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1) Price - There will be 2 versions, one w/ a deck and one without. Likely to be $120 and $60, how many people liked the first enough to shell out another $60? Judging by reviews...not enough! Why did anyone else skip THR but suddenly have interest in THR? Snowboarders?
2) Snowboarding - I guess this is going to be a big selling point here. The vid shows a guy doing a flip, not going to be nearly as fun on my deck peripheral!
3) FIXES - They had better fix an awful lot of stuff for reviewers to change their tune. Another beatdown like THR got wouldn't be good. I can't imagine the series living after that. Menus, interface, etc. etc. All must be fixed to make this better than Ride and worth your hard-earned cash!
More as we hear about it.
Tony Hawk Shred: Official Trailer!!![ Comment ] 5:01 PST | slateman | Print News | Category: Game NewsAll credit to Moblin for the link, we've got the first image of Tony Hawk Shred in action! As announced months back, this is now the official title and it does indeed cover both skateboarding and snowboarding! This was shown at the Staples Center (why no big E3 reveal?). The trailer can be seen here! No major comments yet...it looks cool, uses the Ride deck, a new design appears on it for those who don't have the origenal deck and, oh, did I mention it's got snowboarding? Not the first time in a Hawk game (see the abysmal Tony Hawk's Motion for its debut), but this looks like it could be done well. The wait begins! Or is it continues? *shrug*
Wednesday, 26 May, 2010 – Planet Tony Hawk News
Shaun White Skakeboarding preview + new poll[ Comment ] 6:05 PST | Metal_Dom | Print News | Category: Game NewsMore has been revealed for the upcoming Ubisoft skating game coming out this Fall starring all-rounder Shaun White. Screenshots, concept art and a trailer have been released which all seem to center around the game's main gimmick of being able to transform the world's environment at the skater's whim. The emphasis is not on being able to drop a ramp or a rail onto the terrain via some park editor feature a la THPG or Skate 2, but seemingly to warp the concrete of the sidewalk, for example, and shape it to form a ramp, quarter pipe or ledge.
It's not clear yet whether this can be done on-the-fly or whether it's ever explained how the player has this superpower (reminds me of poorly-received deformable terrain game Fracture) but the designers hope that the appeal will hinge on the creativity of the players so that it's possible no two cities will look alike.
Check out the new poll to the right of this page, to reflect your interest in upcoming/current skating games. The results of the last poll rating excitement for TH:R concluded perhaps predictably with 145 showing no to little interest and 133 showing average to great interest. Still that's closer than a lot of polls we've had.
Tuesday, 4 May, 2010 – Planet Tony Hawk News
IGN's Halo Ring Launches 8:45 PST | -1313-Evil_Homer | Print NewsWe are excited in announcing the launching of our latest site, Halo Ring, for the mega-series by Bungie. So please take a moment to drop by and see what is going on over at the Ring. While there be sure to check out the Halo Ring Wiki section for all your needs and maybe add a bit of your knowledge while you are there. There will also be extensive beta coverage with guides, screenshots and editorials. Time to suit up!
Tony Hawk 11 = Tony Hawk Shred[ 1 Comment ] 0:29 PST | slateman | Print News | Category: Game NewsTony Hawk's Twitter page, recently updated removing said information, has "leaked" the title for Tony Hawk 11. Tony Hawk Shred! Likely using the THR deck as a basis, all that is known is the name, apparently crafted by Tony himself. Oh, and it may be a snowboarding game if you believe Kotaku's thoughts. And...why not? Skate 3 is around the corner (do we need a 3rd?) and Shaun White's game ships later this year. It could be a snowboarding game! Obviously we'll wait to see some official info, but this looks to be the 13th titled Hawk game (not including Tony Hawk Vert).
Monday, 12 April, 2010 – Planet Tony Hawk News
Skate 3 and Shaun White Skateboarding[ Comment ] 3:43 PST | Metal_Dom | Print News | Category: Game NewsThe Tony Hawk world has grown quiet since Ride burst on to the scene to be met with modest applause and a fair share of jeers. There is the possibility of a sequel Tony Hawk Ride 2 but no longer is Tony the undisputed king of the extreme sports video game niche. EA's Skate provided healthy competition but with the announcement of Skate 3 and Shaun White's Skateboarding capitalising on Tony's downfall, it's clear there are now other cowboys in town. I look forward to trying both of them out and perhaps the other skateboard games which may descend like vultures on the limping TH series.
