The release of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 has put skateboarding back in the spotlight for many. Although it may not be immediately apparent, the legacy left by this franchise was not only felt in the world of video games, but also had a profound impact on popular culture and the sport itself.
In a recent interview with Esquire, Tony Hawk talked about how much the release of his games in the late 1990s and early 2000s meant to him. “There was a huge growing interest in skating, with very little support. And I mean skate parks. That’s what I saw most. All of a sudden, kids wanted to skate. And they were like, ‘Where do we go?’ The streets, just like in the games. [Laughs.]”
The legacy of an entire generation
In another part of the interview, Hawk comments on how the impact of the games was so significant that it even inspired today’s professional skaters. “There is a generation of pros in their 20s or 30s, they have told me they started skating because they played the games,” Hawk says. “It inspired them to learn tricks that are impossible in real life. Which is incredible to me and just shows the progression of skating through the years as it continues to evolve.”
One of the most notable aspects of the recent remaster of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater is that it features not only the skaters of yesteryear, but also generations of skaters who were inspired by this game and have kept the flame alive, with figures such as Lizzie Armanto, Tyshawn Jones, Letícia Bufoni, and Yuto Horigome, who became part of the first Olympian skaters in Tokyo 2020.
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