The Tony Hawk series holds a special place in my heart. For one, at least a quarter of the music on my iPod is tracks I've discovered as I've played the games over the years, but more importantly it has allowed me to continue skating after my massive 6'6" frame snapped my last skateboard clear in half, signaling the end of my extreme sports phase aside from occasional Mountain Dew binges. I started losing interesting when THUG came out, and while Project 8 added in some nifty new features it failed to hold my interest for more than a day or two. I sat in on an E3 demo of the new title in the series, Tony Hawk's Proving Grounds, and with EA's Skate on the horizon it might be the last chance the franchise gets to prove it still has what it takes to remain king of the skate park.

While the game still maintains the old starting as a nobody and working your way up to star status motif we've seen in the past several games, this time around it's all about how you get there. Proving Ground introduces the concept of character classes to the Tony Hawk universe, with nine storylines spread throughout three different skater types. If you want to go pro and have your picture on the cover of magazines you can choose the path of the Career Skater, who strives for endorsements and fame. The Hardcore Skater is about keeping it real, skating just for the thrill of pushing himself and the sport to the limit. The most interesting class in my opinion was the Rigger, who can actually switch into build mode and create ramps and rails right on the streets he skates on. It works like the create a park mode of earlier games, only it happens right in the level you are skating in.

You can focus on one skater type, following its storylines and missions to become the top of your class, or you dip into all the storylines, though to get the most out of each archetype you'll want to follow things through to the end. As you progress you'll earn class-based rewards. The Career Skater might get a signature board or an endorsement decorated outfit, while the Rigger will earn new parts or engineering-themed clothing. In addition, each of the game's three cities - Philadelphia, Baltimore, and DC - has an unlockable area specific to each skater type, giving you incentive to play through the game as each.

Project 8's Nail the Trick mode was one of the neatest innovations to come out of the franchise in some time, and in Proving Grounds it has been expanded upon to include Nail the Grab and Nail the Manual modes, using the same analog stick controls and slow-motion effect as Nail the Trick does. The presenter demonstrated a long series of tricks switching between the three modes that just looked incredibly cool.

Speaking of looking cool, Proving Grounds allows you to share those cool moments with your friends with the new video editor, a multi-track application in the game that allows you to overlay clips, special effects, and music to create your own trick reel. More than just a neat extra, creating clips figures into some of the game's missions, where you'll have to create a video that is graded on how you edit to the beat. Each of the over 60 music tracks in the game has a beat pattern attributed to it, and you score points by tricking and changing camera angles and scenes to the beat. Since the game stores videos based on code and not as actual video files, it'll be easy to upload the clips for all the world to see.

Multiplayer has been tweaked as well. Now at anytime during the game you can bring up a map that shows who else is skating in your area and join them on the fly with very little load times. On top of this, each player will have their own custom room where unlocked and purchased trophies can be setup to create their own skate park, which they can invite friends to check out...sort of like a tiny PlayStation Home.

Can Tony Hawk survive EA's Skate? After seeing Proving Grounds in action, I think it very well could. Comparing the two is almost like comparing NFL Blitz to Madden. One is over the top insanity while the other is a more realistic rendering of the sport, and there is certainly room for both in the market. Whatever happens when the games go head to head, this is one of the most interesting offerings the Tony Hawk franchise has seen in years. Definitely worth keeping an eye on.

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