Skate 2 and the evolution from Tony Hawk

Games are a great escape, but more and more the line between them and reality are blurring more and more. Pressing buttons to perform actions is such a backseat in many of the games that we play that it has had to evolve to literally get people off their seat. Wii was the most prominent influence toward this new generation of games that involve bodily movement, making players literally swing a racket or golf club to perform well in their games. Rock Band has also forced players out of their seats and really get involved with the music they love as well, potentially increasing their fondness for real instruments.

And, on a smaller scale, Skate has taken out the conventional button-input commands towards a more spontaneous flick of the analog sticks.

When the first Skate came out, I admit that the new control scheme scared me. I just stopped playing the Tony Hawk games, and was still used to button-mashing every single move while I made ridiculous air. It's not until Skate 2 where I decided to return to my video-game-skateboarding roots.

Now the controls feel more natural, the tricks look more realistic, and the bails look incredibly painful. All in all, yet another game added to my ever-growing PS3 library.