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Washington Post
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Tony Hawk is still making you see the world like a skater
After becoming the world's most recognizable athlete for his chosen sport, Anthony Frank 'Tony' Hawk is now a 57-year-old grandfather. It's a life that's vastly exceeded any expectations he ever had. Named at birth like a superhero, Tony Hawk became the face of skateboarding in no small part due to Activision's blockbuster 'Tony Hawk's Pro Skater' series, which just released remakes of its third and fourth games, developed by Iron Galaxy. Hawk's amiable presence is felt across his fan interactions and interviews, proving it's still possible in 2025 to hold all that clout and still be down to earth. Hawk tells The Post in an interview that it's because nothing, including skateboarding becoming a respected, international sport, was ever expected. 'There's just no way I would've dreamt any of this,' Hawk says. 'You couldn't be rich or famous as a skateboarder when I first started. No one had been.' It's been a long road to respectability for the once-maligned sport, invented in the 1940s and '50s by bored Southern California surfers looking for more reasons to be on a board. Sidelined and dismissed for decades as idle activity for loitering teens and misfits, skateboarding has elevated to the Olympic Games. Hawk and some of his peer skating legends attribute much of that rise in acceptance to the 1999 game developed by the now-defunct Neversoft Entertainment, 'Tony Hawk's Pro Skater.' 'Tony is the revolution, he took us to a whole other level,' said Kareem Campbell, the Harlem-born 51-year-old often called the godfather of smooth street style and inventor of the 'Ghetto Bird' trick. 'The game helped pro skating be in the Olympics right now. He became a household name. Every skater on the game became a household name. It captures all the different elements of skateboarding.' The game became a top seller on Sony PlayStation in 1999, and its sequel next year was even bigger. It revolutionized the extreme sports genre in video games by wearing its video game inspirations on its sleeve. Scott Pease, former Neversoft studio development director, said the ragtag team of developers looked to the early pioneers of 3D video games to inspire their own groundbreaking work. 'The influences are definitely '[Super] Mario 64,' and even to a certain extent, 'Diddy Kong Racing,'' Pease said, giggling to himself. 'If you look at the structure of 'Tony Hawk 1' with the secret tapes and the goals, we kinda lifted a lot of that from 'Diddy Kong Racing,'' whose collectible balloons let players unlock more of the game. The game also mimicked racing games, propelling skaters forward automatically. Level designs used real-life skate spots like schools and abandoned warehouses, all littered with rails and ledges for grinding and ramps for vertical tricks. 'A lot of that comes from our lead programmer and technical director Mick West and him trying to understand how people interacted with their controller,' Pease said. Game designers were still figuring out how to make 3D gameplay feel natural. 'He understood innately that the camera and your responsiveness were completely connected, and how your view is completely determined by that 3D camera. Mick invented the camera movement where you jump off the vert ramp and the camera would swing around and look down to see where you were going to land. Without that, there's no game.' As a child of the coin-munching arcades of the 1980s, Hawk grew up on video games. He had played every skateboarding game ever made, but for years he was looking for the perfect formula. Hawk said he was shopping around various game publishers pitching a skating game, and Activision caught wind and invited him to Neversoft. In 1998, Neversoft made a game starring Bruce Willis called 'Apocalypse.' It didn't sell well, but the team used the same 3D technology to power a prototype of their hypothetical skating game. Sans a pro skater, they used Willis. 'The first build I ever saw of the game was seeing Bruce Willis on a skateboard,' Hawk said. 'I was able to control him, do kick-flips and do grabs and spins, and I thought, 'This is the coolest thing I've ever been able to play.'' 'Tony Hawk's Pro Skater' became the rare video game experience that can alter one's perception of the world. Like 'Tetris' induced its players to perceive the world built with blocks of four tiles, 'THPS' made its players think like a skater, seeing 'lines' of opportunity across the framework of civilization. 'Especially in the first few years, people who never skated suddenly understood skate culture, skate language, and they would see landscapes as skateable places in the real world,' Hawk said. 