I Forced My Kid To Get A Taste Of The ‘00s Through The Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4 Launch Event

Growing up in the ‘00s meant my days were filled with baggy jeans, hoodies where I’d worn a thumb hole into the sleeve, and blasting out the likes of Blink-182, Sum 41, or The Offspring loud enough to drive my paren🦩ts up the wall. Fortunately for them, I spent most of my days hanging out with skaters, having stolen my older brother’s skateboard, and for any kid in our year that wasn’t already part of the crew, Tony Haw🌼k’s Pro Skater was there to convert the masses.

Even if you were a bit of a cop-out on a real board, much like myself, you could at least be a pro skater from your couch, instead of on the half pipe. Our little ragtag skater crew was far from being excl🐠usive to just skateboarders or rollerskaters. We welcomed anyone who didn’t feel like they fit in with any other crowd, and it was a large part of our 🐲lives.

Bam Margera Wearing Sun Glasses And A Red Shirt.

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We’d spend our days hanging out along the local seafront or one of two quiet multistory carparks, because back then we didn’t have a skate park. Even if you weren’t skating yourself, you’d be sitting with others, shooting the breeze, and watching your mates wreck themse🌸lves on an ill-🌸timed attempt to grind a rail. It was hilarious.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater played a big part in inviting kids my age into the world of skateboarding. Among some of my gamer friends at school, I remember one guy making his own skateboard from some planks of wood after playing. Of course, it was a terrible 🅘deck, but that didn’t stop him from putting it to good use.

Shredding It Up At Shredenhams

Times have changed and now my hometown has plenty of nearby skate parks, but my skating days are long gone. I doubt I’d even be able to balance on a board now. Heck, my knees crack every time I bend them. Despite all that, as the launch for 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 loomed, I could feel allไ that nostalgia for 🐻my youth flooding back to me.

When💞 I was invited to check out the launch event at Shredenhams in Bristol, an indoor skatepark housed in an old Debenhams store (hence the name), how could I say no? It was the perfect opportunity to take my teenage son along so he could experience a little of what my childhood was like in more wa🦩ys than one.

The skatepark was decked out (get it?) especial൲ly for the launch event, and one of the first things we noticed were the yellow SKATE letters hanging from the ceiling. There was a skate competition to collect them all, so kudos to the brightspark that decided it was time to bring that THPS classic into the real world.

Beyond the skatepark itself, there was also a bar area and plenty of consoles set up for everyone to partake in a little THPS, which of course we did. It turns out virtual skating is nothing like riding a real life bike, in that I absolutely sucked, even though I know that I was not this terrible back in the day.

Fortunately, I could hide my shame by focusing on teaching my son the ropes for the first time, who was falling at the first hurd🍷le of knowing what any of the moves actually were. Before we knew it, hours had rolled by and he was still firmly glued to the controller. Safe꧃ to say he installed it at home soon after returning.

Giving Back To The Skate Community

To ce🔯lebrate the launch of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4, Tony Hawk and his team decided to give back to the skate community by donating two new ramps, a half pipe and a brand-new custom ramp with steps and a railing to Shredenhams, one of which the Birdman himself has skated.

“These permanent additions further c🏅ement the park’s role as a safe space for the Bristol skate community to have fun and e꧒xpress themselves, helping us support both grassroots events and all-age skate sessions,” says Nokes.

Shredenhams owners Andre Seidel and Tim Nokes collaborated in the design of the custom ramp also, which is meant to be “a love letter and thank you to the UK skate scene for its continued support of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater franchise💫 since its initial release in 1999.”

For the launch evenꦜt, some of the UK’s top skaters came for a skate jam, including Alex DeCunha, Rianne Evans, Joshua Mayson, and Adam Kay. They showcased some of THPS’s most i💙conic tricks and later in the evening, a Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater tribute band, The 900, cranked up the volume to wow the crowds. It was just like being back in the ‘00s.

The THPS team didn’𓂃t stop there. To further support the Bristol skate scene, they worked with Bristol-based artist Nick Harding (known as MobiusMaples) who creates sculptures out of recycled skateboard decks. Harding was left paralysed by Guillain-Barré syndrome in 2019, and during his recovery process, when he couldn’t skate, he channeled his love for skateboarding into creating sculptures.

Harding and Hawk went to London Zoo, one of the maps in the game, and exchanged gifts with Hawk receiving a bespoke sculpture to commemorate the launch of Tony Haw🧸k’s Pro Skater 3+4, and Harding receiving one of Hawk’s own decཧks.

New Skater Unlocked

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 +4 Launch event in Shredenhams Bristol.

I’m sure you’re waiting with bated bre💟ath to find out what my son thought of Shreden♛hams, the skatepark that would have made teenage me and my skater buddies green with envy. “Cool”, he said. That’s basically a 5-star review from a teenager that usually only grunts in response.

There have been countless games from my childhood that I have 💜attempted to force my son to appreciate over the years, but I’m sure he only said he liked them to get me off his back. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater was different.

It turns ou🐼t that over 20 years later, THPS is still cool with the kids, and so is skateboarding. Who needs all this Skibiddi nonsense? The cool kids are still the ones with board in hand, whether that’s in real life or on theಌ screen.

Myꦦ son has a newfound interest in skateboarding, though I may regret introducing him to this world if there’s suddenly an expensive skateboard on his Christmas list in just a few months’ time.