Crave

He's much better at this.

(Credit: Jeff Bakalar/CNET)

Activision invited us to check out a handful of upcoming titles last night in midtown New York City. Among all of the titles we had hands-on time with, Tony Hawk: Ride certainly stood out. Not only was it fun to play, but the fact that Mr. Tony Hawk himself sat in to tell us about the game added another dimension to the experience.

Jeff:
I thought I had heard someone say "Tony Hawk is here" as Scott and I entered the Activision demo, but I just brushed that off as "Oh, the new Tony Hawk game is here." Sure enough, the legend himself walked into our private game demo room and explained to us the process in which Tony Hawk: Ride came to be.

Hawk was honest, saying the franchise had run its course with a conventional controller. Now that game peripherals are becoming much more commonplace, it was clear that a skateboard controller needed to be introduced as an obvious evolutionary step.

After hopping on the board for the first time I was immediately transported back to 1994 when I had a brief stint with the sport. The accessory itself is simply a skateboard deck without trucks or wheels. It feels solid, though it may take a minute or two to find your balance.

The board is an impressive piece of hardware that's loaded up with motion sensing technology and four infrared sensors. When your hand breaks one of the IR beams coming out from the board, the game interprets that as a grab. When you've stopped, a drag of the foot on either side will get you moving again. The motion sensing comes into play when you want to do spins in the air to increase trick points.

Tony Hawk shows us how to Ride--photos

A couple of weeks ago I got to attend a press screening of "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" a week before the general American release. There was only one trailer before the film, and that was for G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, which launches August 6.

I have been to many press screenings, but I've never heard professional movie critics--my colleagues--heckle a trailer before. The movie looks amazingly bad in every way. That's why I'm not surprised Paramount is taking the viral route to try to gain public interest in what will no doubt turn into a multimillion dollar crapfest.

This is one such video. Sadly, it highlights one of the most loathsome inventions of the film, the so-called "accelerator suits" that the Joes don and that apparently give them all superpowers so they can fight Cobra while running in slow motion. Or something. Those who've seen the trailer know what I mean.

The idea behind this viral video is decent, I suppose, but I'm really hoping it was put together by interns from the catering department. If the not-so-special effects in the finished film look anything like this, I'm tempted to break out a VHS camcorder and my old action figures and remake it myself. I think my version would make more sense and be truer to what G.I. Joe was all about.

I can't wait to see the actual thing. That review is going to be fun to write. Also, I wish we had a category for "bad ideas."

Maybe we should have used "So bad, but so good" as our show motto instead of "High Tech, Low Brow!" Today's show is a good example of that, and we kick it off with Wilson's brief and spoiler-free review of Bruno. We also talk about the rise of the Twitterns, Apple breaking the Pre-iTunes lovefest, and Jeff meeting Tony Hawk!

Tony Hawk plays his new game, Ride.

(Credit: Jeff Bakalar/The 404)

Check it out! Jeff was invited to an Activision event last night to preview Tony Hawk's new game, but he was pretty surprised when Tony Hawk himself showed up to show him around! As you can see, the game comes with an actual "skateboard" controller to jump, ride, and pop up to do tricks within the game. Jeff tells us that the game is very realistic, but popping up the board feels more like a snowboard than skating. Check it out for yourself when it comes out on October 13 for $120.

In other news, The 404 has decided to hire a young Twittern to update our Twitter. Social media, whether it's in short or long form, is super time-consuming...anyone out there want to be our Twittern? We're only half-joking...

In more important news, Apple has finally broken up the love affair between iTunes and the Palm Pre: the smartphone no longer works with the popular desktop software. Jeff owns a Pre and figures that the only thing to do now is to refrain from upgrading to the latest software, lest some savvy developer use the latest SDK to somehow crack Apple's padlock.

