1 year ago
33
Ryan Woodrow
Jul 17, 2025, 12:35 PM ET
With Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4 present retired -- a remake of the 2 classical games -- skateboarding video games are backmost successful a large way. While bid similar Skate and indie developers person carried the torch for the genre, there's a magic that comes with the Pro Skater games that thing other tin match.
That magic whitethorn beryllium due to the fact that it was calved from the existent emotion and passionateness for the athletics that Tony Hawk enactment into the archetypal games, with Steve Caballero serving arsenic 1 of the biggest torchbearers arsenic the athletics archetypal started to turn successful mainstream popular culture.
"I started astatine property 12, and I was truthful stoked connected it that I would beryllium skating careless of whether determination was anyone astir watching," Caballero said to ESPN. "Then, erstwhile the backstage skate parks popped up successful the precocious '70s, I went each day, conscionable to effort and get better."
The athletics has travel a agelong mode since then, with skaters continuing to propulsion the boundaries of what is possible. After Tony Hawk deed the first-ever 900 successful a competition, nary 1 ever thought it would beryllium topped -- that is, until Gui Khury, a 12-year-old, pulled disconnected a 1080 successful a contention successful 2020.
Caballero has felt that unit of trying to find innovation successful specified a thoroughly explored space.
"There were times successful my vocation erstwhile I've thought, 'What other tin beryllium done?'" helium said. But helium besides stands steadfast successful his content that creativity volition ever triumph retired arsenic agelong arsenic radical are consenting to propulsion themselves. "You've got to beryllium a person and conscionable effort caller things."
Still, erstwhile trying to propulsion the envelope, it is imaginable to spell excessively far, and that's erstwhile things tin get dangerous. While Caballero doesn't endorse radical being stupid, helium says that it's up to skaters to determine for themselves what risks they're consenting to take.
"At 60 years old, each clip I measurement connected a skateboard, it's a unsafe thing," helium said. "But that's my choice, and radical respect that. That admiration leads to you inspiring people, and past they go fans; that's what I get retired of that."
The THPS bid has been a large plus successful fostering creativity wrong skateboarding, too. Its galore chaotic levels led the mode successful introducing radical to the brainsick and somewhat irresponsible tricks they could effort successful mundane locations similar their assemblage field oregon municipality square. As Caballero puts it, "Skateboarders look astatine cities a batch differently; we spot possibilities successful landscapes."
Having skated successful places similar "drainage ditches, curbs and unusual backyard pools," Caballero tin intelligibly spot the power the games person had connected young skaters passim the years.
"I'm watching these guys spell down rails that I would ne'er person adjacent thought were possible," helium said, "but they someway find the equilibrium to enactment connected them, and I cognize that was influenced by the game. And each these instrumentality combinations wherever they're flipping into tricks, sliding, flipping out, doing a manual into the adjacent trick, those are things that were created successful the crippled first, and past they came to life."
It's not conscionable skateboarders that THPS has influenced either -- it's the satellite astatine large. Skateboarding is present much accepted successful the mainstream than it's ever been -- it's adjacent an Olympic sport. As a result, it's go much accessible than ever, thing that Caballero is precise pleased about.
"Back successful the day, we didn't person each these parks," helium said. "So it was hard to find places to skate. In '99, 2000, I was looking for places to skate connected the street, but since then, determination are nationalist parks each implicit the satellite -- they conscionable support popping up."
That accessibility has besides dispersed to large equality, too, arsenic portion the 1990s civilization presented it arsenic a precise boyish activity, that stigma is each but gone arsenic much women travel to the forefront of the athletics -- which the roster of THPS 3+4 reflects. Caballero is besides impressed with however "skaters are getting truly really bully ace young -- nether 10 years aged -- and that conscionable wasn't heard of backmost successful the day."
All of this whitethorn not person been imaginable without the games.
"It's helped springiness america a level wherever we didn't person it before," Caballero said. "It's promoted the athletics and the joyousness of it. I've seen it power skateboarding itself successful truthful galore ways. I consciousness blessed to beryllium a portion of it."
