SKATE

The world doesn't need two skateboarding games... because, arguably, it hasn't yet got one. Tony Hawk? The argument among hardcore skaters and disillusioned fans of Activision's franchise is that it stopped being a skateboarding game around THUG2, losing sight of the simple thrills of real skating and embracing Jackass culture to gloss over its insanely-complicated, obscenely video-gamey controls and swirl of baffling combos. Hardcore Tony Hawk players casually toss out 100-trick combos, » Read Full SKATE preview

The moment you finish grinding across the telephone wire, a colossal sadness grips you. You drop the controller, turn off Tony and consider your life with a stare into the bathroom mirror. In the age-lines of your face you see the incalculable hours spent stacking mega-combos for a zillion-points. Your eyes spill a sorrow cavernous, and you pick up your skateboard... hold it to your cheek... and slowly begin scraping your face away with the » Read Full SKATE preview

Squaring up to Tony Hawk in a battle for boarding supremacy, the new kid on the block isnt exactly flipping the bird at the old master, its more of a fawning, “Youre great, Tony, I want to be just like you when I grow up” act of hero worship. Yep, EA may be bigging up SKATE as a “Tony Hawk killer” but the reality is this game couldnt be closer to the skating daddy if it called itself Little Tone and hid inside his » Read Full SKATE preview