After the crushing disappointment that was Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 last year, fans of skateboarding games all over the world have been bugging Electronic Arts for a new title in EA Black Box’s “Skate” series.
However, an apparent slip-up on the part of JB Hi-Fi, one of Australia’s largest home entertainment websites, has shown the Internet that Skate 4 may be coming soon.
The last game in the series, Skate 3, was released on Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360 in 2010. Skate 4, judging from the JB Hi-Fi post (that has since been taken down) may finally be coming to consoles this August. The Hi-Fi page included box art, which also included a hint of a possible backwards-compatible version of Skate 3 for the Xbox One.
The post has sent a shockwave of excitement through its fanbase, as yesterday fans spammed EA’s Valentine’s Day posts with requests or outright demands for information about Skate 4.
It might be even said that Skate 4 could be a superhero in the genre of extreme sports games, considering that Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 5 released in September to bad reviews over boring gameplay, numerous bugs, and bad environments.
While a November patch addressed a number of these bugs and added multiple new skaters in the form of rapper Tyler, the Creator and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles along with new maps and game modes, it seemed to be too little, too late.
With that in mind, Skate 4 has a lot to live up to, and big shoes to fill. With Tony Hawk’s chance of nostalgia ruined by 5’s lackluster performance, Skate 4 may be the extreme sports genre’s best hope at a comeback, before it goes the way of the rhythm game genre and games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero.
