When a gaming company manages to churn out a hit franchise, we'd most probably think that they hit paydirt, like what Activision did when they came up with the Guitar Hero series of games. However, the benefits of coming up with a great title may be a bit of a bane as well.

According to analyst Mike Hickey from Janco Partners, the emerging competition resulting from Activision's Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk franchises may prove to be "damaging for growth prospects".

Of course, when talking about Guitar Hero's and Tony Hawk's competition, it can only mean Harmonix' Rock Band (for the Xbox 360, PS3) and EA's Skate (also for the Xbox 360 and PS3). Hickey said that Rock Band may prove to be a compelling option in the console music gaming genre, which may eventually mean trouble for Activision itself.

Hickey said that analysts are expecting the Guitar Hero series to develop and evolve with the addition of new music peripherals in the near future, which will help the franchise in staying afloat in the midst of competition.

I'll level with you guys. The last Tony Hawk title I played was THPS 2. Yes, the PS1 title. OK, I did get to play a bit with the GBA version of Underground 2, but since that was one horrible experience I'm trying to forget, it doesn't count. As for the Xbox 360 version, all I got was an onlooker's view at my girlfriend's brother playing the game. That's why when I first decided to make a review of Tony Hawk's Project 8, the latest in the Birdman's videogame franchise, I felt kind of like a total newbie coming in. Anyway, here goes. It's a bit late (Project 8 was a launch title, after all), but here it is. On with the show.

The setup for Project 8 is pretty straightforward. Tony's looking for the eight top skaters (hence, Project 8) in town. It's your goal as a hopeful to move up from rank 200 in order to crack the top eight and make it into the Birdman's lineup. In order to climb higher, you'll need to skate like there's no tomorrow and steadily improve your skills.

Of course, if we're talking PS3, graphics will always be involved. While Project 8 certainly does not disappoint, there are still a few issues here and there. Maybe I'm just looking for too much realism in games, but the faces of the pro skaters do look like zombies at times - most notably in the CG intro (which is the same as the trailer). But hey, that's just me. I didn't really see that much of a difference compared to the Xbox 360 version, but all in all, the graphics are still impressive. Not mind-blowing, but impressive.

The full article awaits after the jump!

Activision announced today that their launch games for both the Wii and PS3 have shipped to retail stores nationwide and are already up for grabs. The following games from the company's lineup are now in stores:

• Tony Hawk's Project 8 (PS3, Xbox360)
  
• Call of Duty 3 (Wii, PS3)
  
• Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (Wii, PS3)
  
• Tony Hawk: Downhill Jam (Wii, DS)
  

The company will also be releasing two more Wii titles on November 22nd, Rapala Tournament Fishing and World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions.

Yeah, we know, these games would mean absolutely nothing without the consoles, but wouldn't you want to get a head start before everyone starts flocking to stores for these games? And for the lucky few who already have their Wii's and PS3's, go grab these games now! (Or maybe after you're done drooling over your beautiful consoles...?)

From the fellows at Joystiq comes this strange and potentially annoying tidbit for 360 and PS3 gamers. According to the German gaming site Games-Aktuell, two of Activision's latest titles aren't running as well as they should be.

Call of Duty 3 and Tony Hawk's Project 8 are apparently running at less than 720p. In this case, COD 3 is running at 1040x620 pixels, while Tony Hawk's latest skateboard game is at 1040x580. Not exactly the kind of stellar looks one would expect to see on new Xbox 360 titles.

In either case, it doesn't seem to be for the purpose of increasing framerates as Project 8 still has framerate woes, so Joystiq asks a rather pertinent question. Additional follow-up reveals that Activision Germany is looking into the problem, though they weren't aware of it originally.

Now, how does this affect PS3 gamers? Well, if the same little problems that popped up in the Xbox 360 versions are a result of bad coding, then there's a pretty good chance new owners of PS3s will not be getting the kind of gameplay they were expecting from the two titles upon purchasing the system. Not exactly the response to Gears of War that Activision was hoping CoD 3 could be, but oh well. Still, here's to hoping they find out what's wrong and fix it.

Tony Hawk seems to be following Tiger Woods' footsteps. No, Tony won't drop his skateboard for golf clubs mind you, it's just that after we got hold of a Tiger Woods PS3-360 comparison video, here comes yet another one. But this time, it's Tony Hawk's Project 8 (PS3, Xbox360) that'll be put up for comparison.

Now, this is not to spawn yet another console war, but rather, this is to see whether there really are differences in the way the game was developed for both consoles. It's kinda funny though 'coz personally, I don't see much difference. The video quality is kinda crappy so it comes out pixelated, but seriously, if you don't pay attention to the lower left hand corner where it shows which console the clip is taken from, you probably won't notice the difference too. I mean there were no snappy "Ah! That's on PS3!" comments.

