Name: Skate Demo Genre: Skateboard Simulator System: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 (Reviewed on 360) Once upon a time when there were fewer numbers in my age, I was a skater. There was a good ten year stretch when if I had any downtime, I was either playing my NES or outside skating around the parking lots of various churches, office complexes, or schools. My biggest issue was that no matter how much time I spent skating, I never much improved my trick abilities. My ollies in year ten were no higher or more extreme than in year two. I honestly just liked skating for transportation, and the occasional curb-grind. I guess you could attribute my lack of progression to an extreme aversion to pain. Or maybe I was just a coward... Anyway, the skater in me has always loved the Tony Hawk Pro Skater series of games for one simple reason- you can skate better in those games than any human being could ever hope to do in real life. Putting together 100+ move combos are possible in Pro Skater, but in the real world gravity, friction and the rather low density of human bone matter render these moves utterly ridiculous. So when I heard the press for EA's new game Skate I was, at first, not impressed. The buzz promised a skating simulator unlike any game on the market. It wouldn't be a button-mashing, high-flying, 900 degree-spinning funhouse like the Pro Skater games. Instead, game players would progress like real skaters. Ollies would be possible, but harder. You could get air off a ramp, but there would be no linking to a 100 foot grind, followed by another 1080. My mindset was sort of, "If it ain't broke, why bother fixing it?" I knew Tony Hawk was an amazing skating game and to me that was the end of it. I mean, I love flying Banshees in Halo, but that doesn't mean I'm in an hurry to pick up MS Flight Simulator. Two different games for two different audiences, right? Then the demo came out, and Coop came into the office raving about it. He told me I should download it and give it a shot, and I, in my own inimitable way, shot the idea down. Then last night, I got a recommendation from this guy who I used to skate with back in the day, to download the demo. He said it change my life (exact words...) I guess that was the straw that broke the camel's back. I initiated the download (and then switched to Metroid Prime 3: Corruption to pass the time while the download transpired). After a little bit, it was loaded and I was on my way. And I've got to say: I'm impressed. The flick-it method of controlling the board looked so much harder to use than it actually ends up being. The control scheme has been designed to be natural compliments to the moves you want your character to do. The only problem I had with the controls was when trying to "tweak" and air move. You're supposed to hold down either LT or RT while pulling left or right on the control stick. Every time I did that, I would hit a killer 360 air, but the narrator would tell me that I wasn't holding the air long enough. Still though, it felt more like I hadn't learned it correctly instead of any inherent issue with the game. The demo is the perfect length too- long enough to get you into the game, but ends soon enough that you just know you have to have the game when it comes out! Rest assured, when mid September rolls around, you can be sure I will own a copy of Skate As for the demo, since it is free you should definitely: