Perhaps feeling that the Tony Hawk franchise had done all it could do with a normal controller, the makers of Tony Hawk: Ride are seeking to make skateboarding games novel again by introducing a new peripheral. In its showing at E3, Activision presented Tony Hawk: Ride with a new motion- and light-sensitive wireless skateboard controller that you place on the ground, stand on, and operate more or less like a real skateboard.
Before starting the game, the demonstrator took me through the basics of the controller. There are two accelerometers inside that track its physical movement. Together, they help to judge when you’re leaning left or right to steer or when you’re kicking up the nose to ollie or manual. There are light sensors all around the top edge to assist in doing grinds, flips and other tricks.
To begin, you stand on the board with one foot and “push off” with the other, swinging your foot past the light sensor on the side. You then switch to your normal stance on the skateboard, with a foot at each end.
In the brief demo I played, I followed a path that took me across some jumps and a couple rails. I steered by leaning my feet to the left or right, though my complete inexperience with actual skateboarding quickly came to light, as my character weaved chaotically and managed to bump into a couple walls.
To ollie, I quickly lifted my left foot while pushing down with my right, pushing the nose of the skateboard into the air. My in-game avatar responded in kind by leaping into the air. By brushing my hand over the sensor on the nose, I performed a nose-grab trick. Similar tricks can be done by twisting the skateboard controller or brushing your hand past other sensors.
Grinding was as simple as performing an ollie in front of a rail, and the game took care of the rest. Unlike in past Tony Hawk games, I didn’t have to worry about keeping my character balanced. He completed the rail, and I was quickly off to the next obstacle.
Overall, Tony Hawk: Ride feels like a much more casual skateboarding game compared to most others. A big part of this undoubtedly has to do with the introduction of the skateboard controller. The controller itself was highly intuitive. It picked up my movements without any sense of lag, and it felt like the quality of my performance in the game was completely dependent on me, not the controller. It felt sturdy beneath my feet, yet it was surprisingly light when I picked it up to examine it.
A definite price point and release date has not yet been set, but Tony Hawk: Ride will be available for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii.
I am a Los Angeles-based writer and gamer who is always looking to combine my two main passions. I believe video games have the potential to become the best storytelling medium of the 21st century, and it is the writer's responsibility to encourage this process. Oh yeah, I'm also a nerd.
