RipTen Videogame Blog » Tony-Hawk

New Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD Screens Kickflip it Old School

Garrett Hartman — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:00:15 +0000

Activision and Robomodo want to bring the Tony Hawk series back to its roots. No more gimmicky controls like with Tony Hawk: Ride, just solid tried and true gameplay with a standard controller. Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD will be the series’ first game on consoles that will be offered exclusively as a downloadable game.

The screens look solid and fun. Check them out below.

Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD launches sometime Summer 2012 on PSN and XBL.

First Gameplay Footage of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD

Chris Carlson — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 02:31:11 +0000

Just a little while ago we broke the news that Tony Hawk would be returning once again to the video game world, but this time, in HD. Yes. No more crappy physical skateboards to lean on in your living room. Instead, you’ll be reliving those fantastic memories when Tony Hawk games were actually good in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD.

Check out the first glimpse of gameplay from the VGAs. If you ever played Pro Skater, this will look very familiar to you.

SPIKE

Tony Hawk\’s Pro Skater HD World Premiere

Tony Hawk Confirms Pro Skater HD Remakes

Catherine Cai — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 01:15:04 +0000

Tony Hawk confirmed on the not-so-red carpet at the VGAs that there will indeed be HD remakes of Pro Skater 1 & 2. The soundtrack will consist of a mix of the best of the soundtracks of the original two games and something new and the game itself will consist of the best levels from 1 and 2. Sweet.

Tony also stated that it will be a digital download only title that will cost around $20. Super sweet.

We caught up with Tony on the white carpet and we’ll have that interview for ya later tonight. Stay tuned to RipTen for more VGA announcements.

Activision Axes Guitar Hero and True Crime: Hong Kong

Garrett Hartman — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 22:38:05 +0000

Activision has just announced it will axe development on True Crime: Hong Kong as well as “disband” Guitar Hero. In their latest financial release for full-year fiscal 2011 they stated,

“Due to continued declines in the music genre, the company will disband Activision Publishing’s Guitar Hero business unit and discontinue development on its Guitar Hero game for 2011.”

In mentioning True Crime: Hong Kong it was stated they would,

“stop development on True Crime: Hong Kong. These decisions are based on the desire to focus on the greatest opportunities that the company currently has to create the world’s best interactive entertainment experiences.”

Tony Hawk and DJ Hero fans also have something to lament. Activision COO Thomas Tippl has also stated that no Tony Hawk games or music titles will be released in 2011.

Game Informer concludes that this was done so Activision can focus on it’s three top brands: Call of Duty, StarCraft and World of Warcraft.

Well keep you informed as more develops.

Source: GI via VG247

More Tony Hawk Games Being Planned

Dave Oshry — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 00:57:52 +0000

I know this news really comes as no surprise – but it’s good to know that Activision hasn’t given up on Tony Hawk – and neither have we.

Just moments ago, the legend himself tweeted that more games are being planned:

This is certainly no surprise – the Tony Hawk franchise is one of the most recognizable brands in gaming. However, the latest entries have performed less than admirably when it comes to sales. What will the next game bring to the franchise?

Will they take the series back to it’s roots? Or will they keep pushing motion control technology?

We caught up with Tony back at the 2010 VGA’s – when we asked him about doing a Kinect game? He said, “Sure, why not.”

We haven’t given up on Tony Hawk – have you?

Tony Hawk Would Make a Kinect Game – Would You Buy It?

Dave Oshry — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 17:23:44 +0000

It’s no secret that there hasn’t been a successful Tony Hawk game in quite some time – but old school Tony Hawk fans still have hope – is Kinect the answer?

Personally, I don’t think so. The Tony Hawk games that I loved and the Tony hawk games that sold well were the Pro Skater and Underground games – the ones that stuck to the tried and true Tony Hawk formula.

If it ain’t broke – don’t fix it, so why is Tony so set on continuing to push motion gaming in his series when Tony Hawk Ride and Shred were both complete flops?

Well, we caught up with Tony at the VGAs and asked him what the future was for his “storied” franchise.

He told us that it’s all about motion gaming and handhelds. Turns out, he’s also keen on Kinect.

Now, I definitely don’t have a problem with handhelds. In fact, THUG 2 was one of my favorite PSP games. But when it comes to Tony Hawk Kinect - I’m not sold.

