Tony Hawk Pissed About TH: Ride Reviews

[IHaveNoCoolness]

I think I'm in the minority here but I actually think it's kind of cool that he's speaking out about the critics reviews.

He obviously made a game that he likes and is proud of, which is why he's so defensive about it. If it was just another Pay Cheque game like Tony Hawk 4, 5, 6, 17, 286, he probably wouldn't care... Clearly he actually spent time on this and is just frustrated it's not doing better. Clearly he thinks its worthwhile.

Regardless of what Mr. Hawk thinks, though I'm not buying that turd.

 

[The Rockerfly]

Oh boo hoo Tony, your game sucks so does hundreds of other games when the creators were proud of them
Either quit your bitching and make it better, listen to the flaws and do it better next time or fling poo around in your cage so we laugh at you getting pissed off

 

[IHaveNoCoolness]

I should release a new installment in the Ace Attorney series that is like actual lawyering, complete with document review and mountains of brief writing and research.

If the reviewers tell me it's boring, they're dead wrong. It's EXACTLY like something I enjoy. That makes it a good game for everyone, right?

I'd buy that.

 

[SaintWaldo]

Here's a big cup of STFU for Tony.

It's NOTHING like performing tricks on a real skateboard. There is insane controller lag, such that you have to pop tricks nearly a full second before you intend them to occur on the screen.

The sensors are actually light sensors. Read that again and let it sink in, especially if you played Eye of Judgment. They sense light, and the absence of it. None of the calibration of the board is performed while actually ON the board. This means lighting may cause shadows while standing on the board that trigger a sensor. Lighting and shadows are mentioned nowhere in the documentation or online instructions, not even in the sparse troubleshooting sections. I did not call the non-toll-free support number to see if they deign to cover this in phone support.

The steering feels nothing like a real skateboard. In the game it's a two-stage affair: slight turn or heavy carve. That's it. In the real world you are working against the lever action created by a one-way pivot joint and some rubber gaskets. On the Ride controller, you have three angles on the bottom of the board: flat, slight, steep. How one is supposed to tip on a physically carved angle on the bottom of a rigid plastic board and get fine tuning in the turns escapes me, let alone how doing such would give the impression that I'm pushing against a rubber gasket confining a metal pivot joint, or two as is the real case. This is as far form skate turning as it gets. It's most like snowboarding, if you went snowboarding in a canoe.

The game has issues with telling the difference between an ollie and a manual. This may be the above shadow issue, but it was a crapshoot to make an ollie off a simple ramp. Half the time, yee-haw, popped up and slammed it. The other half, my avatar starts a wheelie at the top of the ramp and then face plants down the other side.

I own every Tony Hawk game for PS1, PS2 and PS3. I loved them, even in the face of the (now even more) incredibly valid Skate. This thing is a turd wrapped in a gimmick without the slightest hint of thrill. It kills me on so many levels to say this, but it's the absolute truth from where I sit: Ride is 2009's Lair. Patch this thing to use the normal controller and you may have salvage. Barring that, it's a wasted $120 and a lost cause on Tony's part.

 

[hazabaza1]

Poor Tony.
Mind you, maybe he should make a game that apparently doesn't play like arse.

 

[SaintWaldo]

One of Hawk's Tweets reads: "Most snarky critics had their minds set before ever seeing/playing the game. I'm proud of what we created; it's innovative, responsive & fun." In a recent interview [http://www.thesudburystar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2208571], Hawk said: "They were ready to discredit it before they even tried it, and if it didn't play exactly how they imagined it... then they passed it off." He thinks that reviewers went into Ride with the wrong attitude and that's why they hate it.

Tony, Tony, Tony. I loved every one of your games. I went into this hoping that you'd pull off a DJ Hero-like demi-miracle. I was stoked, near to the max, if you can recall the true meaning of such hoary verbiage, to get Ride home and do something in my living room that even vaguely resembled skating. I'm getting old, and concrete is starting to scare me, so this was my idea of a good start towards a retirement hobby. Nope, you failed. Bombed.

Ride is an on-board handstand reaction to Skate's Alva-style flat ground carves. You know what that means. Take it to heart and go back to the drawing board. Or get out. Either way, please stop making a fool of yourself. No one wants to see your inverted ass glide by in white short-shorts.

 

[Booze Zombie]

A lot of people saying something does not make it true, though it is a common fallacy to think so.
Not to say that invalidates popular opinion, but popular opinion does not equal truth, just popular opinion.

I've not played the game, I never intend to, but I'm sure the people that do intend to will enjoy it... and the large hole in their wallets.

 

[tendo82]

Hawk's just pissed that his series peaked in 2000 with TH2, then stagnated in arcade action sports hell for seven years, until skate. came along and made the first credible skateboard game actual fans of the sport could get behind.

 

[Jonny49]

Well, he has a point. The moment I saw it was fairly sure it was going to suck, maybe alot of critics felt the same way, you've only got to wander around a forum for a few minutes to find someone bashing TH:Ride.

 

[Carlston]

Tony Hawk Pissed About TH: Ride Reviews

Tony Hawk loves Tony Hawk: Ride, but reviewers do not, and he's not about to take their nonsense lying down.

Tony Hawk has spoken out against reviewers that he says gave Tony Hawk: Ride poor scores unfairly. Tony Hawk: Ride, which costs $120 and comes with a skateboard controller peripheral, is averaging about 50 out of 100 on Metacritic across all three platforms it is available on. This does not sit well with Mr. Hawk.

One of Hawk's Tweets reads: "Most snarky critics had their minds set before ever seeing/playing the game. I'm proud of what we created; it's innovative, responsive & fun." In a recent interview [http://www.thesudburystar.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2208571], Hawk said: "They were ready to discredit it before they even tried it, and if it didn't play exactly how they imagined it... then they passed it off." He thinks that reviewers went into Ride with the wrong attitude and that's why they hate it.

What Hawk has to realize is that when one reviewer tells you you've made a piece of crap, it could be that one person's opinion. When everybody tells you you've made a piece of crap, as is pretty much the case with Tony Hawk: Ride, well, then maybe you did. Hawk could just be in defense mode, trying to put some positive press out there for a product that has his name on it. On the other hand, Hawk says he's been working with Activision every step of the way and is "very proud" of Tony Hawk: Ride.

Hawk might be proud of his baby, but he might want to open his eyes a little to the reality of the situation. Many criticisms that I've read have all echoed the same complaints: collision is buggy (with your character sometimes falling through the world), and the skateboard controller is frustrating. The game is an interesting idea conceptually, but it doesn't look like Tony Hawk: Ride pulled off its goals as much as Tony Hawk himself seems to believe it did.

(Via CVG [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=228991])

Permalink

They did try it, as did I. It was poorly designed not responsive and not fun.
I'm same age as Tony, and used to skate on boards that weight four times as much and were huge compared to the boards of today.
Guitar hero, somewhat feels like a guitar, DJ hero the same, your board thing LOOKS like a board, but in the game handles like a cardboard strip between two tin cans....

I played for a hour, and it just kinda...was ummm, fine...it was like playing super Mario brothers with the original power glove. Yeah I had one. It sucked, It sucked great big green rhino balls, it could register simple moves and when it did it was to late and your face planting every couple seconds.

 

[PrimeSynergy]

Gamers want to play good games. His games have been getting progressively worse since/around the time of THPS4. Say what you will, but don't blame the masses if your game truly does suck which IS the case here.

On a side note..."this board is full of technology" LOL

 

[Nova5]

Dude, I took one look at the controller and thought, "Oh, yeah - I loved those obnoxious fingerboards! Mimicking the same flailing/spazzy movements will be twice as fun!"

 

[robrob]

A lot of people saying something does not make it true, though it is a common fallacy to think so.
Not to say that invalidates popular opinion, but popular opinion does not equal truth, just popular opinion.

I've not played the game, I never intend to, but I'm sure the people that do intend to will enjoy it... and the large hole in their wallets.

The problem here is that "good" and "bad" are entirely objective. Some people will enjoy it, others will hate it, there's no yes/no answer here. The thing is that humans are similar enough that when the majority don't like it, as an average human odds are you won't like it either if you play it. It doesn't mean you actually won't like it, but that doesn't matter.

Maybe in 500 years this game will be the Mona Lisa of gaming, Tony will be the new Da Vinci, but right now popular opinion is a good measure of what your average joe will think of it. Which is "not much". Tony is a singular guy with an obviously biased position, which is why his comments mean basically nothing here and he's being ripped into (and rightfully so. Because it's fun)

 

[Syphonz]

I played it at my buddies house, it isn't nearly as bad as I originally thought it was going to be. The controls take like 30 minutes to get the hang of, but I'm a skateboarder myself. Ever since the massive complaints about LAIR's six-axis controls compared to what I played of LAIR, I'm beginning to be convinced game reviewers must be flailing around like retards yelling "BIIIIIIRRRD!!" when it comes to games like this.

