Burnout Developer was Working on Skate or Die 3
‘Actual Screenshot of Skate or Die 3′
Here is the most disappointing news story of the day that is related to videogames. Do you remember the cult classic retro skateboarding game, Skate or Die? Of course you do, it was considered to be a pioneer for an ‘extreme sport’ to be made into a videogame. It was so popular that famed skateboarder Tony Hawk, who also has his own videogame, played it countless times back in the 1980s. Not that was a surprise or anything, pretty much anyone who owned a NES at least rented the classic title.
According to videogamesblogger, Burnout developer Criterion Games, were actually working on rebooting the series and creating Skate or Die 3. This was back in 2003, and at the same time Electronic Arts were infamously known to buy every studio they could get their greedy hands on. Eventually in 2004, EA acquired the UK based company Criterion and the company went on to developed other successful Burnout games.
Apparently when the deal was done, EA cancelled the legendary skateboarding franchise. Although it’s not known why the publisher decided to kill the reboot, but I can certainly take a guess. When EA made the decision to control Criterion, the big wigs probably felt the Burnout franchise had major potential to bring in some cash flow. And in the end, was more valuable than a skateboarding franchise that has been dead for almost 20 years.
Guess what? They were right.
July 28th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
Yes they were right but so what. Yes we all need the big titles to go crazy over but we also need those nostalgic games that take us back to the original way of playing and modernizing it. I hope in the near future they see what they have done and bring this game back to life… for all the old school skaters out there. SAKTE OR DIE!
July 28th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
I definitely could go for some PSN Skate or Die Joust online or some downhill race multiplayer. Since they’re at it bring back T&C (NES). I could always use a burnout version of Road Rash.
July 28th, 2009 at 10:44 pm
@1
u spelled skate wrong….
July 28th, 2009 at 11:12 pm
The sad part is this was at the time when Tony Hawk was still going strong, it would’ve been interesting to see the Skate or Die franchise make a return and have them go head to head.
July 29th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
“they were right”
huh? you have some kind of quantum window that allows you to see “what if” outcomes?
yes, burnout was/is hugely successful, but who knows? maybe criterion had what it takes to create a fresh skate experience that could have blown Skate away! The Skate or Die games always had a lot of comic mischief in them, and the sequel was closer to an action game than any skateboarding game has ever been. if they expanded on this it might have been interesting
July 29th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
“huh? you have some kind of quantum window that allows you to see “what if” outcomes?”
Yes.