That's something I haven't heard. So... Our focus is just working with what is provided by Nintendo. So there's not an extra piece. You know, it's really about working with the Balance Board. So if you have one, this is another game you can play with it. It's not about fitness, it's about skateboarding and having fun.

There's a video after the jump. Watch it if you like.

EA denies Skate It Balance Board clip-on accessory [Balance Board Blog via Go Nintendo]

Obviously, one isn't required to have a Wii Fit Balance Board to play Skate It. It can also be controlled using only a Wii Remote. And that, somewhat surprisingly, works rather well, too.

Still, it's a bit unnerving at first. It's simple, though, with little in the way of button pressing. Simply press A to accelerate, down on the D-pad to stop and B to perform grabs. Everything else is motion controlled — kicks, flips, ollies, turns, everything.

Turning your board with twists of the remote requires a steady hand. Skate It will require just as much extremity agility and concentration as the original Skate and sticks closely to the formula established by the first. You won't be doing as much wild waggling and joint-killing shaking as some of the Wii's other offerings. Instead, because Skate It's controls are about finesse and precision, you'll find yourself looking a bit more zen as you try to avoid unintentional board slides and the not-uncommon faceplant.

As with the original Skate, I had a bit of trouble shaking off my Tony Hawk Pro Skater past and becoming reaccustomed to EA's approach. But after a few minutes with the Wii Remote and the Balance Board schemes, both rewarding in their own way, it was very much a peaceful, enjoyable experience, similarly sandbox-y and mostly pressure free — editors from other outlets waiting in line notwithstanding.

My only complaints with the control scheme lie in their unfamiliarity. The Wii Remote would perform well in some parts, with nose manuals via a quick remote hop and downward angle working like a charm. But in other instances, I'd find myself steering wildly out of control. It was also pretty easy to lose one's center on the Balance Board and feel the strain of fake skateboarding on the underdeveloped calves. (Perhaps that possible skateboard-like frame could address this, but we'll have to wait to find out.)

Still, I left Skate It pretty impressed, admiring the control scheme and seemingly smart implementation of the Balance Board. We're looking forward to spending more time with it at E3, but for now we'll just soak in the screen shots and become more familiar with the controls in the galleries below.

But I was a bit worried about how the game would make sure virtual boarders weren't slowly moving off the balance board's sweet spot. Scooting was a problem I noticed while playing Wii Fit. The more into a game I got, the more intense it was the more I tended to scoot around on the board over time. After ten minutes or so of intense gaming I'd notice the game wasn't responding right because my feet were no longer centered.

The devs told me that that is a concern of theirs as well. So much so that they're actually looking into the possibility of shipping the game with some sort of form that snaps onto the balance board to give it more of a skateboard look and feel. More importantly, this skateboard frame would help gamers realize when they were scooting off the board's center spot without having to look down, and potential facing into a virtual curb.

Sounds like a fantastic idea to me. [Image Credit]

"That's a great question. Right now, again, that is driven by the fact that the game was made by Black Box, and the Black Box team is near the Need for Speed team, and those guys work together in Vancouver. That's just where we put it."

But what Quigley calls the game's "core nucleus" also had a role in the decision.

"But in that case specifically, we are kind of going "anti-everything" with that game. It's more about getting back to the roots of skating, and it's just trying to be more of a real... having the style and tone and feel of actually getting on the board and getting out in the streets. In that case, it's not about the leagues, the points, or the standings. It's just about, "Hey, how does it feel to go out on the board and see what you can do?

"Ultimately, that kind of core nucleus of the game drove the fact of whether it should be an EA Sports or an EA Games game, at the end of the day. That and the fact that the Black Box team is part of us."

In-Depth: Electronic Arts' Quigley On The State Of EA Games [Gamasutra]

"Nowadays, all screenshots basically look like they are from the same post-apocalyptic World War III nuclear fallout nightmare," smakus writes. He finds games to be stress-causing and not stress-relieving because of the dreary, gritty environments we're subjected to, compared to grim titles like Doom and Duke Nukem that dealt death largely in primary colors.

Next-gen "realistic" games (i.e. non-cartoon protagonists or action) with lively, bright colors? I can think of Bully, although the winter months stretch of that game started getting me in a funk. TF2 has cartoons in a real environment. And there's Guitar Hero and Rock Band, but that's probably outside the scope of the writer's argument. I'm sure all of you can think of more.

Like I said, I am color-blind as a bat, and so asking my opinion of a color is almost beyond useless. But it is a good question regarding design: What is ultimately the reason people will buy a game — realism or fun? — and how should that govern the rest of the game's look, feel, sound, story, etc?

