Skate is an upcoming skateboarding game developed by EA for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and is expected to be released in the Spring of 2007. It is currently purported to be the most realistic skateboarding game ever created.
Gameplay
The game is geared towards the 'hardcore' skateboarding market, Scott Blackwood stating that "[the] game offers a skate mecca for both skaters and gamers in search of the definitive authentic skating video game experience", and that "[the team is] focused on capturing the actual feeling of skating with the innovative control system, the physics driven animations, and the intelligent cameras working together to really deliver the closest thing to being on a board."[1]
It is also set to provide a different way to the 'button mashing' control method, which the Tony Hawk series pioneered[2]. As an example, a move such as an ollie is not performed with a button, but with a push downward on the right joystick of a next-gen controller, intending to simulate the 'feel' of actual skateboarding [3], much like the "Nail the Trick" mode featured in Tony Hawk's Project 8.
Skaters
Two of the skaters featured in the game are Rob Dyrdek and Christopher "Big Black" Boykin. They have been seen recording the motion-capture for their in-game counterparts on the MTV show Rob and Big, as well as 'playing' the game (the game footage looked much like, and is considered by some to be, Pre-rendered video). Also shown in the episode were boards hanging up on a wall, which were revealed by an EA staff member to be the pro model boards of some of the skaters in the game. When the boards are looked at closely, the names of most of the skaters are visible and one name not mentioned on the below list is Ryan Gallant. According to EA's official website, the game will also feature Chris Cole (who has been seen in the first promotional trailer of the game), Danny Way, PJ Ladd, Mike Carroll, and Chris Haslam.
