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Rockin' out to Skate's soundtrack
Yesterday, EA released the song list for their possible Tony Hawk killer Skate. Featured on the game's soundtrack are bands like Cheap Trick, The White Stripes, ZZ Top, and David Bowie giving Skate that edgy rock mix of skating fun. Complete list of songs that'll be available on the Skate soundtrack is available after the jump.We all know a soundtrack isn't going to dethrone Tony Hawk's iron grip on the skating genre, but we think Skate's other features make it more than a worthy contender. The soundtrack is more or less "butta" on the skater toast.
Tony Hawk's Proving Ground unveiled, apathy ensues
Tony Hawk ... the franchise that just won't lie down and take a nap. Every month or so we get a new trick from this franchise and, frankly, we're tired of it. When the announcement rolled in about the new Tony Hawk's Proving Ground we smirked and thought to ourselves: "yes, this is a proving ground to see if you're a viable gaming franchise, still." Other than that, complete apathy.Anyway, this new title to be released on the PS3 and 360 sports some revamped multiplayer, video editing, new modes (Nail-the-Trick was named), and a class system. Class system? For skaters? What, will one guy be pumping out buffer chants while the tank skater takes on the big tricks? Or will there be a homeless skater next to a sharp-looking business executive skater? We are interested to see how the multiplayer is changing and how in-depth the video editing tool will be. We'll keep you posted as information becomes available.
Prove yourself in new Tony Hawk title
Has your appetite for new-gen skateboarding games not been whetted by clips from Electronic Arts' Skate? Activision has just sent out a press release unveiling the latest Tony Hawk game, entitled Proving Ground.New features with full-featured editing tools and visual effects for creating "epic skate videos," a customizable Skate Lounge where you and friends can skate around together, and seamless single player and online integration. There will be skateable terrain altering and more Nail-the-Trick moves.Proving Ground is slated for release later this fall for Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PS2 and Nintendo DS. GamePro is dedicated their next issue to the game. Has anyone already received their copy of the issue in the mail?%Gallery-3120%[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]
Time to prove yourself, new Tony Hawk details
Being the magazine salesman they are, GamePro announced what's in their latest issue and spilled some new details on the next Tony Hawk installment. Among the new information revealed is the official title Tony Hawk Proving Ground and that the game will include a Nail-the-Trick mode, inclusion of skater classes, revamped multiplayer, and a new built-in video editor. The inclusion of a video editor is fantastic (reminds us of another game) and a beefier multiplayer is always welcome. EA Activision is going to have to pull out all the stops with Tony Hawk Proving Ground, because Mr. Hawk will be feeling some new competition from a little game called Skate. Who's up for a skate-off?Update: Activision is responsible for Tony Hawk, not EA. The blogger responsible has been shot out of Fanboy Towers' recently installed Man Cannon ... into a cactus field.[Thanks, Jeff]
Joystiq on Skate: watch your back Tony
Joystiq recently got a significant amount of hands-on time with the upcoming Electronic Arts title Skate. As we have mentioned myriad times before, the question on everyone's mind is whether or not Skate is better than Tony Hawk. According to Joystiq, the answer is an emphatic "Yes." Skate ditches the complex button combinations of Tony Hawk in favor of a slick, streamlined setup that relies on the analog sticks. The left stick controls your body and the right controls your feet. It takes some getting used to, but Joystiq has nothing but praise for the new system. Joystiq's conclusion: not only can Skate compete with Tony Hawk, it has already displaced it. Follow the "read" link for the full preview.
Skate slaps Tony Hawk, demands satisfaction
When you talk about EA's upcoming Skate, it's inevitable that you will compare it to Tony Hawk. There's just no way around it. EA knows this (they have to, they're EA). We've asked the Tony Hawk question repeatedly when discussing Skate. Is there any it can topple the Hawk? With their latest video, it looks like EA is giving us their own answer. Skate looks to completely change the traditional control method of Skating games. There are no button holds and direction presses here. No, tricks (at least the ones without grabs) are controlled entirely with the right stick, EA calls these Flickit controls. Check out the video and weigh in one more time: does Skate stand a chance against Tony?[Via Joystiq]
EA's Skate video shows off "Flickit" controls
EA's Skate game continues to look impressive, and the hype that it'll be the Tony Hawk monopoly franchise killer might actually have some weight behind it. What's especially cool is when they throw up the Tony Hawk control scheme under Skate, letting you compare the two. You'll see which one looks more intuitive.With all the flicking you'll be doing, it's almost like Wii-ing on your 360. Click here for an HD version.