I Miss Color [TrustyGamer]

Yeah, Skate 2 is coming. We knew that. This is EA, after all, and it'll never miss a chance to pump out a sequel. But we have to question the wording in this dramatic teaser trailer for the skateboarding sequel. "We're dropping the deuce"? Isn't that a euphemism for, you know, going? Number two? Big potty? Caca?

Boo me off the stage, he insisted, if I do... and then he proceeded to use the phrase.

"If it's not built from the ground up, is it a port? Not really."

Blackwood explained that before Black Box started their work on the Wii and DS versions of Skate, they had to figure out if the controls would work.

"It we couldn't get that great flick it feel, we weren't going to do it," he said.

Later on, while trying out the Wii version of the game for myself, I was told the team spent three to four months working on getting those controls right and for the most part, it felt like they succeeded.

To play the Wii version, you hold the remote flat, facing it toward the screen and then move it around as if it is the board you are standing on. The A button makes your skater push with his foot, and the B makes him hold the board. The rest is done with motion. You turn by tilting the remote side to side, manual and nose manual by tilting the remote forward or back and do tricks by snapping the remote up, to the side or in tight circles.

I was able to do quite a few tricks with the remote, including a new Kung-Fu move requires jumping up in the air and pushing both buttons at the same time, after just a few minutes with the controller. There was a slight lag between the motion and a jump, but it felt like it was something built into the game on purpose rather than a design flaw. The turning was tight and responsive and for the most part if felt like a Skate game.

One very noticeable difference is that in Skate it on the Wii there are no pedestrians. The developers explain this away by saying a series of disasters have struck the city, leaving you with a playground of upturned asphalt, broken signs and bent rails to skate in, but I suspect that some of that decision was also driven by the necessity of developing an Xbox 360, PS3 game for the Wii.

While the game will also make use of the Wii Balance Board, allowing you to steer and do manuals with it by shifting your weight, we weren't allowed to test that out at last night's event.

The game will have you leaving the city and traveling to real cities around the world to compete in skate events, the developers told me.

While the graphics certainly take a hit, the slick feel of the controls, I suspect, will more than make up for that.

I didn't get a chance to check out the DS version, unfortunately, but in the demo they showed how you will perform stunts by tracing lines across a skateboard on the touch screen. Most moves looked like they were made by drawing angles lines or open shapes, like a rough J or U, though one trick required a odd-looking loopdeloop.

Skate It looks to replace the dual analog control scheme from the original skate with a Wii remote-only method that looks serviceable based on the promo video. As expected, the game also plans to use the soon to be release Wii Fit Balance Board, but executive producer Scott Blackwood is light on details. IGN has the full scoop.

Skate It on Wii and Nintendo DS [IGN]

Consider it rumor for now—whilst fantasizing about Wii Balance Board control!—and pretend to be surprised when EA and IGN work out their arrangement on the game's potential public reveal. In the meantime, we'll check with EA to see if there's more substance to this.

Formerly the Home of: Skate Shreds Wii and DS [IGN]

Another Burnout wouldn't come as a shock to just about anyone, but it would appear that EA is not going to give up trying to unseat the current Madden of skateboarding, Tony Hawk. He told investors "these are the fights that EA knows how to win," which I'm sure has Activision execs losing control of their bowels in fear. You're welcome for the imagery.

New Burnout, Skate on the way [GameSpot]

We didn't want to go back and ask [people] for more money to get more shoes and shirts...That's not how we wanted to enter this market.

EA has no plans for SKATE Downloadable Content [xboxdomain]

This week has a nice choice of titles spread out over various systems (sans the PSP). I'm trying to get to Heavenly Sword tonight so I can see for myself what it's going to be like and I am anxious to check out Jam Sessions and Drawn to Life for the DS. I've avoided Oblivion for a while just because I'm afraid of getting sucked in, but the inclusion of all the expansions on one disc is intriguing. What to do, what to do?

Heavenly Sword (PS3)
Will Nariko and her moves rival Kratos?

Skate (X360)
Skate to your heart's content and see what life is like without Tony Hawk.

NHL 2K8 (PS3, X360, PS2)
All the fun of Hockey without the broken teeth.

NHL 08 (X360, PS3, PC, PS2)
Because we always need more hockey games.

Galactic Assault: Prisoner of Power (PC)
Rule the planets in this sci-fi RTS.

.hack//G.U. vol. 3//Redemption (PS2)
The final game in the trilogy. The end of an era...

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Game of the Year Edition (X360, PC)
All of Oblivion including the two expansions in one tidy package.

