Shack Preview: Tony Hawk's American Sk8land

by Chris Remo Oct 25, 2005 11:00am CST tags: Preview

Vicarious Visions is finishing up Tony Hawk's American Sk8land (DS, GBA) for the launch of the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection online service for DS, and I got to try out a near-complete build. The game will be joining Nintendo's Mario Kart DS to inaugurate the service, and it has a wide array of multiplayer and community features planned, as well as of course good old fashioned Tony Hawk action.

Despite the DS' surprisingly strong lineup of late, with a library that seems to be getting stronger all the time, most would probably agree that the best of the system's gems are the more unique and daring titles. It's not exactly the system of choice for home console spinoffs and ports. With Tony Hawk's American Sk8land, however, Vicarious Visions seems to be hitting on a nice compromise of mainstream accessibility and good use of the system's hardware features. And, of course, online never hurts.

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#50

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By: jarek99 x Show Full Post

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Is there even any dead horse left to beat here?

Oct 26, 2005 9:35pm CST

Is there even any dead horse left to beat here? : jarek99

#1

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By: ibrokn x Show Full Post

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go troy go!
now if only vv would respond when i send in my resume...

Oct 25, 2005 11:00am CST

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go troy go! now if only vv would respond when i send in my resume... : ibrokn
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- Showing up in person with a 6 pack never hurts o wait..that was back in the day never mind ~D : Demonhill
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  do you do a follow up email after a week? like saying, 'hi, did you get my email/resume/portfolio etc bla... : mikage
  - i actually ran into a few employees when i worked at a bike shop, and the impression they gave me was tha... : ibrokn

#45

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By: gegtik x Show Full Post

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this derivative game looks terrible, graphics-wise. I can understand them shoving their hand up the golden goose's ass for another sweet sweet egg, but I dont see a technological match between this title and the DS

Oct 25, 2005 9:58pm CST

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this derivative game looks terrible, graphics-wise. I can understand them shoving their hand up the golde... : gegtik
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  Believe it or not, it looks and plays great when it's in your hands. : Chris Remo
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    i'll have to take your word for it cause thre's no way im buying another th rehash : gegtik
    - Fair enough : Chris Remo

#44

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By: mikage x Show Full Post

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Why is it there are so many awsome games coming out when I don't have the $]g to buy them? =,(

Oct 25, 2005 6:26pm CST

Why is it there are so many awsome games coming out when I don't have the $]g to buy them? =,( : mikage

#4

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By: snowwolf x Show Full Post

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Sounds pretty sweet, hopefully i'll be able to pick this up. Did you actually get to play it over Wi-Fi? If so how did it perform?

Oct 25, 2005 11:24am CST

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Sounds pretty sweet, hopefully i'll be able to pick this up. Did you actually get to play it over Wi-Fi?... : snowwolf
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  Sadly, I didn't get to actually take it online. The servers weren't available at the time. This was act... : Chris Remo
  - bummer about not getting to play but thanks for laying down the law remo style! ;) : snowwolf

#3

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By: Mr.SEX x Show Full Post

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i HATE the kickflip to indy more than words can describe. I have messed up a few XXX,XXX point tricks in Tony Hawk 2 due to that horrible, horrible move. I'm glad to see somebody agrees with me

Oct 25, 2005 11:22am CST

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i HATE the kickflip to indy more than words can describe. I have messed up a few XXX,XXX point tricks in... : Mr.SEX
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- Oh man I'm so glad there's a Shacker who relates to my Tony 2 woes. : Chris Remo
- Nice preview, I'm really surprised by the amount of cool features they're putting into this, suddenly I w... : node

#12

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By: Boxelder x Show Full Post

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I guess I'm not that mobile with my portable, but with games liek this and that GTA game I just can't see why I'd want to play a watered down version of somethign I would have a much better experience with on the standard console. There are enough portable specific titles that just makes stuff like this seem like a waste of time.

Oct 25, 2005 12:23pm CST

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I guess I'm not that mobile with my portable, but with games liek this and that GTA game I just can't see... : Boxelder
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- I don't see how this is watered down, really. The presentation is different enough that it will most like... : Conan
- Well that's usually what turns me off to a lot of handheld titles (a lot of the PSP's library is like tha... : Chris Remo

#7

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By: Turd Ferguson x Show Full Post

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online multiplayer, leaderboards, downloadable replays YES PLZ!

