tony-hawk-ride posts (Subscribe to this feed)

It may seem at this point that we're kicking an already downed and plenty insulted victim here, but we couldn't help but note the shockingly low price of a Tony Hawk: Ride bundle -- complete with board, unopened -- discovered by Gamertell at an Arlington Heights, Il. Goodwill store. Two Wii versions of the game were on sale for just $74.99 (down from $119.99 MSRP) -- a Goodwill employee said the game's presence could be explained by donations from local retailers, listing Kohls, Sears, Borders, and Target as potential donators. Alright, alright, we'll admit it -- the price drop isn't that steep, but a near $50 difference on a barely four-month-old game sounds pretty decent to us.

Presumably, one of the aforementioned retailers was more interested in the shelf space (and the tax write-off) than waiting for the game's fairly cool sales to heat up. Either way, if you're looking to get your ... ahem ... feet on the game, maybe your local Goodwill could offer a better deal than the other brick-and-mortars, eh?

It looks like we'll get to see the next Tony Hawk joint soon enough. The skateboarding legend recently tweeted that he just concluded a meeting with developer Robomodo. Tony Hawk said the project is already "much better than I expected," though we think he may be a bit biased on the matter. He added that details would be available "soon."

As for what it is he liked so much, all signs point to a Tony Hawk Ride sequel -- the sequel that Tony himself said was already in the works during a recent interview. And should that be the case, we think Robomodo and Mr. Hawk have a lot to think about, especially if they want to avoid releasing another critical bomb.

[Via MCV]

Who wouldn't want to go gallivanting around the globe, bustin' silly skateboarding tricks with icon Tony Hawk? Well, you'll never get to, but you can have the next best thing: Tony Hawk on your Xbox Live friends list. He hit the Twitters last night, trying to drum up some friends to play Tony Hawk Ride with on the Xbox 360. You know, that game with the crazy board Tony would like to see used with more games in the future? Yeah, that one.

There's no telling if it worked or not -- you can't check out Tony's friends list unless you're a friend with him. Still, it's interesting to see Tony take such an active role in trying to market the game. We guess when you invent a peripheral, you get all super passionate about it or something.

[Via Kotaku]

Source and Source - Tony Hawk's Twitter account

This past Saturday brought us the Spike TV Video Game Awards and – before experiencing the litany of world exclusives that awaited us inside – we spent some time outside cruising the red carpet and talking (briefly!) to many of the game developers and talent. We squeezed them for information as fast as we could while simultaneously wishing them holiday cheer and good tidings. Yes, it was as awkward as it sounds. Here's what we learned from Tony Hawk about Tony Hawk Ride.

You've been very vocal about the negative reviews of the game. What made you want to strike back?

Because I feel like a lot of people ... not just bad reviews, but some of them were just mean-spirited. You know what I mean? I felt like that wasn't fair to us, and it was also turning people away from even trying it. I feel like it's not for everyone, but try it! I see kids love it. I see parents that take to it and really enjoy it, and I just wanted a fair chance for people to try it objectively. When I see people just coming down on me personally, that got me going and I was frustrated with it.

But at the same time, I'm totally proud of it, I love the game. I spent two years of my life getting it going, and it was my idea ... I brought it to Activision. For people to say "Oh, you just stick your name on the game and that's it," that's not what it is at all.

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, I guess that remains to be discussed. I really feel like the board is a good device, and we can make more games based on it. I really want to do that. This wasn't a gimmick, I didn't want people to think they have to buy a new one next year. I wanted to make this board so ... it's a platform to do other things with.

Does the game have the ability to be mapped to a standard controller? Could Activision implement that via a download?

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. The control scheme would have to be completely different, and we didn't want to make a game that was confusing like that.

Target's circular for the week of December 13 includes some near-Black Friday discounts on brand new items. With a promotional price of $24.99, Target has the best deal yet on the just-released The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (along with other recent DS releases like Style Savvy and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days).

While you're buying a $25 game, you can also impulse-buy a Wii, which includes a bonus $30 gift card, or a DSi with a $10 gift card. Or a copy of Tony Hawk: Ride for $88 (not the only time we'll see discounts on this one, we're guessing).

It looks like Activision's hopes for Tony Hawk: Ride are falling even faster than the average Tony Hawk: Ride player. IndustryGamers reports that this month's NPD numbers place the game at 114,000 copies sold across three platforms. Not that Activision is even paying attention to its own failure right now, distracted by the ridiculous success of its own Modern Warfare 2. This is the second disappointing month in a row for a big-box Activision game.

While we don't have a per-platform breakdown of the disappointing sales, a forecast released before today's NPD results estimated that just 13,000 copies sold on Xbox 360. All of this just confirms what we intuitively knew: skateboards without wheels just don't work.

We're so proud of the individuals who managed to play through the pain radiating from their twisted, throbbing ankle, and craft a review for the latest (peripheral-infused) installment in the Hawkman's gaming franchise, Tony Hawk: Ride. Here's what these brave, persistent critics had to say about the experience.

• Game Informer (5.75/10): "As a skateboarder and as a gamer, Tony Hawk: Ride is a curious idea but a letdown in practice. The huge level of frustration is not worth the time it takes to master the awkward gameplay idiosyncrasies."
• IGN (5/10): "The idea? A more immersive skateboarding game that would ride the recent wave of hit games featuring their own custom controllers. The result? An expensive proposition that neither casual nor hardcore gamers will get much out of."
• GameSpy (2.5/5 Stars): "As expected, Tony Hawk Ride is an experiment -- an interesting and ambitious experiment, but one that doesn't come together as a fully functional experience. I love the basic feel of the board, and had occasional bouts of fun amidst frequent frustration, but THR's gargantuan buy-in price is an awful lot to ask of an effective guinea pig audience."
• Giant Bomb (1/5 Stars): "While the Tony Hawk franchise has been down on its luck lately, and was probably in need of a reboot as dramatic as this, the execution is such a miserable failure that it manages to splash even more mud on Tony Hawk's legacy. I'm left with a firm belief that whichever side of the Tony Hawk/Activision partnership has the out clause in the contract should just exercise it and part ways for good. Enough is enough. "

In the realm of games that cost over $100 released by Activision this holiday season (we're counting four including the Prestige Edition Modern Warfare 2 pack), Tony Hawk Ride wasn't one that we thought of as a hot ticket item. The man who lent his name to the series, however, has a different take, saying in a recent interview with GameSpot UK on the prospect of a sequel to Ride that "We have already started that process, but who knows what the future holds."

