Coming in at 1.1gigs. Enjoy sorry i'm 26 mins late.

Thanks for the heads up. Downloading now.

Game looks pretty boring. Can't wait to try out the demo and see how it plays.

Played a little bit of it. While I appreciate that they're trying for a more realistic (not Tony Hawk) skating game, I found it less fun. Maybe I just didn't get the hang of it.

I actually like this more than the TH titles from the playing the demo. I'm going give it a rent first but I like the new concept.

Thanks for the heads up. I've REALLY been wanting a reason to get into Tony Hawk again (I haven't really played since the earliest days with TH 3 being the last), but the next-gen offerings so far have been rather disappointing. Hopefully this will be what we've been waiting for....now I just have to figure out how to justify spending time on my 360 that is not with Bioshock...

Ehhh... not my idea of fun but hopefully enough to give Tony Hawk the kick in the butt it needs to be great again. I really dislike the control scheme, I get what they are trying to do, I just really don't like it. I could deal with the ollieing system which I knew I would hate if I didn't need to push buttons with the same thumb to control speed. Call me crazy but I like using buttons that will do precisely what I want them to in my games than moving a stick for a "more realistic" experience. At least EA doesn't own the market in skate games like they do boxing games.

Ehhh... not my idea of fun but hopefully enough to give Tony Hawk the kick in the butt it needs to be great again. I really dislike the control scheme, I get what they are trying to do, I just really don't like it. I could deal with the ollieing system which I knew I would hate if I didn't need to push buttons with the same thumb to control speed. Call me crazy but I like using buttons that will do precisely what I want them to in my games than moving a stick for a "more realistic" experience. At least EA doesn't own the market in skate games like they do boxing games.

I dont know why the sticks bother you and so many other people. I havent played the demo yet because my new 360 hasnt came yet.

its something new and its probably fun and of course it is going to be really hard at first but you need practice to master it. thats what makes games have longevity because if it was just like tony hawk you would be good at it right away and it would get boring fast.

and so what if you do the worng trick, its not like your in an intense multiplayer game where you need to be precise like EA's fight night. using the analog stick in that game sucks IMO because im trying so hard not to lose the match and its hard to get the right punch that you want to throw and you cant be as fast as when you use the buttons.

and if for anyone that doesnt like the realism of the game, go play tony hawk then. i skate myself and have been for 10 years and i liked the 1st 2 tony hawk game a lot but they were the only good skating games so thats why i played it. but from watching gameplay form skate it seems like it will be really fun for me because i can do a trick down a stair set and make it look good unlike in tony hawk where you go so incredibly fast just by holding the A button for a second that you end up clearing the stairs by like 20 feet and it makes the whole trick look stupid. and as a skater thats what i like about it and because it feels like real life. thats what made thraser for ps1 so good because it was so realistic

Im downloading it now. I have been looking forward to this game for a long time, hopefully its worth the wait. And dont complain about the realism in this game because that is what the game was aiming for. If you like unrealistic games then go play tony hawk. For me since I skated for over 5 years I like to see some realism as it keeps things interesting. As for the controls I hope they are damn near impossible to master because that is what makes a game fun for me, and that much more satisfying when you do get it.

For the record, I welcome a realistic skating game. I just don't see how the control engine accomplishes this. Its a gimmick and one that feels broken to me. If I could use the shoulder buttons to kick and get up to speed instead of a/x I'd feel a lot more comfortable using the right stick to ollie.

Ehhh... not my idea of fun but hopefully enough to give Tony Hawk the kick in the butt it needs to be great again. I really dislike the control scheme, I get what they are trying to do, I just really don't like it. I could deal with the ollieing system which I knew I would hate if I didn't need to push buttons with the same thumb to control speed. Call me crazy but I like using buttons that will do precisely what I want them to in my games than moving a stick for a "more realistic" experience. At least EA doesn't own the market in skate games like they do boxing games.

You know you can use buttons in Fight Night right? Also I don't see the big deal switching between the buttons and the right thumb stick. It seems easy to transition between the two and there's never a case where you'd be using both at the same time. I know EA gets a lot of flack, but I think they've done a great job on innovating controls in their sports games from Fight Night, to NHL and now Skate. I love how you grind in Skate rather than it being a simple hit of a button that locks on. You have to actually time it and have way more control over how you grind and what you do while you're grinding. It's stuff like that which is leagues better than what THPS did with a simple hit of the button.

i think this is a very original and fun game. Great new control scheme, and a realistic feel to a skating game. imo, it's fantastic, and original. Suprisingly, EA developed it. Anyways, I'm suprised at the negatiev reactions, imo, this is a very original, cool game.

also, the animations are fantastic, graphics are good. full featured replay editor is a really nice feature. It works similar to NCAA08 where you can upload your tricks online.

know EA gets a lot of flack, but I think they've done a great job on innovating controls in their sports games from Fight Night, to NHL and now Skate

yes! i totally agree with you.. EA have done a lot of great things lately with control schemes, and a brilliant animation system.

on teh first play through I was a little underwhelmed. On the second though I started noticing just how realistic it was. The new control scheme made doing even the basic tricks in tony hawk a lot more rewarding. I mean I did a pop shove it 540 into a kick flip over that hump spot and it was ten times cooler than when I did the 900 in TH for the first time. I love how the grinding is physics based and your skater doesn't just latch on to a grind surface.
On the negative side though the physics can be a little to real. I found it extremely hard to miss little ledges or even the ends of grind bars. This always eitehr stopped me to a halt or made me wipeout. and the the trick events are ten tiomes harder when trying to avoid otehr NPCs. 5 times I was in the middle of a very high point trick and I'd get clipped by some random skater.
I won't be plunking down 60 for this but I will definately rent it or pick it up later for cheap.

