''Skate It'' is a skateboarding

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

developed by

EA Montreal EA Montreal is a Canadian video game development studio owned and operated by Electronic Arts. The studio is based in Montreal, Quebec. It was inaugurated by EA on March 17, 2004. The studio was founded by Alain Tascan a former Ubisoft and BAM! ...

Exient Entertainment Exient Entertainment (also known as Exient Company) is an independent video game developer based in Oxford, United Kingdom with additional development studios in Leamington Spa, United Kingdom, and Malta. Mainly developing for handheld gaming s ...

and

EA Black Box EA Black Box (formerly Black Box Games) was a video game developer based in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, founded in 1998 by former employees of Radical Entertainment and later acquired by Electronic Arts (EA). The developers are primarily ...

for the

Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...

, and

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

. The game is a spin-off of 2007's ''

Skate Skate or Skates may refer to: Fish *Skate (fish), several genera of fish belonging to the family Rajidae * Pygmy skates, several genera of fish belonging to the family Gurgesiellidae * Smooth skates or leg skates, several genera of fish belongin ...

'' and was released in 2008.

Overview

''Skate It'' is set between the events of ''

'' and ''

Skate 2 ''Skate 2'' is a skateboarding video game developed by EA Black Box and published by Electronic Arts. The game was released worldwide in January 2009 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 after the spin-off title ''Skate It''. It is the sequel to 2007's ...

'' in San Vanelona, the same fictional city as the original game, although several earthquakes have caused widespread damage and a mass evacuation of the city, leaving the player free to skate alone and undisturbed. They will, however, be able to travel to other cities in the world later in the game, which are unaffected by the disaster (

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

and

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

). ''Skate It'' is the only game in the series to not feature the main protagonist of the series, as this is set during the protagonist's incarceration explained in ''Skate 2''. Because the Nintendo DS and Wii lack the dual

analog stick An analog stick (or analogue stick in British English), sometimes called a control stick or thumbstick, is an input device for a controller (often a game controller) that is used for two-dimensional input. An analog stick is a variation of a joy ...

s that were used for control in the original game, the controls for ''Skate It'' were redesigned to take advantage of each platform's unique

motion controls In video games and entertainment systems, a motion controller is a type of game controller that uses accelerometers or other sensors to Motion capture, track motion and provide input. History Motion controllers using accelerometers are used as c ...

. For example, the Wii version utilizes the motion sensing of the

Wii Remote The Wii Remote, also known colloquially as the Wiimote, is the primary game controller for Nintendo's Wii home video game console. An essential capability of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with ...

to control the player's skateboard, with gestures used to perform tricks, while the Nintendo DS version features stylus and

touchscreen A touchscreen or touch screen is the assembly of both an input ('touch panel') and output ('display') device. The touch panel is normally layered on the top of an electronic visual display of an information processing system. The display is often ...

control. The Wii version also features support for the

Wii Balance Board The is an accessory for the Wii and Wii U video game consoles. Unlike the usual balance board for exercise, it does not rock but instead tracks the user's center of balance. Along with Wii Fit, it was introduced on July 11, 2007 at the Electr ...

and also allows players to connect a Nunchuk and use its analog stick for more precise steering and spinning in the air. The Wii version uses a modified version of the original's

game engine A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games and generally includes relevant libraries and support programs. The "engine" terminology is similar to the term "software engine" used in the software i ...

, supports 480p and widescreen display options, and contains the instant Replay feature from the original game. The Wii version also offers a deep and unique career mode that allows the player to earn sponsors, unlock gear, and travel to the abovementioned several cities outside of San Vanelona, a first for the series. In addition, a number of offline and online multiplayer modes are available. The player can also customize their skater's gender and appearance, allowing them to play as a female skater, which was not possible in the original ''Skate''. The iOS version is a direct

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

of the Nintendo DS version, and was released around the same time as ''

Skate 3 ''Skate 3'' is a skateboarding video game, the third installment in the ''Skate'' series and the sequel to 2009's ''Skate 2'', developed by EA Black Box and published by Electronic Arts. It was released worldwide in May 2010 for PlayStation 3 and ...

''. The Wii version's soundtrack is a subset of ''Skate 2''s soundtrack, with only four of these songs available on the DS and iOS versions due to technical limitations.

Reception

The game received "average" reviews on all platforms according to the

review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

. In Japan, ''

Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...

'' gave the localized Wii version a score of all four sixes for a total of 24 out of 40.

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

cited some issues with the Wii version's motion-based control scheme though they claim that for those willing to master it, the scheme reveals a great depth and a more nuanced trick system. They also praised the overall gameplay, the long and extensive single player mode, the soundtrack and presentation, but felt the in game graphics were "bland" and at times "nasty". IGN also called the DS version's gameplay challenging and satisfying due to its complexity, but were slightly disappointed by occasional bugs and glitches and an overall lack of polish compared to the Wii version. The Nintendo DS version was a nominee for several DS-specific awards by IGN in their 2008 video game awards, including Best Sports Game, Best Online Multiplayer Game, and Most Innovative Design.

References

External links

* * {{Skate Skate (series) 2008 video games Electronic Arts games Interquel video games IOS games Multiplayer and single-player video games Multiplayer hotseat games Nintendo DS games Skateboarding video games Video game spin-offs Video games developed in Canada Video games featuring protagonists of selectable gender Video games set in Brazil Video games set in China Video games set in France Video games set in Spain Video games set in the United Kingdom Video games set in the United States Wii games Wii Balance Board games Exient Entertainment games