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Tony Hawk: Ride videos are in-game and out-of-game
We debated which of the two video assets Activision recently sent us for Tony Hawk: Ride should go a the top of the post, and which should be relegated to the unfavorable, post-jump real estate. The in-game trailer is pretty slick, and features that super catchy We Are Scientists jam. (You know the one, you hip guy, you.) However, the gameplay demonstration actually shows the peripheral being used to go on a "sick run," apparently part of a long-standing feud between Activision and Robomodo. We decided to put the "sick run" at the top of the post, if only because we want you to know that this is exactly how we looked the first time we played the game at E3. Only we didn't crash quite so much, and also, when we finished playing, Tony Hawk himself came up and gave us a high-five with one of his giant hands. Check out the video above, then click past the jump to check out its neglected (but catchy!) brother.
This Week on the Nintendo Channel: Tony Hawk Tutorial
This week's Nintendo Channel update is chock full of Wii Fit Plus stuff again, but we'd like to draw your attention to the video tutorial on how to play Tony Hawk Ride. It answers a lot of the super important questions we've had -- like, "Does this peripheral work with both male and female gamers?" and, "Is this one of the most advanced game controllers ever created?"Head past the break for the full list of this week's content.
What's in a Name: Robomodo
If you want to watch friends and loved ones pretend to skateboard/fall repeatedly this fall, Robomodo's Tony Hawk Ride is the only product catering to those admittedly unhealthy urges. Here's how those monsters came up with the name. When Josh & I first talked about creating this company, I offered up the name because I felt it fit the criteria we were trying to fill: Sounds "fun" (i.e. anybody hearing it would expect to be entertained by our product) Rolls off the tongue & unique Available (i.e. its .com isn't already spoken for) "Just fits" (i.e. is applicable to what we're all about) So in translation, it means "Robot Style". The way it struck a cord with us at the time is that it was made up of two words that apart represented the team's components, and together its development philosophy. "Robo" would represent the Software Engineers and gameplay code, while "Modo" would represent the Artists and their stylish vision for it. At Robomodo, we adhere to a philosophy loop of "art supports gameplay supports art...". It's all about harmony, with the end goal of developing fun & exciting games for a mass audience. Besides, who doesn't love robots? David Lee Michicich CEO / Creative Director Robomodo Inc. Liked this story? Be sure to check out the What's In A Name archives.
Hands-on: Tony Hawk Ride
Hi. I'm Joystiq writer Griffin McElroy, and those are my feet. They're attached to my shins, which attach to a long sequence of other appendages which stop at my brain -- which at the very moment this image was taken, was likely in a confused, panicked state. It's a reflex reaction I usually turn to when placed before an alien video game peripheral, although in most cases, it quickly subsides, and is replaced with a steely determination to figure out how it works.By the time I'd reached the end of my brief hands-on session with Tony Hawk Ride, I had only just begun to deconstruct the hardware's machinations, and started determining how to deftly manipulate it in order to do sweet tricks. I was making progress in this endeavor when the demo came to a halt, but I'm still not sure my mind had completely wrapped around how I was supposed to manipulate the device. Is that indicative of the peripheral's weakness? No, I think it can be entirely chalked up to the fact that skateboarders move in mysterious ways.%Gallery-64707%
GameStop adds '80s-themed level to Tony Hawk Ride pre-orders
If you're looking to add a dash of '80s flair to your Tony Hawk Ride experience, you can either glue the skateboard peripheral onto one of those longboards, or you could just pre-order the game at GameStop. Those who choose the latter will gain access to the 80s Quicksilver Level, which is said to include a "Vert Ramp challenge sandwiched between two 747's on the runway of the Frankfurt Airport decked out in Quiksilver 80's theme including Tony Hawk himself." We guess Germany loves two things, then: David Hasselhoff and '80s-themed skateboard challenges. [Via Go Nintendo] [image credit]
More pro skaters heap praise on Tony Hawk Ride
The last time we saw Tony Hawk Ride, it was being played by a bunch of pro skaters who were falling over each other to proclaim the game's brilliance (it couldn't have anything to do with the fact they're all in the game, right?). Well, consider this video the sequel, as it brings even more pro skaters in to offer their very valid, objective feelings on the game. Can you believe they absolutely love it? We. Are. Shocked.