I havn't played a tony hawk game before but I think I'll be picking this up when I get Mario Kart DS.

Oct 25, 2005 11:35am CST

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online multiplayer, leaderboards, downloadable replays YES PLZ! I havn't played a tony hawk game befo... : Turd Ferguson
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#34

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By: megarust32 x Show Full Post

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Damn. This sounds awesome. I didn't think i'd pick it up, but I think this preview has convinced me. Mario Kart AND this game the same day? Expensive. D:

Oct 25, 2005 3:45pm CST

Damn. This sounds awesome. I didn't think i'd pick it up, but I think this preview has convinced me. M... : megarust32

#11

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By: maulla x Show Full Post

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awesome. only 2 players online though? :(

oh well, beggers cant be choosers.

Oct 25, 2005 12:19pm CST

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awesome. only 2 players online though? :( oh well, beggers cant be choosers. : maulla
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- 2 players makes me sad as well. should at least be 4 for some of the modes. : pyide

#32

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By: shredomatic x Show Full Post

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This sounds awesome, there are waay too many good DS games coming out lately.

I need to start riding the bus or something just so I can get some more playtime out of this thing.

Oct 25, 2005 3:26pm CST

This sounds awesome, there are waay too many good DS games coming out lately. I need to start riding t... : shredomatic

#21

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By: DKo5 x Show Full Post

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I had THPS2 on my GBA and liked it well enough. Haven't played any other Tony Hawk games.

But this sounds awesome. The online features are quite cool (downloadable replays?! SIGN ME UP!) and the ability to record a taunt is awesome.

Oct 25, 2005 1:31pm CST

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I had THPS2 on my GBA and liked it well enough. Haven't played any other Tony Hawk games. But this sou... : DKo5
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  THPS2 is the absolute pinnacle of the series, IMO. : radiopayola
  - THPS2 was indeed quite good... It was the first Tony Hawk game I'd played before... My brother in law has... : SatansFist
- I never could grasp that isometric view for THPS on the GBA. Tried and tried, but all I did was wipe out ... : Entity

#2

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By: SiW73 x Show Full Post

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SK8LAND MORE LIKE CELLAND AMIRITE?

Oct 25, 2005 11:06am CST

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SK8LAND MORE LIKE CELLAND AMIRITE? : SiW73
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  Enough kiddie crap, Nintendo! I'm holding out for Darkland, you know the one for real grown ups. : jake2000
  - lol : SiW73
  - Oh the irony of a "grownup" using the fucking term "grownup". : Entity

#10

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By: MrLonghair x Show Full Post

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Bloody awesome. The fact that it's moving at 60 fps should stop any doubters over the DS 3D capabilities.

Got any cool game for the PSP to preview next? The articles must be looking kind of one-sided now :/

Oct 25, 2005 12:17pm CST

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Bloody awesome. The fact that it's moving at 60 fps should stop any doubters over the DS 3D capabilities.... : MrLonghair
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#13

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By: SiW73 x Show Full Post

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Got time to actually read the article, nice job. The newer THPS games have been a real turn-off for me, but some old-school action might be fun. I don't know anyone who didn't play for an hour after trying up the first THPS, whether they were a real-life skate punk or not.

The downloadable content part is intriguing. Sony / PSP developers have really dropped the ball with their wifi, I think - here's hoping they catch up.

Oct 25, 2005 12:36pm CST

Got time to actually read the article, nice job. The newer THPS games have been a real turn-off for me, ... : SiW73

#9

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By: ThomW x Show Full Post

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That looks awesome! I wish it was coming out before Mario Kart though to have something cool to play before that comes out. haha

Oct 25, 2005 12:08pm CST

That looks awesome! I wish it was coming out before Mario Kart though to have something cool to play bef... : ThomW

#8

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By: kainen1 x Show Full Post

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61 FPS? Say it aint so?

Oct 25, 2005 11:56am CST

61 FPS? Say it aint so? : kainen1

#5

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By: the archvile x Show Full Post

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meh, I'm sick of this series. Wake me for Tony Hawk Hip Replacement 4.

Oct 25, 2005 11:25am CST

meh, I'm sick of this series. Wake me for Tony Hawk Hip Replacement 4. : the archvile

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