Perfect Stride

Last updated
Perfect Stride
Developer(s) Arcane Kids
Publisher(s) LA Game Space (alpha)
Designer(s) Ben Esposito, Russell Honor
Engine Unity
Platform(s) Windows, Macintosh
Release2013 (alpha)
Genre(s) Sports
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Perfect Stride is a semi-unreleased unfinished indie skateboarding video game developed by Arcane Kids and released in an alpha form in 2013.

Contents

Gameplay

Perfect Stride is a first-person skateboarding simulator that players can do tricks in and socialize with other players online. It is set in an alternate universe in which pro skater Tony Hawk had never landed the 900 at X Games V in 1999 and achieved widespread recognition, and thus had never "triggered an explosion of corporate skateboarding", leading to the rise-in-power of an immortal "time wizard" who uses his abilities to prevent anybody from dying. [1] [2] [3] The player's overarching goal is to venture through the various islands within the game's dystopian environment and find what is rumored to be the very last bullet to exist on Earth and use it to kill the Time Wizard once and for all. [1]

The game takes place within a metaphorical depiction of Yahoo! Geocities and serves as a symbol of the "dying web," noting that the various pieces of architecture are representative of personal web pages. [3] Perfect Stride takes inspiration from early movement exploits in first-person shooting games. [4] Making use of only the computer mouse, it utilizes a unique control scheme in which the player clicks the left and right buttons to build up force and moves the mouse in that direction to gain momentum. [1] A "rewind" feature allowing players to correct mistakes is also present in the game, included out of the developers' experiences with other games and a desire to make the gameplay fair. [1] The rewind gimmick is also tied into the game's plot; the player is unable to die at any point at all in the game, as time is frozen whenever they are about to and they are forced to rewind out of it. [1]

Development

Perfect Stride was announced by developer Arcane Kids in 2013. The concept for Perfect Stride was inspired by developer and co-creator Ben Esposito's early attempts to modify Half-Life 2 , in which he mistakenly produced an unorthodox style of control that he felt would be interesting as a game of its own. [1] Esposito brought the idea to co-developer Russell Honor, who took a full month in order to faithfully recreate the style of movement that Esposito had described. [1] The game is meant to simulate the social atmosphere of a real-life skate park, taking heed from early mods and online chat rooms, [5] and is intended to provide a laid-back multiplayer experience, with the team referring to it as a "lifestyle game". [3]

An early access alpha version of Perfect Stride was first made available to backers of the Kickstarter campaign for LA Game Space in August 2013. [1] [2] [5] The build was a finalist for the "Excellence in Visual Arts" category in the 2014 Independent Games Festival, [6] and was released for free via the Internet Archive when LA Game Space ceased operation in 2018. [7] [8]

Due to its ambitious nature, [5] the game is still in development and planned for an eventual release via Steam, with intentions to include a level editor and a full-fledged multiplayer feature separate from the story mode. [1] Though as of 2022 it is unlikely the game will ever be released as Arcane Kids has mostly split up with the about section of the game stating on Ben Esposito's website "The perfect game. Can you find a copy?". [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Hawk</span> American professional skateboarder (born 1968)

Anthony Frank Hawk, nicknamed Birdman, is an American professional skateboarder, entrepreneur, and the owner of the skateboard company Birdhouse. A pioneer of modern vertical skateboarding, Hawk completed the first documented "900" skateboarding trick in 1999. He also licensed a skateboarding video game series named after him published by Activision that same year. He retired from competing professionally in 2003 and is regarded as one of the most influential skateboarders of all time.

<i>Tony Hawks Pro Skater</i> (video game) 1999 video game

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, released as Tony Hawk's Skateboarding in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and parts of Europe, is a skateboarding video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It was released for the PlayStation on September 29, 1999 and was later ported to the Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, Dreamcast, and N-Gage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neversoft</span> American video game developer

Neversoft Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Woodland Hills, California. The studio was founded by Joel Jewett, Mick West and Chris Ward in July 1994 and was acquired by Activision in October 1999. Initially, the studio worked with Playmates Toys, where they worked on the game Skeleton Warriors, which was based on a animated television series of the same name. Throughout 1996, the studio grew, and worked on projects with Crystal Dynamics and Sony Computer Entertainment, but due to internal conflicts, they were cancelled.

