Though Activison’s Tony Hawk series has worn out its welcome in recent years, I will forever have a place for it in my heart. Today, courtesy of GameTrailers, we have the debut trailer for the next entry into the series, entitled Tony Hawk: Ride. According to Ride’s official website, the game will premiere at E3 2009, proclaiming “Be the First: 6.2.2009”. The trailer doesn’t show too much of the actual game, but I do give it props for using the Yeah Yeah Yeahs:
Is that a new peripheral I see?
From what I can gather, it seems as though the traditional arcade style of the Tony Hawk games may be falling to the wayside, opting instead for more of a simulation style, perhaps playing off of the success of the Skate franchise. More importantly, Activision is carrying its affinity towards large, and probably expensive, peripherals to be packaged with the game over to the skateboarding genre. The trailer and website show off what looks to be a full sized skateboard deck controller with buttons on the side, though the trailer shows no indication of how this will work with the game.
I would expect the E3 presentation to fully explain the peripheral’s function, and hopefully, a price point. I’m also going to expect that the game will be out by the holidays, arriving just in time to compete for the hearts of peripheral starved children around the globe. Though the pricing might be above my pay grade, I think that a skating game with an accessory that shakes things up a bit might be good for the franchise. However, it would be against Activision’s interests, in my opinion, to release the game without the option of playing with a standard controller.
One last feature of the trailer I found exciting was its seeming emphasis on multiplayer, which is supported by the Xbox LIVE logo present on the game’s website. Scheduled platforms are PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii. Stayed tuned to Kombo’s coverage of E3 in June for updates!
