• electronic arts

    Skate 2 Release Date Seen On Mirror's Edge

    You're getting a double dose of Skate dates today, with the Wii-exclusive Skate It being officially dated for a mid-November release earlier today. The proper sequel, Skate 2, also has a new date, arriving in January 2009, according to the Mirror's Edge retail box according to IGN.

    The specific day on which EA "drops the deuce" with Skate 2 is still to be determined, but at least you know when to start trading all those unwanted games from your holiday haul.

    Skate 2 Coming in January [IGN]

    6:00 PM on Fri Oct 31 2008
    By Michael McWhertor
    3,934 views, 11 comments

    Most discussed Jandlecack: The retail box? The retail box itself? They put advertising for other games on the outside packaging of a game more »

  • skate it

    New Skate It Video Discusses Controls


    We gave you an early look at Skate 2 a few weeks ago, now we look at the controls for Skate It. I am really excited to see how the Wii remote works as a skateboard. It sounds like they are going the same route SSX Blur took on the Wii. Expect it this holiday on Wii and Nintendo DS.

    1:40 PM on Tue Aug 19 2008
    By Adam Barenblat
    1,411 views, 26 comments

    Most discussed LittleBigPlaneteer: Also that Jay Balmer guy looks like he's either dying, or has a serious heroine addiction. more »

  • skate

    EA Explains Why Skate Is Not An EA Sports Game

    EA's "city-state" label structure can be a little tricky sometimes, in that I'll bet it's hard for them sometimes to pick what game goes under what label. For example, you'd probably guess that Skate might be an EA Sports label game, ad not an EA Games label game. EA Games global marketing VP Mike Quigley explains in a new interview with Gamasutra why you'd be wrong:

    "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. More »

    5:20 PM on Wed Jun 18 2008
    By Leigh Alexander
    2,784 views, 30 comments

    Latest by cmcginn: @PeteeWJ: I know (hope?) you are kidding, BUT ... the player can skate in the game but it is not the more »

  • colors

    Whatever Happened to Color?

    TrustyGamer has a point. Photorealism is a good thing, but can it really be an escape from reality — especially for ostensibly lighthearted fare — when the color palette it draws on represents the depressing color scheme of our own worlds? Increasingly, that seems to be the case in every title, including EA's Skate, which "look(s) like shots from a heroin game where you have to skate to get your next fix."

    "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]

    11:00 AM on Sat May 24 2008
    By Owen Good
    8,327 views, 199 comments

    Latest by Freebooter Fox: Real is brown. [www.vgcats.com] more »

  • clips

    Skate 2 Teaser Might Be Doing It Wrong

    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?

    3:40 PM on Tue May 20 2008
    By Michael McWhertor
    6,695 views, 101 comments

    Latest by Eran: Firstly they say "That's right. We're taking a shit", and then "Hold on, I'm coming"... Jesus Christ, they seem to be more »

  • rumor

    Skate Coming To Wii And Nintendo DS?

    We may have a good idea what those Skate "extensions" are that EA Games president Frank Gibeau teased a couple months ago, as IGN reported earlier today that Skate It, a spin-off planned for the Nintendo DS and Wii, was in the works. Curiously, IGN has since pulled that report, hinting that either that information was wrong or not yet deemed fit to print by the powers that be.

    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]

    5:20 PM on Wed Apr 2 2008
    By Michael McWhertor
    2,004 views, 30 comments

    Latest by freespeech: @illmatic291: not cool!!!!! more »

  • tony hawks

    Tony Hawk Working With Activision To Save His Series

    Tony Hawk's Pro Skater? Bwah? Can't remember it. The pure joy of EA's Skate has wiped clean all memory of manual combo runs, ill-advised Jackass cameos and flying toilets. And not just for me, for a lot of people. So Activision and Neversoft are going back to the drawing board, and they're bringing Tony Hawk with them. The man, that is, who's working closely with the game's developers so they can bring "new thrills" to the stale, ageing series. They're calling it the "Tony Hawk Innovation Plan". Only this year's annual instalment in the series will tell if it makes a lick of difference.
    Executive Suite: Tony Hawk leaps to top of financial empire [USA Today]

    7:20 AM on Tue Mar 11 2008
    By Luke Plunkett
    2,906 views, 68 comments

    Latest by freespeech: how much can be done in a year????? they should give it a couple, if not 3, years and more »

  • sequelitis

    More Skate, Burnout, Mass Effect Coming From EA

    From the Duh Files comes news that EA plans to ship "extensions" to its financially successfully Skate and Burnout series, by way of EA Games prez Frank Gibeau. He also says that a proper Mass Effect sequel is already in the works. What those extensions may be wasn't defined, GameSpot reports, but could easily mean proper sequels or handheld spin-offs. And while downloadable content most likely isn't out of the question, Skate producers have gone on record in the past saying the title wasn't built with DLC in mind.

    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]

    4:30 PM on Tue Feb 12 2008
    By Michael McWhertor
    3,667 views, 49 comments

    Latest by ratba: Skate 2 = Actually doing lip tricks and getting off the board?!?!?... I'll buy. more »

  • activision

    Activision Must Innovate With Tony Hawk's 10

    Not everything went Activision's way last year. Tony Hawks Proving Ground, for example, looked rubbish compared to Skate, and sales reflected this, with EA's new series outselling Hawk's 2:1. Which when you consider the market for skate games didn't increase (the majority just opted for EA's better game) poses a problem for Activision. So they've sworn that the next Tony Hawk's will be innovative. Just like the last one was meant to be. And the one before. Ever hear about the boy who cried wolf, Acti? Ended up eaten by, well, a wolf. Food for thought.

    3:30 AM on Fri Feb 8 2008
    By Luke Plunkett
    3,098 views, 66 comments

    Latest by Kayeliminal Antithesis: THPS should just be as old school and arcade like as possible. Just take it back to it's roots. Actually, I more »

  • 100 points

    EA Not Planning SKATE DLC

    EA producer Scott Blackwood recently told EGM that they never planned to make downloadable content for SKATE.

    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.
    It's a classy statement from the makers of a new franchise that's in the often criticized clutches of EA. But now we're left confused, wanting DLC, the prospect of future expansions, the hope of more. Yes, it's hypocritical. Yes, we've been brainwashed. Or maybe it's because what gamers really desire is unplanned DLC...if such a thing could ever exist in this market, which it probably couldn't. So never mind. Carry on.

    EA has no plans for SKATE Downloadable Content [xboxdomain]

    10:40 AM on Mon Oct 29 2007
    By Mark Wilson
    2,450 views, 34 comments

    Latest by justaburden: @Marc: I understood the point of the game, I'm just saying that making shit up and doing whatever got old more »