DISCLAIMER: I didn't actually play the game, this is just merely for fun ;). It's not every day that I dedicate some of my writing to one specific thing. I mean, it's either that awesome, or so laughably bad, I can't help but to openly poke fun at it while keeping a record of it, relying on the thought that one day, I will look back at this blog and have a hearty laugh when I'm 10 years older. Let's have a look: Tony Hawk Ride, quite possibly a "sequel" of a game no one asked for, much less would be interested in the direction it took. Bottom line, it's rather perplexing that a game like this is on a console other than the Wii. For the asking price of $120 with the required peripheral, it would've at least gained some dignity if it were a Wii exclusive, and required the infamous balance board that 90% of Wii owners have anyway. Let me be the first to say that I don't play Tony Hawk games for a realistic control scheme. Suffice to say, not only is it an odd idea to begin with, but they're also tacking on a ridiculous, unproven idea upon a franchise that has slowly peaked from platinum must-haves to stagnant rehashes that even faithful skating fans have all but stood clear of. Even more baffling is the company in charge of the idea: Activision, whom by all means necessary have openly stated that all they care about is making money rain from the sky, seeking nothing short of profit. It would actually make more sense to just re-make the original Tony Hawk for the PS1 than crossing their fingers and hope millions of people buy a bundled game that actually costs more than a real skateboard. Taking a guess, I'd say they're still banking on people's love for overpriced peripherals that require all but one game to make use of, because, frankly...a half dozen or so plastic guitars doesn't quite satisfy us. This is one game that I don't even have to see a single screen, a second of gameplay, or have nothing but someone describe in words about the concept, and I see it having a 5/10 rating as a general score. Honestly, all I have to hear is "Tony Hawk Game," "Peripheral," and "Over $80" to know this game is dead on arrival. And if I hear that this game has sold over a million copies, I am convinced that Activsion's success was a result of demon worship. Bottom line, the only way I can see myself having fun playing this game is by falling off the board, breaking my arm, suing Activision, and using that money to pay someone to break my other arm. Truly, this game should achieve some kind of dubious award simply for existing. Just the mere thought that someone had this idea, out of all ideas in the creative human mind, as a last resort to revive a dying franchise in the brink of desperation. Lots of games try to rise from the ashes with a new idea behind the core gameplay. Ride is just depressing. It's truly a bad sign when someone like me, a man with low standards and positive thinking, can't help but stop in the middle of Best Buy, stare at the display, and dedicate a few seconds for a silent chuckle then go on my way to pick up Assassin's Creed 2. Which I'm still convinced that if I were to buy two copies of that game for no reason other than to play one of them, and using the other solely just to read the manual, it would still be a better value than buying Tony Hawk Ride. There's an old saying: when any game, awesome or terrible, fails to meet a sales peak or overall quality experience, they all get together in their annual convention and say, "Could've been worse...one of us could've been Tony Hawk Ride."