Interview: Skate

Atomic: How well will the Flick It controls lend towards further control development? Will we see late flips, under flips and other unusual aspects of skateboarding brought to life?

SKATE: There’s been a lot of thought already put into where the team takes Flickit. The potential is huge and we’re super confident there will be tons more to master, trick-wise, as the franchise develops. In terms of specifics on board control, late-flips and shuvs are already in skate 1, and the wheels of contemplation have been spinning around a variety of different tricks for skate 2.

Atomic: What design ethos was behind the development of San Vanelona and the influences behind this skating playground?

SKATE: As with everything in skate, we looked to skateboarding itself for inspiration. The vast majority of skaters utilize the urban terrain to have fun, so with that in mind we set out to create a city that is believable but also secretly designed by skaters. We’ve tried to steer clear of the overly contrived, skatepark skinned as a city thing.

Atomic: With a Pro line up that includes some of the most influential and established legends such as Mark Gonzales and Danny Way, new-school rippers like Paul Rodriguez and P.J. Ladd and explosive up and comers such as Terry Kennedy and Dennis Busenitz, what kind of interaction did you have with these individuals during the development of the game?

SKATE: Actually, we had quite a bit of interaction. Of course, schedules and availability dictated to an extent the levels of interaction, but we were stoked to bounce ideas about challenges, spots, music, concepts, etc. off the guys. The guys were all really fun to work with at mo-cap and voice recording, but I’m betting more than a few aren’t going to adding the ultra tight mo-cap suits to their wardrobes anytime soon.

Atomic: How is SKATE positioned against the established market leader?

SKATE: Positioning seems like a pretty marketing speak word, but we are what we are…a more realistic approach to capturing the true feeling of skateboarding. And yes, skateboarding can be challenging, but ask any skater or gamer that has tried skate, the pay-off is well worth the effort.

Atomic: There have been many skate orientated titles come and go – will skate be a once off project or are there plans to create a series?

SKATE: I can’t speak definitively for everything that’s in store, but this round of skate just scratched the surface of what we’ve been dreaming about for the past few years. I can only speak from my current workload, and it involves gathering up our ideas from skate 1 and seeing where skate 2 is going.

Atomic: What will SKATE offer casual arcade gamers?

SKATE: A whole new physics based gaming experience…one that they most definitely have had before. It’s surprisingly accessible and is kind of cool because it offers “session” based gameplay. People can just pick it up and work on some tricks for 10 minutes or they can spend hours trying to film that perfect line. We’re finding people are getting addicted to that style of play.

Atomic: How has SKATE benefited from its relationship with Thrasher and The Skateboard Mag?

SKATE: We’ve always wanted to be grounded in reality, and there’s no better way than to partner with the real deal. They are the mags that mean something to skaters and we’re honoured to have them in the game.

Atomic: If there was to be one singular aspect that defined SKATE and the possible impact it could have, what would this be?

SKATE: That probably would be answered differently by everyone on the team, but for me, I’m hoping skate gives people a sense of the visceral rush and accomplishment behind landing a trick. Maybe people will have a greater appreciation for the art, culture and physical mastery involved with skateboarding. Or maybe they’ll just have fun messing around with this sick toy we’ve made. That’d be good, too.

Electronic Arts announced that its award-winning SKATE video game will ship to retail stores on September 12 in the U.S., September 14 in Europe, and October 11 in Australia for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system. The PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system version will ship to stores on September 24 in the U.S., October 5 in Europe and October 11 in Australia. For players eager to get their hands on the game pre-launch, EA will release a SKATE demo on Xbox Live Marketplace on August 15 so players can experience first-hand the title’s groundbreaking new gameplay style – a new way of playing skateboarding games that will invigorate the genre.

The downloadable demo is currently available.