But hey, that's just me. So check out the vid yourself and let us know what you think.

Didn't your mother ever tell you never to release a game if Gears of War has an Emergence Day? Tee-hee. We kid. Tony Hawk's got a lot of backing on his games, too. Heck, he's cool enough to even release the PS3 version of his next game even before the console is out!

Anyways, yes folks! Despite the tidal wave of Emergence Day posts that we've posted, we won't let a sports game like this pass by. As of now, Activision's Tony Hawk's Project 8 for the PS3 and Xbox 360 has been shipped to retailers and is available for US$ 59.99 (either which version). While the next-gen versions are already out, the PSP one is still wrapped up for a late-November release.

Now you can get to compete with the world's top amateurs and climb your way into Tony Hawk's Project 8 Team. It's going to be a skate-match to be the best of the best. And no, it's not about the gears of war...it's about the tricks of skating.

Aside from being all published by Activision, what else do Call of Duty 3 (PS3, X360, Wii), Marvel Ultimate Alliance (PS3, X360, Wii) and Tony Hawk Project 8 (PS3, X360, Wii) have in common? Nope, it's not that these games are slowly becoming bad ports of of each other. The answer we were looking for is that they will all be available the moment the PS3 launches.

On a related matter, Activision just held its second quarter financial conference call and guess what? They reported that all three games will also launch together with the console in Europe by March. If memory serves right, this is the first confirmation we've reported when it comes to PS3 European launch titles.

This is rather good news for our friends there as the delay seems to bring Sony into getting its acts finally together. While Europe have to wait for four long, agonizing months, it is just 11 more days to go for the North American Market. We'll try to get all games as possible and we'll gladly share them with you. How about you, what titles are you planning to pick up?

Buy: [Call of Duty 3 (PS3)]
Buy: [Marvel Ultimate Alliance (PS3)]
Buy: [Tony Hawk Project 8 (PS3)]

Let's open this post with a minor warning: this is something for audiophiles. Okay warning done, let's get started.

David Rowe is the Lead Sound Designer for Tony Hawk’s Project 8. If you dig the audio on the Tony Hawk games and you have no idea or who David Rowe is, here's a bit of enlightenment for you: he's been working on Sound Design for Tony Hawk games since THPS4.

By audio we don't mean just the Soundtrack, we mean, all the audio you hear, from the rumble of skateboard wheels on pavement to the nice bloody thud of human flesh on asphalt. So when Mr. Rowe makes a blog post on IGN about how the audio in Tony Hawk works, you better listen to him.

He says that with the Xbox 360 and the PS3, they were able to expand the audio memory footprint. This is due to the increased power of the next-gen consoles. They focused on areas that could really tie the controller to the act of skating.

They wanted more randomness to the audio. They want a better, tighter feel to it all. That's why they had to rip the old audio system apart and make a whole new one.

Get the rest of the audio-trip after the Jump!

Buy: [Tony Hawk’s Project 8 (PS3)]
Buy: [Tony Hawk’s Project 8 (PSP)]
Buy: [Tony Hawk’s Project 8 (Xbox 360)]

How well can you nail a trick? If you're playing a skateboarding game by Tony Hawk, it's certain that you're going to master that art. Before you can skate though, you have to learn how to fall.

That's why we're inviting you to watch this video and count how many wipes happen during the video. Let it be known that even the best of playtesters can muck up Activision's gameplay videos with bad falls and landings. The sheer fun of grabbing air, performing a flip, and landing flawlessly is still one heck of a rewarding accomplishment, especially if this game is your first foray into the world of skateboarding games.

One thing you'll also notice in this video is the liberal use of the Project 8 version of "bullet time" maneuvers. You'll get to see a bunch of instances where, in the middle of a trick, the player can slow down time. In this case, using bullet time in mid-air allows you to flip your board to add points to your trick. You gotta love how flashy that feels. Let us know if you manage to do more than three board flips, and keep checking QJ for more on Tony Hawk's Project 8 for the Xbox 360 and the PS3.



Buy: [Tony Hawk’s Project 8 for Xbox 360]

What makes Tony Hawk’s Project 8 feel so new? We gamers of course, would hands down say that it's the trick sticks. The new control feature just makes this aged series feel so new. But that's the stuff what we gamers notice. What does skater/crazy-person Bam Margera think?

Well, according to him, it's the fact that the animations in this game include landed tricks that aren’t perfect. Those little nuances make this game feel that much more real. Well, that's what he says. Of course some of us still prefer to see impossible in real-life face-plants and tricks. Click the play button on the embed below and see for yourself.

Yep, that’s him in a funny Tron (mo-cap) suit.

Buy: [Tony Hawk’s Project 8 for Xbox 360]
Buy: [Tony Hawk’s Project 8 for PSP]