Tony Hawk Ride dated, priced, limited edition'd in UK
Activision has made the first official announcement regarding the price of Tony Hawk Ride. In the UK, a set containing the game and board will cost £99.99 ($169) upon its November 20 release. The only information we have for a North American price to compare is the $120 at which GameStop currently lists the game. Apparently, the game is called Tony Hawk Ride because you'll need to start riding in friends' cars after you sell your own for peripheral money.UK retailer GAME will offer an exclusive limited edition of Ride (Xbox 360/PS3/Wii), featuring the red-and-black hawk artwork seen above, for the same price. It also has the game's logo on it so you don't confuse it with a real skateboard. That would be embarrassing.
Tony Hawk Ride board will actually be white
You can only imagine how exciting this is for me personally. Now that Activision has revealed that the Tony Hawk Ride board peripheral will be white when it finally releases, I'm among the elite few who used it when it was black. I'm at the epicenter of the maelstrom, like a guy who saw the Kennedy assassination from a different angle, or Michael Jackson's personal sandwich crust trimmer who "had noticed that he'd been acting sadder than usual, now that you mention it!"RoboModo co-founder Josh Tsui also told GI.biz, "[the board] is the most advanced peripheral on the market. It really is going to usher a next generation of controllers for games." That's great Josh, but let's try to stay focused on this color change ushering in the next generation of my personal fame. Leave all interview requests, book offers, etc. in the comments below.
Tony Hawk Ride sequel already planned
In an interview with IndustryGamers, Robomodo president Josh Tsui revealed some exclusive, shocking information about Tony Hawk Ride. We'll give you a moment to mentally prepare yourself. Are you sitting down?There's probably going to be a sequel. To the tenth Tony Hawk game*.Asked what else was happening at the company aside from development of the first Ride, Tsui said that "Obviously, we're very focused on getting this done, but being the creative types that we are, we're always writing up new game proposals and things we want to do." One of the new game proposals, of course, is Ride 2. "It's just a matter of timing," he said. "With Tony Hawk: Ride finishing up [we have to think about] the sequel to the game and where that fits into our schedules. It's a lot of juggling at this point."Of course, while Robomodo has just started thinking about the sequel, it's been an absolute certainty at Activision since, say, 1999, as have annual Tony Hawk sequels from now until they outnumber humans.*Not counting ports, handheld versions, or spinoffs like Tony Hawk's Motion.
Tony Hawk Ride board to be used for 'many games'
Joshua Tsui, president of Tony Hawk Ride developer Robomodo, told Videogamer.com that gamers concerned about blowing a bunch of money on the package should see it as an investment in a new platform, because the skateboard peripheral that comes with Ride won't be a single-use device. "It's really important to us that when people buy this package that they understand that, right now we're concentrating on Tony Hawk Ride, but we want to make sure that people have a good return on their investment so there are many games that are planned for this peripheral," Tsui said. Discussing potential followup games to use the board, Tsui said, "The obvious ones are snowboarding and surfing and such, but there are a lot of games that can be used with this board, and we're really excited to start working on those."Of course, the real followup games will be called Tony Hawk's Ride 2, Tony Hawk's Ride 3, and Tony Hawk's Ride 4, and each one will have an optional bundle that includes a new board with just enough upgrades to tempt people into repeat purchases. Because, you know, Activision.%Gallery-64707%
Tony Hawk Ride board limited to 300 lbs.
Bad news for Ricky "Steel Knees" Chamberlain, the world's only 350-lb. pro skater: The proprietary Tony Hawk Ride board is limited to folks 300 lbs. and under, according to Robomodo. It's kind of a moot point though. We're not sure how to put this in a kind fashion, so we'll just come out with it. If you're over 300 lbs., the board's weight limit probably isn't the reason you won't be jumping around and kick flipping your way through the new Tony Hawk. You know, you're right, we don't know you, that could be all muscle. Just pretend we didn't say anything.
Tony Hawk: RIDE feets-on
Want to humble a videogame journalist? Ask him if he skates and, if he answers with a modest "a little bit," proceed to make him lose his balance and stumble off of your toy skateboard controller. That was the scene seen again and again at Activision's thumping booth on the E3 show floor, and we took our turn to get humiliated on the company's plastic deck, the feature piece of this October's Tony Hawk Ride. It's fun, it's hard, and it's a surprisingly (and somewhat embarrassingly) good work-out.