Skate trailer grinds onto Marketplace
It's only a month and a half late, but the first gameplay trailer for Skate is now available for download on Xbox Live Marketplace. Originally released at the beginning of March, the trailer shows off Electronic Arts' more realistic take on the sport. Skate eschews the giant combos and tricks of Tony Hawk for a simpler and arguably more accurate version of skateboarding. If this video is anything to go by, you won't be landing many 900°s in Skate. No, it seems that the idea is centered much more around landing simple, real world tricks. Whether or not that makes for an entertaining skateboarding game remains to be seen. Go download it and revel in the HD goodness. Of course, you could also watch the streaming version that came out last month.
Top 5 on PSP: Sports
The PSP has been near the top of the sales charts recently and I figured some new PSP owners may not be up to know what great games the system has to offer. With that in mind, every day this week we'll feature a new genre and list the top 5 games (according to metareviews), so no matter what you're into, you'll have some idea of what games you should own. Today the focus is on Sports games and there were so many games tied in this genre that I'd end up with a list of 16 games if I listed all the tied games as equals in rank. With that in mind, I made an executive decision and today going forward with this feature I'll list the top 5 based on Metareview and I'll use reader reviews to sort through ties. Top 5 Sports games on PSP Virtua Tennis World Tour Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Remix MLB 06: The Show Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee I don't play sports games, so I'm not sure if this list is accurate to the average sports fan. What do you think about these 5 games? What sports games aren't on this list that you think every PSP owner should have? If you missed it, you can check out our previous top 5 game lists: Action Racing [Data Via Metacritic]
New Skate video: a Tony Hawk killer?
EA has been releasing some teaser videos for Skate for sometime now. These videos, however, have not contained a shred of actual gameplay footage. Instead, EA has attempted to build street cred by featuring real skaters talking about their passion. It's admirable that EA wants people to believe in their new franchise, but we opted to wait for some real footage to surface (not the shaky cam we featured before). Well, we've got some real footage now, and we're leaving it to you to tell us what you think. We know there are Tony Hawk fans out there, as well as fans of skating in general. Does this game look like the answer to your prayers, or is Tony Hawk still the king of the streets?[Via Joystiq]
New Skate screenshots roll in
Xboxygen posted new screenshots of Electronic Arts' upcoming skateboarding game Skate. Skate is EA's answer to Activision's massive Tony Hawk game franchise as they hope to dethrone the face of skateboarding (good luck). Looking at the screenshots the game appears to be coming along very nice on the graphical front. The pretty reflections, shadows, and textures look much better than Tony Hawk's Project 8. We'll just have to see if the gameplay will match that of Tony's, but we definitely see promise in the presentation of Skate. Anyone ready to ditch their Tony Hawk and pick up Skate, or is it way to early to commit?
New Skate shots, can it topple Tony?
Courtesy of our French friends at Xboxygen, we now have some screenshots of EA's Skate to go along with the shaky cam footage that Joystiq ran last month. In short, the shots looks amazing -- then again, so did the target renders for next gen Madden, and we all know how that turned out. Still, EA knows a successful genre when they see it, and it's up to them to exploit it try and make it better. The obvious question is whether or not Skate can hold a candle to the current king of skating the Tony Hawk series. Given the reception of Project 8, that might be a tough order to fill. Watch Joystiq's video after the break and join the discussion.
Skate footage impresses, asks Tony who?
There is some in-game footage of EA's upcoming Skate game up on YouTube, and it looks pretty flippin' sick. Sick in the good sense of the word, you know, to show how hip we are. It's being played on an Xbox 360, and you can color us extremely impressed.The game looks a lot more realistic and graphically intense than anything from the Tony Hawk camp. With eight games under their belt now, that franchise is looking tired (although we love the "Nail the Trick" feature in Tony Hawk's Project 8). Skate looks poised to blow them out of the water and take skating games in a new direction: realism.[Thanks, al52025]
Activision's CoD3 and THP8 not hitting 720p
Someone call Activision and let 'em know that 720p means 1280x720, please. Games-Aktuell, a German gaming outlet, has discovered that Call of Duty 3 and Tony Hawk's Project 8 are not running at a 720p high-def resolution. When the tests were run, CoD3 was shown to be running at 1040x620 pixels and THP8 at 1040x584 pixels. The pixel drop reflects a resolution drop of 30% and 34%, respectively. The resolution drop could be assumed to help keep framerates up, but THP8 reportedly has framerate problems. So what's up? Activision Germany told Cynamite.de that they weren't aware of the problem and are looking into it. Lower resolution is not something that normally just happens by accident, but given the recent quality assurance problems with CoD3, these resolution problems may just be another woeful mistake. If intentional, why the resolution drop in THP8 when the 360 is clearly powerful enough to handle something like Gears of War just fine? We've included a machine-translated link of the original German post.