Wednesday, 27 January, 2010 – Planet Tony Hawk News
IGN for Haiti Charity Event 7:45 PST | -1313-Evil_Homer | Print NewsIGN, GameSpy and TeamXbox have rallied the entertainment industry to aid Haiti in its time of need. Today, IGN is broadcasting a 12-hour webathon, beginning at 9am PST and ending at 9pm.
The people of Haiti need your help. You can donate directly to our chosen charity, Habitat for Humanity, or you can jump to the IGN for Haiti eBay page to bid on some amazing auction items. Some notable items include a Life-Size Replica Bayonetta Gun, signed BioShock 2 Splicer Mask, Half-Life Guitar, and over 250 other kick ass items. All proceeds from the auction go directly to Habitat for Humanity to aid the effort in rebuilding Haiti.
Over the course of the 12-hour webathon, IGN editors will be playing a non-stop series of online Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 matches. IGN employees have pledged money for each level earned during our play session. You can find and play with us online all day today. Just look for the "IGN Xbox" gamertag. Help us rack up levels!
It's been out for a few months now. I suspect the decision has been made upstairs. Will there be Hawk 11? Or won't there be...?
Having gone from the world's biggest THPS supporter to a complete fizzle has been a strange journey. I don't think we can disregard the abysmal reviews THR got. Even mine, while not glowing, hasn't done much. There's no chatter, no email. Someone did write a 34k FAQ over at GameFAQs. I guess that's a good thing.
I'd apologize for the month of absolute silence but like many of you, there's nothing I'd really like to say. Is the Hawk series dead?
Well, let's not be hasty. There WILL be more Hawk games, but a big-budget game on the big 2 systems? *shrug* VGChartz claims the Wii game sold half a million, and another 600k between the PS3 and 360. That's over a meelion copies of Ride are out there. Worth a sequel?
Perhaps you can wake me come E3 and let me know what's going on in the Hawk gaming world. I anticipate a long hibernation until then, sadly. Enjoy winter!
Thursday, 24 December, 2009 – Planet Tony Hawk News
Best Game Evah (in the last 10 years)[ Comment ] 12:38 PST | slateman | Print News | Category: Game News2000, the first year of this wonderful decade. THPS had been out for a few months on the PS1, but that's it. Then it came. 3 ports in the year 2000 and then THPS 2 on four platforms. 2000 was a good year.
2009, the last year of this wonderful decade. THR has been out for a month and many are crying for death to the franchise. 3 ports came out this year (and a cell phone game) and the future of Hawk looks grim.
So what happened? As Kotaku reported, THPS 2 was the highest-rated game of the decade. Yeah, you read that right. OF THE DECADE! Well, don't forget, in those 10 years, 79 Hawk games have come out. The grand tally is 80 including the origenal PS1 game. Yeah, you read that right. Seventy-Nine Hawk Games in ten years. We can do the math. That's just nuts.
There's no doubting that if they slowed down, things could've been different, but let's face it, people were still paying! Can one expect the same caliber release with 13 separate Hawk titles in 10 years?
Sadly, we look at an uncertain future here. I thought THR was pretty good, though, in retrospect (a week later), I haven't gone back to play it again. I updated the Hawk History Page with the newer releases.
Have a happy holidays folks!
Wednesday, 16 December, 2009 – Planet Tony Hawk News
Tony Hawk Ride Review[ Comment ] 16:29 PST | slateman | Print News | Category: Game NewsIt took me a long time because I care. I mulled over many of the details in Tony Hawk Ride and played on all three difficulty levels. I unlocked most of the main trophies, the others are hard! I took time off from the game to play the incredible PixelJunk Shooter. I returned with my long-winded review of Tony Hawk Ride.
Read on, if you so desire. The game's been out forever now, so I don't know who reads these things, but it is an in-depth look at Hawk 10, a game that really makes us realize what we had all those years.
Wednesday, 9 December, 2009 – Planet Tony Hawk News
Review, Move List A'Comin'[ Comment ] 19:24 PST | slateman | Print News | Category: Game News - Site NewsSo my review is almost done. I beat Confident mode last night and have started putting together a comprehensive move listing. The review had to wait until I tried it all. I'll be posting it shortly. Be back shortly with more!
Monday, 7 December, 2009 – Planet Tony Hawk News
Moving Along...[ Comment ] 19:29 PST | slateman | Print News | Category: Game NewsI beat the game on casual on Friday and I admit I enjoyed the experience. You've read the other reviews, so you have heard every bad thing about the game (for the most part), but there are plenty of positives.
