The Tony Hawk video game franchise was a staple of the Nintendo 64 and Sega Dreamcast generation. Featuring huge hits such as Tony Hawk Pro Skater 1 and 2, the franchise continued onwards into the next generation of the Nintendo Gamecube and Playstation 2. With all new graphics, processing power and new controller layouts, game play was expanded to all new highs, allowing the user to get on and off the board for the first time, extended combos to take place to rack up higher scores than ever, new tricks and trick types to be implemented, and of course – full story modes.
Tony Hawk Underground, being one of the best, if not the best, in the series, was a full on adventure story with skate boarding. It brought to life in the gaming world, some of the most famous skating scenes, tricks and characters, all together in an immersive world and story. It was quickly followed up with the goofy, but pro skateboarding star filled Tony Hawk Underground 2 game, which changed game play to small but fun challenges all wrapped together by a larger storyline. Ever since then though, the games have slowly lost relevancy, and have even seen board controllers made through thermoforming and other methods, which have seen sales decrease drastically to the point that now the game franchise has been put on hold.
It is not uncommon for gamers to lose interest in a genre of games. The music scene brought to us by Rock band and Guitar Hero quickly lost its steam and has not seen action in a while. However the Tony Hawk franchise is older, and has more memories in an entire generation of gamers, making it seem that the franchise is at least in store for a comeback at some point.
To keep the series fresh it needs to bring in some of the elements of the “Skate” franchise. They focused on realism, but it should be noted that part of the Tony Hawk fun was putting together large combos and doing things we all know we could not do ourselves if we stepped on a board. There is no reason to not incorporate better and more realistic physics into the game to keep characters grounded in the fact that they are supposed to be playing as a human-being. With that in mind, the plot development needs to be turned from goofy adventures into more deep storyline. The punk/underground scene that often intertwines with skateboarding has led some large social movements. By incorporating that in a non-divisive political sense could add layers to the plot and give gamers a sense of advancing towards a goal, versus just pulling off a large combo and giving up. The internet and social media presence is gaming is increasing as well. By allowing gamers to customize online and do all new things together, which the Call of Duty franchise has near perfected, regardless of whether one is a fan of the series, a large demographic may be interested in playing.
The Tony Hawk franchise was once a staple of the gaming community, but fell from its grace. With minor adjustments and by playing on our sense of nostalgia, the franchise can once more be relevant.
