THE BORE
General => Video Game Bored => Topic started by: Stoney Mason on December 07, 2009, 10:05:51 AM
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Thought this was humorous.
Hawk defends RIDE
Posted By STEVE TILLEY STEVE.TILLEY@SUNMEDIA.CA
Posted 2 days ago
Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk says the harsh criticism of his new video game is coming from gamers -- and some game reviewers -- who simply haven't given it a fair shake.
"They were ready to discredit it before they even tried it, and if it didn't play exactly how they imagined it... then they passed it off," Hawk said of Tony Hawk: RIDE, the latest entry in the long-running franchise of skateboarding games that bear his name.
Recently released for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii, the $130 game includes a wireless, life-sized skateboard controller that players stand on to execute jumps, flips, wheelies and other tricks. The controller contains sensors that detect when players are shifting their weight, popping up the front of the board and even grabbing its nose or sides.
The 41-year-old Hawk was heavily involved in the concept and overall design of the controller and game, which was developed by Chicago-based Robomodo and published by Activision Blizzard, the gaming giant that has had huge success with the Guitar Hero franchise and its wireless instruments.
While Tony Hawk: RIDE has received a smattering of good reviews since its mid-November release, the majority of the press has been negative, and some of it scathing. Video game website Gamespot.com called the game "an overpriced asco", while respected U. K.-based games site Eurogamer.net proclaimed, "Don't buy RIDE unless you want to be taken for one." As of this writing, the game holds an anemic 51% score on review aggregator website Metacritic.com.
Much of the ire seems aimed at the skateboard controller itself, which critics have called frustrating and unresponsive. Hawk bristles at the suggestion the controller is somehow inadequate.
"I don't agree with people who say the board's not responsive," he said in a phone interview from his o ce in Vista, Calif. "I think that they're just not giving it a fair shake. And I think a lot of them came into it with an attitude that it's going to suck."
Tony Hawk: RIDE is a bold departure for the franchise, which kicked o in 1999 with Tony Hawk's Pro Skater for the original PlayStation, Nintendo 64 and Sega Dreamcast.
While the earlier games were immensely successful, their popularity has waned in recent years, with 2007's Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, the ninth installment in the series, receiving only slightly above average reviews.
With EA's competing and critically acclaimed Skate franchise debuting in 2007, Hawk thought this would be the perfect time to take his namesake series in a new direction.
"I know that (RIDE) is super fun, and I think there's a misconception that I just stick my name on a game," he said. "I brought this idea to Activision, and I saw it through, I've been playing it every step of the way and I am very proud of it."
Hawk admits the game has a learning curve, particularly when gamers progress from the "Casual" mode -- in which the on-screen avatar's skateboard is propelled along a pre-set track -- to the "Con dent" setting, which requires players to steer the skateboard by shifting their balance.
And while he's frustrated with some of the criticism of Tony Hawk: RIDE, he's not deterred by it, just as long as players take some time to get a handle on the game before passing judgment.
http://www.thesudburystar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2208571
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How's it doing sales wise? I can take a guess based upon this article. I went into Gamestop last week and they literally had a wall of these things.
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How's it doing sales wise? I can take a guess based upon this article. I went into Gamestop last week and they literally had a wall of these things.
In this economy at that price, I'm guessing it's dying. I don't have the GAF hatred of Activision. I don't have any issues with them as a publisher but this game simply seems bad. And as a pitchman, I'm not sure Tony Hawk is doing himself any favors by attacking the people who review his product.
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(http://i48.tinypic.com/29mp0fb.gif)
(http://i46.tinypic.com/34y70iv.gif)
They just don't "get" the game. ::)
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:lol :lol :lol @ that gif.
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Do they still make Van's with ollie guards on them?
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Amazing, they actually released glitchy footage to AP :lol
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lmao, Tony Hawk should rest on his millions and stick to what he does best, real skateboarding!
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I was watching the dude doing some promo for this thing, peripheral and all, and the only thing I could think was that he must be the most well paid, developmentally stunted person around.
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This game is just hilarious to me on a whole nother level for reasons beyond game criticism.
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When people professionally demo the game on the easiest difficulty, where your direction is guided, you know your game is a flop.
One of the biggest issues people took with the later THPS games is that, well, I don't know exactly, but Neversoft wasn't exactly challenging itself.
The last one I obsessed over was THUG2. Opinion of Margera aside, they had great levels in the game, especially when you considered there were level-breaking events in each to change the terrain.
Keep in mind every THPS also kept the classic mode with the 2 minute timer AND had the more open story mode.
But once I played THAW, that's where it really died for me. The game just felt like a story and I had a rocket skate to get around. They went for a seamless world which is stupid for stunt-based game. It forced the player to start skating around to do TASKS that were not attached to the heart of the game.
I had a lot of fun with THP8, but it didn't recapture the speed of THUG2. Moving to HD, the framerate took a dive, and they removed a LOT of the features that made the early games great. It was really rushed. I pretty much never played Proving Ground, because by that point it was obvious they didn't care.
THRide tried to re-invent the series with a peripheral, but that's not what it needed. The gimmick, something Tony always wanted himself, was the worst fucking timing ever in this economy. At least DJ Hero was heavily marketed and had no previous shitty series to tarnish it.
What they needed to do was remake Tony Hawk more in line with how Burnout 3 changed into Burnout Paradise. Radical overhaul.
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Gamers say screw you Tony Hawk.
Just kidding, gamers wouldn't buy this crap.
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I saw some idiot buying this at Walmart yesterday. Should have taken a pic for peopleofwalmart.com.
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What's wrong with that gif?
That the Associated Press even knows the game's trash.
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What's wrong with that gif?
You ever skate upside down?
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I saw some idiot buying this at Walmart yesterday. Should have taken a pic for peopleofwalmart.com.
Did confetti fall down from the ceiling and Tony Hawk rush out to shake the hands of the first person to buy it?
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It was the Wii version too. FAIL.
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I saw an old lady buying the Wii version at Best Buy when I was picking up The Saboteur today. I imagine some grandchild is going to rapidly transition from delight to despair on Christmas morning.
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Li'L Jack Thompson in the making, thanks Gramma, you've created video game Hitler
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You ever skate upside down?
i dont think they have skateboards in poland
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(http://i45.tinypic.com/sq6ubl.jpg)
Obviously it didn't do too bad!
They gotta move that plastic crap somehow. If you don't buy it the first time, they'll repackage it and shove it back out there.
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$20 less than this version?
CLOSER to the real price.