"" Tony Hawk's Pro Skater "evokes skateboarding as much as a way of life"

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 revisits the iconic skate games of the PlayStation generation -

• Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2

   released Friday for PS4, Xbox One and PC, it is a remaster of the first games of a cult franchise.

• Tony Hawk

  himself

  returns for

  20 Minutes

  on this 20-year adventure which has contributed to writing his legend as much as his aerial figures.

• For him, these games are not only skate games but also reflect a way of life, an era, a culture.

Tony Hawk, skateboard or video game legend?

A bit of both.

If its name evokes for some the democratization of skateboarding in general, and

in particular, for others, it is synonymous with whole afternoons on PlayStation.

Either way, Tony Hawk encapsulates a typical

spirit

, between the cool attitude of MTV and the jaw-dropping freedom of Jackass.

It all dates back to 1999, when, in the summer, Tony Hawk achieved his 900 for the first time at the X-Games, and at the start of the school year, players slid quietly in the middle of Zone 51 next to an alien.

Normal.

On the occasion of the release on PS4, Xbox One and PC of

, a remaster of the first two games, after an HD remake in 2012,

met… well… Tony Hawk.

We thought it was the best.

Be the GOAT in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2!

🐐 Go bigger than ever before in #THPS with an epic roster of pro skaters, online multiplayer, and a whole lot more!

AVAILABLE NOW on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.

🎮 pic.twitter.com/nv9okPWG9D

- Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 and 2 (@TonyHawkTheGame) September 4, 2020

How did you end up in a video game 20 years ago?

I was starting to make a name for myself in the skate industry, and Activision heard that I was pitching a game project to developers.

They told me that they were working on a skate game themselves, and that they would like me to be a part of it.

I saw their demo, by Neversoft studio, and it was even better than I could imagine.

I signed direct.

The game was more of a skate racing game back then than a proper skate game, right?

It is true.

Back then, skate games [

Sega's

,

EA's

] were all kind of like that, racing games with a finish line.

But I was still excited to find all the tricks in a game. Except that, and this is where it gets interesting, they decided to change lanes in full development, to abandon the race, although there are still some levels.

Indeed, they realized that the test players stopped in the middle of the levels to do the figures and thus gain more points.

Did you just give your image, your name, or were you involved in the development?

I was very involved, I accompanied Neversoft all the time, giving them feedback, talking to them about skate culture, the different figures, etc.

[but he didn't do a motion capture like the caption, or the promotion, let him think].

I was also there for the

, I wanted the spirit of the beginnings, of the 1990s, to be intact.

The studio in charge, Vicarious Visions, approached the Neversoft teams who worked on the games at the time, but also the best

players 

.

A real team of experts.

What is the most important thing for you, controller in hand?

It is authenticity.

Do everything so that the skaters, the figures, the feel of the board are as realistic as possible, as close to real life as possible.

And it also concerns the characters, their clothes, the music they listen to, the places where they skate, from the abandoned warehouse to the shopping center… It's not just about skateboarding but about a way of life, and the game had to reflect that.

When do

you think

Pro Skater

comes closest to the real experience?

I believe it's the feeling of accomplishment.

Skateboarding gives you a feeling of self-confidence, you create your own challenges that you have to overcome.

But you do the same in the game. You can even challenge your friends.

So there is a sense of personal accomplishment and of community, of sharing.

There have been a lot of

Tony Hawk

games

, almost one a year… how have they evolved?

It's the skate

that has evolved the most 

.

Skateboarding today mirrors the games of 20 years ago.

Let me explain.

We thought some tricks and combos of the games were impossible in real life, and now you see the best skaters taking it easy.

That's crazy !

The games take advantage of technological advances, photorealism, a

richer

, to account, and honor, to modern skateboarding.

Why a remaster of first games and not a new game, a new episode?

It's been so long.

Consoles have changed, technology has changed,

is ultimately different from the original games.

Cult games that fans have been asking for for a long time.

They spent their adolescence on it, they want to replay it in the best possible conditions.

Beyond the facelift, there are new tricks, new challenges, new skaters, but the levels are the same, the music too, and I hope that they will find the same sensations.

Remember the

Tony Hawk

games

: Ride

and

Shred

, and their connected skate?

Ah ah, yes, I remember that.

It was a very funny experiment, but it was not the right timing.

I thought it was possible to have a board for skateboarding, surfing and snowboarding games.

But when

was released in 2009, the fashion for peripheral games like

had already passed.

And why not virtual reality?

I hadn't thought about it, it would be a hell of a challenge and it could be fun.

I'm already happy with this remaster, we hope to continue with the following episodes.

Culture

"Flight Simulator", "Tell Me Why", "Fall Guys" ... Summer video games that you shouldn't miss

Culture

"Ghost of Tsushima": Gone with the Wind in a Game Tribute to Samurai Films

• Video games

• Culture

• Skateboard

• Skateboard