Tony Hawk's Pro Skater: История и Переиздания

1999 video game

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, released as Tony Hawk's Skateboarding in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and parts of Europe, is a 1999 skateboarding video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It was released for the PlayStation on September 29, 1999

The Nintendo 64 port of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater was developed by Edge of Reality and released on March 15, 2000. The Dreamcast version was developed by Treyarch, published by Crave Entertainment and released on May 24, 2000. The graphics and animations in the Dreamcast version are improved from those in the PlayStation version. The Game Boy Color version was developed by the Japanese company Natsume and released on March 30, 2000. The Game Boy Color version is an adaptation rather than a true port of the PlayStation version due to the limited capacity of the platform. The game offers two different gameplay styles: an overhead view with vertical scrolling, and a side scrolling view in which there is a ramp on each side. There are four gameplay modes in which the player can only perform a few tricks. In "Half Pipe Mode", the player must attempt to achieve the highest score possible. "Tournament Mode" is a five level vertically scrolling game in which the player must race against three computer controlled skaters and achieve the highest rank. Jumps are made automatically when the player maneuvers onto ramps, and tricks are displayed as a brief static image. "Versus Mode" and "Rival Mode" are identical to "Tournament Mode", except the player plays in a single level against a single opponent; the opponent in "Rival Mode" is computer controlled, while the opponent in "Versus Mode" is human, which necessitates the use of a Game Link Cable. The N Gage version was developed by Ideaworks3D and released on October 13, 2003, a week following the launch of the N Gage. The game is a faithful port of the PlayStation version and retains most of the characters, levels, control scheme and original music while adding levels from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 and two multiplayer games. The N Gage version was named "Best Mobile Game" by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 2004. An enhanced remake of both the first game and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2, titled Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2, was developed by Vicarious Visions and released on September 4, 2020, for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One, followed up a year later on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch. The remaster includes all of the original levels and skaters from the original games, but also includes improved skater creation and park creation modes, online multiplayer, and other new features, and featuring most of the original soundtracks, with a few exceptions due to licensing issues.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater was the third highest selling PlayStation title of November 1999 in the United States. From its release date to late December 1999, the game shipped in excess of 350,000 units and was available in over 10,000 retailers nationwide. The PlayStation version of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater received a "Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 300,000 copies in the United Kingdom. The Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland gave the PlayStation version a Gold Award for 100,000 sold copies in Germany by February 2000. The PlayStation versions of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and its successor were respectively the third and second highest selling console games of 2000. The Nintendo 64 version was the sixth highest selling Nintendo 64 title in the United States during the week of November 19–26, 2000. As of 2001, it has sold 3.5 million units.

The game resulted in a successful franchise, receiving eight annualized sequels developed by Neversoft from 2000's Pro Skater 2 to 2007's Proving Ground, and a 2020 remake Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater is credited with introducing skateboarding to a more mainstream global audience. In a 2023 essay for The New York Times Magazine Irish writer Jack Sheehan reflected on the game's impact writing, "Released at a moment when skateboarding was beginning to go mainstream, T. H. P. S. became popular because it invited skaters and nonskaters alike to feel the thrill of getting air, doing a kick flip or landing a trick by the thinnest margin." In 2023, the book Right, Down + Circle: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater by Cole Nowicki was released tackling and analyzing Tony Hawk's Pro Skater'''s meaning and impact. Reflecting on both the game's development history and his personal experience as a skateboarder and player, Nowicki called the game an "unprecedented success" and a "Trojan horse, entering the homes of millions worldwide, exposing kids, teenagers, their parents, and more to this gamified version of skateboarding." In 2020, a documentary film Pretending I'm Superman: The Tony Hawk Video Game Story'' from Swedish director Ludvig Gür was released chronicling the development and impact of the game. Throughout the 2010s and 2020s the game's soundtrack was acknowledged as having been a major cultural influence in music, particularly in spreading punk and metal to millennials.