Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater: A Modded Memory from the Birdman Himself

Let’s take a trip down memory lane with the legendary Tony Hawk, who recently shared an intriguing story about the early days of the iconic Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series. During a panel at the iicon conference, the Birdman himself revealed how he took his passion for skateboarding to the next level by modding a PlayStation 1 to provide feedback on the game’s initial builds.

Back in 1998, Hawk was deeply involved with Neversoft, working on what would soon become a groundbreaking skateboarding game, initially evolved from a failed project based on Bruce Willis’s Apocalypse. Hawk reminisced, “Every week, they’d burn a CD with new updates, and I’d be playing them on my modified PS1.” He would jot down his thoughts and suggestions, only to receive another disc with updates the following week.

But it didn’t stop there. Feeling a bit isolated in this exciting journey since he was one of the few pro skaters on the team, Hawk decided to share the love. He started making copies of the game builds and passing them around to fellow skaters who he knew were serious gamers. “I hope I don’t get in trouble for this, over 20 years later,” he chuckled.

At one point, Hawk even modded his friend Atiba’s PS1—yes, that’s the Atiba Jefferson known from THPS 4—to let him try the game as well. “Atiba provided some invaluable feedback and soon, he was inviting others over to play. We were really going rogue,” Hawk admitted.

As whispers began to spread in the hardcore skating community about “the game,” Hawk realized they might have hit gold. “When I started hearing comments like ‘Have you played the game?’ it made me proud,” he said. “I had no clue it would go beyond the skater scene, but hearing people just call it ‘the game’ filled me with pride.”

During the same panel, Hawk mentioned that if there’s a chance to make another game, he’s all in for a remaster of Tony Hawk’s Underground. “People have been buzzing about wanting a remaster of Underground for years now. I’m not sure who I need to pitch this to, but that’s the one I’d love to see,” he expressed.

On a side note, the team behind the recent remaster of THPS 3+4, Iron Galaxy, unfortunately faced another wave of layoffs recently, following significant job cuts in 2025. It’s a tough time for many in the gaming industry.

Stay tuned for more updates from the gaming world, where every story has the potential to shape our favorite titles!