'That's when I saw a big shift.' It was normalizing skating culture right at the turn of the millennium, as the video games industry expanded to new audiences with the introduction of PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox. Brazil-born Bob Burnquist, winner of 30 medals at the X Games, was in the first class of pro skaters of the series, handpicked by Hawk. Now 48, Burnquist grew up in Rio de Janeiro, far away from the skating hotbed of Southern California. He admired Hawk from afar as a teen. 'I got a glimpse of Tony for the first time on video. Friends would travel to the U.S. and come home with a VHS tape, and that's how we got what was happening. Right when I started, Tony in 1989 went down to Brazil. My dad couldn't take me, but it just put a mark on Brazil.' Burnquist saw the spread of anti-skateboarding legislation across various jurisdictions, including Brazil. It was important for him to see that it was growing in popularity despite these bans. The game was a piercing bullet through the consciousness of a new generation, millennials who grew into midlife today. 'After all these years, you have the city of Rio you can choose [in the game] with all these different characters, and seeing Brazil there? It's an accomplishment for Brazilian skateboarding,' Burnquist said. 'To be included as a Brazilian, it showed we are a part of the culture.' Skating culture was not immune to the changes brought upon by the internet. People of Hawk's generation discovered new tricks and athletes through the VHS tapes and magazines like Thrasher. Hawk said social media has changed the dynamics of discovery. 'When we first started this game, one of the only ways to be known as a skater was to compete, and if you weren't competing, you'd better be producing a lot of video, and you hoped to be featured in a skate video,' Hawk said. 'Nowadays you can be your own brand, producing content daily and sharing it whenever. Now the field is wider and more open, but you have to keep producing, have to keep getting better at it. You can't just rest on your accolades, that's the one thing that's been the same throughout the years.' Hawk takes credit for igniting the current remakes. He approached Activision to use the intellectual property for a concert series, and suggested the series be revived somehow for its 20th anniversary. For the first two games, Activision tapped an internal studio that eventually got absorbed into its sizable operation to create the titanic 'Call of Duty' series. For the remake 'Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4,' released July 11, Iron Galaxy was selected. Despite carrying the title of games from the early 2000s, the studio considers the latest release a new project, said game director Kurt Tillmanns. This includes new levels made just for this release. 'We were able to go in and make brand new levels and unlock our creativity, do some wacky things like pinball and make this skater's paradise of a shut-down water park,' Tillmanns said. The game also largely overhauls its soundtrack. Hawk takes credit for that decision, in the spirit of how the original game introduced players to new bands and music genres. (The 'Tony Hawk' and 'Grand Theft Auto' games are often credited with expanding the use of licensed popular music in the medium.) Besides, listening to old songs can be like putting too fine a mark on the past. The most iconic song from the games is Goldfinger's 'Superman,' with a chorus that yells 'Growing older all the time.' Hawk is now grandfather to Ronin Walker Cobain Hawk, as his son Riley (now featured in the updated games) married rock legend Kurt Cobain's daughter, Frances Bean. The birth announcement resulted in an explosion of memes suggesting the coolest human being might've been born. 'Being a grandparent is exactly all the fun that grandparents gush over, and the reason they get excited when they know their grandchild's coming. That's how my wife and I feel exactly,' Hawk said. 'The fact that Ronin has this legacy behind him, I don't want him to feel like he has to live up to anything in that respect. I just want him to find what he really enjoys, to follow his passion. I just want him to have fun, and I don't want him to feel like an outsider or that people are looking at him in a different way.' Hawk said the family has a group text chat of nothing but photos of the still-infant Ronin, and he had just received them and was looking at them before the interview. But is grandpa Hawk feeling older all the time? 'Oh my body feels it every time I wake up. I definitely have my go-to skill set, but it's a lot more work than it used to be, and a lot more recovery and progress.' For Tony Hawk's pro and personal adventures, it's been a life well lived. 'I'm living the dream, the idea that I still get to participate, and then I get to witness skating come to this level, and I can help guide or foster up-and-coming skaters,' Hawk said. 'It's between that and helping to develop public skate parks, that's the most important and most gratifying work I can do.'
