There had been rumors a year or so back that the next Tony Hawk game was being developed with a prosthetic skateboard device a la Guitar Hero, but it’s finally been confirmed. The game trailer is up on the official site – THRide.com, after the game’s official name, Tony Hawk Ride. There aren’t any details on pricing, or anything else, really. Game Trailers TV has has the, uh, game trailer and a super short interview with Tony and the new developer, but the trouble is it’s split into two chapters with some unrelated stuff in between. Chapter one is where you watch Tony sidestep the popularity of the competitor “Skate.” Chapter three is where you watch the developer sidestep the popularity of Skate. Whatever, unless they kooked the game play completely, this thing has the makings of being a huge, huge hit. The board senses motion, whether or not you have a hand over it, etc… It’s free standing and not connected to anything. Pop a wheelie or a 180 and it’s reflected on screen. I’m just wondering what the aftermarket options will be for peripheral add-ons, like, say, trucks and wheels? Oh wait… The game comes out June 2,…

OK, definitely lamer than the title these guys came up with. Illusion Labs, The company that developed the Touch Grind game for the iPhone has demoed their touch screen games on one of those massive table top touch screens, and it looks pretty damn fun. The tiny size of the iPhone screen is the main criticism of this game, but hte table top display brings it to a whole new level, provided you can shell out 10k for the display. The game would also work on a laptop or notepad computer with a multitouch display. Watch the video after the jump.

This is another great find from WeirdoToys.com. The The Ertl brand released a series of toys called Socket Poppers in 1991. Socket Poppers are little action figures with completely interchangeable body parts. They were packaged with multiple figures in one pack, already partially mixed up. In our case, The Skateboarder came with Pterodactyl, as shown above.

I found this a site that sold scale model electric railroads and slot cars. I subscribed to their print catalog in hopes that they would feature it with more pictures, but they haven’t yet, and it’s been a couple years. I was hoping to be able to read the descriptions under the inset photos on the top of the box. It’s supposed to be HO scale, but I think that would make those skateboarders something 12 feet tall in real life. The product name is a throwback to the time when skateboarding still was inextricable from the state of California. Slot car racing still appeals to me, but somehow I don’t think It would be as fun with goofy looking tiny skateboarders instead of little muscle cars. Yours for anywhere from $96 to $26.

I don’t know about you, but I always had Ken pegged as more of the rollerblade type. Vintage 1993 Cool Times Ken outfit with skateboard accessory on sale now for a cool $36.99. “Skateboardin’ fashion and skateboard!” Ken is all mixed up. It’s 1993, and he’s sporting mid-80’s skateboard fashion and mid-70’s skateboard technology. I think that’s the same binding system that Daddy Yo uses. Barbie optional, because she wouldn’t be caught dead hanging out with you in that getup.

Speaking of pixelated, it’s been a year and a half since we tackled bad skateboarding video games from the 8 bit days. It was called  “Seven days of bad skateboarding video games” but apparently I abandoned the concept after only three ( 1 – 2 – 3) days. Metro Cross has the honor of winning the worst video game box cover in a PC World article. – Thanks to Bobcat for the tip.

Just as there is a group of enthusiasts who get a kick out of building life size models of objects, including skateboards, from Legos, there’s another group of Lego builders that exclusively builds larger than life (10x) replicas of Lego figures out of… Legos. Dave over at Brick Player has made a 10x replica of a Lego minifig skateboarder. In case you are wondering, he’s got a popsicle in his hand for some reason.

The Skate Zombies series of vinyl toys by Japanese designer Tsuchiya Shobu. They go by the names Bone, Mummy, and Mosquito. They are ten inches tall and come with what looks to be a detachable skateboard. Expect to drop about $80. $80???? The tooling process must be pretty expensive for a small run, otherwise we’d be selling GVK dolls, errr, I mean figures. [Source: Lost at E Minor]

Thank god for eBay, otherwise I could have gone my whole life without ever knowing this “Keep on Smurfin'” mini license plate thingy existed. I’m going to hang this on my hog… if I had one. A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man.

The Escapist Magazine presents this No Punctuation productions review of EA’s Skate 2, and it’s pretty funny, from just about any point of view. Check it out after the jump. Make sure you close the annoying advert or it will prove to be very distracting. – Thanks to Colin for the tip.