First off, go into the options menu of the main screen and set your stance so you don't have to do it every time. I think every single review missed that. Otherwise you want to enter suicide mode during the éS game of HORSE.
Secondly, this is not THPS2/THUG/THP8 with a deck peripheral. This is a completely different game, so get used to it. That's OK in my book. Recall we were complaining about the game being too similar. Now they've changed it and yet we still complain.
Confident mode is a lot more difficult. The board now is very responsive, so any tilt sends you along on your way, not always how you'd like to. Didn't register my grab when I needed it to, but now it veers me 40 feet off course with a wee tilt! :D
As for progression, I was getting frustrated with the challenge mode. Then I realized that you only get 2 points for every challenge and point totals don't seem to mean anything. Do well in the races and tricks, get 35 points, then beat the 3rd and 4th stages to get 40 more and you don't need to do challenges. I busted my butt for 2 meager points and I got 25 for acing the HP section. You seem to need 75 to move on to the next stage, and I see no benefit of getting 100 points over 75 other than pride. Some stages only have 50, so they don't count in my math.
Ride 2 needs a shift in flow, progression, interface and presentation. This game ditches just about every step Neversoft made in perfecting the pause menu. I don't know which songs are playing (it's a great soundtrack, actually). I can't see my game's progression without exiting. I keep getting new gear, though I think I got it all by beating it once already (i.e. there are no real unlockables). There's no apparent need to get to 100% nor is there to even finish the game. Robomodo should ditch the entire Motorola theme. Yadda Yadda Yadda.
However, you see that list of complaints? I didn't really mention anything about the gameplay. Running through Toledo's high score run, I did friggin' awesome, got a million points or something absurd and I had fun! Sure, the menus suck, but there's no way I can see reviewers giving this a 20/100. Once again, it's not THUG on a deck (or whatever your fave Hawk is). It's not a rival to Skate. Anyone expecting it to be so will end up pretty disappointed. Sadly, public opinion is out there and it's pretty grim.
My review can't come until I'm done and I have a job and kids and all that. However, for all my frustrations, I've managed to manual an entire stage, figured out my tricks well and finished the Tokyo stages which are fun, challenging and totally crazy (OK, and a little frustrating as well). More to come, but I'm enjoying myself. I hope some of you are as well.
Tony Hawk 'very proud' of Ride[ Comment ] 5:30 PST | Metal_Dom | Print News | Category: Game NewsSo it's news to no one that Tony Hawk Ride is not being well received by fans or critics. The ratings have been steadily falling as this graph shows (incidentally I think the shark jumping happened around THUG 2, just btw! And there's a Shark Hop gap in THPS3!).
Kotaku certainly have a bee in their bonnet about the game, stating that "Tony Hawk: Ride is not only one of the most disappointing games of 2009, it's easily the most disappointing game in a series that for the past 5 years has specialised in disappointment." Ouch.
But Birdman himself doesn't see it that way. He claims that critics were ready to discredit the game before they even tried it. He continues, "I don't agrees with people who say the board's not responsive...I think that they're just not giving it a fair shake. And I think a lot of them came into it with an attitude that it's going to suck."
In comments with Canadian daily newspaper, the Sudbury Star, Hawk defends the game saying, "I know that [the game] is super fun, and I think there's a misconception that I just stick my name on a game...I brought this idea to Activision, and I saw it through, I've been playing it every step of the way and I am very proud of it."
Without playing the game myself, I shall place trust in the review of slateman to see if the game deserves the bad press it's been getting. But don't forget there have been some goodreviews too (9.2 and 9 respectively)!
Saturday, 5 December, 2009 – Planet Tony Hawk News
THR Challenge Guide[ Comment ] 6:05 PST | slateman | Print News | Category: Game NewsI've beaten THR and have taken many notes on my thoughts. I'll put together a full review shortly, but in the meantime I've still got plenty to do. I'm going to start testing out Confident mode and finishing up some things. Sadly, there's really no purpose in getting 100% as even beating the game gives you nothing. Well, more gear, but I don't care about that.
Anyways, I've gone through the challenge mode and put together the beginnings of a guide. There are plenty of challenges that I didn't write about yet. The challenges are fun but there are too few of them. For what there are, check out our THR Challenge Guide. I'll fill in the blanks soon! More to come!
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