Hands-on: Tony Hawk Ride
by Justin McElroy 
{ Jun 5th 2009 at 6:15PM } 
First, it's not an open world game, so those of you worrying about tuckering yourself getting from A to B can put those fears aside. Even when you're performing some limited navigation, it only take one or two foot pumps across your carpet to reach your top speed.
The section that I saw was very much about traveling to a line and pulling it off, a mode developer Robomodo calls "challenge". You're assigned a specific group of tricks, say a manual into a grind into a flip trick over a ramp, and must pull it off flawlessly.
But of course you want to know how well the board worked. The piece of tech itself was just fine, it felt sturdy, and never had problems registering my movements. As you might expect you won't be physically flipping the board through the air, so a series of movements stand in for performing the actual tricks. It's a shorthand of sorts.
To ollie, you'll quickly pop the top of the board up. For flip tricks, add a lean to the same action. For a shove trick, you'll add a quick shift of the board to the left or right instead. Grabs are ... well, you grab. That's the same.
Remember the first time you played Guitar Hero, how awkward it felt at first? That's the idea here. You're teaching your body a whole new set of moves, so it doesn't feel totally natural. I assume that'll change over time, but I honestly didn't get enough time to find out. I was a little troubled that the president of the developer needed a couple of tries to nail the tricks in his demo, but who knows, maybe the guy was just tired.
Though the board is designed to be more accessible, this kind of experience won't be for everyone. For starters, if you have bad balance, it's not going to fix that. Also, it's pretty tiring, so it would likely work better as a party game where you're taking turns with friends.
In theory, Tony Hawk Ride works, and in pretty much the manner you'd imagine. It is, however, the sort of experience I would have needed more time to really get the hang of. My hope is that the fun comes after you learn the ropes.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
False @ Jun 5th 2009 6:18PM
That's nice and all, but it still doesn't make me want to buy this over...say...a REAL skateboard.
Heh @ Jun 5th 2009 6:39PM
My sister skates and she's "stoked" about this game. True skaters will play/do anything even remotely close to skateboarding. It's a game, comparing it to something real is a tired, old, and stupid argument.
freedomfromconformity @ Jun 5th 2009 6:55PM
It was OK. The tricks that you pull just seemed to "happen" without much effort although trying to pull a manual was a bit difficult. My character kept wanting to ollie instead.
By the end of the demo you really work up a sweat. It has sensors on the ends and sides so it knows when you're pulling a handgrab. You drag your feet along the side to kick/push and gain speed which was cool.
That being said... I still don't think I'd spend $120 on it. I'd have to see much more interesting levels and design ideas other than what they showed.
Sam @ Jun 7th 2009 3:51PM
I agree with Heh. I'm a skater, and I'm pretty excited about this. The peripheral sounds really fun. Of course the price is a drawback, but that goes to anything with a high price tag.
Matt Rix @ Jun 7th 2009 1:22AM
keep in mind that a lot of people who will be buying this game(myself included) already have real skateboards... kinda like how I've got rock band but I've also got a real guitar and drums.
Casey @ Jun 5th 2009 6:24PM
@False -
Yes, but for those of us who aren't willing to risk a $500 co-pay to try real Skateboarding, this seems like a fun way to spend an afternoon with friends.
As it seems pretty tiring, having a drunken H.O.R.S.E. session appears to be the best thing about this. Add some hot girls to the equation, and everyone might have an awesome time.
Jack_Jackington @ Jun 5th 2009 6:33PM
Yeah, I believe YOU will be adding hot girls to ANY equation
Sidebuster @ Jun 5th 2009 6:24PM
This does make me want to play skate 2 again though.
Wayne @ Jun 5th 2009 10:27PM
I haven't stopped playing Skate 2 yet.
sqwarlock @ Jun 5th 2009 6:25PM
I'm not thrilled. I'll stick with Skate, thank you very much.
False @ Jun 5th 2009 6:40PM
I'll stick with Tony Hawk's Project 8, thank you very much. You know...when skating games were about racking up huge combos, doing outrageous tricks, and having fun.
MystileArmor @ Jun 5th 2009 6:59PM
Tony Hawk wasn't "fun" anymore. It never was about huge combo's either. Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 was fun, it wasn't about sick combo's, but more about sick gaps, hitting that one rail that seemed out of reach, etc. It still had somewhat of a sense of realism, with a bit of arcadey-ness.