Also, start getting amped for tomorrow's episode where I, Justin Yu, will debut yet another band in a segment we like to call...deep breath..."The 404 Semi-Weekly Audio Draft Sponsored by Beck's Beer in conjunction with Last.FM, a subsidiary of CBS Interactive and CNET News and Reviews." Jeez.

Tony Hawk himself showed off his new game, Tony Hawk Ride at E3 2009. Gamers will use a wireless skateboard controller to jump, turn, and do tricks. Ride is expected this October for PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii.

Now just how am I supposed to perform a 360 inward heel flip with this?

(Credit: GameSpot)

The last Tony Hawk game I played was Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 on the Dreamcast. Getting good enough to pull off trick after trick in succession in that game was close to gaming nirvana for me.

Since then, the series has had its ups and downs and with strong competition from EA's Skate series, and Activision--publisher of all things Tony Hawk--needs to find new ways to get players excited again about the once dominant Tony Hawk brand.

Hopefully for them, they've succeeded. Tony Hawk Ride, the latest entry in the franchise, will be available for the 2009 holiday season for the Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3.

Also being released is a unique controller for the game that comes in the shape of an actual skateboard deck. According to Gamespot, the board peripheral will use "a combination of accelerometers and motion sensors" and will require no other controller.

Hmmm, I'm assuming that you'll control this with your hands, but then what's the point of shaping it like a skateboard if we can't "ride" it? Update: I assumed incorrectly. You will control the game by riding on the board. Thanks again to the three Cravers that pointed this out to me. Last time I saw something like this was in the arcade games Top Skater and Air Trix.

Each game was controlled via a stationary skateboard attached to the arcade machine. Each time I tried playing, well, let's just say the skateboards didn't function optimally. Probably had something to do with the endless supply of Dave and Buster's clientele straight from a buffalo wings platter trying the game out.

Hopefully the controller for this game will be made from sterner stuff. Look for more information on the official game site on June 2.

If you have a favorite animal, chances are you can now find it in the form of an iPod speaker. We've seen everything from pigs and pandas to cats and dogs. Heck, even insect lovers don't get left out in the cold, thanks to Vestalife's Butterfly and Ladybug speaker docks. The Ladybug goes for $110 and rather outshines its cousin in design and sound quality. For those who are after a different-looking portable speaker with a reasonable smattering of extras, this unit could fit the bill.

Read the Vestalife Ladybug review.

Vestalife Ladybug--photos

Be sure to check out Friday's episode of The 404 where we welcome pro snowboarder and skateboarder Shaun White to the studio. He talks to us about his new game from Ubisoft coming out on Sunday called Shaun White Snowboarding.

The title will be available for all major gaming platforms and allows you to roam freely on various mountains. Shaun talks to us about his role in the development of the game and what it was like recording voice-overs and motion capture. We talk about his other input on the game, including compiling the title's very respectable soundtrack.

Shaun also gives us his thoughts on adding skateboarding to the Summer Olympics and lets us in on his favorite places to ride in the U.S.

Keep listening to The 404 all next week to hear how you can win a copy of Shaun White Snowboarding signed by the man himself.

Brian Tong is back and he brought Hawaii with him. Bonnie Cha tells you how to customize your skateboards. And a comb that's supposed to help you grow your hair back.

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(Credit: Zazzle)

On-demand retail site Zazzle launched on Wednesday its Custom Skate Shop, selling both pre-designed and custom skateboards.

It's the most "niche" product that the company has offered so far--Zazzle got its start selling t-shirts, posters, mouse pads, and the like.

It's the latest move that Zazzle has made to draw in the action sports community, which has strong ties to underground art and design as well as customization--and the need for gear. The company recently launched a division called Artsprojekt in collaboration with artist and former pro skateboarder Andy Howell. It's an outlet for edgy new artists and brands to put up a presence and sell their art through Zazzle.

The manufacturing process used to make Zazzle skateboards has a patent pending; the boards' decks are made of seven-ply North American maple, and pricing starts around $60.