Skate

Skate (marketed as skate.) is a skateboarding video game developed by EA Black Box for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It was released in North America on September 17, 2007 for the Xbox 360 and September 24, 2007 for the PlayStation 3 and in Europe on September 28, 2007 for the Xbox 360 and October 5, 2007 for the PlayStation 3. As of February 1, 2008, Skate has outsold the 2007 skateboarding game Tony Hawk's Proving Ground by a ratio of almost 2 to 1 on seventh generation video game consoles. A sequel to Skate, Skate 2, has been released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, as well as Skate It, a spin-off for the Wii and Nintendo DS. Skate 3 will be released 2010.
The player controls a custom-designed skateboarder in the fictional town of San Vanelona. Skating challenges are marked on a mini-map, along with stores and subway stations that allow the player to traverse the city quickly. As the player develops their skills and performs various tasks (such as completing certain tricks while being filmed), sponsorship and notability are acquired, eventually leading to participation in the X Games. "Filming" challenges allow the player to create a line of tricks to meet the filming goals; the player may also place a session marker to return to a spot quickly after finishing a line. Several "own the spot" locations throughout the city allow the player to try to claim that spot by beating a certain score requirement, thus "owning" the spot from other skaters. Additionally, there are jam sessions and "death races" against other AI-controlled characters. Completing challenges will generally unlock new clothing and equipment items, characters, and additional challenges to compete in. Players are able to create and edit short video clips (15 to 30 seconds) at any time, selecting desired camera angles and video effects, and upload them to EA's "Skate Reel" website to share with others.
Dissimilar to the Tony Hawk skateboarding series in which most tricks are initiated by button presses, the player initiates tricks in Skate using the analog sticks, pulling and pushing in various directions and combinations with other parts of the controller to launch ollies, nollies, grabs, manuals and flip tricks. Mid-air spins and other unique stunts are also performed in the same manner. Grinds require the player to land on an appropriate surface, with the landing type determining the type of grind that is performed. A line of tricks is generated by continuing to perform tricks without letting a multiplier meter run out. Player attributes such as balance or trick ability are not based on earned statistics and do not artificially improve as the player progresses. All tricks possible in the game are available to the player from the beginning, with one goal to successfully complete each trick listed in a trick book.
Skate allows players to freestyle or compete against other players online in jam sessions, races, S-K-A-T-E and own the spot challenges, using selected sections of the San Vanelona map.