Skate and Skate 2 seemed to capture that essence. It's fairly realistic, but you still got some arcadey insane stuff in it, like for example the hall of meat.
The Tony Hawk series went downhill after THUG. That one wasn't even all that good, but it was ok.
Ezio Auditore de Firenze [PSN SniperChameleon] @ Jun 5th 2009 7:29PM
for me, THUG2 is the epitome of skating games.
MystileArmor @ Jun 5th 2009 8:04PM
THUG 2 was ok, all of the Tony Hawks were "ok" but to me it was really because there wasn't anything to compete with it. When Skate came out, it just blew Tony Hawk out of the water.
I don't think I could ever go back, it took me a bit to adjust to the Skate way of controlling stuff, but it feels natural.
WiredKnight @ Jun 6th 2009 3:23AM
Ick, Project 8 is like the worst one of them all. The whole freeform flip tricks were cool, but they were harder to pull off and didn't give you enough points to be worth it. There was always such a huge gap between the "pro" and "sick" scores, it was completely unbalanced. When you actually go for those scores it just turns into button-mashing.
I'm glad Skate came along, to make a game that's actually about skating.
B0E0S @ Jun 5th 2009 6:25PM
Shouldn't this be a "feet-on"? Hardy har har har
Yipcanjo @ Jun 5th 2009 7:28PM
I see what you did there. Amazing!
chamelean75 @ Jun 5th 2009 6:27PM
wow I can see the lawsuits................. 80 year old man falls off fake skateboard.
james @ Jun 5th 2009 6:29PM
you don't see people suing skateboard companies. hopefully same goes for this.
s.tam @ Jun 5th 2009 6:33PM
I want the world to be this way..but sadly in this day and age anyone can sue for anything no matter how ridiculous
MystileArmor @ Jun 5th 2009 6:33PM
80 year old people should have some common sense and not prance around on plastic in their living room.
bill51 @ Jun 5th 2009 6:48PM
Most 80 year olds cover their entire living rooms with plastic.
Saria the Cat @ Jun 5th 2009 7:12PM
+1 for bill
WiredKnight @ Jun 6th 2009 3:19AM
...except that the "use at your own risk" warning is there for a reason.
dabamf @ Jun 5th 2009 6:34PM
Is this the only game that will use the skateboard peripheral? Seems like a pretty big risk. Then again, Activision did hit it big with their guitar peripheral. Will lightning strike twice? I'm about 50/50 right now.
Heh @ Jun 5th 2009 6:41PM
Activision had nothing to do with the success of guitar accessories. They only milked the guitar hero name when it got big. You can thank GuitarFreaks for the guitar part of the music genre.
rkrocks123 @ Jun 5th 2009 6:44PM
And you can thank Guitar Hero and Harmonix for bringing guitar peripherals to the masses. Guitar Freaks was never released for consoles in the U.S., so they didn't take that gamble.
Neuromancer @ Jun 5th 2009 6:46PM
If they also came out with a Back to the Future 2 style hoverboard game, I'd be on this like white on rice.
Ezio Auditore de Firenze [PSN SniperChameleon] @ Jun 5th 2009 7:30PM
yeah, red octane and harmonix were the ones that made it mainstream. not activision.
Heh @ Jun 5th 2009 8:30PM
rkrocks123
Without guitarfreaks guitar hero wouldn't have been made. Redoctane had special 5-button controllers they made for GF stocked up. Apparently the japanese said it was "too difficult". Hamonix came along and bought up the controllers on the cheap, since they weren't selling at all, and brought it stateside. Like I said, without GF there would be no GH.
Ryan Hamilton @ Jun 5th 2009 6:36PM
My cousin gary has been looking forward to this game forever! He's a huge Tony Hawk fan! He was in a car accident a few years back and can no longer walk. He's confined to a wheelchair, but he has full use of his hands and is an avid gamer.
MystileArmor @ Jun 5th 2009 7:00PM
Not to be an ass, but how is he going to use this if he's in a wheelchair?
Ryan Hamilton @ Jun 5th 2009 8:05PM
Exactly MystileArmor! I have no cousin gary. I was just making a point. I think all games should give the user as many options as possible.
Wayne @ Jun 5th 2009 10:30PM
Couldn't your fake paraplegic cousin use the board with his hands?
velocitySTRIKE @ Jun 6th 2009 9:02AM
There's a line; some games just aren't suited for people with fewer than 10 digits, 2 hands, 2 working eyes; people with dyslexia, the blind, the deaf, mutes (think voice rec games) - I reckon the point you're making is a little baseless...it would be an absolute nightmare for developers to try and consider every single option like that when creating a game.
