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Reader Comments (74)

Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:23PM Giroro said

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Proof that skateboarders aren't good game designers?
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:56PM Blkant said

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No, it just varies on what their main goal is, making a good game AS a game, or making a game that tries to almost replace something that, well, is perfect without a action based hobby being mocked in a game (not saying a game of skateboarding is bad but that literally mimicking it by just removing wheels was a stupid ass idea)

I mean its like if they made a Madden Football peripheral you pretend to throw to throw the ball in the game, with any physical hobby mocked like that it will always equal FAIL!

Although to be fair, a throwing football peripheral would create a GREAT new series of lawsuits and broken TV, wrists, windows, etc... images :D
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 9:07PM (Unverified) said

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More like proof that skateboarders shouldn't force the development team to try and make their ideas work in a game. I doubt the designers were not aware of how clunky it would be.
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:26PM Captain Planet Planeteer Power said

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Sorry Tony, [somewhat] good idea, poor execution.
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:36PM copa said

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You're buying into the hype, Captain Planet. Learn to think for yourself.

All Tony Hawk is saying is that every person in America should ignore the universally negative reviews and buy a copy for $120 so they can form their OWN opinion!
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:58PM Blkant said

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Yea captain plannet! Think for yourself! What with you manipulating all those poor innocent little kids with your various colors and skimpy suit, you should be a shamed!
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 8:21PM (Unverified) said

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When Guitar Hero first came out, it was sort of the same deal, though. You had to buy a peripheral with it and it became much more of a gamble. What if I don't like the game and threw down all of that money on it only to get stuck with it or making back very little trying to pawn it off used?

I didn't get it.

Then a friend who did get it brought it over one day and I got a chance to play it for myself.

Fast forward a few years and I have like 4 guitars, a mic, a drumkit, 6 games and like $200 in DLC underneath me in just Guitar Hero and Rock Band.

If my friend didn't risk it and expose me to it, I probably wouldn't have played it and I probably wouldn't have discovered that I enjoyed rhythm games that much.

I'm not sure where you got the angle that he wants everyone to throw down $120 to try it, because that isn't the only option. Perhaps you're perpetuating this "mean-spirited" mentality?

You don't HAVE to buy it to try it. Jeez.
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 10:03PM kentuckyfried said

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That's a different story though with guitar hero. Guitar isn't easy for everyone to pick up (it's much harder than piano, definitely), but designers realized that, "hey, using a plastic peripheral is not only easy to translate it to, but it's also fun!"

Skateboarding without wheels doesn't translate well, I don't see how this could've ever been a good idea from the very beginning.
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:26PM RKN said

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Here is an idea Kotick, you motherfucking idiot. Don't offer your game only in a $100+ SKU and with a controller that barely works. Also offer the game in a standard SKU okay? Your making gaming worse and worse every day, thanks.
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:26PM (Unverified) said

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"Mean-spirited"

What? Really? It's a review. They're supposed to criticize. You're supposed to take that criticism and learn from it, not get butt-hurt.
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:28PM (Unverified) said

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Good companies take criticism and learn from it.
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:31PM Hooch said

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I don't think one man counts as a company, as awesome as that man is. :/

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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:32PM (Unverified) said

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I know he's not the company, but they clearly listen to him somewhat.
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:51PM Mr Khan said

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There's a difference between criticism and trolling. A lot of reviews just end up trolling.

Though that's to be judged on an individual basis
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:27PM warxroutione said

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i seem to remember a certain gaming website with a this game labeled as naughty..
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:27PM (Unverified) said

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Mean-spirited? Welcome to the internet Tony Hawk.
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:33PM MystileArmor said

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Welcome to the world, more like it.
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:43PM sonicspike41 said

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Welcome to Mianus.
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:46PM MystileArmor said

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..better bring a flashlight and raincoat, 'cause of the dark and humid atmosphere.

What happens in Mianus, stays in Mianus!

