The legendary pro skater and the video-game developers look back at the 25-year-old classic’s underground sound Activision; Neversoft As a middle schooler in 1999 in suburban New Jersey, there wasn’t a massive punk rock scene reaching us 10 year olds. Turn on the radio, and the number one hit was “Mambo No. 5.
” You had to go looking for a band like Dead Kennedys. That September though, was released, and changed the . The game was a near immediate success, but the became the first introduction of thrash metal, garage rock, hip-hop and punk music for a wide range of people.
Twenty-five years later, the soundtrack, and game playthrough feel as relevant and timely as ever. The stars aligned at the perfect time for the game to be released. A few years earlier, the first ever X-Games had captured audiences and created a wave of interest in skateboarding, BMX biking, and any other extreme sports.
In the years that followed, Activision’s goal was to be the home for games covering this newfound fanbase — an alternative to EA’s empire of football and basketball. The ultimate precursor of the game’s success came on June 27, 1999, just a few months before the release, when Hawk landed the at the San Francisco X-Games — a move that developers would get Hawk’s avatar to accomplish in the final release, just in time for players everywhere to recreate it. To commemorate one of the most enduring ever assembled, reached out to some of the key players involved to talk about .