3.2/10? nah, I'd give it a 6/10. It may be the worst Tony Hawk yet, but lets face it, the franchise needed to evolve, and that comes with growing pains.

 

[Arbitrary Cidin]

The $120 price tag for me is the worst part about the game I mean with that money you may as well buy a real skateboard. It's like those guitars they made that cost well over a hundred dollars to buy but are actual sized and made from wood if your going to spend that much money on that you may as well buy a real guitar.

The difference is that falling off of a rooftop head first in Tony Hawk: Ride has a few less consequences. In all fairness, Tony Hawk, albeit a skater, is a somewhat important part of gaming history. If memory serves, he developed one of the first sandbox games, or at least was the first to so widely advertise the concept.

 

[Phokal]

Here's a big cup of STFU for Tony.

It's NOTHING like performing tricks on a real skateboard. There is insane controller lag, such that you have to pop tricks nearly a full second before you intend them to occur on the screen.

The sensors are actually light sensors. Read that again and let it sink in, especially if you played Eye of Judgment. They sense light, and the absence of it. None of the calibration of the board is performed while actually ON the board. This means lighting may cause shadows while standing on the board that trigger a sensor. Lighting and shadows are mentioned nowhere in the documentation or online instructions, not even in the sparse troubleshooting sections. I did not call the non-toll-free support number to see if they deign to cover this in phone support.

The steering feels nothing like a real skateboard. In the game it's a two-stage affair: slight turn or heavy carve. That's it. In the real world you are working against the lever action created by a one-way pivot joint and some rubber gaskets. On the Ride controller, you have three angles on the bottom of the board: flat, slight, steep. How one is supposed to tip on a physically carved angle on the bottom of a rigid plastic board and get fine tuning in the turns escapes me, let alone how doing such would give the impression that I'm pushing against a rubber gasket confining a metal pivot joint, or two as is the real case. This is as far form skate turning as it gets. It's most like snowboarding, if you went snowboarding in a canoe.

The game has issues with telling the difference between an ollie and a manual. This may be the above shadow issue, but it was a crapshoot to make an ollie off a simple ramp. Half the time, yee-haw, popped up and slammed it. The other half, my avatar starts a wheelie at the top of the ramp and then face plants down the other side.

I own every Tony Hawk game for PS1, PS2 and PS3. I loved them, even in the face of the (now even more) incredibly valid Skate. This thing is a turd wrapped in a gimmick without the slightest hint of thrill. It kills me on so many levels to say this, but it's the absolute truth from where I sit: Ride is 2009's Lair. Patch this thing to use the normal controller and you may have salvage. Barring that, it's a wasted $120 and a lost cause on Tony's part.

Thanks. You hit several detailed aspects of what "poor controls" really means. I found the section about turns are either light or heavy with no in between a particularly good point. I'd HATE that if I was using this peripheral.

Still, I feel bad for the guy. He obviously thought it was going to be good when the rest of the hardcore crowd didn't want to shell out $120 to try it; and the casual crowd had a hard enough time convincing the Mrs. to get rock band or guitar hero. games she'd actually maybe play.

 

[Digikid]

Tony Hawk really needs to stop making games. It's getting really old.

Agreed. Enough is enough.

I tried this game at a friends and believe me when I say that the reviewers are spot on with their decisions as this game is extremely buggy and needs a LOT of work.

 

[General_Qwetch]

Tony Hawk Pissed About TH: Ride Reviews
Many criticisms that I've read have all echoed the same complaints: collision is buggy (with your character sometimes falling through the world),
Permalink

meh its a activision game what did they expect?
even tho i love the TH games, they all had that kind of problem

 

[GamerLuck]

Very reminiscent of when that guy from silicon knights (For some reason i am having a really hard time remembering his name right now) bit off the heads of alot of reviewers for "not getting" Too Human when it came out.... I guess it just goes to show that no matter what, people will defend their little magnu opus's (opi?) till the death...

 

[lucky_sharm]

Does anyone still care about this has-been Tony Hawk?