<i>Tony Hawks Underground</i> 2003 video game

Tony Hawk's Underground is a 2003 skateboarding video game and the fifth entry in the Tony Hawk's series after Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4. It was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision in 2003 for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Game Boy Advance. In 2004, it was published for Microsoft Windows in Australia and New Zealand as a budget release.

<i>Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2</i> 2000 video game

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 is a skateboarding video game developed by Neversoft and published by Activision. It is the second installment in the Tony Hawk's series of sports games and was released for the PlayStation in 2000, with subsequent ports to Microsoft Windows, Game Boy Color, and Dreamcast the same year. In 2001, the game was ported to the Mac OS, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo 64, and Xbox. The game was later ported to Windows Mobile and Windows Phone devices in 2006 and to iOS devices in 2010.

<i>Tony Hawks Underground 2</i> 2004 video game

Tony Hawk's Underground 2 is a 2004 skateboarding video game, the sixth entry in the Tony Hawk's series after Tony Hawk's Underground. It was developed by Neversoft and published by Activision on October 4, 2004 in the U.S. for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Microsoft Windows, and Game Boy Advance platforms. The PlayStation Portable version was released in March 15 the following year, renamed Tony Hawk's Underground 2: Remix, which includes extra levels and characters.

NovaLogic, Inc. was a software developer and publisher established in 1985 and based in Calabasas, California. The company was founded by CEO John A. Garcia. Garcia's background in computer software started in Southern California in the early 1980s, when he worked at Datasoft. The company was known for their Voxel Space engine, which was utilized in franchises such as the Comanche and Delta Force series. In October 2016, NovaLogic's assets were bought out by THQ Nordic and is currently an inactive label for the company.

<i>Tony Hawks American Sk8land</i> 2005 video game

Tony Hawk's American Sk8land is a skateboarding video game in the Tony Hawk's series. The game, a port of its console counterpart, was published by Activision in 2005 as the first handheld release in the series for the Nintendo DS, and the fifth to appear on Game Boy Advance. It was the first third-party game released for the Nintendo DS supporting online play.

<i>Tony Hawks Downhill Jam</i> 2006 video game

Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam is a skateboarding video game in the Tony Hawk's series. The game, named after the level "Downhill Jam" from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, was published by Activision in 2006 as a timed Nintendo exclusive for the Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance, and Wii. In 2007, it was published for the PlayStation 2. It is a spin-off in which accompanies the release of Tony Hawk's Project 8, which is conversely available on non-Nintendo systems.

Tony Hawk's is a skateboarding video game series published by Activision and endorsed by the American professional skateboarder of the same name. The series was primarily developed for home consoles by Neversoft from launch to 2007, until Activision transferred the franchise to Robomodo in 2008, who developed the franchise until 2015 when Activision and Hawk's license expired, leaving the future of the series uncertain. In 2020, the series returned under Activision with a remake of the original two games in the series, with development handled by Vicarious Visions. The series has spawned a total of 20 games.

<i>Tony Hawks Pro Skater 5</i> 2015 video game

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 is a 2015 skateboarding video game developed in a collaboration between Robomodo and Disruptive Games, and published by Activision. The tenth main installment in the Tony Hawk's series, the game is the first new title in the main series since 2007's Proving Ground and the first Pro Skater since 2002's Pro Skater 4, as the series had been put on hold following a lack of critical and commercial success with later games.

<i>Magicka</i> 2011 video game

Magicka is an action-adventure video game developed by Swedish independent developer Arrowhead Game Studios. It was released via Steam for Microsoft Windows on January 25, 2011.

<i>Tony Hawks Pro Skater HD</i> 2012 video game

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD is a skateboarding video game in the Tony Hawk's series. Developed by Robomodo and published by Activision, Pro Skater HD is a high-definition remake of classic levels from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Pro Skater 2, and, via download, Pro Skater 3. It was released in 2012 for Xbox 360 through Xbox Live Arcade on July 18, for PlayStation 3 through PlayStation Network on August 28 and Steam on September 18. The game was delisted from Steam and all other digital marketplaces on July 17, 2017.