(Mianus, not to be confused with Uranus, Heranus, Hisanus or the likes)
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:28PM (Unverified) said

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what did we learn from this?
His games now suck... true
but tony hawk is still the man!
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:29PM Hooch said

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I feel a bit bad for Tony, his enthusiasm for the title is clear.
Maybe the minions at Activision shoul've spent more time on it but obviously twas not to be
kudos at least for trying sonething kinda new to reinvigorate a dying series.

I feel we've not had enough Kotick hate, so lets just smile and blame it on him
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Posted: Dec 18th 2009 9:31AM StormEagle said

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Give me a break...

The amount of QQ in his recent interviews makes me sick to my stomach.

"...but some of them were just mean-spirited. You know what I mean? I felt like that wasn't fair to us..."

Welcome to the grown-up world Tony. You can't ALWAYS be the good guy to these kids. Sometimes things work out, sometimes they don't. You can't WILL things to be good just because you believe they are.
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:29PM Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi said

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too damn bad it cost so much....then on top of that I think people are getting tired of all the plastic game accessories in their house....the fact of the matter is they should have given people an option to use a controller as well....I'm almost certain it would have gotten more sales....
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Posted: Dec 18th 2009 10:15PM The Punisher said

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All the more reason Natal will be popular.

I wonder if the same logic applies to the SMC? How many wands are people going to need to purchase? 4 wands for certain 2 player games?
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:29PM Ignatius said

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"Try it"?

Yeah, for $30 higher than the average game and you can't rent it. Bring back THUG 1 and 2 and I'll be happy, you keep trying to "innovate," but what you're really doing is frustrating the gamers who actually liked the series beforehand.
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:35PM Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi said

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$30?? try a little over DOUBLE....the game cost $120-130 regular price...
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:36PM paddedcell said

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Completely agree. Give me a demo board with the game and I'll try it out, but for 100 bucks or the holiday price of 88, you can kiss my ass...!
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:36PM Ignatius said

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Oh, I just used Google Shopping and I saw $88-90 as the average.

Oh well, double the price. Hurr hurr, try it, our sales will look better now! ;D
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:46PM erac3rx said

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Your mention of THUG 1 & 2 got me thinking. I would pay top dollar for HD Remixed versions of THPS 1 & 2. Those games were phenomenal. Even THPS 3 was great. A collectors edition of THPS 1-3 in HD would sell like crazy, much like NSMB Wii did. I understand their motivation to innovate with the series, but that makes a lot more sense for games that didn't f**king NAIL IT on the gameplay right from the beginning.
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:56PM Chris DPSN AggieCEO XBLThe Aggi said

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yea thats the sale price....if it was there from the start then it might have sold more....
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 8:13PM Sly C said

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the THUG games were the best IMO.
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 8:19PM oOWallaceOo said

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@ crackp1pe

Did you capitalize "NAIL IT" to emphasis it or to take the piss out of the Nail the Trick feature in THP8 ?
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:36PM SDHusker said

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Tony Hawk - you're a business god in many ways. You've turned your name into probably billions of dollars with the people involved and you're probably the best vert skater to ever live. That said - This was like Bernie Madoff business-fail. How did no one at Activision or Tony Hawk notice this? I saw the original idea and was like SWEET but then I saw initial gameplay, reviews, etc and .... *shake*

Sorry Tony, everyone has to fail at some point.
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:36PM wardob said

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It really is too bad the series has gone down hill...

Tony Hawk 1, 2, and 3 were all absolutely fantastic and remain some of my favorite games.
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 10:37PM (Unverified) said

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Was that a pun about Tony Hawk's Down Hill Jam?

Not only is it the name of the game, it's what the series did in the mean time.
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:37PM PedoJokerBear said

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You know how u can get back in gamers good graces? remake thug 1 and 2 with better graphics and more levels packaged for 50 bucks. yeah youll probabaly wont make much of a profit but youll make us forget about this crap.....a little.
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:39PM MystileArmor said

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Gimme THPS 2 on XBL and we'll call it even.
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:38PM MystileArmor said

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Honestly, I think it did bad because,

A. Too expensive,
B. After THUG they just have all been mediocre at best (imo), people lost their faith.
C. Skate, Skate 2 and the upcoming Skate 3.