Express Tribune
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
New Tony Hawk's Pro Skater to remove "disrespectful" Guitar Hero Easter egg after player concerns
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4 will remove a Guitar Hero Easter egg after it attracted attention from players. The Easter egg, found inside a trash can on the Waterpark level, appeared as a game box referencing Guitar Hero, a series developed by Neversoft, which previously worked on Tony Hawk titles. The discovery was shared on the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4 subreddit, with one Reddit user stating, 'Goes to show Iron Galaxy's respect for Neversoft.' Some players viewed the inclusion as a sign of disrespect towards the earlier franchise, while others considered it a joke referencing the past. Iron Galaxy, the developer behind the remake, confirmed the removal on its official Reddit account. The studio stated, 'We have the utmost respect for anyone who makes games, we're investigating how that got in there in the first place.' The post also thanked the community for bringing the matter to attention, confirming that the asset will be removed in the next update. The Easter egg appeared in Waterpark, a new level in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4, alongside Movie Studio and Pinball. These new levels, combined with returning locations, feature the franchise's signature gameplay while introducing expanded Create-A-Skater and Create-A-Park modes. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4 was released in July, bringing the third and fourth entries of the series to modern hardware, allowing players to revisit iconic locations and perform signature combos with up to eight skaters in multiplayer.
Forbes
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4' Review: Get On Board
'Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4 takes a few minor missteps, but it's still among the most faithful ... More remakes ever made. It's been a five-year wait for the inevitable follow-up to the superb Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2, and it's been worth it: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4 has replicated the PS2 era of the franchise with aplomb, even with an all-new dev team at the helm. The half-decade between releases also provides a fantastic way for original fans of the Tony Hawk series to measure their own physical and cognitive decline. The Foundry demo, released last month, was one of the most punishing things I've played in a while; I thought I'd rack up seven-digit scores on my second or third go, but instead smashed my face in repeatedly. Surely, new developer Iron Galaxy has broken something? Nope, quite the opposite — I'm the thing that's crumbling. Personal crises aside, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4 doesn't just do the original games justice — it adds some truly special touches that go beyond a careful and respectful rebuild. In keeping with the source material, it's not perfect, but it's bloody good fun. Superstar newcomers Three new levels come to THPS 3+4: Waterpark, as announced earlier this year, which is frankly the star of the show and is among the best parks in the series, period; Movie Studio, a brilliant little excursion that favors grinding; and Pinball, the oddball unlockable level at the end that's reminiscent of the PS1 version of THPS3's Little Big World, and is probably better to look at than to play. FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder A couple of levels from the originals have been axed, namely Carnival — a real shame — and Chicago, which was an imported stage from Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX 2. Still, the glow-up given to other parks and areas is insane. The work done on 3's Airport, my favorite stage of all, is nothing short of incredible. Past also-rans feel much more enjoyable now, too, like Kona, Skater's Island, and London. Still, other creative decisions seem strange, most notably with Zoo, easily one of my favorite levels from the original. It's now abandoned and without animals, and it's hard to understand why; it's not like you could 50-50 a giraffe's neck in the original, and the occasional dodgy challenge (specifically, 'Skitch the Elephant') could be