EA announces Skate It for Wii and DS

Publisher Electronic Arts has announced the skateboarding game Skate It for the Nintendo Wii and the Nintendo Dual Screen. The game is a spin-off of Skate, which came out on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 in the fall of 2007.

According to EA producer Scott Blackwood, the choice to make a spin-off and not transfer the original game to Nintendo’s console was made because many gamers now have multiple consoles and the game also had to be interesting for people who already own Skate. . In addition, the hardware of the DS and the Wii offers possibilities that are not available on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. “We want to transfer the feel of Skate to the Wii remote and DS stylus and, for the full gaming experience, the Wii Balance Board,” told Blackwood in an interview with IGN.

Skate It, where ‘it’ stands for everything there is to skate in the game world, is not made by the developer of Skate, EA Black Box. However, a small group of Black Box employees work together with the studios that focus on Skate It. British Exient Entertainment, previously responsible for Game Boy Advance versions of FIFA Soccer and Need for Speed ​​for the Nintendo DS, is developing the DS version. The Wii version is being developed by EA Montreal, where Wii games Boogie and SSX Blur were created. The Wii version will support 480p and widescreen.

According to Blackwood, most of the basic elements of Skate are also present in Skate It. Both versions have an extensive career mode and the instant replay, with which tricks can be viewed directly from other camera angles, are also included in these versions. Finally, both versions will feature multiplayer modes. There is no release date yet, but Blackwood did tell IGN that the game should be released in at least 2008.