The Witzard

Jim Jagger While Developing THPS4, Neversoft Woodland Hills Office in California (2002) "My name is Jim Jagger, and I am an Animation Director in the video game industry. After spending my first few years making games in The UK, I wrote to Neversoft, begging for an opportunity to work on the Tony Hawk's [Pro Skater] series. My love for the game began with "The Warehouse Demo" and by the time I had completed THPS2 I was desperate to be involved. By some fluke or miracle, I found myself in California, breathing life into my favourite game! Catching the tail-end of THPS3, I primarily worked on THPS4 and THUG [Tony Hawk's Underground]." "There can be only one place to start and that's with [Goldfinger's] "Pretending I'm A Superman." This song epitomised the game so much that my friend and former Neversoft colleague, Ralph D'Amato, used it as the title for his recent documentary of The Tony Hawk Series. With the help of direct...

Pretending I'm A Superman Producer Ralph D'Amato (Left) & Director Ludvig Gür (Right) "Friends, I know it's been a little quiet on my side this past week, but, I assure you, everything is fine. Two weeks ago, my feature-length directorial debut, @thpsfilm, was released to a fantastic reception from critics and fans alike. It has remained in the Top 100 list of most-streamed films on @itunes for almost two weeks and still retains a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes . However, today is a very special day for another reason: 21 years ago, the game that the documentary is all about, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, was released. It took the world by storm and changed the lives of so many people throughout the years. I cannot overstate how much of an impact this low-budget video game made by a team of 12 people had on my life. It changed everything! So, here I am, holding up my first copy of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater for the PS1 (which was released as "Tony Hawk's...

THPS Film Crew L-R: Andrei Duman, Mark Giles, Tony Hawk, Ralp D'Amato, Ludvig Gür, Austin Droguett & Sam Young Last week, Activision announced their plans to release a re-mastered version of their wildly successful video games, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (1999) and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (2000) together, packaged as Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 . Affectionately known to fans as "THPS," this beloved game series birthed THPS 1-5 , Tony Hawk's Underground 1-2, American Wasteland, Project 8, Proving Ground , Ride, Shred , HD, and more between 1999-2016. My sister and I, personally, "owned" (well, our parents bought us) THPS1-4 , THUG 1-2, and American Wasteland for our N64 and it was a major part of my childhood. Plus, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 's in-game soundtracks played a huge role in my musical exploration as a youth and even as an adult. Last year marked 20 years since the original THPS game was released, which spawned a whole s...