Skate outsells Tony Hawk 'nearly' 2 to 1
by Ross Miller 
{ Feb 1st 2008 at 11:00AM }
Although Skate had a one-month head start in both US and Europe, both titles were out long enough to be well-stocked for the crucial holiday season. While we're glad to have a quality competitor in the long-dominated skateboarding genre, we can only foresee a constant stream of bickering between the EA and Tony Hawk publisher Activision Blizzard at the Annual Giant Game Publishers Valentine's Day Dance.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
samfish @ Feb 1st 2008 11:06AM
That's very surprising, actually. I guess it says a lot about how far Tony Hawk games have sunk.
not that I care, personally. I'm not one to ever really say things like this, but if you want to skateboard...seriously...just go outside and do it.
Co @ Feb 1st 2008 11:09AM
Amen.
paragraph @ Feb 1st 2008 11:12AM
@sam / co
I agree, but what about people who don't want to skate... i don't want to fall on my ass all the time, i have 0 coordination from my wrists down/up (however you see it)
If you're into skateboarding enough to do it, you'll probably just do it anyway. TH and skate are geared to people who dont skate... atleast thats the way i've seen it.
Anam @ Feb 1st 2008 11:25AM
What about those of us that can't afford a skateboard? Have you thought of that? We'd much rather buy a console system and a $60 game than spend thousands of dollars and years of practice to actually- wait, I got my Skate defense mixed up with my Guitar Hero defense...
What about those of us that can't move our legs? Have you thought of that? We'd much rather sit on a comfy couch and twidle our thumbs than spend tens of dollars and hours of practice having fun outside!
baby sea tuna @ Feb 1st 2008 11:39AM
Dude, skateboarding is fucking HARD. Flicking a joystick with your thumb...not so much.
Anam @ Feb 1st 2008 11:44AM
Correction: Skateboarding WELL is fucking HARD.
Nathan @ Feb 1st 2008 12:28PM
@Anam
"We'd much rather buy a console system and a $60 game than spend thousands of dollars and years of practice"
You obviously know shit about skateboarding.
To buy a good deck, trucks, and wheels you're looking at $150
and I'd must rather waste my life outside showing people how i can do a kickflip in real life than showing them in a game.
Anam @ Feb 1st 2008 12:52PM
@Nathan
I'm not sure exactly where you were going with that post, but it sounded like you missed the joke in my post and thought that I seriously believed that skateboarding costs thousands of dollars. I don't. It was a joke making fun of Guitar Hero defenders who say that playing guitar takes thousands of dollars, which is also untrue considering that I bought an new electric guitar w/amp for $200.
Anyway, skateboarding is fun. Skateboarding games are fun. Guitar Hero is fun. Real guitar is a pain in the ass. That is all.
Odog4ever @ Feb 1st 2008 1:47PM
Your right Samfish if we want to skateboard we should just go out and do it.
If we want to play NFL football, fuck Madden, we should and just go out and do it, Sneaking past security and making it onto the field should be no problem.
If we want to dunk a basketball in an NBA game we should just go do it, even if we are only 5'10". I heard they are having open try outs after the allstar break.
We also want to shoot our best friends in the head in a death match and then talk trash to them when they re-spawn...Billy? Are you O.K.? Oh crap. (flees country in lieu of murder charges)
If we want to shoot aliens we should just go out and oh wait...
343 Guilty Fart @ Feb 1st 2008 1:49PM
And if you wanna play SSBB why not just go out into the streets and brawl??
Donald @ Feb 1st 2008 1:50PM
Real men try skateboarding while playing Tony Hawk simultaneously.
paragraph @ Feb 1st 2008 11:07AM
Skate's gimmick will eventually wear off. It's a good game, but it's not on the level of Tony Hawk.
