Tony Hawk Once Modded His Friend’s PS1 to Get Early THPS Feedback

Tony Hawk once modified his friend's PlayStation 1 in order to get feedback on early builds of the original Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater.

This is according to the Birdman himself, who told the story during a panel at iicon about the lasting legacy of the THPS series.

Back in 1998, Hawk was working with Neversoft on early versions of the soon-to-be legendary skateboarding game, which at the time was borne out of a modified version of the failed Bruce Willis-branded game Apocalypse.

Hawk said at one point he modified his friend Atiba’s PS1 – presumably referring to skater and photographer Atiba Jefferson, who later appeared in THPS 4 – to be able to play the burned game discs in order to give him feedback.

But at one point, Hawk started hearing rumors within the hardcore skate community, with comments like “have you guys played ‘the game?'” starting to circulate.

That's when Hawk knew they did something right, and that the skateboarders were going to enjoy this.