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Tony Hawk talks Ride sequels

Q&A: Pro skater indicates work on next installment has begun at Robomodo; hints at snowboarding, surfing titles in the pipeline for skateboarding controller.

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After several tepidly received iterations, Activision is hoping to reboot the Tony Hawk skateboarding franchise with the release of Tony Hawk Ride. The latest title in the long-running series shipped November 17 in North America and arrives in the UK and Germany on December 5. It includes a proprietary full-sized skateboard controller where players can mimic skating moves thanks to its in-built accelerometers and infrared sensors.

Tony Hawk is game to ride again…if Activision is.
Tony Hawk is game to ride again…if Activision is.

Unfortunately, Tony Hawk Ride doesn't come cheap, bearing a hefty asking price of £99.99 in the UK and $120 in the US. Potential purchasers not dissuaded by poor initial reviews can take some comfort knowing that it probably won't be the only game Activision plans to support with the deck. During an interview with GameSpot UK today in London, the titular skateboarding icon appears to have confirmed previous reports that he is working with Ride's Chicago-based developer Robomodo on a sequel.

When asked by GameSpot UK when he would begin working on a sequel with Robomodo, Hawk said, "We have already started that process, but who knows what the future holds. I've never had a master plan, especially with our old series, of how many we could do, or how far we could take it. It really was all about the fans and the console technology. … As far as I'm concerned, it's all systems go with trying to make at least a sequel for this, because I feel like we've only just really tapped what's possible with this technology."

Snowboarding? Likely. Hoverboarding? Perhaps not.
Snowboarding? Likely. Hoverboarding? Perhaps not.

Hawk also hinted at what ideas he'd like to see included in a sequel. "I think that there are certain ways to play the game that we could definitely improve on in a sequel," he revealed. "Especially the way that you transition from the vert mode to the street mode. I'm sure there's more of a seamless way to do that, but we had to separate it for this first one, just because we wanted to get it finished and get it tight."

While Tony Hawk Ride 2 looks like it's already on the drawing board, the skateboard peripheral won't be limited to one sport. Hawk said it was "up to Activision and myself as to what we do with this next and what kind of games we create. I think that the first priority, beyond skateboarding, would be snowboarding because that would lend itself [to the board] a little bit easier [than other genres], and beyond that I'd love to do a surfing game. I always thought that Kelly Slater's [Pro Surfer] was an underrated title for the PlayStation 2. I thought that people didn't really give it the attention it deserved." Hawk's comments echo Robomodo's previous comments that it was already considering other game options for the board.

[UPDATE] For more on Tony Hawk Ride check out GameSpot's video review below.

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