Anyone mess around with the replay editor? During the training, I was trying to figure out how to tweak a grab and wound up turning an ollie into a forward flip while crouched. So I opened the editor and after messing with the clip, it looked like it uploaded to skate.ea.com. I was looking forward to this game but now after playing I think I'm sold. I love the realism of it and that it seems to be about skating and not the jackass element the Tony Hawk games devolved into.

I'm also loving this game.

It also made me realize two things.
1. How much I've been conditioned by the Tony Hawk series and other games into thinking mashing buttons in a row felt like "skating".
2. How amazing it is to pull off a natural feeling trick by "kicking" my board with my thumbs!

Love the controls, love the feel of the game. The speed feels right, it's a ton of fun just doing basic things, like speeding up and doing a power slide, or even a gentle nollie kickflip.

I also really enjoy that timing is so crucial. No more "ollie 30 feet away and know that you're board will stick to the rail". I actually had a difficult time with the first ollie/timing training, but once I got it - it felt great.

As for pushing and having to press the button, this makes perfect sense. You can't set up your feet for your trick while you push in real life, so it's nice to have to stop pushing, time your push properly, crouch, and get prepped for your trick. :)

Can't wait to buy the full game!

-JR

I'm always among the first to criticize EA for whatever they do. But this time, I gotta give them credit. They just killed the Tony Hawk franchise.

The TH games had gotten sloppy and lazy. It stopped trying to innovate and got caught up with needless distractions. They prolly never saw this coming, and its a knife in their hearts.

Its not an issue of realism. Theres nothing wrong with a degree of absurdity and originality (think of Spiderman in THPS2....great character with awesome tricks). Neversoft just took it too far IMO when instead of riding skateboards you're doing tricks with lawnmowers and such, spinning on top of mailboxes. I rented THP8 and was tired of it before the weekend was through: bad cameras and collision detection had me stuck in walls and spending more time crashing than skating.

So give Skate its due. In the best of all possible worlds, it will force Neversoft to really up its game or go extinct.

.sucks.

Although I really enjoy learning tricks by trial and error, does anyone have a list of the tricks available on the demo?

I stumbled across the triple kick-flips, nollies, powerslides, and front/back flips (haven't pulled one off), but I'm curious if more flip tricks are available (impossible, front foot impossible, pressure flips, etc.).

-JR

I'm always among the first to criticize EA for whatever they do. But this time, I gotta give them credit. They just killed the Tony Hawk franchise.

The TH games had gotten sloppy and lazy. It stopped trying to innovate and got caught up with needless distractions. They prolly never saw this coming, and its a knife in their hearts.

Its not an issue of realism. Theres nothing wrong with a degree of absurdity and originality (think of Spiderman in THPS2....great character with awesome tricks). Neversoft just took it too far IMO when instead of riding skateboards you're doing tricks with lawnmowers and such, spinning on top of mailboxes. I rented THP8 and was tired of it before the weekend was through: bad cameras and collision detection had me stuck in walls and spending more time crashing than skating.

So give Skate its due. In the best of all possible worlds, it will force Neversoft to really up its game or go extinct.
I agree with everything you say, I thought TH peaked twice with THPS2 and THPS4, the later games have been way too focused on infinite combos rather than pulling off individually spectacular tricks. In this way Skate appears like it could shine. My personal preference would incorporate THPS's basic skating around and ollieing system along with Skate's in air trick controls and a game based on earth like physics with a career mode centering around contests, photo shoots and a robust multi-player free-skate setup where you could build your ability up and learn new tricks by interacting with fellow skaters.

>>does anyone have a list of the tricks available on the demo?


http://xs218.xs.to/xs218/07343/flickit_regular_wallpaper.jpg

I agree with everything you say, I thought TH peaked twice with THPS2 and THPS4, the later games have been way too focused on infinite combos rather than pulling off individually spectacular tricks. In this way Skate appears like it could shine. My personal preference would incorporate THPS's basic skating around and ollieing system along with Skate's in air trick controls and a game based on earth like physics with a career mode centering around contests, photo shoots and a robust multi-player free-skate setup where you could build your ability up and learn new tricks by interacting with fellow skaters.

Wait you want to go back to a button system for ollies rather than doing what the chart shows you there? I suppose you want a grind button too.

Wait you want to go back to a button system for ollies rather than doing what the chart shows you there? I suppose you want a grind button too.
Yes, that's exactly what I said isn't it?

Sheesh, I did not know I was going to criticize the holy grail of skateboarding controls or I would have kept my mouth shut. I played around with it for 45 minutes to an hour and didn't like certain things about it. That's all I'm saying. I'm done.