Both are great games, i own both, but i like TH more because it's easier. Skate is fun, but it wears off...
dishwasher @ Feb 1st 2008 11:46AM
in other words "i hate skate because it is too hard"
Norm @ Feb 1st 2008 12:22PM
I sort of disagree. I love both games but for different reasons. Originally, I loved the TH series because it was the only real skate game. Then Thrasher came out, and that took over for a few years as my skateboarding game of choice. (like on a rainy day). I got back into the TH series around pro skater 4, when Kona was featured (my home park!) but by the time Skate. came out, I was ready for a change. I played the hell out of it. when I can't skate, I play skate.
On the other hand, I really hated the new tony hawk game at first. I wrote a terrible review of it because of the forced storylines, the rediculous trick add-ons, and the unrealistic gameplay, which is mostly NOTHING like skateboarding. But the more I played, the more I got into the overall design and structure of it. It's a lot of fun, after you get over the fact that starting off, you can barely ollie high enough to kickflip. It still sucks in a lot of ways, but it's also fun in a lot of ways. But I don't play it to just mess around and do skateboard tricks. Once I'm done with all the goals in the TH games, I hardly feel like playing it anymore. With EA's Skate., I can just cruise around and skate and have a lot of fun, and I don't really care about that. For me, the replay value has been infinitely higher.
GRANTED @ Feb 1st 2008 1:38PM
i loved skate but WHAT IS THE DEAL WITH THE GRIND TO GRIND ON THE MANSION BENCH that was clucking impossible because you had to hit the EXACT kind of grind its like god leave me some room for creative expression and i stopped playing after i couldn't do it for 2 hours.
mike @ Feb 1st 2008 11:23AM
yeah because when its snowing its really easy to go outside and skate...
paragraph @ Feb 1st 2008 11:28AM
I do it all the time :-P
Point Taken: But I still maintain that the majority of people who play TH don't skate at all, or don't skate very well, and thus they replace that with games... or not, what do I know.
Shimrra @ Feb 1st 2008 11:36AM
I got tired of this whole genre ever since the Tony Hawk game series has been slowing trying to be more sim like. I think if the Hawk series comes back they should go back to that old arcade feeling with crazy back drops and outrageous tricks. The last Hawk game I played was on the first Xbox and that was only because it was a collection of all the original maps from the first three Hawk series. After that the whole series just got boring. I think the best way to handle the series is stop making another game every year. Take a break and make maps for DL.
paragraph @ Feb 1st 2008 11:27AM
I tried Proving gorund's demo, it seemed solid enough for me...
The last one i played was P8, and it didn't feel realistic at all, it was very arcadey.
I would put it or PG on your rental list, not like #4 at all (can't vouch for Wasteland or Underground, since i never played them)
Marty @ Feb 1st 2008 11:25AM
Looks to me like Tony Hawk just got a bit too comfortable as the only good skating game on the market. That, and people always want to try something new. Skate got good reviews, and from what my buddy who plays this game tells me, they earned it.
paragraph @ Feb 1st 2008 11:29AM
It's definitly well done, simple controls, good looks, etc. but it does get boring after a while.
riggs @ Feb 1st 2008 11:54AM
^as opposed to tony hawk?
playwhutyalike @ Feb 1st 2008 11:26AM
Man, there is a lot of EA news today.
baby sea tuna @ Feb 1st 2008 11:41AM
To be fair, they do make a lot of games.
FrankTheCrank @ Feb 1st 2008 11:41AM
I smell a price war brewing...woohoo.
First one to $19.99 will make it into my collection!!!
Jack @ Feb 1st 2008 11:52AM
skate. deserves it. It was a great game. I fell in love with TH when I was younger but it wore off around TH4 for me. I imagine skate. will wear off eventually. But for now, let the good and better skating times roll!
Nicholas @ Feb 1st 2008 2:30PM
I know they said "current gen", because skate wasn't made on "old gen" (Xbox, PS2, Gamecube), so it only make sense. But TH still sold around 250K on PS2 in the US, which is worth something.
BTW I own and love skate and I wouldn't let my child anywhere near the last TH so don't take that as if I am a TH fan or anything, I'm just bringing it up because I feel that people should know.
dsub @ Feb 1st 2008 12:13PM
Skate. is an amazing game, and is 10 times better than Tony Hawk's Proving Ground. Try playing Skate. and then going back to Tony Hawk. It'll feel like your going back a generation.
