Activision's Tony Hawk branded skating games were so dominate when they first shreded into the gaming world that the once frequent skating genre, with games like Thrasher: Skate & Destroy coming out often, has lacked any significant entry that didn't feature Tony Hawk's name on it in years.

And depending on who you ask some might tell you that hasn't been good for the series lately. Underground 2 and American Wasteland haven't been huge successes critically compared to the rest of the series, though Project 8 looks to change things with an all new engine (FINALLY!)

But powerhouse publisher EA isn't letting Tony Hawk off the hook this season. The company officially announced a new PS3 and Xbox 360 game titled SKATE recently, with the following to say about it:

"Our game offers a skate mecca for both skaters and gamers in search of the definitive authentic skating video game experience," said Scott Blackwood, executive producer, EA Black Box. "We're focused on capturing the actual feeling of skating with the innovative control system, the physics driven animations, and the intelligent cameras working together to really deliver the closest thing to being on a board."

Closest thing to being on a board? That sounds promising, to say the least. Let's hope the game lives up - with Black Box behind it things are looking good. Stayed tuned to AceGamez for the latest news on SKATE as we get it...

*Logo is a concept logo and not an official design.