Just sayin :)
belovedconsole @ Jun 8th 2009 10:38PM
I suppose this could be played in one's lap. Does it vibrate? hee hee
Grant @ Jun 5th 2009 6:58PM
I dont think you're quite right about the way the actual game is played.
I was at E3 and played it as well, and I specifically asked if the rest of the game has the "on rails" feeling as this.
I was told catergorically that it was only teh challenge (specifcally the demo challange) that did that, and when you play the game, while it isn't an "open world" a la the last tony hawk, it would definetly give you more freedom to move around in the maps.
Furthermore, you will have to give yourself more speed sometimes. The 'L.A. River Challenge Demo" was supposed to be slightly downhill so that you didnt have to keep pushing.
Mouthsmasher @ Jun 5th 2009 7:21PM
This could be fun. I won't say I'll buy it, but I'd definitely love to try it out and see how it works.
Luke @ Jun 5th 2009 11:30PM
This is kinda cool, but it'd have to be really special for me to drop over $100 on another single game. I won't be able to rent it, so I'll have to know someone who owns it to try it out. I'm not gonna waste my money.
It's ridiculous enough that most 360/PS3 new releases are $59.99 after 20 years of the MSRP at $10 less.
That's why I like my Wii. Sure it sucks for developers that games like No More Heroes hit the bargain bin so fast, but my wallet isn't complaining. I'm too fucking poor to be hardcore.
ChromeAlchemist @ Jun 5th 2009 11:55PM
So this is a completely different experience from the balance board because...
Ryan Hamilton @ Jun 6th 2009 1:27AM
You offended my fake paraplegic cousin, no not really. I mean who skates with their hands on a skateboard? Unless it's a headstand and it's the 1970's.
Inferior_Design @ Jun 6th 2009 3:31AM
I'm having trouble understanding why a lot of you don't think this is an awesome idea.
The "Why not buy a REAL skateboard" argument is completely invalid.
I've skated for over 15 years. I've owned several REAL skateboards. Guess what: They EACH cost me as much as this peripheral and game combined so long as the price is around $130. (CCS custom boards ain't cheap with decks, trucks, wheels, hardware, curb wax..) The game and peripheral are more cost effective because you only buy ONE part ONE time.
This is a viable substitute for a real board because it won't snap in half when you hit a rail badly. You can (kind of) practice during winter months. Best of all, you don't catch any heat from cops, which happens a lot when you live in a small redneck town like I did when I was growing up.
Ryan Hamilton @ Jun 6th 2009 5:04AM
What's the point? I can just use Project Natal to scan my Skateboard and use the air.
Also, why hasn't anyone addressed the weight limit of that Tony Hawk board?
Dr. Flex @ Jun 6th 2009 10:39AM
@ Ryan. They have: 300 lbs.
Colin @ Jun 6th 2009 7:19AM
As long as this captures the fun of the old Sega arcade game, Top Skater, or whatever it was called, I'll be ecstatic. Until the reviews come out, call me skeptical...
Andy @ Jun 6th 2009 12:09PM
I thought Guitar Hero felt completely natural and felt like playing a real guitar to me (no previous guitar experience before obviously) This does not sound like it would feel natural or even seem to simulate a real skateboarding experience. Idk, I might try it, but it doesn't sound quite like what I had hoped.
Kdiggy @ Jun 6th 2009 1:57PM
What's next?... Lego Tony Hawk?
BrokenTriforce @ Jun 6th 2009 5:55PM
YES PLEASE!!
Bryan @ Jun 6th 2009 7:29PM
i actually just started skateboarding again, after almost 8 years not doing it. but this game seems fun and i would definitely buy it. still won't stop me from actually skateboarding though.
broadcastmonkey @ Jun 7th 2009 3:09PM
I'm an ex skater ( too old to skate for real any more my bones just wont take the strain and the surgical pins holding my ankle together prob wouldn't hold up ) and cant wait to have a go maybe 100quid is a bit much for a game but if its any good ill buy it, i agree with the other comments tony hawk lost its way years ago and skate has definitely taken over as far as im concerned as the definitive skating game but who knows this could be bleedin rad, hopefully it will rejuvenate the tony hawk series and put it back on top were it belongs, or it could be a dog like TH Downhill Jam another innovative control scheme that sucks