Tony Hawk Ride's board powered by dual accelerometers, imagination
We still don't know much about Tony Hawk Ride's board-shaped peripheral. Things like "How much will it cost?" (GameStop indicates that it won't be cheap) or "How does it work?" While clearly powered, in part, by your "imagination," a recent video from USA Today (found after the break) adds some technological jargon to that list of ingredients: dual accelerometers. Says developer Robomodo's Josh Tsui: "Inside are two accelerometers, and that gives us our tilting for navigation, our lifting on either side for doing things like ollies and nollies, and then it also gives us rotation. One accelerometer will give us the tilting and the lift, but having two of them allows us to read two different settings, two different rotations so that this way it allows us this type of skating mechanic. That's something that a lot of peripherals have never done before, is the rotation and the popping." So, basically what Mr. Tsui is trying to tell you, in a very circuitous fashion, is that your vintage Top Skater arcade cabinet has finally been outgunned. Oh, and that you – as the owner of a vintage Top Skate arcade cabinet – are a relic from an ancient time ... a simple time when simple people were content to enjoy simple skateboarding peripherals. [Thanks, Markus]
GameStop lists Tony Hawk Ride for October 13 release at $120
GameStop's site recently posted a price and release date for Tony Hawk Ride, affixing a cost of $120 onto the bundle for all systems, along with a release date of October 13. While it's by no means official confirmation of the game's release date or price, it should prepare you for the worst. Coincidentally, $120 is about how much we think it will cost to replace the first lamp you break in the living room. [Via Engadget]
Neversoft prez says studio has parted ways with Tony Hawk
Believe it or not, it has been just over two years since the last Xbox 360 release of a new Tony Hawk title. Shockingly, Activision decided the series needed a break ... to search for innovation, presumably. Since the first Pro Skater title in 1999, Neversoft has been at the helm of the extreme sports series but according to a high-level executive, Neversoft has seen the last of Tony Hawk. Speaking with his hometown newspaper the Great Falls Tribune, Neversoft Entertainment co-founder and president Joel Jewett confirmed his studio is no longer working on the Tony Hawk series. "It's time for someone else to add fresh ideas to it," Jewett told the Tribune. Neversoft is currently the development team behind Activision's popular Guitar Hero franchise. While Activision has not confirmed a Neversoft / Tony Hawk split, rumors are already pointing to newly formed studio Robomodo, which includes refugees from the unfortunate EA Chicago and Studio Gigante closures, as the new home for the skateboarding series. At this point, the series would benefit from a fresh set of eyes.
Neversoft bails: Tony Hawk's next game developed by another studio
We haven't heard much on the latest Tony Hawk game that is supposed to be in development, aside from there supposedly being a peripheral key to gameplay that Activision is designing themselves. Well, we've got some news now: Neversoft, the developers who started the franchise, have handed off the duties to another developer. Why? Because they need to concentrate on Guitar Hero.So who's working on the new game? Well, word is that it's Robomodo, a developer that has some ex-EA employees within its ranks. Turns out part of that rumor from EGM was true. We're fully expecting an announcement soon, with a look at a new peripheral to play the game. Just look at what they're doing with the DS game.[Via Joystiq]
Neversoft exec confirms they've handed off Tony Hawk series
We've heard a number of rumors to this effect, but for the first time, Neversoft co-founder Joel Jewett recently confirmed in an interview with the Great Falls Tribune that the long-time developer of the Tony Hawk series has passed the torch to a new developer in order to solely focus on the Guitar Hero franchise. Jewett claims it's "probably best for the franchise." Based on the past couple of Hawk games, we can't help but agree.This leaves us with the question of who the next developer behind Hawk will be -- GiantBomb assumes that Robomodo, which is composed of ex-EA Chicago devs who claim to be working on a "high-profile extreme sports title for Activision Blizzard," will be making their developmental debut with the next installation in the once-great skating franchise. Now that the cat is out of the bag regarding Neversoft's Hawk-less agenda, we hope to hear something more concrete about the series sometime soon.
EA Chicago exes take up with Activision, form Robomodo!
A handful of folks left jobless in the wake of EA Chicago's closure last November have banded together to form their own independent development studio, Robomodo. The company was actually -- and quiet stealthily we might add -- formed in January 2008 by a number of EA Chicago vets, including Robomodo president and director Josh Tsui, who revealed to GameDaily that the fledgling studio has already been tapped by Actiblizzard to create a new title based on one of the publisher's IP. As for what exactly Tsui and company are up to, the team isn't talking specifics, saying only that it is a "high-profile extreme sports title," familiar territory for developers who worked on such franchises as Fight Night, Mortal Kombat and Def Jam. Given the group's experience with these sorts of titles, coupled with Tsui's admission in a separate Gamasutra interview that a "good chunk" of those working on the project also helped create Fight Night Round 3 for EA, we wouldn't be at all surprised if Robomodo's plans include trying to go toe-to-toe with their former employers in the ring. Stay tuned tomorrow for an interview with Robomodo's Tsui and Michicich.
