PS2 gets first online game

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 will be the PlayStation 2's first online game, publisher Activision has revealed. Larry Goldberg, executive VP of Activision Worldwide Studios said in a statement, that "By introducing an online component to the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater franchise, we are not only upping the ante in the action sports category but in console gaming on the whole". For once, we agree. The game will use GameSpy as its matchmaking service, and will support the Sony Ethernet/modem adapter when it launches, as well as "a number of third party peripherals including USB Ethernet Adapters and USB Modems". The game will use peer-to-peer networking rather than the popular client/dedicated server style of PC games like Quake. It's interesting to note that scant few details are included in this announcement of which ISP will be handling the modem dialup, or how much it will cost. We can only assume that it will be a non-subscription 0845 dialup service. The Ethernet situation is even less obvious, with no news whatsoever on when that adapter will launch in this country. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 is due out on November 23rd in the UK and Europe. Related Feature - Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 Dreamcast review