replaced. That doesn't stop it from being a lot of fun to play, though, as the core of the park is still there. The Pinball level is a new height of insanity. Collectathon On top of each zone's ten goals, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4 carries over its predecessor's other collectables like cash, stat points, and the developer logo. These are a lot more fiendish to get this time around — specifically the effing money on a plane in Suburbia. Still, you battle on, stacking stats into air, speed, and hangtime. A few other things have been shaken up for this outing, so you can't rely on muscle memory to, say, collect S-K-A-T-E or complete one-off challenges. Most of the time, it's done well, but others, such as the Cruise Ship's missing toolbox, add a whole new level of mystery and luck that may see you checking guides just to get them over and done with. Sometimes, it's just a modern tweak; no longer are you impressing the Neversoft Girls on the Cruise Ship, but fellow pro skaters. Luckily, you can adjust the in-level timer for up to 60 minutes, so you don't have to stress yourself out when mopping up what's missing or exploring — unless it's a competition stage, which remains at one minute for obvious reasons. You can even go full cheat mode to make sure you don't flub a long-grind stat point. Simple mistakes Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4 has some niggles, and we may as well get the most obvious one out of the way: the soundtrack is severely lacking. I'm not even kidding when I say that four songs from my wedding daytime playlist haven't returned to this remake. You get a small selection of ten or so favorites, including CKY's '96 Quite Bitter Beings', Agent Orange's 'Everything Turns Grey' and 'Amoeba' by Adolescents, but there are some huge omissions: 'Not the Same' by Bodyjar, 'TNT' by AC/DC, and Public Enemy's 'By the Time I Get to Arizona' are the most egregious. Gameplay-wise, this remake isn't too dependable with transitions, gaps, and off-ramp maneuvers. Getting a handful of collectables felt way more about luck than skill. There's also an odd recurring glitch where going straight from an ollie into a grind sees you eating asphalt — something the originals were surprisingly forgiving with. On a wider level, the amount of time and effort to max out just one skater's stats will likely put you off repeating the feat with more than two or three members of the roster. Having the option to max out stats globally would be great, but it's a personal preference. Then, of course, the omission of the OG career mode from THPS4 is massive, but really, I get it. Purists will hate me for saying it, but I prefer the old ways, and the consistency works when both games directly contribute to skater development and unlockables. And Bam Margera's back! Don't think, just play Despite its minor annoyances, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 lives up to the hype and should be a day-one treat for gamers worldwide. For Xbox Game Pass subscribers, it's an absolute no-brainer. Even if you don't, you get a lot of bang for your buck for $50, especially if you're a dedicated completionist. As remakes go, it's one of the most faithful you'll ever play. Still, it's hard to shake the feeling that it doesn't hit the same high as the THPS 1+2 remake. This isn't Iron Galaxy's fault, either — the team has taken over Vicarious Visions' work seamlessly and done a spectacular job, particularly with those new levels — but the source material itself is a little lacking when compared to the original duo. It'll be nostalgia's fault to a certain extent — and the fact that the first two games needed a much more dramatic overhaul to get them up to modern standards — but certain levels feel a little dull or, at the very least, immediately forgettable. Perhaps THPS and THPS 2 were too iconic for their own good. So, what's next? Presuming we're going by canon, we can safely rule out the travesty that was Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 — but a Tony Hawk's Underground 1 + 2 would be a natural third outing. Hell, throw American Wasteland in there too while we're at it, because no-one wants Project 8 or Proving Ground. Oh, and maybe consider Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX while you're there.