Kengo: Legend of the 9 (X360)
You are a legendary samurai in feudal Japan doing the stuff a samurai does.

DiRT (PS3)
More racing action for your PS3.

Jam Sessions (DS)
Strum your blues away.

Drawn to Life (DS)
Draw your own character and put him through his paces.

Guilty Gear XX Accent Core (WII, PS2)
Still guilty after all these years.

Fatal Inertia (X360)
Race in supersonic planes and kick some ass.

Ship Simulator 2008 (PC)
Imagine the fun of piloting your own oil rig!

If you were planning on staying home sick on the 12th to name your first gap or if (like us) you bought a bunch of guacamole that expires on the 12th for your Skate party we send our sincerest apologies!

I think at this point we are starting to get pretty used to delays and as I and many others have said in the past (including the exalted Shigeru Miyamoto), I would rather wait a couple of extra days or even months for a fully functioning, awesome game than to get a rush job that will eventually have to be patched or in the worst case, replaced. Remember Bubble Bobble Revolution?

Official X360 ship date news update [EA Forums]

The thing is: the skate.reel video upload functionality is much more technically complex than a standard offline demo. So after submitting it to MS, we got blindsided by a technical (server related) issue we needed to address. Unfortunately it wasn't really something that could have been avoided - just an unfortunate side-effect of doing something totally new in a demo environment.

Demo Timing Announcement [Skate Forums via Destructoid]
image courtesy of Gotcha

EA'S AWARD-WINNING SKATE VIDEO GAME ROLLS ONTO RETAIL SHELVES IN SEPTEMBER Download the Demo on Xbox Live Marketplace on August 15 to Experience True Skateboarding Action Before It Hits Stores

CHERTSEY, UK. - August 3, 2007 - Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) announced that its award-winning SKATE video game will ship to retail stores on September 12 in the U.S. and September 14 in Europe for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system. The PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system version will ship to stores on September 24 in the U.S. and October 5 in Europe. For players eager to get their hands on the game pre-launch, EA will release a SKATE demo on Xbox Live Marketplace on August 15 so players can experience first-hand the title's groundbreaking new gameplay style - a new way of playing skateboarding games that will invigorate the genre.

The downloadable demo features tutorials and gameplay challenges in San Vanelona's community center skatepark to introduce gamers to SKATE's revolutionary Flickit controls. The demo also includes the innovative skate.reel feature where gamers can capture video footage of their skate session at any time during the demo and share the footage online at www.skate.ea.com for other players to view, rate and comment on.

In the game, everything you do works towards getting you coverage in two of skateboarding's premiere magazines - Thrasher and The Skateboard Mag. Coverage also means sponsors, product, money and fame. Become a legend by getting the covers and you'll earn a coveted invitation to skate in the X Games - the world's top skateboarding competition. You'll be able to throw down on the street course and go huge in the Skateboard Big Air event, innovated and dominated by two time gold medalist Danny Way.

SKATE recently received the "Best Sports Game of E3 - IGN Xbox 360" award at the E3 tradeshow in Santa Monica. SKATE was also one of only four games nominated for Best Sports game for the "Game Critics Awards: Best of E3 2007". The judges for this award included editors from the 36 leading videogame publications in the industry.

With innovative Flickit controls that take advantage of the dual analog sticks and the ability to sculpt tricks that define your own style, SKATE delivers an authentic boarding mecca like no other videogame. SKATE is developed by EA Black Box in Vancouver, British Columbia and is rated "T" for Teen by the ESRB and 12+ by PEGI.

After the smoke cleared, only four were left standing (except of course for the BMX winner. The winners were Chris O'Reilly for skate vert, Louie Lopez for skate park, Copy Porsche for inline skating, and Kyle Kelsey for BMX. Each winner received $5,000 and a scholarship to Woodward for next season.

Stories like these make me remember the good old days of my youth, when my parents would actually have to tell me to come inside and watch television. . .back before outdoors became what I passed through on the way to Wal-Mart. Michael Fahey

PlayStation AM JAM Finalists Selected [Playstation.Blog]

My hands-on time with EA Black Box's skate. pretty much ensured I'll be picking it up at release. Watch this new clip and let me know if you're not convinced. I'll berate you in the comments. Michael McWhertor

One of the first things you'll notice about the game is that it doesn't play, or look, like Activision's long-in-the-tooth Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series of games. There's less of a focus on massive combo stringing, complicated tricks, and the goal-defined level gameplay that Tony Hawk titles are known for.

