Gamervision: "Activision panicked. After eight years of what could be considered a monopoly over the extreme sports genre, a newcomer handily dethroned the king of skateboarding. In the first year of sales, Skate outsold Tony Hawk 2:1. Think about that for a moment. It would be as if a developer made a football game that sold doubly as good as Madden in the first year. Even Rock Band, which did better, critically speaking, than Guitar Hero, still trailed in terms of sales. The Tony Hawk games released post-Skate sold so poorly that the publisher was forced to take a year off, figuring out exactly what it needed to do to compete. So, yeah, Activision panicked, and for good reason.
When Tony Hawk: Ride was announced, it was called many things, but few would say that it wasn't ballsy. Generally speaking, Activision plays everything safe, and for the first time in years it was obvious that they were ready to bring something new to the table. With the exception of DJ Hero, the publisher usually lets others do their dirty work, only introducing new elements after they've been proven by another publisher. This isn't really a problem, just a precedent, and one that was shattered when Tony Hawk walked on stage with a $120 skateboard peripheral. Was it a good choice? No one knew, but after getting some hands-on (or, rather, feets-on) time with Tony Hawk: Ride, it's obvious which way things went."
Looking back at gaming history often throws up some questionable things - including awful games, bad consoles, and terrible peripherals.
That intel wireless gamepad was the inspiration for the 360 wireless racing wheel (and that works really well). I'd say one the author forgot would be the activator from sega.
We know there’s a new Tony Hawk’s in the works, but it should feel like the oldest of entries to the series.
There's a new Tony Hawk game coming?
Cautiously optimistic. I want the series to end on a positive note but the last what like 6 entries have been severely disappointing. Hope this one ends the curse.
I hope they don't blow it. I really liked the earlier games in the series. Then Skate came out and the difference night and day.
Ha, I was thinking the same thing when I read this. I had no idea there was one in the works...you usually here about these things.
Any ways, I haven't truly enjoyed a THPS title since the underground games back during the ps2/xbox/GC era. I hope if they make one, they try to use that same formula that made the first 6 games so fun.
I think the series went downhill when they had all the jackass characters in the game..
I support this article. THPS2 - best Tony Hawk EVAH. The franchise needs to drop the gimmicks and get back to what matters - addictive, thrilling skateboarding.
Ars writes: "Tony Hawk: Ride had major challenges at retail; the high price, the large box, and the drastic change from past games in the series meant the game had an uphill fight to win the affections of skating game fans. Josh Tsui, the president of Robomodo, talked about some of these issues with GameSmith and brought up yet another challenge: the game reviews. Were they rushed? It's very possible, but sadly, that's a situation that Activision itself went out of its way to create."
So the best thing about this game: The video of the dog riding the board.
WWWHHHOOOAAA.. no surprise there.. i was a HUUUGE tony hawks pro skater fan,played 1,2,3,4 and underground (especially) religiously.
but damnit activision .. you go and ruin a "used to be good" franchise.
ah well,SKATE 3 here i come!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA