My son loves it, he says the graphics are great, and it is fun, and it teaches you balance while you play. I also got on it a couple times, and it really was fun, and it was a minor workout!
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EXCELLENT product EXCELLENT price!!! - Thank you AMAZON!!
Price COULD NOT BE BEAT. Product performs well and is still in "full-use" in our home with 3 boys (a month after Christmas and no one is tired of it)!
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My son has spent the better part of his life on a skateboard. He has also played a number of skateboarding/snowboarding genre games. If your child resembles that description you have probably heard "I wish they had a skateboard controller" more times than you care. This game was the top of my son's wish list before the release date. However, this was a reluctant Christmas purchase due to the mediocre to poor reviews from numerous game and shopping sites throughout the net. I took a chance and with confidence in Amazon's return policy I went ahead with my purchase and Christmas morning (and through the remainder of the day) I was not displeased. He says this is the best skate genre game ever.
The negative reviews seem to lean toward the inability to calibrate the board, not the game play itself. Obviously if you can't get the controller to calibrate you won't enjoy the game. Calibration is required at the start of the game and after reading the reviews, I prepared for the worst. Surprise, it calibrated on the second attempt. The first attempt was disrupted by the dog, which walked right past the board during the first phase of calibration. After a lengthy first play the Wii and game board were moved into my son's room for continued play. The boy's room was a mess, the board still calibrated. We did notice the board does seem to prefer a line of sight with the sensor. The orientation does not seem to matter. We have played with the sensor lying on the floor, hanging off the shelf, stuffed in the entertainment center along with all the Wii accessories, as long as the board could "see" it, (and the dog wasn't around) the board calibrated on the first try. We did unplug other game controller sensors like Rockband's wireless guitar sensor.
Game play is excellent and the graphics are consistent with Tony Hawk games like Project 8. The game character follows the player's basic motions really well (pushing, steering, ollie & manual) with advanced tricks accomplished by covering or swiping specific sensors at the right time, the key being timing. I believe the buttons can be used for tricks but my son has been able to complete every challenge so far through motion. After moving the Wii & board from room to room multiple times and talking with my son, here a few tips to get the most from this game.
1.Position the board relative to your skate stance (goofy or regular). The buttons should be on the side your heels are on when you skate/play. You can change this in the game but we found it's best to calibrate in position.
2.Clear the space around the board. This improves the calibration success it's also just a good idea. Don't get carried away though a good 3 to 4 square feet is sufficient but if you can get more the board does tend to walk around during game play.
3.During the first phase of calibration, DON'T GO NEAR THE BOARD until it completes. Use the Wii mote to cycle through the menu and start the calibration. Don't touch it or walk around it (including pets). We have proven more than once that any moving objects around the board during this first phase can cause it to fail.
4.Follow the remaining calibration steps exactly as pictured in the game. Don't erratically raise and drop the board or cover and uncover the sensors. Wear shoes, cover the sensors fully and remain still. Again, use the Wii mote to cycle through the menus.
5.As far as game play and control, so far the board/wheel/truck selection does not seem to have an effect. The TRUCK TIGHTNESS DOES. Loose trucks will steer with less motion on the board than tight. If you're veering off course with every movement, tighten the trucks. There may be sensitivity options in the game but my son hasn't stopped playing long enough to look for them.
The game is much better than the reviews here and elsewhere. It's my sons most played Wii game now and great for days when he can't get out and skate. Experience on a real skateboard might be a plus but not required. I do believe this is for the under 18 gamer as I find it just as difficult as staying upright on a real skateboard. It is a significant investment for those not already into skating (a decent real board averages $150). I hope that additional titles will be released to utilize this controller, which will validate the cost, but with the poor reviews, I'm not sure Activision will pursue them.
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We bought this for my 7 year old son for Christmas, because he's a huge skateboard fan. In setting the game up today, though, we had the exact same problems as others with the board losing connectivity to the console.
But one posting helped us discover the trick to KEEPING the board connected,...
The key to maintaining connectivity is to make sure that the sensor on the dongle is perpendicular to the board. We'd first installed the dongle so that the sensor was parallel to the board, and the board refused to connect. This was because we installed the dongle and kept the front of the console facing us. So, it looked like this:
***
*S*
*E*
*N*
*S*
*O*
*R*
***
***
*B*
*O*
*A*
*R*
*D*
***
But when we turned the Wii console so that the sensor was perpendicular to the board, the reaction time and motion detector sensitivity improved SIGNIFICANTLY. We discovered the key for improved performance is keeping as much of the surface area of the dongle sensor facing the board as possible! That way the signals coming from the board have a much greater likelihood of hitting the dongle sensor.
Here's the configuration we're now using with great success:
******************
*SENSOR on DONGLE*
******************
***
*B*
*O*
*A*
*R*
*D*
***
You can even swing the board around 360 degrees and it will keep good connectivity and motion control. (Btw,...if we hadn't figured this solution out, I'd have rated the game package a "zero" and returned it.)
Good luck everybody! (And really unfortunate the Activision folks don't include this in their troubleshooting tips.)
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THIS IS THE BEST. SHIPPING WAS REAL FAST.THE GAME THE GRANDKIDS LOVED IT.I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS TO EVERYONE.
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I got this for my 10yr old son who is VERY hyper and he likes it but it wears him out!
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The Tony Hawk Wii is lots of fun to play. It is a little tricky to set up and it has to be done right, which takes a little while. But once you do it, the fun begins. It similates a real skate board adventure. My grandson loved it. Wii needs to design a toy chest to hold all of their peripheral items for these games like the skateboard.
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A little hard to play for the younger kids. But, they all seem to love it.
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This game is awsome i just got it today and i have had no problems with it most of the people who have this game say it sucks and it wont calibrate to the will thats a lie because i had no problem with it very easy to get used to you get a good workout from it people say the board never shuts off thata also a lie all i did was disconnect the connecter from the wii and the board shuts off in a few seconds AWSOME GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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My kid loves it and the beauty is the how few skinned knees there are. Safe, indoors and pretty capable to transfer what is learned to the board outside. Nice product.
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Tony Hawk Board is exacty what my Grandson Tony wanted for Christmas. He was totally excited with this present. It was a fun time watching Tony and his Sister, Dad and Mom all take turns playing with this. Thank you to Amazon for the great price and above all their excellent service. The product ordered was delivered as per their promise, which was quick. The Tony Hawk Board is amazingly tough and a fun addition to our Grandson's Wii games.
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This is what Santa brought my son this year. How disappointing it doesn't even work out of the box.
My husband spent alot of time trouble-shooting to no avail. Finally we have to see if the company will ship us a new board. Of course all of the return shipping from the purchase was lost in the Christmas chaos, so I can't return it. So, now we wait....
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This review was written by Mom, but the game was fresh out of the box and played by 2 - 14 yr. old sk8boarders. (They are also very tall boys - don't be afraid of the plastic skateboard) You don't need to know how to skate before using this game.
It's really fun because the board has great sensors. there are even velcro stirps to put on for use on carpet. Lots of exercise for indoors. It feels right, just lean around on the board, follow the screen. Different options for game play. "We were doing real tricks and the guy on the screen was doing completely different stuff - way cool, so much fun to mess around with." Sense of humour essential here!
It does have a rating of E10 for lyrics (that's kids under 10)but they're really not that noticeable, the music randomly shuffles, nothing inappropriate (says the boy scout/camp counselor). You can ride in real places around the world with real skaters from real teams and real sponsor companies.
It has the "cartoony vibe" of a Hawk game. It doesn't have the high-tech "physics" of other games (game physics are the laws of physics introduced to make the effects appear more real to the observer.)For example"you can go through a wall and end up backwards and fall - total fail, but a laugh riot"
It was created to be used on all different platforms like the wii.
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I used to skate hard in middle school. Now I'm 33 years old. My son and I have a blast playing this together. Its as close to skating as I'll get again. Its taken a beaten. So far so good.
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Thanks to the poster who suggested putting the sensor bar parallel to the skateboard. I would like to add that the sensor bar has to be on the floor when you first calibrate the board AND whenever you use the skateboard. Also, you have to hold the power button on the skateboard for about 5 seconds in order to turn the skateboard on (do this after you turn everything else on). I hope this works for everyone because it really is a great game, and a great workout.
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