Tony Hawk: RIDE

The 404 693: Where we have no idea how Tony Hawk got here (podcast)

Professional skateboarder and entrepreneur Tony Hawk is back on CNET's The 404 Podcast to show off his newest video game Tony Hawk: Shred, a biography written with his sister, the Tony Hawk Foundation Stand Up for Skateparks events, and much more!

It's been almost a year since Tony Hawk first came on The 404 . Obviously a lot has happened since then, and Tony updates us with a legendary story about the aftermath of the pelvic injury he suffered earlier this summer while headlining the Action Sports Weekend at Disneyland.

Getting up after falling off the skateboard has always been an important lesson to Tony, and he talks about that central theme a lot in his new book, "How Did I Get Here: The Ascent of an Unlikely CEO." Written with his sister, Pat Hawk, the book details his rise to success in the skate industry, and Tony is certainly a pioneer in terms of bringing skateboarding to new media.

The original success of the Tony Hawk: Pro Skater brand obviously paved the way for skate gaming, and Tony's back again with a new game called Tony Hawk: Shred. Shred takes a new angle on the franchise and aims for the younger market.

It features similar motion-sensing board control as Ride but transformes the experience with impossible skate and snowboarding tricks, building jumps, and cameos from pros like Louie Vito, Geoff Rowley, Corey Duffel, and more. And like all the Tony Hawk video games, the soundtrack features a variety of genres and artists, including Rival Schools, Jimmy Eat World, OK Go, and more. Tony Hawk: Shred comes out next Tuesday, October 26, for Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3.

After the break, Tony describes the importance of giving back to the skating community and his two charity events called Stand Up for Skateparks. The huge parties galvanize BMX riders, skaters, celebrities, and fans alike in an effort to raise money for high-quality public skateparks in low-income areas throughout the country.

Tony stresses the importance of not only making sure kids are safe in the parks, but also that the parks maintain a level of Tony Hawk quality. The next party is happening in Las Vegas on November 6 and will feature a performance by DJ Z-Trip--tickets are still available here!

There's plenty more to talk about with Tony, including some of his favorite skate videos, tips for future skate entrepreneurs, and the truth behind his involvement in the original "Back to the Future" movie!

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The 404 Podcast 468: Where we take a RIDE with Tony Hawk

CNET's The 404 Podcast is very proud to welcome Tony Hawk to the studio today! The man who rode skateboarding to mainstream success sits down with us for a chat about his expansive video game franchise, skateboarding being added to the Olympics, and, of course, his newest game, Tony Hawk: RIDE.

All of us have been huge fans of the Tony Hawk video game franchise since the first Tony Hawk Pro Skater, but his latest game, Tony Hawk: RIDE, brings a new level of entertainment to the series with a physical skateboard equipped with a contoured base, infrared sensors, and four smart motion sensors that help you push, turn, lean, and pull off unbelievable tricks within the virtual environments. Tony tells us all about the creation of the board and the prototype decks that didn't make the cut. He also explains the motivation behind making the switch to a physical board instead of the hand-held controller that propelled the original games into instant classics, making comparisons to the Wii Fit Balance Board to show how much extra work went into the dual accelerometers.

After getting the full scoop about the game (in stores tomorrow for $120), we're all very excited to see him in action with a live in-studio demo on an Xbox 360. Tony shows us how the accelerometers pick up the movement of your feet on the board and how to grab the nose by simply bending over and reaching toward the front of the board. After he goes through some of the basic moves, he hands the board over to me to give it a shot. Obviously, Tony Hawk himself is a hard act to follow, but I think I pulled off a few tricks before face-planting onto the concrete. Be sure to check out the video for all the action.

After the break, we talk to Tony a bit more about the game and how influential the series has been on bringing the sport to mainstream popularity, the eclectic music choices in the soundtrack, and some of the active characters you can choose. And, of course, we have to get Tony's take on the future of skateboarding and whether or not the sport will ever go the way of snowboarding to make it as an official event at the Olympics.

There's a whole lot more to talk about with Tony, a few Calls From the Public, and some insightful questions from the chat room, so be sure to listen or watch the entire episode for the full scoop. Much thanks to Tony for coming on the show and keep listening for a chance to win a copy of the game!

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The 404 461: Where we turn down the ugly knob

Russ Frushtick from MTV's Multiplayer blog joins us on today's episode of The 404 Podcast to give us the rundown of this month's upcoming video game releases, but first we have to give a quick head nod to the Yankees for winning the World Series and, of course, Matsui for coming through with the MVP of the series.

