EA to 'SKATE' or Die on 360, PS3

Over the weekend, rumors surfaced that the rivalry between Electronic Arts and Activision was heating up. Word on the street was that EA, already a dominant force in the mainstream sports genre, was developing a skateboard game to compete with its archnemesis' ever-popular Tony Hawk franchise.

Today, EA made it official. It is indeed developing a title called SKATE for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Set for release in 2007, the game will feature the likenesses of several pro skaters with similar backgrounds to Tony Hawk. Danny Way, who, along with Hawk, was a member of Powell Peralta Skateboards' legendary Bones Brigade and is an X-Games gold-medal winner, will appear in SKATE. He'll be joined by fellow deck veteran PJ Ladd, who, like Way, is currently sponsored by the recently resurrected Plan B Skateboards. Way also jumped the Great Wall of China on his skateboard last year.

According to EA, SKATE will have a "control scheme [that] captures the true feel of skating." The company promised the game's "physics-driven animations" will give players a skating experience so "unique" that "no two tricks will ever be the same." SKATE's control scheme is apparently a reaction to the trick system used by Tony Hawk, which requires a combination of buttons to be pressed to perform a certain trick. EA's press release did not mention how--or if--the game would use the PS3 controller's motion-sensing capability or address its lack of force feedback.

SKATE is being developed by EA Black Box, a substudio of EA Canada that is based in Vancouver. The game has not yet been rated or priced, but it will "deliver all the style, fun, creativity, and culture of skateboarding without the countless hours of practice, broken bones, and hospital visits," according to EA.