I think Skate is where all the skateboarding fanatics flocked, since that game is the closest thing to perfect a skate game has ever gotten. And all the "casual gamers", if you will, just aren't going to spend 100 bucks on something 3/4ths of them don't have the balance for or can't do within a party setting. Taking turns playing games is a bit early 90's, if you ask me.
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:38PM rob47 said

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If he's so annoyed he shouldnt put his name on not just shoddy products but downright busted equipment.
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:44PM Trx said

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Games have evolved so much over the years and my tastes have aswell, I loved Mario Bros 3 when I had a NES, Street Fighter and Sports games when I had a SNES/Genesis, now I look for Story and a Cinematic experiance

Sorry Tony time to take a long break, last Tony Hawk game I played was number three I now compare it to the current milking of music games which I am pretty sick of aswell, every three years might be fine but yearly is overkill
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:41PM MystileArmor said

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Bit of a thread-jack move, isn't it? Don't reply to the first comment just cause you feel you're special. Fucking post your shit on the bottom like a normal person...
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:42PM HighFiveJesus said

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Plus i like them just because Rob Dyrdek's in em
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:46PM Maulok said

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I think what killed enthusiasm early, aside from being dangerous and silly, was the price. For the standard $50-60, I would absolutely try this and so would a lot of other people. With friends to laugh at each other, I could see it being enjoyable at a party or something.

For $120, though, I expect something very special. It's almost the price of a console for pete's sake! For the game to not be very good at that price is just a shame.

Plus, let's put it into perspective. RB/GH works because people WANT to play in a band. Few people are itching to be pro skaters. (same applies to DJ Hero actually)
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Posted: Dec 18th 2009 7:31AM JRMG said

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Also, music peripherals were already a tried-and-true technology in Japan. Harmonix just took the idea and improved it somewhat.

Tony hawk just mixed the whole thing with something unproven/unrelated and it failed. The problem is that this was the breaking point for most fans of the series, and why it was taken so harshly.
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:48PM DarksideDan said

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I wonder if the game came out without the board, and just standard controller play, if the reviews would have been the same?

I agree that trying it for ourselves is a little bit much to ask when it costs so much.

And I doubt that any other game to come out to use the board could work because it isn't so much the game that failed as it was the peripheral.
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 8:20PM AoE said

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Yes, they would have. Did you read the answer to the last question, even Tony Hawk basically admits it's a shitty game that hinges on a gimmick controller. Bear witness:

"You know what, we looked into it ... the way that you physically play the game, it wouldn't translate to a very challenging game with a joystick."

If you read the reviews one of the major complaints (aside from how completely fucking buggy the game is) is that it's way too simplistic, easy, and basically boring compared to any previous game in the franchise with the possible exception of Downhill Jam or whatever that crap TH game on Wii was called.
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:54PM Mr Khan said

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Expense and inconvenience crippled it. Activision is finding out this year that plastic add-ons are not virtuous in and of themselves, between this and DJ Hero.

It wasn't a bad idea, but the game itself needs to be more compelling.
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 7:56PM Youthinized said

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Sorry Tony, the only games that were great with your name on it was the ones back on the ps1.

Ever since you tried the 'gta sandbox' idea and then added that jackass star it went downhill.

I suggest getting back to your roots with the ps1 series. And put Spidey in it. Because Tony Hawk 2 rocked so hard because he was in it.
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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 8:02PM (Unverified) said

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-"The sales figures came out and they were disappointing. Do you think Activision will keep going in the same direction with this game or will go back to the old Tony Hawk?"

"- I don't know" = Kotick's removing Seal of Approval on this game

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Posted: Dec 17th 2009 8:06PM (Unverified) said

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The fact that Activision did not bother to send out review copies or barely advertise for this product is indication there is something very wrong. I do feel bad because he does seem truly passionate about the product, but I am not willing to take a risk on a 90 to 120 dollar game if every review I have read says it simply does not function properly. There are so many great and cheaper games out there, I don't have that kind of money to waste.
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