Tony Hawk totally pinkie swear promises you that Shred is going to be good

Proving that he’s an eternal optimist, Tony Hawk is excited for the sequel to Tony Hawk: Ride, Tony Hawk: Shred. In an interview with the UK’s Official Nintendo Magazine, Hawk answered some questions about Ride's shortcomings: "The one thing we needed to improve was software integration and we have immensely. I think when people see the improvements they'll be very impressed." Given Ride’s average Metacritic score of 44, “The one thing we needed to improve ” might be the understatement of the year.

Despite all the hate though, there’s something about Tony Hawk that makes you go “Hmm, maybe he’s not just spouting out PR hype , maybe he’s telling the truth!” He’s just so wholesome looking, so trustworthy. But don’t think we’ve forgotten last time Tony, when you served up a ridiculous peripheral and an even worse game, charged over $100 for it, then accused critics of being "snarky" when it was panned. But hey, at least you could actually skate with the game board:

Hawk also mentioned the lessons they learned from Ride: "You tend to take it for granted that you do know how to control it properly. So to let more people try it and get feedback and understanding, but also to not push deadlines so harshly, that's what we've learned." Despite the lessons learned and the likelihood that Shred will be better than Ride, the disastrous fallout from the first game will be extremely hard to get away from. Even if you do name it Shred instead of Ride 2.

What do you guys think? Do you still have your Ride boards lurking in a closet somewhere? Could Shred compell you to give it another go, or should Tony have just cut his losses and buried everything in the desert with those old E.T. Atari cartridges?

Sep 7, 2010