Robomodo (the current developer of the Tony Hawk video game franchise) made a comment a while back that got me very excited: http://www.joystiq.com/2012/07/30/tony-hawks-pro-skater-hd-success-merits-a-fuller-game-robomo/ Basically, after Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD was a considered a success on Xbox Arcade, the company was apparently interested in developing a "full" entry to the series... and not another one of the peripheral flops. I know a lot of people think that the series jumped the shark a long time ago, and that Activision had basically just milked the **** out of it. That may be true to some extent, but I've enjoyed each entry up until Neversoft's departure. I didn't even bother with Tony Hawk Ride or Shred, but I purchased Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD in hopes that Robomodo could successfully resurrect the once great franchise. As a long-time fan, I thought it was a half-decent effort, although the skimpy selection of classic stages was pretty underwhelming, especially considering Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2x on the originally Xbox included every level from the first two games, and you can find that for less that five bucks now. Other than that though, it was a decent foundation to keep the series going, and I would have loved to see a version with a full park editor, create-a-skater, and of course, 2-player splitscreen. With so much time having passed since this article was posted, it seems any plans by the developers to continue the series have faded, which is a shame. Am I alone in wishing that they'd give this series another run? I realize EA's SKATE pretty much destroyed the competition when it came out, but as much as I think it's a great game in its own right, it'll never be the same as Tony Hawk's Pro Skater.
If you can - try Shred. It's basically what Ride was SUPPOSED to be. Ride had to be rushed to market before finishing - it's not the peripheral that is at fault, it was the software recognition.
Hahaha, as a matter of fact, I do skate in real life. I'm not great, but it's a hell of a way to get around.
Actually, the concept did interest me when they first announced their idea for the controller. I guess I just wasn't interested enough to pay the full price. I suppose if I ever see it around for cheap (which I heard it has become these days), then maybe I'll give it a go.
I still see plenty of people around my city skateboarding. They won't be soon with winter coming up, but it isn't like the absence of skating in video games has impacted the sport itself that negatively. Either way, I never felt like you needed to be a skater to enjoy the Tony Hawk games, or any extreme sports title for that matter. I suppose it's a genre that is pretty dead these days, since there were tons of titles dedicated to extreme sports during the fifth and six console generations (a lot of them being Tony Hawk clones). I think it definitely was a bit of a crowded market, but nowadays shooters seem to have overrun the shelves. I hardly long for the days of tons of titles with the "(Somebody's) Pro (Whatever)" approach, but the Tony Hawk series definitely became a breed of its own beyond the initial extreme sports genre.
sure sk8ing was much more an 80s and early 90s thing than it is today, but the sports itself evolute quite a lot since I was a kid/teenager on a board with four wheels. whilst I think there were real HC sk8ers around in late 80s (frankie hill, natas, lil guy mariano, mullen etc.) and some of them are still around these days, sk8ing today is much more technical than it was at its peak days. followers may have shrunk, but I think it is still fairly big considered today standards of freestyle sports.
Skater games are one of those fads that lasted for a while but never quite catch on. I say it peaked in the early aughts and then it just went down from there. Funny how they add FPS to everything these days but nobody has made a FPS skate game, it could actually work I think As for sk8r culture that too peaked a long time ago, too many posers and faux punks riding along a sidewalk too afraid of getting hurt.
THPS has a future? I loved the first 4 games or so, then they just kept adding more stupid shit. The laggy controls, the lame selection of stages (seriously, both Warehouse and Hangar in a game with only a handful of stages?) and the lack of local multiplayer meant the HD game was pretty much a disappointing crapfest.
Well, I agree with you, for most part. I had accepted that the franchise was over once Neversoft left the picture, and I assumed the failure of Robomodo's first two attempts guarenteed that there would never be another. I wasn't huge on Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD, but I was amazed that it happened at all, and when they mentioned the idea to continue the series with proper gameplay, it just awoke the excited fanboy in me once again. Either way, it isn't the end of the world if it never happens. The series had a good run, and thanks to the creation features in Tony Hawk's Underground 1 and 2, I can pretty much create my own games for years to come.
I think the best skateboarding game was Thrasher: Skate and Destroy (1999). From the old school hip hop soundtrack to the more technical style runs, I think it was the best skateboarding game I've played. After that, there was not much innovation. Maybe Skate. Yanya Cabalista had an interesting skateboard controller add-on, but that game wasn't the best. Another thing I loved about Thrasher was the ridiculous rag doll physics.
Long boarding has really out done trick skating. Skateboarding is still REALLY popular, (I still skate too). it hit it's most popular peak at the same time as the THPS games (a lot of people really got into it AFTER playing THPS). but the average person who decides to skate will pick up a long board. No tricks, no parks - just riding around. Even trick skateboarding has given way to longboarding influence, decks during the 90's - 2000's were 7.5 - 8" wide. Smaller boards allowed for easier flipping for tricks - wider boards give you a more stable ride, good for vertical skating. Longboards are 9-10" wide and it's HARD AS HELL to find a 7.75" deck now. :/ 8" is what's becoming standard. I also LOVE the Skate series of games. The analog stick to simulate how you would pop and flick the board to the sandbox overworld is amazing. I'll just ride around look at something and think "maybe I can make that gap/rail/etc" bookmark the spot and keep trying until I get it - just like with real street skateboarding!
I see people skateboarding everyday, although these days I see more people in parks and lots than on the street. THPS2&3 are among my favorite games of all time. Underground 1&2 were pretty good. From what I've gathered, the general consensus seems to be that American Wasteland was where it began to get stale (and the front cover made it look like it was jumping on the Emo bandwagon with Green Day, Punk-O-Rama, and the Warped Tour.. lookin' at you mid-2000s), but Project 8 and Proving Ground were good efforts. It's a shame it had to stop there. Anyone remember Grind Session for PS1?
I loved the first 3 games, as well as 2X. When 4 came out, that was when they lost me. It just didn't seem as cool as the first 3, and it didn't play very well either. I thought the level design in 3 was really interesting, and I spent so much time exploring the levels and trying to get high scores and complete objectives. 4 just didn't do it for me, and I gave up on the series after that.
