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Rumor: Skate 3 in the works

by David Hinkle { Jul 3rd 2009 at 2:00PM }

Apparently EA is working on a sequel to Skate 2, if the Epicly Trife twitter is to be believed. Epicly Trife (NSFW) is a site dedicated to skating, and its twitter account said the following: "I just got told 'tonight we gotta celebrate,' one of the bro's got offered to be in SKATE 3." By no means a confirmation, we're still excited, as Skate 2 was not only a great sequel, but pretty much the best skating sim around. Plus, it's much easier to get up after falling down four flights of stairs in a video game, as gravity is a much more harsh mistress in real life.

We've put in word to EA for comment, but with almost everyone taking the day off today, don't hold your breath for a response. We sure aren't.

[Via Kotaku]

Skate 2's Maloof Money Cup DLC busting kickflips on July 9

by David Hinkle { Jun 30th 2009 at 11:45AM }

Based on the highest-pursed skating event in history, the Maloof Money Cup makes its way to Skate 2 on July 9 for $3.00 and 240

on PSN and Xbox Live, respectively. That's one day before the real-life event takes place, and the DLC will mimic the setup of that event pretty closely, through a collection of single-player and online events. These events consist of freeskate, vert, and street contests, and will also provide Xbox gamers with an additional 250 Achievement points to earn. Considering the game's last update was back in February, we're surprised EA even remembered it had a skateboarding game.

Gallery: Skate 2 Maloof Cup DLC

Skate 2 getting custom soundtracks today

by Majed Athab { Mar 23rd 2009 at 2:00PM }

Skate 2 may offer some excellent variety with its 50+ song soundtrack, but sometimes you just feel like skating to your own tunes. Developer EA Black Box knows this and has announced that it is finally patching custom soundtracks into the PS3 version of the game.

The update, which releases today, will include some minor bug fixes, removal of exploits and other adjustments. You can check out the full list of fixes after the break. Also, for the first song on your custom soundtrack ... go with some real hardcore thrash metal.

Continued →

Skate 2's new 'Classic San Van' DLC is old hat

by David Hinkle { Feb 26th 2009 at 6:01PM }

Those of you who find yourself reminiscing about the "good ole days" of the first Skate game, we've got something you'll likely be interested in: EA has unleashed a new DLC pack for Skate 2 called "Classic San Van." Featuring a variety of locales from the first game, Skate 2 players will now be able to shred it up in classic spots such as the Parkade (yes!), the School (italicized yes!), and the Community Center (bold yes!), all while utilizing the new tricks found in the sequel. The DLC even places some objects for you to move around in each area, as you can see in the video above.

Skate 2's "Classic San Van" DLC pack is available now on Xbox Live Marketplace and PSN for 400

and $4.99, respectively.

Gallery: Skate 2

Take a video tour of Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Plaza in Skate 2

by David Hinkle { Feb 21st 2009 at 2:00AM }

EA was kind enough to send over this trailer for the new Skate 2 DLC, Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Plaza. As you can see in the video above, it provides plenty of areas to get your shred on. One of the things we like about this DLC is its lack of vert areas. We're street skaters here at The Stiq.

Gallery: Skate 2 DLC Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Plaza

Skate 2 introduces 'Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Plaza' DLC [update]

by David Hinkle { Feb 19th 2009 at 11:40AM }

Update: EA has dished out some screens for the DLC. Hit up the gallery below to check them out.

Unless you wanted to unlock everything the easy way or cut some awesome videos, there hasn't been much support in the way of DLC for us Skate 2 fans. That is, until now, as EA has unveiled Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Plaza for the game.

The new bit of DLC is available today on PSN and XBLM for $5.00 and 400

, respectively, and allows skaters to blunt slide and manual around the centerpiece of Rob's MTV show, Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Factory, as well as the surrounding downtown Los Angeles area. Rob was pretty impressed with Black Box's job of recreating the space in the game, as he comments it has all of "the ledges, gaps and rails" of his showpiece, and "more surprises outside the park that both gamers and skaters will enjoy."

So who's going to shred up Rob's Fantasy Plaza?

Gallery: Skate 2 DLC Rob Dyrdek's Fantasy Plaza

UK charts: Wii Fit, Call of Duty still on top, Professor Layton climbing

by JC Fletcher { Feb 3rd 2009 at 11:52AM }

The week ending January 31st saw no movement at all in the top two spots on the UK sales charts. Wii Fit maintains its top spot on the UK sales charts for a third week, followed by previous champ Call of Duty: World at War. Skate 2, which debuted last week at #3, has dropped to #5 behind FIFA '09 and Professor Layton and the Curious Village, which, like Wii Fit, is experiencing increased sales due to long-awaited replenishment of stock.

Mario Kart Wii rose two positions to #6, leading us to wonder if, over the course of 2009, the top half of the charts will steadily fill with Nintendo hits from 2008.

[Via Edge]

Free LOTR: Conquest DLC, not so free Skate 2 content

by Dustin Burg { Jan 29th 2009 at 3:00PM }

There's new downloadable content available on the Xbox Live Marketplace, specifically for Lord of the Rings: Conquest and Skate 2. The LOTR Hero Arena Bonus content is 100% free and gives players a new way to play team deathmatch. If you can spare 135MB of hard drive space, by all means, enjoy.

For those looking to become the Steven Spielberg of Skate 2 film making, there's new 600

Filmer Pack content that adds "advanced camera controls for the replay editor, custom watermarks, expanded online storage" and new apparel to boot. We'll leave that purchasing decision up to you, but for the sake of comparison, Bungie offers a similar expanded Halo 3 storage solution with Bungie Pro. Hey, just saying.

