The PS2 version is ranked the highest, scoring a 90 out of 100 and earning the Metacritic Must-Play seal of approval. THUG was pretty much universally well received, which each version scoring above 85 on Metacritic.
It leaned more heavily on the open-stage format of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 while also allowing the player character to get off of their board and walk around (and also clamber over and on top of obstacles). THUG set itself apart from previous titles with a career mode that emphasized creating your own skater and taking them from amateur to pro, all while battling what some view as the greatest antagonist in gaming history, Eric Sparrow.įor its time, THUG felt pretty fresh, and it seemed like an exciting way to breathe life into a stagnating franchise. Tony Hawk’s Underground, or THUG, was a departure from the Pro Skater part of the title, and it saw some changes to the formula as well.
A version for Windows (Beenox) would later be released in Australia and New Zealand as a budget title. The next Tony Hawk game, Tony Hawk’s Underground, released in 2003 for PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox, with additional versions for the Game Boy Advance (Vicarious Visions), and mobile (Jamdat).
Looking to the future, Hawk is excited about new technology like PlayStation Move and Kinect for Xbox 360.Tony Hawk’s Underground (2003) – And now we’re moving past the mainline numbered entries, at least for a while. Electronic Arts released the simulation-based Skate 3 in May 2010, which features the voice of actor and former pro skater Jason Lee. Pachter said Hawk and White are competing for a video game market that will support sales of about 3 to 4 million units per year. The game offers arcade-style gameplay set in locales like New Orleans, the French Alps and Morocco.
Hawk connected with a more casual mainstream family audience with Shred, which is targeting kids 6 to 12 years of age. Players standing on the board become more immersed in the game.” “We’re moving into a more interactive mode of playing with the actual board peripheral. “I’ve been snowboarding since before Shaun was born,” said Hawk. The new game, Shred, builds on this board technology by introducing both skateboarding and snowboarding experiences in one game. Pachter said Ride has sold over 1.3 million copies in the U.S. The game’s skateboard-shaped controller allows players to physically perform tricks in the real world that are replicated in the game. In 2009, Hawk and game developers Robomodo and Buzz Monkey introduced a brand new take on skateboarding with Tony Hawk Ride. “I think that my games are synonymous with skateboarding because they were the first ones to create the genre.” “I think that our games have always been innovative and the control schemes are very intuitive,” said Hawk, whose eleventh game is called Tony Hawk Shred. He was able to parlay his early success in skate parks and competitions into a partnership with Activision on the Tony Hawk Pro Skater video games. Hawk’s video games have generated over $1 billion in revenue for Activision. Hawk introduced skateboarding to the mainstream and dominated the pro skateboarding landscape for decades. alone since he entered the games space in 2008. Using a skateboard, gamers navigate each level by performing tricks and moves that literally unleash color and unlock new areas to grind and ollie.Īccording to Michael Pachter, video game analyst for Wedbush Morgan Securities, the Olympic gold medalist has helped Ubisoft sell over 3.5 million snowboarding games in the U.S. Shaun White Skateboarding takes a very different approach to the sport, introducing gamers to a fictional world where government has oppressed creativity and imprisoned White.
“Whether you’re watching a 3D movie or playing a 3D game, this technology is exciting because it makes you actually feel like you’re the only one there being a part of the action and it sucks you into the experience,” said White. White’s game is the first extreme sports game available in stereoscopic 3D on both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. While the multi-sport White has released three snowboarding games with the game publisher over the past few years, this marks his first foray into skateboarding.
Ubisoft’s Shaun White Skateboarding sold an estimated 120,000 copies globally. In the video game space, where the two have been extremely active, the veteran Hawk sold an estimated 270,000 copies of Tony Hawk Shred worldwide. Shaun White Misses Out on Medal in Final Olympic Event