Tuesday 19 September 2006
Electronic Arts is working on a skateboarding action game, codenamed simply 'Skate', designed to rival Activision's Tony Hawk's series and set for release on next-gen consoles sometime next year. Fourteen real-world skaters will be featured in the game, together with online multiplayer and a dual-analogue control system called 'Flickit'.
If you've been reading the blog site for our sister magazine PSM3, you'll know that EA is set to unveil a new franchise sometime next week that will go "head-to-head with one of the biggest franchises in gaming history". With around eight games over roughly 10 platforms during the past six or seven years, the Tony Hawk's series fits the bill as a big target for EA's new project.
But it's possible that the working title refers to another old skateboarding game called Skate or Die!, which EA now own the rights to. An update of that classic brand wouldn't necessarily be a brand new franchise, but with such a strong, recognisable name behind it, Skate would be good competition for the Tony Hawk's series.
EA was unavailable for comment when we tried to contact them for confirmation of these undercover details - which first appeared in US games mag PSM - although in America the publisher has confirmed that Skate is indeed in development and that more info will be revealed soon. We expect EA to announce the game next week, so keep your eyes on GamesRadar for updates.