With skate., the EA Black Box team has decided to focus on more fluid board control, greater realism and open-ended tasks. Players can choose to skate at their leisure around skate.'s photorealistic environments, mostly large public skate parks in the fictional city of San Vanelona, as well as take on tasks and challenges from other skaters and non-player characters populating the level. One such task was simply meeting a photographer's requirements: score 400 points and perform a rail slide from a heelflip. Fairly straightforward, but not altogether easy.

Why? The game's control scheme doesn't coddle you by using simple directional presses and button combinations. You'll have to work a little harder for those rail slides.

The controls are set up in a fashion familiar to anyone who's played an EA-published game (Fight Night Round 3, Def Jam ICON) recently. The left analog stick directs your player around the game world, the right stick controls your board. Using the trademarked "FlickIt" controls, a quick up-down motion with the right analog stick will kickflip your board. Move the analog stick in a J-motion, from top to down to left, and you'll pop shove-it. There are dozens of board moves that can be pulled off with simple gestures and they feel surprisingly effortless.

The rest of the controller is used for further body control. With the Xbox 360 controller, X and A perform left leg and right leg pushes, respectively, to gain speed. Right and left triggers will make your skater grab the board, depressing both will lay you down on the board for a coffin slide. Control feels natural, comfortable and refreshing in light of the white-knuckle button jamming you may be used to with Tony Hawk. What about the other buttons? B will act as a modifier for your tricks, with Y cycling through currently available tasks and challenges.

The skateboarding in skate. looks like mellow fun, and should give players an opportunity to cultivate their own style and suite of tricks.

One of the more interesting aspects of skate. is its planned use of the embedded video replay tool. The game will let players loop through the last 60 to 90 seconds of gameplay and record videos of memorable moments. Pull off an amazing set of tricks? Go into replay mode, edit out the fluff, pick your camera angles and save your video. EA will allow users to export these clips to your hard drive, then upload the fisheye lens-filtered videos to the skate. web site, letting other players rate and comment on your board skills. We were shown a preliminary version of the site, with movies uploaded on the fly, one that borrows heavily (and wisely) from YouTube.

The graphical style of skate. is gritty and realistic throughout, with real world brands like DC Shoes, Thrasher and Volcom driving home the realism. The HUD and overall design is rough and dirty, but thankfully features clear blue skies and realistic lighting. Expect in-game advertising to also add to the believability of the world. Graphically, the game looks fantastically realistic and you'll get a better impression of the visuals with the gallery below.

The most important aspect to nail with skate. has to be the controls. From my initial spins, the team seems to have done it. While more in-depth play will reveal just how usable the two stick control set up will be, it looks like they've got a worthy competitor to the Tony Hawk series of games. With the community aspect looking like a winner, skate. seems like it could be a solid new IP for Electronic Arts and may lure lapsed THPS players back the skateboarding genre. Michael McWhertor

We've heard a lot about EA's entry in the skateboarding genre, but haven't actually seen much. A few videos of real life skaters just rappin' to the camera, some character models, little else. Now, GameVideos has the first clip of the game in action. What do you think? Good enough to dethrone current skate king Tony Hawk? Michael McWhertor

We've seen little of EA's entry into the next-gen skateboarding field, outside of some similar promo videos, but this latest episode popped up from the company today, featuring skater Jerry Hsu. While no gameplay footage is shown, it shows how EA is marketing the title. The choice of "viral" in the title was based on the filename, not my intention to cause some "buzz" about the title. Still I look forward to an alternative to the Tony Hawk series for my skateboarding fix. The only other update is a Hsu render after the jump.

Hmm. Not the facial expression I'd have hoped for with my public digital debut, but still looking pretty good! Michael McWhertor

Thanks, man. I don't think I'll be getting anywhere near my TV now. Flynn De Marco

According to a Lazard Capital Markets analyst Electronic Arts is hard at work on a new skateboarding game that will compete with Activision's Tony Hawk franchise.

Skate is scheduled to hit next-gen consoles next year, according to the report.

Analyst Colin Sebastian remains faithful that Activision's TH franchise will survive the threat. Afterall, the franchise has made more than $1 billion in net revenue for Activision.

Interesting. I wonder if EA is going to try and line-up another skateboarding big name to try and dampen Tony Hawk's draw in the very limited market? More importantly, I wonder if this is some next-gen version of Skate or Die, that would rock. Brian Crecente

Activision chucked a trio of screens for Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam for the Wii. The game is supposedly an homage to Skate or Die!. Not sure why there's been rumblings that the Wii's graphics bite, these screens look pretty darn good! Hit the jump for the other two. Brian Ashcraft