Would I be willing to give it a chance if it looked really promising? Sure. But for now I think I’ll boot up my Dreamcast and play some Pro Skater 2.

Either way, no matter how many of his games flop – Tony Hawk is a legend and you still can’t do a 900*

Would you buy Tony Hawk Kinect?

Tony Hawk Shred Only Moves 3,000 Units in United States

Bryce Wilson — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 14:49:38 +0000

In a somewhat hilarious announcement, business analysts Cowen and Company have claimed that Tony Hawk: Shred, has only sold 3,000 copies in it’s first week on sale in the United States of America. According to the analyst the game was “a virtual no show”, having sold less copies then DJ Hero 2, another peripheral based game that launched during the week (FYI, DJ Hero 2 posted sales of 59,000 units in the first week).

It’s sad to see Tony Hawk, one of my childhood franchises declining in popularity so quickly. The same thing happened with Shaun White Skateboarding though, proving that EA is onto an absolute gem with it’s skate franchise, and hopefully they look after that baby.

Source: [MCV]

Tony Hawk: Shred Coming October 26

Sam Naylor — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 21:03:04 +0000

Activision have announced that Tony Hawk: Shred will be released on October 26 in North America and October 29 in Europe.

There’s also a new website for you to play with, if that’s the sort of thing you like to do with your day. The game is set for release on Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3.

Supposedly aimed at younger gamers, Tony Hawk: Shred features not only skateboards but also boards of the “snow” variety.

Tony Hawk: Shred to Feature Snowboarding

Sam Naylor — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 00:29:39 +0000

In a shock turn of events, Activision’s Tony Hawk: Shred is set to feature both snowboarding and skateboarding. This information was revealed today in a financial call where upcoming titles were discussed.

Tony Hawk: Shred uses the skateboard peripheral that came with the awful Tony Hawk: Ride, but it has been assured that the controls will be much better this time around. Perhaps for a snowboard the peripheral will work a little better- but this remains to be seen, obviously.

It’s the first time we’ve seen snowboarding in the series, which is surprising when you think about all the stupid gimmicks that the series has tried since the last good one (THPS4). Perhaps one day they’ll shed thr shit and get back to making Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5.

Back when THPS3 came out, it was announced that Tony Hawk had been signed on for another 17 games. At the time, I was excited. Now, I’m just disappointed- I never expected this sort of gimmick-based crap from the king of skating.

Tony Hawk Will Be Your Friend… if You Play Ride

Gavin Bard — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 22:21:57 +0000

Excuse me, secretary, could you file this under O for “Oh, How the Mighty Have Fallen” please? Thank you.

Tony Hawk at one point was not only the greatest vert skater that ever lived but also the face of the greatest skateboarding series known to man. Now he is on Twitter offering hollow friendship if you only play his new game, the critical and most likely financial flop Ride. Now, I’m sure we are all just jaded and apathetic in the gaming journalism world and are reading too far into this. The guy honestly does believe none of us gave this game a fair shake, and this is just his way to reach out to his fans and encourage them to give it a chance with the offer of delicious friendship. On the other hand, Ride really does blow.

From Tony Hawk’s twitter:

And sorry to those that enountered a full friends list. Will do some Spring Cleaning tomorrow (hint: if you play @thride online, you’re in)

Maybe he only wants to add people who play Ride because he wants to keep his friends list small and manageable.

Burn.

I don’t think Ride would have bothered me so much if it weren’t for the fact Tony Hawk came out and said people only panned it because they “had their minds set” on hating it. Nobody spends $100+ on something they want to hate, and critics who got copies of the game for free aren’t the only people saying this thing is an unresponsive mess, so put two and two together. The thing that amuses me most is that I can picture people actually getting this game in order to be LIVE friends with Tony Hawk. But, like the rich kid we all knew in grade school that pulled out all the stops in order to get you to come to his birthday party, they won’t actually be there because they want to- they just want cake and horsey rides. Next up on Tony Hawk’s agenda: Offering video game journalists candy if they stop being so snarky, and also if they just get in his van and help him find his lost puppy…

[Source: Kotaku]

Video Game Winners and Losers of the Week: 11/15 – 11/21

Jonathan Zungre — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:47:26 +0000

Every week, I research all the best new video game releases to find the one game that you need to play and the one game that you need to stay away from: my Video Game Winners and Losers of the Week. This week with 100% more winners!

