Previews// SKATE - featuring Danny Way (PS3/Xbox 360)

Danny Way, as the skaters amongst you most likely already know, is not like any normal skateboarder. There is something clearly not quite right in his head. His public rise to skateboarding mega-fame began back when he joined the legendary Bones Brigade at the tender age of fourteen. Since those halcyon days back in the late 1980s he’s become increasingly well known among skaters and non-skaters alike, for his shocking lack of fear, along with his magic special superpower. He can fly!

Well… nearly. He does have a tendancy to smash his legs up because, like a trainee Robin Red Breast, he does tend to forget how to land quite a lot. Way is a cross between Evel Knievel and a Depression-era sideshow exhibitionist; the kind of mad fool who likes to propel himself over huge open spaces, large public structures; jump out of hovering ‘copters and bomb drop off 82-feet high concrete guitars. These antics get him on the telly maybe more so than any other skater ever, so for this we suppose he should be knighted or stetsoned, or whatever they do over in the United States.

The next stage down to a knighthood, in the world of internationally famous skateboarding is having your own videogame. And Way has made it, being the face of Electronic Art’s forthcoming, imaginatively titled Skate (due Spring 07 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3).

This, strictly and technically speaking, could be billed as the first genuine next generation skateboarding videogame. ‘Cos, you know, Tony Hawk’s is still available on your rubbishy old PS2.

So, what’s it about then? The game’s publisher assures us that it’s a game ‘by skaters for skaters.’ We hope this is true and not just some wazzy strapline someone in the PR department cooked up. They also name drop Animal Chin and Thrasher a lot in the press guff we received, which simply means they are as old and haggard as we are. Haha!

Skate is said to deliver the actual feel of skating through dual stick control, roaming cameras and a reactive city built for skaters. The skateboarding developers also promise that the game has “that sense of community, culture and satisfaction that true skaters feel when they’re landing a 360 kickflip down a 15-set staircase or just cruising down the street.”

You can see from the first bunch of screens and artwork we’ve got here that it looks the part. This will be because, as you probably know, the PS3 is going to be the most powerful supercomputer ever devised by man - with better graphics than our actual eyes can see. You need to be a cyborg to fully appreciate its chips and lovely gadgetry innards. You’ll know this because Sony’s been promising you this special, high definition, BETTER, HAPPIER, MORE PRODUCTIVE FUTURE for years now. Just like it promised us we’d all have our PS3 future-machines last Easter. And you, like the gullible marketing-supping saps you are, have continued to believe their amazing lies.

We’ve yet to actually see anything playable on Skate. In fact, we’ve yet to see little more than the first bunch of screens and art you can see right here. Yet the fact that uber-games publisher, Electronic Arts is behind the title can mean one of two things. Either the game will be nearly as good as the new Tony Hawk’s Project 8 and will sell fairly well, or it will be marginally better than THP8 and sell slightly better. There, we’ve stuck our neck out and said it.

It won’t be a dud, however it pans out, because EA has too much money to throw at its well-staffed development studios to make sure it’s not. It has even more money to throw at their even-better-staffed marketing departments to make sure it’s MTV’d to the hilt and regularly shot directly into all our eyeballs come next March. Yet it can’t possibly be miles better than THP8, as that game is already a good solid nine in our book. Why you ask? Just read our THP8 preview and let us explain why. You’ll also be able to read our already brilliantly scribed review once we’re certain that we won’t be sued or something for putting it live and online.

For some of the most jaw-droppingly ridiculous and downright silly big air stunts SPOnG also urges you to check out the videos on DannyWay.com

Skate, from Electronic Arts, is due to drop in Spring 2007 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Watch your back, Hawkster!

SPOnG will bring you more information and a full preview of the game as soon as we get a hands on it.