Are you serious?

I think its pretty much fact that skate was AWESOME!

Bring it on EA!

@CassilineKnight

Skate is a gimmick game... unless they do something totally amazing, they really run the risk of killing what made it special...

"Skate is a gimmick game... unless they do something totally amazing, they really run the risk of killing what made it special..."

*cough* Recent Tony Hawk games readily come to mind... *cough*

@Foxhound

True, but skate needs to keep it's gimmick, atleast THPS can totally change the game without much backlash from it's fans ;)

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Do you really think every idea they had with Skate actually made it into the final product? Sequels allow the developers to impliment features or concepts they either did not have the time or budget to the first time out.

@FidliousWong

If the second one blows monkey chunks don't expect me to give a rats ass about the third...

Despite the good that could come of this, i know EA will find a way to rape the game.

@paragraph:

There are plenty of gameplay aspects that EA can add to the engine for a sequel, and it's my belief that the sequel will continue to outdo the THPS franchise in terms of quality, authentic-feeling gameplay. That is, unless THPS really overhauls its style of play. But then they would become a copycat of EA, even if they could manage to best EA in terms of storyline...which isn't necessarily the case.

If you don't want a second skate, don't buy it. No one really cares how you felt about the first one. Gimmick? I'm pretty sure the consensus is the game revolutionized the skateboard gaming genre, much like THPS did in its first iterations.

I think "gimmick" is slowly becoming a taboo word in gaming... what one person calls a gimmick, another deems revolutionary. To me personally, it's:

gimmick = sales hook

Because let's face it... SKATE isn't doing anything entirely new. We've had skateboarding games since the NES, flick-it controls used even in early PS2 surfboarding games, and the only remotely original thing was the camera angle alongside the eased learning curve(and even that might've been done before).

Another example is Nintendo's Wii using a IR remote isn't anything truly revolutionary in terms of technology, but it is a damnably impressive sales hook to have new/old gamers use a concept they're highly familiar with - a remote control; and adding on from there at an inexpensive price point compared to competition. Tack on the almost "no-brainer simplicity" of its interface and it's no wonder even the elderly hopped on it.

@foxhound: I know EA's ad campaign made a huge deal out of the flick it controls as an alternative way of gaming, but what has sold me on the game are the realistic skating physics, the large free-roaming environment (hopefully the sequel will bring an even larger one with more skating hot spots), and things such as running from security guards in no-skate zones and playing games of s-k-a-t-e online.

That's what I refer to as revolutionary moreso than the control scheme.

Honestly, those *are* the reasons to buy the game. -nod-

"Gibeau also said that after a disappointing sales year, Need for Speed would be returning to the touchstones that made it a hit before, and adding open-world racing..."

There you go. I'm so happy about this. It was the reason I didn't buy PorStreet. That and the driving blows, it wasn't arcade nor simulator, kind of in the middle.

PGR3, PGR4, and Froza 2 are good. Why don't you own a racing game?

... Thanks John, the skies over EA headquarters are as dark as ever, could this mean they are plotting a nefarious plan to rule the world? Our crack team of meteoroligiest suggest it's a thunderstorm.

"I'd say it's about time for Hot Pursuit 3...."

I will second that notion.

Agreed. I'd also like to see better bail physics than the rag doll, and while I like the concept of using the analog stick and it's fun and challenging, I wouldn't mind an alternative control scheme as well. That could definitely draw in the demographic that is hesitant to embrace gaming with the right analog stick.

"That could definitely draw in the demographic that is hesitant to embrace gaming with the right analog stick."

Gaming with the right analog stick is dead. Or at least it should be. It's so archaic. IR pointer control is where it's at.