Additionally, like multiple people at Ride developer Robomodo have already intimated, Hawk confirms plans to put the game's board to use in other places – specifically, the woefully underserved snowboarding and surfing game genres. Hawk even speaks of resurrecting one-shot last-gen game Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer, saying, "I always thought that Kelly Slater's [Pro Surfer] was an underrated title for the PlayStation 2 ... I thought that people didn't really give it the attention it deserved." And us, well, we're still hoping that someone makes a bicycle peripheral so that we can finally get the reboot of Downhill Domination that we've been waiting for.

Robomodo CEO David Michicich hinted that more software for the Tony Hawk: RIDE skateboard controller could be on its way. When asked if the developer had other ideas for the peripheral's use outside of the skating genre in an interview with Develop, Michicich replied, "We're doing a game with Activision and we're not allowed to talk about it right now."

In June 2009, Robomodo president Joshua Tsui commented that the (probably going to be involved in its fair share of accidental injury lawsuits) peripheral could be used for a variety of software. "The obvious ones are snowboarding and surfing and such," he told Videogamer.

With a new entry into the Tony Hawk: RIDE franchise probably already in the planning stages, it appears the hardware will see new software to help lighten consumer guilt. Sure, our dream is for some kind of Lumberjack Simulator to be in development, but the controller will more than likely focus on something closer to snowboarding. If EA hasn't jumped on that train yet, former EA employees are more than welcome to try.

We debated which of the two video assets Activision recently sent us for Tony Hawk: Ride should go a the top of the post, and which should be relegated to the unfavorable, post-jump real estate. The in-game trailer is pretty slick, and features that super catchy We Are Scientists jam. (You know the one, you hip guy, you.) However, the gameplay demonstration actually shows the peripheral being used to go on a "sick run," apparently part of a long-standing feud between Activision and Robomodo.

We decided to put the "sick run" at the top of the post, if only because we want you to know that this is exactly how we looked the first time we played the game at E3. Only we didn't crash quite so much, and also, when we finished playing, Tony Hawk himself came up and gave us a high-five with one of his giant hands. Check out the video above, then click past the jump to check out its neglected (but catchy!) brother.

This week's Nintendo Channel update is chock full of Wii Fit Plus stuff again, but we'd like to draw your attention to the video tutorial on how to play Tony Hawk Ride. It answers a lot of the super important questions we've had -- like, "Does this peripheral work with both male and female gamers?" and, "Is this one of the most advanced game controllers ever created?"

Head past the break for the full list of this week's content.

Remember when we thought every Wii game was going to let you play as your Mii? And then remember when that didn't happen and the inclusion of Miis into every third-party game was a Big Deal? This news about Tony Hawk Ride makes us nostalgic for both of those times.

Developer Buzz Monkey and Activision have received the mysteriously elusive permission from Nintendo to include Mii support, allowing users not only to play as their own Miis, but as included Mii likenesses of the pro skaters featured in the game. So if the in-game Tony Hawk avatar doesn't have a big enough head for you, there's a built-in solution.

In addition to the extra Mii features, Tony Hawk Ride on the Wii will include two exclusive levels. Usually, motion controls are enough of an exclusive feature for a game's Wii version, but this time, of course, that isn't the case, and it looks like Activision has found interesting ways to compensate. Enjoy some footage from the Wii game after the break.

While both Guitar Hero World Tour and 5 included Mii modes, Xbox Avatar support was new for the latest GH game. We've contacted Activision to determine whether Avatars will find their way into Ride as well.

If you want to watch friends and loved ones pretend to skateboard/fall repeatedly this fall, Robomodo's Tony Hawk Ride is the only product catering to those admittedly unhealthy urges. Here's how those monsters came up with the name.
When Josh & I first talked about creating this company, I offered up the name because I felt it fit the criteria we were trying to fill:

1. Sounds "fun" (i.e. anybody hearing it would expect to be entertained by our product)
2. Rolls off the tongue & unique
3. Available (i.e. its .com isn't already spoken for)
4. "Just fits" (i.e. is applicable to what we're all about)

So in translation, it means "Robot Style". The way it struck a cord with us at the time is that it was made up of two words that apart represented the team's components, and together its development philosophy. "Robo" would represent the Software Engineers and gameplay code, while "Modo" would represent the Artists and their stylish vision for it. At Robomodo, we adhere to a philosophy loop of "art supports gameplay supports art...". It's all about harmony, with the end goal of developing fun & exciting games for a mass audience. Besides, who doesn't love robots?

Despite concerns that one third of Activision's holiday peripheral triforce would be missing its North American release date, the publisher has assured us today that Tony Hawk Ride will still be arriving on November 17 as planned. A rep from Acti told Joystiq, "The game is on sale Nov. 17 in the US, Nov. 27 in Germany and Dec. 4 in the UK," confirming a two week delay for United Kingdom-ers.

We may be getting the game two weeks before you folks in the UK but look at it this way: now you have two more weeks to sell off your furniture and reorganize your living room for all your new plastic peripherals. Hooray!