We recently sat down with Josh Tsui, head of Robomodo, to talk about the brand-new video game: Tony Hawk: SHRED.
Kidzworld: Is Tony Hawk: SHRED a follow-up game to Tony Hawk: RIDE?
Josh Tsui: Tony Hawk: SHRED can be seen more as the evolution of RIDE. We wanted to keep improving the experience, so we changed what we felt needed to be changed, and added what we thought would be even more fun for players.
Kidzworld: How is SHRED different than RIDE?
Josh Tsui: Biggest difference between the two games is that SHRED is all about going BIG. This was something we applied to everything from incredible levels to amazing new control features. Of course there’s also this little thing called snowboarding…that’ll blow people’s minds.
Kidzworld: What kind of tricks will kids be able to do in SHRED?
Josh Tsui: It’s probably easier to tell you what tricks you can’t do in SHRED! In skateboarding we added big signature moment moves that only the pros can do in real life. In snowboarding it’s all about barrel rolls, flips and spins. We even made up tricks that the pros cannot even do now …but maybe someone in the future 20 years from now will be able to actually pull-off!
Kidzworld: Why did you decide to include snowboarding in SHRED?
Josh Tsui: This peripheral was designed to be amazingly flexible. It has the name “Tony Hawk” on it, not “Tony Hawk Skateboard”. This was done on purpose, because we knew we had a lot of different games for it. Snowboarding is just a natural next step. Kids can snowboard all year long now!
Kidzworld: Does SHRED feature any well-known snowboarders in the game? If so, are they playable characters?
Josh Tsui: Yes! Some of the best snowboarders in the world are characters in SHRED. And…they are all playable characters! Players can SHRED as X-Games medalists Travis Rice and Louie Vito, or play as a very special snowboarder, the gold medalist at the [kwlink 23324]2010 Winter Olympics[kwlink ] in Vancouver – Torah Bright!
Kidzworld: What sorts of environments will players be able to “SHRED” in, skateboarding-wise?
Josh Tsui: We completely changed how environments are designed in SHRED. Instead of just making things the like streets a little longer, we went UP with everything. The design is all about BIG AIR, BIG TRICKS and BIG LANDINGS. So instead of a boring city streets, you have levels like the rooftops of Morocco, where you encounter collapsing bridges and canons firing off as you grind them, and the parades in New Orleans…just to name a few. Another type of environment we have created is reflected in the Pro Trial levels. These are inside of a giant stadium where you concentrate on very specific types of skating, such as big air and grinds. These are great mini-games that bring out great competitions.
Kidzworld: What sorts of environments will players be able to SHRED in, snowboarding-wise?
Josh Tsui: We have our take on some great mountains, such as Whistler Mountain in Vancouver and the French Alps. Of course we want to make them even bigger than real life, so we have a lot of hidden paths and areas, such as ice caves and logging camps. Who knows, you might unearth a caveman during your run!
Kidzworld: We heard players will be able to import their own Wii Miis and Xbox360 Avatars into the Wii and Xbox 360 versions, respectively. Can you tell us more about that?
Josh Tsui: This is something I am so excited about! We saw that people were very invested in their Xbox360s Avatars and Wii Miis, so we really wanted to have them in our game somehow. This has never been done in a Hawk game before, and it really does just make the game even more fun. I made an Avatar of my daughter and she just loves watching herself shredding it up on the board. This is really a great way to play as a family or a group of friends. One of the funniest things about the Avatars is that if you have special items, such as a shirt you bought or won, it’ll show up in Tony Hawk: SHRED!