Exclusive Target Wii DVD for only a penny
Joystiq was checking out the games section of Target today, and we stumbled across a massive display of these Wii DVDs, stuck in the middle of the Wii accessories rack. It looked like a freebie, but the cashier told us it was a penny. Then she boggled at the price on screen and asked a manager. The manager was also puzzled, then shrugged her shoulders and said, "Wow. A penny?" Four dollars later, it was ours (we bought some beef jerky).What do you expect for a penny? What you get is a white plastic (did Nintendo just get tired of colors or what?) DVD snapcase (hey, that's worth a penny at least), and inside is a disc emblazoned with GAME TRAILERS ONLY -- GAMES NOT INCLUDED. Well, dur. We feel sorry for the poor sap who races home with this thing, and then not only discovers that the Wii won't play DVDs, but they don't even have a Wii because it hasn't come out yet.Anyhow, it's a nice collection of trailers, behind the scenes videos, and screenshots for Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam. Check out the doppelgangers from The O.C. in the video after the jump playing Marvel and tossing popcorn around. You too can party like this, just hook yourself up with a Wii and wait for the party to go off the chain. Plus, you'll get to use the line "Hey, wanna check out my Wii?" over and over again.
Wiimote vs. Sixaxis, Round 1: Downhill Jam vs. Project 8
While Downhill Jam and Project 8 are two very different takes on the Tony Hawk license, they share enough commonalities (ollies, grinds, rotations, grabs, etc.) to warrant a Wiimote vs. Sixaxis comparison.Downhill Jam (Wii) and Project 8 (PS3) both feature motion-controlled skating, providing the gaming public with an ideal opportunity to judge the Wiimote and Sixaxis against each other. We'll have to wait until after November 19th to conduct hands-on trials, but a handy clip (see embedded video) has been spliced together giving us a preview of the showdown to come.
Still no Project 8 demo, what gives?
The hours keep ticking by and the promised Project 8 demo is still a no show. Plenty of companies have gotten into hot water (here's looking at you 3D Realms) for missing promised demos, but this one had its own press release and everything. We would have figured that all the certification and whatnot was already taken care of, especially if someone authorized a press release. Still, there are many hours left in the day. Keep the faith, fanboys.
Downhill Jam screens
Yep, that's right. Spankin' new screens from Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam for the DS. What did you expect, fields of frolicking bunnies? Now if they were on skateboards, you might have something there ....Check after the jump for five new screens. No bunnies allowed.
New Wii boxes, just like the old boxes [update 2]
The boxes for three more Wii games have been finalized -- Metal Slug Anthology, Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam and Monster 4x4 World Circuit all got the stamp of officialized boxart love from IGN. Since none of these games are unique to the Wii, the boxes are no great revelation, but they're pretty because they're ours.[Update 1: Seems there are multiple versions of the Tony Hawk box floating around. Some have the WiFi logo and some don't. Could the logo be a mistake from someone putting the boxart together and not paying attention, or is it a sign of things to come? We're looking into it.][Update 2: Spoke with our Activision rep, who indicated that any boxes floating around with the WiFi logo must be placeholders -- nothing has changed in regard to the lack of WiFi support for the Wii at this time. And we were so excited. Beware, beware of placeholder boxes! Thanks to our eagle-eyed readers on this one.]
BIH content, 9/28: big sweaty men edition
The Bringing It Home content train just keeps a' rollin'. Today we are blessed with another demo, Smackdown Vs. Raw 2007. The full list goes a little something like this:Tony Hawk's Project 8 trailerWheelman trailerFrontlines Fuel of War trailerX06 Game Montage videoCrossfire trailerWWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2007Fable 2 theme (150 points)X06 theme (free)Also new today, Europe can finally download all Oblivion content packs (insert obligatory horse armor joke here). Oh, and we missed it last night, but there is now a Halo Wars theme (150 points) and picture pack (80 points) available.
