Part of real-life skating is the freedom to do whatever you want and not limiting yourself. EA's skate embraces that, and if anyone else skates in real life, they know what I am talking about.

I know its a game and all, but some of the stuff is just too lame for skateboarders. THPS is a joke.

NMC ONE WAY

@Witzbold: that would be a great read! he's prolly like, "damn i got outdone by EA!!! i think what would catapult THPS again is if Tony comes out of retirement and lands the ever elusive 1080. then, retire and drop a new game:D

i agree about the no getting off the board in skate. that and the game needs female skaters.

zanzibarlegend

Skate...........why did I trade you in???? I never finished you.......*tear*

MASOCHIST187

@TheChosen: No offense, but have you played any of the titles prior to THUG? THPS2 or THPS3 were clearly the best entries in the series...with THUG2 marking the beginning of the "dark ages of hawk." I will admit to not playing "Proving Ground," but after some time with the demo I had NO reason to go near it.

I understand people perhaps not loving Skate, but I see no way you can declare Proving Ground decent and in the same breath hate on a game that *gasp* tried something new and innovative. For anyone who played Thrasher: Skate and Destroy many moons ago, I really felt like Skate harkened back to its more laid back, casual approach. This is the sort of game that you can kick back with on a Sunday afternoon and experiment with - I really enjoyed nothing more than just trying to do random tricks around San Vanelona.

Goataroo

Tony, give it up man.

ManjiKengo

I enjoyed Tony Hawk 2 & 3, but after that I just kinda lost interest. Skate totally didn't work for me though. I can see why people liked it, but it just came off way too simish for what I want in a skateboarding game.

smitty1123

I guess he should have done that in the first place. I don't know...never found any interest in skating games...now if they had figure skating, I'd change my mind.

nxp3

THPS for life!!

what's this skate?

theTOMSTA666

What.....a......douche. Nuff said.

Ulquiorra

THUG was the Tony Hawk Series' finest hour. THUG2 was okay but not as good. American Wasteland was crap, so was Project 8 but Proving Ground was actually a step in the right direction.

.skate was crap

TheChosen

I think taking a year off would be the best idea, but I don't think that's in EA's vocabulary....

supercrap

T.H.I.P. Isn't that the sound that Bill the Cat made? Does not bode well for a kickstart.

zenpoet

Tony Hawk. God, how many years has it been since I've heard that name

animemecha

I still enjoy Tony Hawk to an extent...kind of nostalgic. However, this was the first year in forver I didn't even bother to rent the new one.

Thought Skate was clever, but not my cup of tea. I didn't feel "joy". I felt sort of bored.

I'd much rather have another Amped game than either of these. :)

lionkitten

@jay427: THPS2 for the win.

It'd be interesting if we could find out at what point did Hawk stop advising for the games and just let them slap his name on there and give him the monies. Because a lot of the newer ones became more about vandalism it seemed, that's when I quit. I miss Ollie the Magic Bum. (But was his name Ollie or were they just capitalizing the move Ollie because it's, I believe, a proper noun?)
Anyone know? On both Hawk or Ollie.

Setzer IIDX

@Goataroo: Agreed! Taking a year or two off to brain-storm and put better ideas into frution would be alot better in the long run. If they just throw out a new game without giving the series a chance to be missed they could lose alot more fans and possibly respect for the series.

ichiban1081

The original Tony Hawk game was brilliant but man did they milk that success!

I still haven't got round to playing Skate, but the demo put it firmly on my radar. The only problem is that, knowing EA and Sports games, Skate 2, Skate 3...4...10 will all be virtually identical.

IronsUK

One thing that I liked which was in THP8 was how you could get off your skateboard and move on foot. Its one thing I really wished Skate had. D:

Witzbold

The old Tony Hawk games were awesome. Since the third one, they've all been downhill imo. I actually liked having to play the same game over and over again with different characters, each time unlocking a small cheat to make your skater better the next time. When these "open" worlds came out, I played a few more and then stopped because they just didn't grab my attention like the older games did. They were more like stupid joke after stupid joke.

jay427

I love how they are really working hard to improve this game...for its annual installment. Seems a bit off, frankly. Please, take a year off from the franchise and really work hard to re-tool everything. I can't recall a Hawk game being truly enjoyable since TH3 or possibly THUG.
I worry about the sort of "new thrills" they are planning for this new title - are we talking more characters who ride mechanical bulls around the levels? I agree the series needs a complete overhaul, but I don't see any possible way to do something like that without taking a year or two off from releasing further iterations.

Goataroo

@Witzbold: I'm pretty sure the EA owns everything he says on the subject. :P

Revenge_of_Nekojin

Skate was the best sports game I played in all of last year. I hope that this leads to better skating games overall, since then the big winners are us gamers.

CanaryWundaboy

I have a feeling they are going to go the simulation route with the Tony Hawk series. Pretty simular to Skate except I think he will add more indepth tricks. My only concern is that I hope the controls are good and that they dont try to emulate Skate's controls and think up of something better. I dunno I just have that feeling...

ichiban1081

Well I do hope that they make a game that can rival Skate.

One thing Id like to know is what Mr. Hawk thinks of Skate though? That would be a pretty interesting read.

Witzbold

They better not to do well at it. EA will take offense and buy up the rights to pro skating.

PapaBear434

I didn't know he could perform miracles...

Prinnygeddon!