Right, Down + Circle: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (12)

by Cole Nowicki

An exuberant, incisive look at how Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater transformed a culture Going from a hobby toy for surfers to an Olympic sport, skateboarding has had a tumultuous history. Today, professional skateboarders land endorsement deals with Nike and Adidas, while popular television series like HBO’s Betty tell the stories of diverse crews of skaters living in New York City. So how did a fledgling subculture rise from its near-death knell in the ’90s to become ubiquitous today? It was simply a matter of finding the right messenger. In 1999, the bestselling video game Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater was released, and a new generation was exposed to skateboarding culture right in their very own homes. Kids and adults alike could now spend hours playing as actual skateboarders, learning the vernacular, listening to the music skateboarders loved, and having fun onscreen before trying to skate IRL in the driveway. Right, Down + Circle explores how a video game starring the most famous pro skater in the world brought skateboarding culture ― and its ever-shifting markers of music, subversion, and coolness ― to the masses and ultimately transformed the culture it borrowed from in the process.

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, Sports

128 pages, Paperback

Published September 26, 2023

Reviews

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Right, Down + Circle, author Cole Nowicki unearths the circumstances and happenstance that ultimately led to the creation of what Electronic Playground dubbed "..maybe the perfect video game" in 1999 - Tony Hawk's Pro Skater.

Born and raised in Athabasca, Alberta, Cole found his way into skateboarding at a young age through both his older brother's fascination with it as well as an obsession with the 1999 video game, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. How exactly did THPS succeed when so many skateboarding games failed miserably? Is there a direct correlation with the success of THPS and the adoption of skateboarding as an olympic sport at the 2020 Tokyo games? Did THPS pave the way for Goldfingers song "Superman" to become a seminal anthem for a generation? I guess in so many words, did THPS save skateboarding?

Just a few years before THPS launched, the skateboarding "industry" itself was on the ropes. With ESPN launching The Extreme Games (now dubbed The X Games), skateboarding finally had somewhat of a national platform yet still could not find its way into the cultural zeitgeist of the 90s after the dizzying highs it enjoyed in the 70s and 80s. So how did Activision (game publisher) do it exactly? Well, it took the notoriety of Tony Hawk and combined it with a fun, arcade-style game complete with licensed music. While it was difficult to truly master, it was easy and accessible enough for anyone to just pick up a controller and play.

While many games that followed would grab their own audience (Olli Olli, EA's Skate franchise, Thrasher: Skate and Destroy to name a few), no one could quite match the cultural impact of THPS. There is certainly something to be said for someone who does it first and does it right because even though there were games that preceded THPS, none did it quite so flawlessly; even if the sequels that followed eventually produced diminishing results.

While it's a short read at about one hundred and twenty pages or so, it's just about the perfect length for the story Nowicki wishes to tell. Nowicki blends his own story of those formative years spent practicing heel flips in his parents' driveway alongside skateboarding's cultural reemergence all thanks to Neversoft and Activision's "perfect video game".

[Lance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finding a book on the history of skateboarding can be a challenge. Writing a book that not only incorporates the history and culture of the sport, but also to write about the video game series that helped push skateboarding to the mainstream sounds like an even bigger challenge, but author Cole Nowicki does a good job of blending the two items together in this quick but fun read.

Nowicki developed his love for skateboarding through playing the video game in the title and he talked not only about this game’s series (there were five editions) but also other video games in which a player would control a skateboarding character. While one does not have be a video game player to understand the text, it certainly helps.

The same goes for Nowicki’s description of the subculture of skateboarding. I didn’t know the difference between a 720 and a 900 before reading this book, and frankly I still will admit to not being fully understanding of the sport. But that doesn’t take away the very good storytelling Nowicki puts on display. He also does a fine job of chronicling the progress made to make the sport more diverse and inclusive from its beginnings as a largely white male activity. That is still the case but there are now more women, people of color and non-binary skateboard enthusiasts, per the book.

At about 100 page, depending on which version one reads, this is a quick read and not one that goes into a lot of detail - but for a quick look at the world of skateboarding and the video games it inspired (or is it the other way around), this is a worthwhile endeavor.

I wish to thank ECW Press for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

https://sportsbookguy.blogspot.com/20...

[Siobhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Right, Down + Circle is a bitesized look at the Pro Skater series of games and of the impact of Tony Hawk upon public perception of skateboarding. Nowicki explores the skateboarding games that came before, the release and impact of Pro Skater 1, and the sequels to the original, before exploring the present day position of Tony Hawk as a kind of father figure of skateboarding. All of this comes together into a love letter to the game series and to the impact it had on Nowicki and many other people in engaging people with skateboarding both in a video game and real life context.

Even as someone who has barely played Pro Skater or any of its sequels, I enjoyed how the book is infused with enthusiasm and an awareness of wider context like representation in skateboarding games (and reality). The memorable nature of the soundtrack of these games is also really interesting, and just generally how the subculture was made more mainstream (something I remember as a child when the first Pro Skater game came out, growing into a teenage who wished they could skateboard). The book builds towards skateboarding being included in the Tokyo Olympics and how Tony Hawk has become very popular online, especially for his stories of people thinking he looks like Tony Hawk, and it does feel like its argument of the importance of the Pro Skater games is successful, making you want to go and have a play.

[Isaac · Rating 5 out of 5]

Underrated.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a digital ARC of this book in exchange for a review.

Right, Down + Circle is a nice little diversion - a quick read, enjoyable, and focused on a subject that brings a lot of enjoyment to people. I enjoy the Pop Classics series, although the quality can vary, and this is one of their better ones. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater was a video game franchise that came right as culture was starting to splinter, and though skateboarding was initially a niche hobby, the game became a monocultural hit. I played the game and loved it as a kid. I got a skateboard, tried it a couple times in my driveway, and gave up on it. Would I have tried it without this game? Hard to say. Many of my friends were doing things on skateboards, and I may have given it a shot. Were they on skateboards because of the game? Maybe. But the fact that I have to ask does show the influence of the game.

As Nowicki explains, it's very hard to quantify the impact of Pro Skater. Much of the data is anecdotal, but it certainly feels like the game was a humongous cultural influence. Nowicki does a great job of relating his own personal experiences with the game and making them universal, and also addressing Hawk's ability to stay culturally relevant and adapt with the times.

Overall, an enjoyable read, particularly for a certain subset of millennials.

[Matt Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick read, but also a trip down memory lane as I have a lot of fond memories of playing THPS2 in college. The advance reader copy of this book clocks in at 113 pages or so, but the retail version looks to be 90 pages. This book dug into the history of skateboarding video games, and I wasn't aware of most of them, so it was fun to read about the early primitive games. This book isn't just a retelling of how the THPS franchise came to be a monster, but the author also goes into his backstory on how he got into skateboarding and the THPS games.
Overall, an enjoyable read. I am sure there are other books on Tony Hawk or the Pro Skater series, but this was a quick read that you can get through in a few days at most.

[Josh Katz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book filled in some crucial cracks in my knowledge of skate history. Tony Hawk (both the game and the person) is the perfect foil for exploring skateboarding's evolution, and Nowicki takes you on an insightful, humorous, and highly nostalgic journey that helps explain how skateboarding became what it is today.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

The games and the soundtrack were massively influential to my upbringing. I’ve watched the different doc, bought the soundtrack on vinyl, listened to podcasts and have wanted to read this book for awhile. Ended up getting the audiobook version which was good, but I have to guess that there was some photos or graphics in the book that may have enhanced the read.

[gavin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that uses the fact and phenomenon of Tony Hawk Pro Skater as a love letter to a life long passion. Cole steps away from the "here's what happened" to give us little beautiful insights into his brain. I'd quote a couple but this is a short read and it's better you just pick it up yourself.

[Andris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I skateboard, I played THPS, I'm biased.

[Petty Lisbon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I never played the video game or read a video game book but it really captured where skating was at the time in pop culture and how this franchise became a phenomenon.

[Orlando Mendez · Rating 5 out of 5]

For nostalgia sake and because I had a smile on my face the whole time.

[Bobby Winner · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good, quick read. It provides great insight into the industries of skateboarding, video games, sports in general, and Tony Hawk

[Joshua Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Start to finish, a perfect book for THPS lovers, no notes. I just wish it were longer and spent more time on the soundtrack portions. But we have PRETENDING I’M A SUPERMAN as a supplement.