Also, were you as annoyed with the lame tech commercials during the game as we were? Between James Cameron's upcoming flop "Avatar" that looks like a 2-hour video game cut scene, the new Droid phone ripping Apple apart, and the rather malicious new Mac ads practically lying about past versions of Windows, we could barely watch the game!

Next, we run down a list of near-extinct tech that just won't seem to go away. The list includes items like the landline telephone, Twitter, vinyl, fax machines, Windows XP, and Sonic the Hedgehog, and although we agree with most of them, how are people supposed to send sandwiches to loved ones without a fax machine?

By far, the highlight of today's episode comes toward the tail end of the show during our classic Calls From the Public segment, where Jeff is the reluctant receiver of a huge spoiler to his current read, Lois Lowry's "The Giver." If you're planning on reading the book for the first time, you might want to click the mute button for the remainder of the episode, or risk suffering a similar fate. On the other hand, the look on Jeff's face when things get spoiled is too hilarious to miss.

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Tony Hawk shows us how to Ride

Activision invited us to check out a handful of upcoming titles last night in midtown New York City. Among all of the titles we had hands-on time with, Tony Hawk: Ride certainly stood out. Not only was it fun to play, but the fact that Mr. Tony Hawk himself sat in to tell us about the game added another dimension to the experience.

Jeff: I thought I had heard someone say "Tony Hawk is here" as Scott and I entered the Activision demo, but I just brushed that off as "Oh, the new Tony Hawk game is here." Sure enough, the legend himself walked into our private game demo room and explained to us the process in which Tony Hawk: Ride came to be.

Hawk was honest, saying the franchise had run its course with a conventional controller. Now that game peripherals are becoming much more commonplace, it was clear that a skateboard controller needed to be introduced as an obvious evolutionary step.

After hopping on the board for the first time I was immediately transported back to 1994 when I had a brief stint with the sport. The accessory itself is simply a skateboard deck without trucks or wheels. It feels solid, though it may take a minute or two to find your balance.

The board is an impressive piece of hardware that's loaded up with motion sensing technology and four infrared sensors. When your hand breaks one of the IR beams coming out from the board, the game interprets that as a grab. When you've stopped, a drag of the foot on either side will get you moving again. The motion sensing comes into play when you want to do spins in the air to increase trick points. … Read more

The 404 383: Where it's so bad it's good

Maybe we should have used "So bad, but so good" as our show motto instead of "High Tech, Low Brow!" Today's show is a good example of that, and we kick it off with Wilson's brief and spoiler-free review of Bruno. We also talk about the rise of the Twitterns, Apple breaking the Pre-iTunes lovefest, and Jeff meeting Tony Hawk!

Check it out! Jeff was invited to an Activision event last night to preview Tony Hawk's new game, but he was pretty surprised when Tony Hawk himself showed up to show him around! As you can see, the game comes with an actual "skateboard" controller to jump, ride, and pop up to do tricks within the game. Jeff tells us that the game is very realistic, but popping up the board feels more like a snowboard than skating. Check it out for yourself when it comes out on October 13 for $120.

In other news, The 404 has decided to hire a young Twittern to update our Twitter. Social media, whether it's in short or long form, is super time-consuming...anyone out there want to be our Twittern? We're only half-joking...

In more important news, Apple has finally broken up the love affair between iTunes and the Palm Pre: the smartphone no longer works with the popular desktop software. Jeff owns a Pre and figures that the only thing to do now is to refrain from upgrading to the latest software, lest some savvy developer use the latest SDK to somehow crack Apple's padlock.

Also, start getting amped for tomorrow's episode where I, Justin Yu, will debut yet another band in a segment we like to call...deep breath..."The 404 Semi-Weekly Audio Draft Sponsored by Beck's Beer in conjunction with Last.FM, a subsidiary of CBS Interactive and CNET News and Reviews." Jeez.

EPISODE 383 Download today's podcast Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Tony Hawk gets a new skateboard

This article was updated on 5/19/09 to add the info that you actually CAN "ride" the board. Thanks Cravers for pointing this out.

The last Tony Hawk game I played was Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 on the Dreamcast. Getting good enough to pull off trick after trick in succession in that game was close to gaming nirvana for me.

Since then, the series has had its ups and downs and with strong competition from EA's Skate series, and Activision--publisher of all things Tony Hawk--needs to find new ways to get players excited again … Read more