Hey PlayStation fans! I’m in a great mood so I’m going to throw out a bunch of stuff to share today.
Right off the bat, check out our first full gameplay trailer. This should give you an idea about the game’s energy; the footage contains pros and some of our hidden characters, sick tricks and combos, and a bunch of online multiplayer action. And the song we used in the video, Plague Vendor’s “Black Sap Scriptures,” is in the game and I think it’s a good example of the music Tony Hawk is curating for THPS5. They even popped over to play the game at the studio!
Speaking of online multiplayer, I wanted to share some new details. Connecting with other players is totally different than previous THPS games, and it’s unique compared to current crop of skating titles. The Freeskate levels serve as lobbies for up to 20 players. They act as hubs where players can hang out and skate between different missions and online matches.
The sessions themselves are hosted by dedicated servers, so you can drop in and out of populated Freeskate sessions at any time. When you are ready, you can jump into a mission with your party or challenge the entire park in one of the competitive multiplayer modes. This is done from the Sessions menu, a multipurpose tool for queuing up missions or modes, managing your party, and checking to see who’s in the park. When your mission or match is finished, you can either retry/rematch or seamlessly jump back into the Freeskate where you can hang out while deciding what to do next.
This means that Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 is designed to get you online quickly and easily. As a reminder: the online features are only in the PS4 version. The PS3 version has no online play (this is why the price is $20 less).
Also, PS4 and PS3 owners will be happy to hear Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 has PlayStation-exclusive content. There will be three character heads from Sony’s games: Ratchet, Sweet Tooth, and Sackboy.
UPDATE: This PlayStation-exclusive content is included only in digital copies of the game purchased on PlayStation Store, not in physical copies bought at a brick-and-mortar retailer. I hope this makes things clear. Apologies for any confusion!
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention some nuts and bolts things about the game. The pre-order exclusives from GameStop, Best Buy and Amazon are all live, so be sure to eye those and pick your poison. There are differences between what is offered for the PS4 and PS3 versions, so be mindful of that. It will be available for PS4 on September 29, 2015 for $59.99, and the PS3 version will show up before the holidays for $39.99.
We’ll have the game playable to the public at various places in North America and Europe over the summer and fall, so be sure to follow @TonyHawkGames on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook to get the deets.
Thanks for taking some time to let me talk about our baby, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5!
Part of me wants to write some Vita snark. The other? Ehhhhh….
I’m so happy this series is coming back, I used to be sooo good at this game when i was younger.
A vita version would be great to have.
Let’s hope it reignites some of that old school feel from THPS on the PS1 days!
Nice
also does the game have local multiplayer
I’m having a hard time picturing “character heads” for character creation. Does this mean it’s like a goofy bobble head where the character heads are on a human body?
Since the PS4 version has PS3-like graphics, can we get a 20$ discount as well?
Seriously – I know it’s still in development, but surely the visuals for a 2015 game on a current-gen console should be further along than this.
Been loving THPS games since the first on N64, but it’s too close to other games and Fallout 4 is already pre-ordered. I hate having to choose between gaming and living expenses sometimes.
Hmm, I was looking for something to get in September…I think I’ll dip back into THPS series that I loved as a kid.
This should have been a $20 downloadable game. The market has changed a lot since THPS was a hit. This will be in the bargain bins pretty fast.
You can only play online with the PS4 version?? That’s Kinda weird. PS4 is using the same PSN network. Why make online available only to PS3?
Damnit! you know what I meant.
Any word on whether THPS5 has split screen?
If these are the best screenshots they have, this title is in big trouble. It looks like they took the same codebase used for THPS 2 HD. The only differences I’ve seen in the videos is *slightly* better geometry and texture quality in a few places, and maybe specular highlights. No GI, physical shaders, etc in sight.
Maybe the soundtrack is amazing and has HD audio assets?
On top of all this, it isn’t cross-buy — typical for Activision. Given most of the levels are rehashes by the developers’ own admission, the value proposition is extremely low.
I hope they don’t hold the low sales against the franchise like they did with Korra — they just need some new blood in their marketing department who understand current-gen sales strategies.
Stop spamming and get off the blog.
This is the most excited ive been for a release in awhile!
Hmm, the trailer of gameplay on the ps store looks bad and rough. My main concern…. Hopefully they’ll do a PS underground on it or at least a demo first. Other than that, if PS4 version has to be connected to internet to play, i rather get the PS3 version instead, $20 cheaper and i dont have to worry about servers and other internet problems to be able to play? game companies are pulling foolish moves by doing this. If servers go down, PS goes down, and I cant continue in my stuff, im going to be pissed. As one of my favorite franchises though growing up, ill be picking up a copy.
I have to echo to sentiments of most skeptics. This game looks graphically inferior. Like you didnt even try. Plus, sibce it’s Activision, ill have to wait to see how you plan on ripping us off with dlc.
I will wait for a price drop..
Loved THPS back in the day but this just looks terribly unpolished.
Normally I don’t care about graphics. But this game looks dreadful. Like the developer just dusted off their old code, spent a few hours fixing it up, then decided to try and cash in on TH nostalgia.
If you can’t be bothered to include online or splitscreen in the PS3 game then i can’t be bothered to buy the game
The online features are a breath of new air into the skating genre. I’m looking forward to it!
sad to say but got to agree with the crowd, the graphics are not the best and activision has fckued me with destiny but will 59.99 cover everything? seem like every game has DLC im just waiting to get F#@! hard after this drops? online and park building being a DLC… I want to pre order but this gen of sneak DLC season passes makes it so hard, Graphically it seems underwhelming but to some extent I could careless if THPS5 is on a THUG / THUG2 level gameplay wise. @ sony you guys should get reps in here to fully layout whats going to be in the game.
Is this supposed to read coming out for PS2 or for mobile devices? Even by PS3 standards this looks awful.
I believe the poor graphics are done on purpose; it’s supposed to be as nostalgic as possible by mimicking the graphics of a PS2, much like how Capcom made Mega Man 9 8-bit as opposed to 3D or Mega Man 8 graphics.
I really hope that just like the previous Pro Skater games, there’s an actual unlockable guest star. (hopefully, it’s you-know-who who skated on a skateboard in the year 2000.)
Glad PlayStation owners are getting something this time around (unlike THPS:HD). But I hate pre-order exclusives, especially multiple ones. I’ll never be able to get a complete THPS5 experience now (unless they come out for purchase down the line). Either way, as long as there’s Rodney Mullen, I’m good.
I know this probably won’t happen but I’d love a Vita version.
Sorry, but we don’t want HD PS2 games on PS4. Please cancel this game and have another studio make it so you don’t completely destroy this franchise. As others have stated, this looks like a cheap, downloadable game, and charging $60 for it is going to kill sales. And why even sell it on PS3 if it has no online functionality? Do you really expect many PS3 players to shell out $40 for a $10 game?
There was a time when THPS was a premium game that people gladly paid full price for. If developed by a talented studio and not backed by Activision, it could be that again. Robomodo is ruining what should be a gem and a staple of many peoples’ childhoods, and what should be the ultimate nostalgia trip for us old-timers.
I guess we’ll have to hope for another Skate game, and hope that doesn’t suffer the same, inevitable fate of THPS5.
Playstation 2 graphics confirmed…
There are PS2 games that look better than games released this year, which is kinda funny and sad at the same time.
Hell, I’m still playing my PS2 simply because all these “new games” aren’t even worth renting.
Just wait for skate 4 it will be better…
They still make PS2 games? Wow