Listen to mankind’s greatest radio segment, Video Game Winners and Losers of the Week

Did An Activision Creative Director Leak The Title Of The Next Tony Hawk Game?

Demi Adejuyigbe — Sat, 09 May 2009 01:44:29 +0000

Look, nobody’s perfect. And in the world we live in, people always to focus on these imperfections, as they tend to make or break a person’s career, or product. And the gaming industry is no different. Video games get leaked almost daily. Whether it’s gameplay footage, information, or even the game itself, leaks in the videogame industry are always important- even when it’s something as small as a title.

Brian Tyree, a creative director for Ayzenberg (the PR company that works with Activision), posted his resume online, with a lengthy list of games that he’s worked on. The list is pretty textbook- games like Banjo & Kazooie, Pure, Singularity, and Afro Samurai made the cut, but there’s also a game called Tony Hawk Ride on the list that we’ve never heard of.

Activision recently teased a ‘reinvention’ of the Tony Hawk franchise, which is most likely the new skateboard perihperal we’ve heard so much about, and it seems as though Tony Hawk Ride will be the name attached to it. I hope not, though- it sounds like a boring name. Maybe if it weren’t prefixed with “Tony Hawk”, it would sound better. I’m not alone in this, I hope- what do you guys think about the name?

Activision Announces… Well, Pretty Much Everything

Demi Adejuyigbe — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 01:01:38 +0000

As if you didn’t have enough games backtracked to carry you into the New Year, today, at an event hosted by Massive Inc., Activision announced a shitload of new games, though they’re mostly sequels to old titles. Hit the jump for the full details.

As expected, Activision announced yet another game for the Guitar Hero franchise. Whoo. If you haven’t been keeping track, that’s the 9th announced Guitar Hero game from Activision. I mean, jeez, Harmonix only made three in the two years they had the series, and as of Q1 2010 (that’s two and a half years in Activision’s hands) the game will have twelve sequels & spin-offs. The franchise is going to die faster than [some 80's rap star]‘s career. Thank you, I’ll be here all night.

Surprisngly, Activision also announced a new Tony Hawk game — one that won’t use the controller and will probably use the rumored skateboard peripheral, along with a new Call of Duty game planned as a sequel to Modern Warfare. The last of Activision’s announcements included a new Bond game, probably based off of the 23rd Bond film in 2010, and an original racing game from Bizarre Creations, which they’ve described as ‘Mario Kart meets Forza.” If it allows me to shoot a blue shell from a Maserati, I’m all for it.

Source: MTV Multiplayer

New Guitar Hero: On Tour Commercial is Enough to Make a Grown Man Cringe

Chad Lakkis — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 19:38:43 +0000

Seriously, who thought four grown men wearing pink dress shirts and white boxers sock sliding across a hardwood floor was a good way to market Guitar Hero: World Tour?

What type of Rock Band Group are Tony Hawk, Alex Rodriguez, Kobe Bryant, and Michael Phelps forming? A sissy band that caps off a long night of underwear performances in their living room with a pillow fight? Maybe they can call their band the “Old News Pretty Boy Ski Lodge Olympic Mike” Band. Why Mike? Who told you to do this commercial?

Activision, please hear my plea. Fire your ad agency. The quadruple piano intro is to testosterone as Kryptonite is to Superman.

Afterthought: Does anyone actually like these commercials? Does this make you want to buy Guitar Hero over Rock Band 2?

Call of Duty 4 Crowned King at Interactive Achievement Awards

Dan Landis — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 23:31:25 +0000

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was just awarded Overall Game of the Year at last night’s 11th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards Show. See, we were right!

In addition to Game of the Year, Infinity Ward’s hot little number also called in an airstrike on Console Game of the Year, Action Game of the Year, and Outstanding Achievement in Online Game Play. Activision rejoiced at the kill streak and called in a helicopter.

Robin Kaminsky, Activision’s executive vice president of publishing, had this to say:

“It’s an honor for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare to be recognized by the Academy as the best game of 2007. The team at Infinity Ward is committed to delivering groundbreaking entertainment to gamers worldwide and all of the awards are an acknowledgment of their talent, dedication and hard work.”