Source - Skate 2 Filmer Pack
Source - LOTR: Conquest Hero Arena Bonus

Wii Fit dominates UK charts, Skate 2 makes strong debut

by Jem Alexander { Jan 27th 2009 at 7:00PM }

Wii Fit remains at the top of the UK charts for the week ending January 24th, closely followed by its buddy Call of Duty World At War at number 2. These two games are trying their best not to let anyone into their special "Top Two" club, despite EA's numerous attempts so far this year. Lord of the Rings: Conquest, which showed strong sales when it debuted at number 3 in the charts, has now dropped to number 4.

This makes way for EA's newest contender, Skate 2, which has also managed to reach number 3 in the charts during its debuting week. Strong sales, but not strong enough to beat Call of Duty: World At War, which has been hovering up there for over two months now. The strangest story is Wii Fit's, however, as it has jumped up from 33rd to 1st in the last three weeks. We're not sure what sparked this Wii Fit resurgence ... perhaps being constantly told they're overweight by their government has finally had an impact on UK citizens.

Metareview -- Skate 2 (360, PS3)

by Justin McElroy { Jan 23rd 2009 at 9:54AM }

True story: We were going to review Skate 2 ourselves, but we ... no, not we ... I, I Justin McElroy sucked too bad at it to review it. I don't know if my thumbs are just too stupid or what, but as a long-time Tony Hawk fan, I found it hard not to pine for a game that let me press one button and automagically grind on a space dinosaur's boner.

Here's what more qualified people had to say:

GamePlayer (95/100):"Skate 2 is a brilliant game. For the most part it takes the fantastic template laid down in the original and injects it with a smartly integrated new move-set, an exciting world to rip to shreds, and the same addictive, unquestionably stylish gameplay which saw the Tony Hawk series bolt for the hills."
Totally 360 (90/100): "Overall the development team should be commended for making another excellent skating title. Everything runs really smoothly and it seems to have come together really well. The new features add on to what was already a fun experience with the original."
IGN (83/100): "Technically an improvement over the first title, and anyone who hadn't yet played the original should skip it and go right to the second. It's a really fun game that allows you to play it the way you want with a control scheme that is second-to-none at the moment. However, it's far from perfect.
GamePro (80/100): "The first Skate was a refreshing take on virtual skateboarding, so expectations were high for this one. Maybe they were a little too high: Skate 2 doesn't quite deliver the revolutionary skating experience that we were all hoping it would be."

Source -- Metacritic: Skate 2 (Xbox 360)
Source -- Metacritic: Skate 2 (PS3)

Underachievement: EA selling 'unlock everything' DLC for Skate 2

by Randy Nelson { Jan 22nd 2009 at 10:28PM }

It won't instill gamers with the same red-faced anger as EA's fizzled plan to offer for-pay weapons in Battlefield: Bad Company; instead, the newly released "Time is Money Pack" for Skate 2 will simply make those who buy it feel varying degrees of guilt, regret and perhaps even fear. That's because, for 400

($5) on XBLM or $4.99 on the PlayStation Store, owners of the game can literally pay their way past the effort it would take to unlock everything in the game.

The "everything" in question includes "all locations, skaters and gear that can be earned by playing through Skate 2's career and online modes," according to the DLC's description. So, basically, you're paying for access to content that's already in the game. Or, to put it another way, you're paying five bucks for a cheat code. A downloadable code, if you will. Next thing you know, people will be paying for good grades and -- who knows -- even Senate seats. Oh, wait ...

[Via X3F]

Skate 2 DLC unlocks everything for the lazy gamer

by Dustin Burg { Jan 22nd 2009 at 5:00PM }

There's a new Skate 2 ~~DLC~~ unlock code available for purchase off the Xbox Live Marketplace which - in somewhat of EA tradition - is more about unlocking content then giving gamers new content. The Time is Money Pack costs a hefty 400 Microsoft points and will "unlock all locations, skaters and gear that can be earned by playing through Skate 2's career and online modes." Lazy gamers love paying for their unlock codes, amiright?

New games this week: Skate 2 edition

by Justin McElroy { Jan 19th 2009 at 8:00AM }

Video games are continuing the battle back from the brink of doom this week, with the release of one of 2009's most promising titles yet: Skate 2. We'll have some more detailed thoughts for you soon, but suffice to say it's definitely worth your time, if only to congratulate EA for having the stones to release a big-name title in the cold, bitter darkness of winter.

Also of note is early PS2 contender for 2009 Name of the Year, AR Tonelico 2: Melody Of Metafalica. We were going to Google it for more info, but we were fairly sure we'd end up on some sort of watch list.

Continued →

Worldwide PS3 releases for the week of January 18th

by Jem Alexander { Jan 18th 2009 at 12:00PM }

EA continues its January release schedule with Skate 2 which, no doubt, will be a bit better than Lord of the Rings: Conquest turned out to be. Hopefully. Asia continues to play catch-up, as ever, with Prince of Persia and WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2009. Here's the full release list:

US Games

Skate 2

EU Games

Skate 2

Asian Games

PS3 games are region free. Not that it matters this week, but if you're feeling particularly barmy you could always import a version of Skate 2 from abroad. It'll still work. Though any downloadable content would need to be downloaded from the appropriate region's PSN Store, so it's probably best not to. Release dates are constantly subject to change, so confirm with your local retailer before you leave the house.

Skate 2 has 2GB install

by Majed Athab { Jan 13th 2009 at 9:00AM }

It looks like the 'installation saga' persists into 2009. Skate 2, which is due for release next week in both North America and Europe, will feature a 2GB install. It's not certain whether it's mandatory or optional, but MTV Multiplayer suggests you should clear up some space nonetheless -- that is if you've been eyeing more time on the digital half-pipe. A demo for the game is said to appear on the store update this week, so perhaps if you've got space for a demo ... you've got space for the install.