Nintendo Wii Fanboy

We've taken two things away from this Skate It trailer: first, that EA is quite proud of their EA Trax. Second, that the choice to wreck San Vanelona for the game was an inspired one. The environments on display in this trailer are insane. Black Box has pulled off a bit of a magic trick here; because of all the rubble, the Skate It courses look kind of like they used to be a real city, but they can be laid out with skateboarding in mind.

Our opinion might change for the worse if there are too many mysteriously banked sections of road and random short lengths of railing in any one location.

Even though it's been eight years since Jet Set Radio was released for the Dreamcast, few games are its equal when it comes to style -- and even fewer have surpassed it. Jet Set Radio pioneered cel-shading in 2000, and just about every entry on the short list of games that out-cool it also followed in its footsteps. While Okami, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and No More Heroes all feature gorgeous toon-shading to the same effect, they also owe their beauty to the original, which brought the wild streets of Tokyo-to to life in an exciting new way. It's so stylish, it even gives 80's Prince a run for his money.

Jet Set Radio is a game of mad beats, madder cops and rad moves. You take on the role of the aptly-named Beat, the leader of an up-and-coming street gang in the bustling metropolis of Tokyo-to. Your gangs of Rudies, skate punks out to make their mark on the world, are the GG's. Your task? Usurp the territory of rival gangs, avoid the police, and tag your way to the top. And don't forget to jam out to some righteous tunes while you're at it. As developer Smilebit's first release, Jet Set Radio is a landmark title for the Sega Dreamcast, and it's their second game that's Born for Wii.

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Gallery: Born for Wii: Jet Set Radio

Every week, Born for Wii digs into gaming's sordid past to unearth a new treasure fit for revival on the Nintendo Wii. Be sure to check out last week's entry in the series, Sam & Max Hit the Road, and for more great titles that deserve your attention, take a look at Virtually Overlooked.

IGN's Daemon Hatfield spent some time with EA's Skate It, playing with both the Wiimote control scheme and the more novel Balance Board-based scheme. Getting real (non-demo/tutorial) gameplay for the first time, Hatfield described the setup that motivates your character to find things and skate them.

The character Reda from Skate returns with a camera to document all your tricks, promising a shot at a skating career outside of the destroyed San Vanelona if you have the goods. To this end, the game contains "photo" and "film" challenges in which you must pull off specific tricks for the camera after finding a location appropriate for the prescribed chains of tricks. Other challenges specify the location as well. You can earn enough points in a challenge to "own it" or exceed that minimum to "kill it," which earns you more gear, game modes, and other bonuses.

Check out the new screens that IGN obtained along with this preview, as well as (obviously) a new trailer.

A month after IGN (basically) leaked the existence of a Wii/DS version of Skate, IGN has revealed it -- for real this time! Developed by Skate developers Black Box and EA Montreal, Skate It is a spinoff from the PS3/Xbox 360 game, although since it doesn't have a storyline or anything, whether it's a continuation or a sequel or a spinoff or whatever doesn't really matter. It is based on the same engine.

The Wii version will use Wiimote motion controls, of course, but it will also use the Wii Balance Board! Check after the break for a trailer demonstrating the controls, and hit the link for IGN's interview with producer Scott Blackwood.

Oddly, IGN announced that EA's Skate would be coming to the Wii and DS, but then pulled the article soon after. It seems as if EA wasn't ready for this announcement to be made, although now it's a little too late -- the evidence is on Google.

While there's a small chance that this announcement was a mistake, or a belated April Fools' joke, we're going to make the safe bet that an official announcement on the game, to be called Skate It!, will be coming soon.

We also find the timing of this announcement interesting. It doesn't surprise us that EA would try to capitalize on its franchise by bringing it to Nintendo systems, but why bring Skate to the Wii after all this time? Could it be because the Balance Board will soon be available with the release of Wii Fit? We think so.

[Via Destructoid]