Jason West, studio head and project lead at Infinity Ward, added:

“We’re thrilled and truly appreciate that our efforts have been recognized by the Academy, especially with the incredible competition this year.”

Apparently, the competition wasn’t as great as we all thought it was. In fact, Call of Duty 4 topped the 2007 sales charts as the number-one, best-selling game worldwide, according to The NPD Group, Chart Track, and GFK Group. The game sold in excess of 7 million copies, even though it was just released in November.

ActiBlizzion has effectively entered Prestige Mode, as I’m sure they are planning on doing this all over again in 2008 with titles like Guitar Hero 4, Tony Hawk 481 (or whatever number they are on now), StarCraft 2, and of course, Call of Duty 5.

Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground (PS3/360)

Michael Bencic — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 00:02:59 +0000

There’s a right and a wrong way to do things. Then there’s a middle of the road. You know, complacent. Boring. Non eventful. Or as I like to call it, Tony Hawk, post Pro Skater 2.

I have a few philosophies in life. Tao of Mike #251. “If a hip and cool spokesperson is almost 10 years older than myself, he is no longer than face of a new generation. He’s just an old man selling out.” Sorry, Tony. There may have been a time where I sought out your tapes, owned several of your boards, and wished I could be as cool as you. That was 1986. I was 11. I am a fan, and I will always look on those days fondly. Like all great things that come to an end, your days of Pro Skater supremacy are over. Some say Skate is the next generation. I say it’s time to leave skateboards underneath my Vans and off of my console.

So, what is the problem with the Hawk series this year? The same virus that seems to be infecting almost all sports games in recent memory — too much complexity. Trying to include the kitchen sink, and thinking that every button on an overcrowded Six-axis has to cramp up my hand and leave it as lifeless as the stump Bob Dole sticks his pen into.

There’s so much going on, so many ways to manipulate a trick, that I found myself staring at the skateboard in my bedroom and thinking how much easier it would actually be to ride in real life than mash buttons in this game.

There’s plenty here to enjoy, yet it’s all been done before (and more effectively) in previous installments of the Hawk series. Proving Ground is tiresome and repetitive, and I have felt that way since Pro Skater 2 on the Dreamcast, which absolutely kicked ass.

It’s become such a joke that every single year during E3, Activision’s PR/marketing firm, or a Neversoft rep declares the new Hawk incarnation to be THE definitive skating/Tony Hawk experience. That leaves me wondering, ‘So why should we purchase THIS years edition, if in 2009 you’ll just be declaring how much 2008 sucked?’

So, here we are. Different year, with a similar experience. It’s hard to be inspired during a review when a game is so mediocre. A truly phenomenal game gets my juices flowing, and a horrid game will piss me off, instigating a rant. This is neither. It’s just there.

My Uncle Dan use to say that “It doesn’t matter if people love you or hate you, what’s important is that you do something that is memorable.” Although he probably ripped it off of someone else, it’s still cool, because my uncle Dan is a unique fellow who you surely would not forget. Make your mark and don’t settle, good advice in life, and in game design.

You can add one more to the list, and that would be “know when to retire”. Tony, do you really want to be the 45 year old guy on the cover a video game with hair dye and air-brushed wrinkles? You’ve had a good run, one could even consider you an endearing video game mascot. Even a perennial console veteran like Sonic the Hedgehog, had his reign come to an end (thanks to many sub-par adventures).

Once upon a time, that little blue cliché threatened Mickey Mouse and Super Mario for worldwide recognition, but now, it appears that his time has ended. Maybe you should consider a nice room in the retirement home with Sonic, Bubsy, Knuckles, Aero the Acrobat, and R.O.B. the Robot. I hear they have pudding with their lunch! Do you like pudding, Tony? Okay, calm down grandpa, don’t get too excited. That hip is fragile, and your bed (while it is tilted at an angle) is not a half pipe!

All of this is pointless, of course, if 2008′s Tony Hawk beats Skate to a bloody pulp in sales. Then, by all means, keep ‘em coming Hawk-man. Until then, I’ll let Roxy (my dog) pull me through the park on my board. It’s less cramping on my fingers and much more fun. Who knew? Reality can be enjoyable!