Optimus Prime @ Feb 1st 2008 12:22PM
Tony Hawk(series) is a DINOSAUR and better overhaul their game, cause Skate totally bitchslapped Mr. Hawk with a superior skating game. There is NO comparison. I LOVED the Tony series since the beginning, but now that I have seen the light, Tony seems silly at BEST. I'll keep Tony in mind if I feel like automagically grinding for 5 minutes on a rollercoaster at 200 mph while doing a headstand, LOL.
Leadbelly28 @ Feb 1st 2008 12:21PM
"Just go outside and skate" is a dumbass thing to say. Just go outside and steal a car instead of playing GTA or go play football or basketball instead of games. DUH! What a bunch of morons who say that. Tony Hawk ruled in the day. Even if you aren't into "skating" that is still a fun game. ITS A VIDEO GAME. WE PLAY VIDEO GAMES. Skate's mechanics were far superior though. Tony needs to step it up a little and quit with the rehash.
Norm @ Feb 1st 2008 1:00PM
I'm glad you said that because it's the same argument people have about games like Rock Band, and it's retarded. The whole point of games is fun. Just because it's based on easily accessable subject matter like skateboarding or music, doesn't mean that it isn't fun or ok to enjoy. I mean more dramatically, I love Call of Duty, but lol at the idea of me signing up for the military. A big difference, yeah, but it's the same argument.
Philpott @ Feb 1st 2008 1:09PM
especially moronic considering this is a games website. Just go outside and have this conversation in public instead of sitting on you ass to voice your opinion. We come here for gaming and being couch athletes. Nuff said.
ThornedVenom @ Feb 1st 2008 12:46PM
Not surprising: they tapped an unserviced market.
Those who liked videogame skating but who were sick of Tony Hawk.
Evan @ Feb 1st 2008 12:55PM
Does anyone really want to play a game where you pretend to some pretentious skater punk?
Norm @ Feb 1st 2008 1:41PM
Yeah, all the characters in the Tony Hawk games DO seem like jackasses. I mean not like Bam, I mean like 'douchebags'.
NvM @ Feb 1st 2008 12:56PM
All 6 Underground games seemed exactly the same to me.
mattydread @ Feb 6th 2008 10:40PM
I'm tired of Tony Hawk games having me ollie ten feet in the air. I want a skateboard game that seems like skateboarding dammnit! I hope Skate is more realistic. (With all of the great games on the 360 this past year I haven't had a chance to try it out yet.)
konajinx @ Feb 1st 2008 1:45PM
Skate's demo bored me...but then so have the last few Tony Hawk games, which I still wind up getting to see if they've gotten any better. Sadly, the apex with the Hawk series came with THPS 2 and then 3, being the first on the PS2 at the time. After that, it was just variations on the theme with really bad music thrown in, which was a shame, because I thought the soundtracks for the first three games (especially 2) were really good.
Skate will probably have a future, though I think its "realism" will wear off by the time a sequel comes around. Tony probably just needs to take a rest for a while, but knowing how much money it rakes in for him, it's less than likely to go away any time soon.
MarMar @ Feb 1st 2008 6:55PM
All I know is that it's obnoxiously smug to put the period at the end of "Skate." Wow real edgy and alternative of you EA marketing department!
longhairbilly @ Feb 1st 2008 9:35PM
I got to say. I bought Skate after playing the demo, it's good. I rented Tony Hawk from Gamefly and enjoyed it way more..
I hate Skates camera.
TWiNKiE @ Feb 3rd 2008 10:12AM
I agree.
The idea of a trail behind camera works fine, and it's very creative, but I wish that you can sort of move it, or make it higher, or more to the left, because there are times in which its hard to see what's ahead of you or below you without getting dangerously close to the edge.
And I wish you could set a camera somewhere so when you record, it doesn't trail along with you. There are lots of spots in skate. that I can't skate on because the camera feels wonky in the video, or better left stationary in a corner.