<i>Goat Simulator</i> 2014 video game

Goat Simulator is a third-person perspective action video game developed and published by Coffee Stain Studios. It was released for Microsoft Windows in April 2014, and ports for Linux and OS X were released in June 2014. Mobile versions for Android and iOS were released in September 2014. Versions for the Xbox 360 and Xbox One were released in April 2015, and for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 in August 2015; these ports were developed by Double Eleven. A Nintendo Switch version containing the game and downloadable content was released in January 2019.

<i>Sonic Dreams Collection</i> 2015 video game

Sonic Dreams Collection is a 2015 art game developed by Arcane Kids for OS X and Windows. It is an unofficial game based on Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog franchise that compiles four minigames presented as unfinished Sonic games, but the game as a whole later reveals itself to be a psychological horror game satirizing the modern Sonic fandom, which is known for its peculiarities. They include the character creator Make My Sonic, the massively multiplayer online role-playing game Eggman Origin, the adventure game Sonic Movie Maker, and the virtual reality (VR) game My Roommate Sonic. They are described in-game as having been developed by a nonexistent Sega studio for the Dreamcast in the late 1990s.

<i>Bubsy 3D: Bubsy Visits the James Turrell Retrospective</i> 2013 video game

Bubsy 3D: Bubsy Visits the James Turrell Retrospective is a browser-based 3D platform video game developed by indie game developer Arcane Kids. Touted as an educational experience, it is a facetious spiritual successor to Bubsy 3D, an entry from the Bubsy series of video games, and was created as a tribute to the game for its 18th anniversary. The game follows Bubsy Bobcat as he travels through a nightmarish scenario upon visiting the real-life retrospective tribute of postmodern artist James Turrell. It was released in autumn 2013 – shortly after the domain name for Bubsy 3D's official website had expired. In 2017, in addition to making a downloadable version of the game available due to the fading support of the browser version of Unity, a remastered version of the game was made available with high-definition graphics and a new epilogue following Bubsy reminiscing over the events of the game and meeting his older self.

THUG Pro is a total conversion mod of the 2004 video game Tony Hawk's Underground 2. It uses its gameplay as the basis for an all-encompassing collection of levels from every original Neversoft game in the series, for use in single-player and online multiplayer gameplay.

Arcane Kids is an independent video game studio based in Los Angeles, California. They are a collective of developers, largely known for creating surreal and humorous video games using the Unity engine. As of 2015, the group consisted of 5 members, including Ben Esposito, Russell Honor, Tom Astle, Jacob Knipfing, and Yuliy Vigdorchik. The name "Arcane Kids" was derived from a mysterious rewritable compact disc with the phrase inscribed on top of it, which was found lying in a patch of dirt.

<i>Tony Hawks Pro Skater 1 + 2</i> 2020 video game

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 is a 2020 skateboarding video game developed by Vicarious Visions and published by Activision. It was released for PlayStation 4, Windows and Xbox One on September 4, 2020, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on March 26, 2021, and Nintendo Switch on June 25, 2021. It is a remaster of the first two games in the Tony Hawk's series: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (1999) and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (2000), which were originally developed by Neversoft. It is the first major console game in the series since Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 (2015) and is noted for being Vicarious Visions' final work as a subsidiary of Activision before it was merged into Blizzard Entertainment on January 22, 2021.

<i>Skatebird</i> 2021 skateboarding video game

Skatebird is a skateboarding video game developed by American studio Glass Bottom Games. It was released for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and Amazon Luna on September 16, 2021.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "How Arcane Kids replaced Tony Hawk's 900 with a Time Wizard in Perfect Stride". Polygon . 22 June 2013.
  2. 1 2 Williams, Katie (29 May 2013). "Zineth developer's next project is Perfect Stride, a psychedelic skateboarding game". PC Gamer.
  3. 1 2 3 "Asher Penn". asherpenn.com. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  4. ↑ "Perfect Stride". pstride.tumblr.com.
  5. 1 2 3 "Confessions of an online prankster: A good laugh with Ben Esposito - Kill Screen". 14 June 2016. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  6. ↑ "IGF 2014 Finalists feature - Perfect Stride".
  7. ↑ "Perfect Stride". 22 August 2016.
  8. ↑ "LA Game Space: Experimental Game Pack 01 - Windows".
  9. ↑ "Perfect Stride – Ben Esposito" . Retrieved 2022-06-16.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.