Time of India
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4: Everything you need to know before launch
Image via Iron Galaxy Tony Hawk is bringing back one of the most well-known skateboarding games in history, the Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 + 4 game, this time a revival of the long-awaited version. Being a remastered set, this version is once again the successor of a remake of Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 + 2, which promises to bring a fresh visual and modern system, mechanics, and the old content. The remaster will feature new features, Online multiplayer improvements, and fan-favorite levels back in high definition to do just that. Before the jump, the following is a complete overview of what to anticipate in Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 +4 when it arrives. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 Remastered: Launch details and features Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 - 15 Things You NEED TO KNOW Before You Buy Confirmed features and improvements Vicarious Visions (now Blizzard Albany) is working on the remastered Pro Skater 3 + 4 package, following their tradition of a close recreation with additional contemporary enhancements. Key highlights include: Visual upgrades: Crisp High-definition textures, dynamic lighting, and improved smooth animations that the modern consoles can handle without any lag. Classic + Skater roster: Original skaters Tony Hawk and Rodney Mullen return, joined by new faces from the current generation skate scene. Expanded soundtrack: All the Classic banger songs from the originals, along with new licensed tracks to keep your session alive. Online multiplayer : Competitive modes, public lobbies, party play, and ranked leaderboards let you show your skills worldwide. Create-a-park and create-a-skate r : Improved customization and sharing content tools. Trick system enhancements : Revert, combos, manuals, and spine transfers make for endless combo potential. Release information Platforms : PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC (Steam and Epic Games Store). Release date : Expected later in 2025 (the date will be published). Editions : Standard Edition – Base game with in-depth content. Deluxe Edition – It comes with some additional gear, exclusive designs, and skaters. Collector's Edition – Physical items, including a mini skate deck and collector's artbook. What to watch out for Fans should keep an eye on the following: Pre-order perks such as early access and unique in-game gear. Possible beta tests or early demo announcements, especially for multiplayer. Ongoing developer updates and sneak peeks on social media and official blogs. The legacy is continued with Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 + 4, but it has better graphics and even more detailed gameplay. It is a party of all that made the fans love the originals, remodeled to fit the current hardware. Whether flying down memory lane on that skateboarding trick you love, or trying it out with the world of skateboarding all over the place, this remaster is gathering steam and is going to be a highly recommended game to play! For real-time updates, scores, and highlights, follow our live coverage of the India vs England Test match here. Catch Manika Batra's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 3. Watch Here!
Time of India
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4 release date and time for all region
Image via Iron Galaxy. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater is one of the most popular skating simulation titles which have ever graced the gaming world. Now to carry forward that legacy, the upcoming installment, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4 is releasing very soon. This is going to be a combined remastered collection of two of the most sold titles of the franchise, THPS 3 and THPS 4. THPS 3+4 will also serve as a follow-up installment of the 2020 title, THPS 1+2, which is in turn, another remastered combo of the first two games of the series. As we are nearing the launch of the upcoming installment, the release date and times for every region is now here. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4: Release dates and timings for every region Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4 is releasing on July 11, 2025. | Image via Iron Galaxy. The developer of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4, Iron Galaxy, has confirmed that there will be two editions of this game - Standard and Digital Deluxe on PS4, PS5, Xbox One/X/S, Nintendo Switch 1, Switch 2, and PC (Steam, Game Pass). The standard edition is going to be released on July 11, 2025. But just like any other premium version, the Digital Deluxe Edition owners will be able to play the game three days earlier than the Standard Edition release, which is on July 8, 2025. As THPS 3+4 is going to have a concurrent release, here are all the release dates and timings of the game for different regions: Region Timezone Release Date and Time Los Angeles, USA PDT (UTC‑7) July 10, 2025 – 10:00 PM New York City, USA EDT (UTC‑4) July 11, 2025 – 1:00 AM London, UK BST (UTC+1) July 11, 2025 – 6:00 AM Paris, France CEST (UTC+2) July 11, 2025 – 7:00 AM Berlin, Germany CEST (UTC+2) July 11, 2025 – 7:00 AM Mumbai, India IST (UTC+5:30) July 11, 2025 – 10:30 AM Beijing, China CST (UTC+8) July 11, 2025 – 1:00 PM Tokyo, Japan JST (UTC+9) July 11, 2025 – 2:00 PM Sydney, Australia AEST (UTC+10) July 11, 2025 – 3:00 PM São Paulo, Brazil BRT (UTC‑3) July 11, 2025 – 2:00 AM As earlier mentioned, those who have pre-ordered the Digital Deluxe Edition will grant themselves a 72-hour early access period. So, they can easily calculate the time from when they can jump into the game by looking at this table. For example: the early access of THPS 3+4 will begin from 9 PM PDT on July 7, 2025 in Los Angeles. Players from different locations can convert these timings to their native timezones to get the respective release dates and timings. Besides a 3-day early access, the Digital Deluxe Edition owners will get a free cosmetic reward as well. Read More: New Upcoming games releasing in July 2025 Game On Season 1 continues with Mirabai Chanu's inspiring story. Watch Episode 2 here.
