Template:Future game

skate.
File:Skate 360.jpg
Developer(s)	EA Black Box
Publisher(s)	EA Games
Designer(s)	Scott Blackwood (executive producer)
Platform(s)	Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Release	Xbox 360 September 11th, 2007[1] September 21st, 2007[2]. PS3 September 24th, 2007 October 5th, 2007
Genre(s)	Sports game
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer

skate. is a skateboarding video game in development by EA for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The Xbox 360 version is due to be shipped on September 11th, and will be sold september 12th2007, in North America. The PS3 version is to be released in North America on September 24th, 2007, and in Europe on October 5th, 2007^[3].

Gameplay

skate. has many expansive features. One main feature the game offers is multiple dynamic camera angles. The game will allow you to go back in time approximately 60 seconds, and rewatch your tricks from any angle. You can also record and save your replays and then transfer them to the internet, where you can watch them online from your computer.

Also, different factors will affect each trick. For example, the angle and speed of the skater will affect the look of each grind. skate. will incorporate several different stylistic elements to add to the mood of the game, including a "skate-style" camera angle.

Control Scheme

The main aspect of skate. that sets it apart from other skateboarding games is its newly developed control scheme; "Flickit". As opposed to having a button for each trick, skate uses movement from different parts of the controller. The right control stick to control the board, left stick to control the body, the left and right triggers for arms and X and A buttons for feet. For example, a basic ollie would be performed by moving the right control stick down, and flicking it up. The speed of the upward flick would control the height of the ollie. To do a kickflip one would pull the right analog stick back and then push it diagonally right. For one to do a backside tailslide they would ollie with the right stick (pulling down, flicking up) and then flick the left analog stick right prior to landing on a rail.

Steering is controlled by the left control stick, while the right controls the trick being performed. It is reminiscent of Fight Night: Round 3 controls in that respect.

skate.reel

An in-depth video-editing feature called skate.reel is to be in skate. At any time in the game the player can go to this mode and use cuts from the 10 minutes of skating footage. It then uses a variety of features such as fish-bowl or western-filter to enhance the mood and feel of the video. Once the video is done it can be put up for public viewing on the skate website or can be saved to the player's hard drive.^[4]

Skaters

Two of the skaters featured in the game are Rob Dyrdek and Chris 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.

When creating your own skater you cannot choose a female avatar. EA have not explained why but say it may be included in future updates.

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 (seen in the second trailer and in the new game footage), Colin McKay, Mike Carroll(seventh trailer), and Chris Haslam. It has recently been confirmed that Jason Dill (seen in the third trailer for the game), Jerry Hsu (fourth trailer), and Mark Gonzales (sixth trailer) are on the roster of skaters featured in the game. Mike Carroll also stated in a Transworld Skateboarding interview that Pat Duffy will be featured in the game.^[5]

It has been reported that EA Blackbox has licensed 19 pro skateboarders.^[6][7]

Soundtrack

The complete in-game soundtrack was revealed on June 13, 2007 ^[8]. There are 45 total songs, but the one that attracted the most attention is a brand-new recording of 'Pretty Vacant' by The Sex Pistols, recorded in Los Angeles in June 2007. This is the first time the band have recorded in a studio in thirty years.

Media

There have been a few videos of gameplay released to the public regarding skate. The first footage was seen on a Rob and Big MTV special. Here, Rob Dyrdek and Big Black travelled to the Blackbox studio in Canada to monitor the game's progress. A 30 second clip was shown, depicting Rob Dyrdek playing himself. ^[9]

A few months later, the first official gameplay video of skate. was released. ^[10] Later a 2nd gameplay trailer was released, showing a highlight reel of skating accomplishments in the game. ^[11]

A trailer showing the difference of control between skate. and the Tony Hawk series was also released.

Several videos were later released, including a line by Rob Dyrdek, which aired on SpikeTV ^[12], footage of "Danny Way's Mega-Compound" ^[13], a "Flick-it" tutorial featuring Mike Carroll ^[14], and another video of various gameplay footage around San Vanelona featuring several pros (Chris Haslam, PJ Ladd, and Chris Cole, in particular).^[15]

Demo

On the skate. EA forums, Scott Blackwood (as Scott BWood (EA.com)) posted the following in response for a request of a demo of the game^[16]:

"Also, we're shooting to have an X360 and PS3 downloadable demo out for you guys well before the real deal drops. If you're jonesing, that will provide an early fix. You'll definitely want to check it out.
You'll be able to go through the tutorials, do some challenges, meet a few pros, create videos and more. At least that's the plan."

The demo was scheduled for release on Xbox Live for August 15th^[17] but was delayed (as stated by Scott Blackwood on the skate. forums) due to a sudden problem with the demo's skate.reel (video editing) feature. The skate. demo was released on the 21st of August at about 2 AM PST as posted by Scott Blackwood on the skate. forums:

"Oh yeah... just got word from [Microsoft] that the demo should be out very, very early Tuesday morning PST. Looks like we're all approved.

AND keep in mind it's all in their hands so I'm just telling you what I'm being told!!!

I hope our servers will be ready for the onslaught of vids. Be patient with skate.reel for the first day. There will undoubtedly be kinks to work out on the fly."

According to users of the skate. website, there have been reports of a "glitch" making users stuck in the login process. These occurrences are due to the profiles not having a link to their Xbox LIVE gamertags. Players must visit their EA acount, go to personas, and link their account to a gamertag, and they will be able to choose the Xbox LIVE gamertag as their persona, which then gains access to their videos since the site identifies the username as an Xbox LIVE gamertag.

EA have announced that the PS3 version of the demo is complete and has been sent out to Sony. Executive Scott Blackwood posted on skate.ea.com forums the demo will probably come out closer to the release date and says he doubts it will come soon.

References

External links

• Skate Official Site
• skate at GameTrailers
• skate at GameSpot
• skate at IGN