Heading back to talking about pro skaters in this weeks post, I'm going to blog about Bob Burnquist. Bob was featured in eight out of the eleven Tony Hawk video games thus far. I've known about him as a professional skater my whole life since I grew up playing the games he was in. I've also watched numerous skated videos that he was featured in as well, being inspired by all that he has done and still continues to do.
Bob Burnquist started skating in 1986 and turned pro only seven years later. He started competing in 1989 and has won numerous medals for his skating. Burnquist has won five X-game gold medals, one in 2000, another in 2001, 2003 and lastly in 2005. Along with those five gold medals, bob Burnquist has won several other awards from other skatieboarding.
Bob grew up in Rio De Janeiro but now lives in Vista, California with his girlfriend Jen O'brien and their daughter Lotus. Besides skating, Bob burnquist enjoys doing many other things for fun. He is a licensed pilot and skydiver with over 450 jumps under his belt. He also loves film and farming. Despite the fact that Bob has very heavy asthma, he is still a very successful skateboarder.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
Skate and Destroy
Another great old school skate game is none other than Thrasher: Skate and Destroy. This game came out during the late 1990's and was just as big of an impact on my interest in skateboarding as Tony Hawk's Pro Skater was, if not bigger.
In my opinion, Thrasher out did Tony Hawk's game. Although I did not play it nearly as much due to the fact that my copy of it got too scratched and eventually stopped working. Luckily or not so luckily for me, I was still left with Pro Skater. None the less, Thrasher rules. Only two companies, IGN and GameSpot, agree with me while the rest of the world does not. Thrasherr had noticeably less advanced graphics than Pro Skater did and was unfortunately one of the big reasons the game was ignored. The biggest reason being the difficult controls. Because Thrasher was not as simple as picking up a controller and playing, like Pro Skater was, a lot of people disliked it. This is a lame reason not to like a game. People just need to stop being lazy and accept change if it happens.
Unlike Tony Hawk's Pro skater, Thrasher had a storyline. The player picks one of six fictional characters and works through a total of twelve levels across the globe, gaining sponsors, decks, clothing and eventually ending up on the cover of the Thrasher magazine--from which the game gets its name.
Like Pro Skater, Thrasher has several game modes. Skate mode(career mode), sessions, nickel bag, H.O.R.S.E, Top Dog, Stick Fix, Long Grind and Big Wallride. Skate mode progresses through twelve levels in a series of two minute runs. Before actually starting each run, the player has the ability to explore the level without a time limit until pressing the select button, starting the run. Once the run is started, the player has two minutes to attain the required high score to complete the level without breaking their board, or getting caught by the police. Once the player startes being chased by the police, they must then skate to one of the designated exit doors. If caught, the players score is annulled and the run must then be started again.
All in all, Thrasher was one of the best skateboarding video games I have personally ever played, and is one of the biggest influences on my interest in skateboarding.
In my opinion, Thrasher out did Tony Hawk's game. Although I did not play it nearly as much due to the fact that my copy of it got too scratched and eventually stopped working. Luckily or not so luckily for me, I was still left with Pro Skater. None the less, Thrasher rules. Only two companies, IGN and GameSpot, agree with me while the rest of the world does not. Thrasherr had noticeably less advanced graphics than Pro Skater did and was unfortunately one of the big reasons the game was ignored. The biggest reason being the difficult controls. Because Thrasher was not as simple as picking up a controller and playing, like Pro Skater was, a lot of people disliked it. This is a lame reason not to like a game. People just need to stop being lazy and accept change if it happens.
Unlike Tony Hawk's Pro skater, Thrasher had a storyline. The player picks one of six fictional characters and works through a total of twelve levels across the globe, gaining sponsors, decks, clothing and eventually ending up on the cover of the Thrasher magazine--from which the game gets its name.
Like Pro Skater, Thrasher has several game modes. Skate mode(career mode), sessions, nickel bag, H.O.R.S.E, Top Dog, Stick Fix, Long Grind and Big Wallride. Skate mode progresses through twelve levels in a series of two minute runs. Before actually starting each run, the player has the ability to explore the level without a time limit until pressing the select button, starting the run. Once the run is started, the player has two minutes to attain the required high score to complete the level without breaking their board, or getting caught by the police. Once the player startes being chased by the police, they must then skate to one of the designated exit doors. If caught, the players score is annulled and the run must then be started again.
All in all, Thrasher was one of the best skateboarding video games I have personally ever played, and is one of the biggest influences on my interest in skateboarding.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Old school
Lets talk about something new in this post. Something a little different than talking about any one specific skater. Something along the lines of......Tony Hawk's Pro Skater.
Who has not heard about the Pro Skater series? Or more commonly known as the Tony Hawk video games. If you do not know about these games, I highly suggest you check them out. They were AWESOME! They are a huge, and I mean huge, part of why I got into skateboarding. I grew up with the original Playstation game consol and the Tony Hawk video games were my life in the 90's. They included all of the original old school skaters whome I look up to in the sport, one of which I already posted about, Rodney Mullen.
The game lets you take control of several skaters and play though several different levels. Though there is no stoyline the game is still amazing. Theres also several different game modes as well. The basic one where you have a list of items to find and tricks to do within a time limit. Then theres Combo mode where you collect the letters C-O-M-B-O in order without breaking your line(doing a trick the whole way from the first letter C to the last being O, never just moving along the ground). The levels vary from larg cities to small suburban towns, though there are a few special unlocks you get once beating the game. In the first game you get to play as spiderman and you also get some space level. In the second game you unlock an Area 51-type level where there are alians.
That pretty much sums up the games and also my childhood. If you dont know about the Tony Hawk video games I really suggest trying them out. They are a lot of fun even though there almost 20 years old. They were a part of why I love skateboarding today. Life would not be the same without them.
Who has not heard about the Pro Skater series? Or more commonly known as the Tony Hawk video games. If you do not know about these games, I highly suggest you check them out. They were AWESOME! They are a huge, and I mean huge, part of why I got into skateboarding. I grew up with the original Playstation game consol and the Tony Hawk video games were my life in the 90's. They included all of the original old school skaters whome I look up to in the sport, one of which I already posted about, Rodney Mullen.
The game lets you take control of several skaters and play though several different levels. Though there is no stoyline the game is still amazing. Theres also several different game modes as well. The basic one where you have a list of items to find and tricks to do within a time limit. Then theres Combo mode where you collect the letters C-O-M-B-O in order without breaking your line(doing a trick the whole way from the first letter C to the last being O, never just moving along the ground). The levels vary from larg cities to small suburban towns, though there are a few special unlocks you get once beating the game. In the first game you get to play as spiderman and you also get some space level. In the second game you unlock an Area 51-type level where there are alians.
That pretty much sums up the games and also my childhood. If you dont know about the Tony Hawk video games I really suggest trying them out. They are a lot of fun even though there almost 20 years old. They were a part of why I love skateboarding today. Life would not be the same without them.
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