This happy embargo breaking man is Chef Joe Youkhan. He was so pleased to be catering for Tony Hawk that he just had to tell everyone:
And, yes, if you're wondering, that is a logo in the background that says Tony Hawk 5. The picture's gone now unsurprisingly from Joe's Instagram feed, so thanks to Alex Rubens for preserving the memory.
Interestingly, just in case there was any doubt, Activision have issued a statment saying that Tony Hawk 5 is a "working title", basically confirming the game. Okay, we knew it was coming anyway but that numbering's significant. After Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 the series entered into spin off territory with things like Underground and American Wasteland trying to add stories and other gimmicks to the basic gameplay. That road lead to the awful, I'll say it again: awful, Ride, with its skateboard peripheral. (I reviewed it at the time and it just didn't work. It also hurt like an absolute mother****er if you twirled it into your shin mid-trick).
That number 5, working title or not, suggests we could be seeing a return to the pure, more gameplay focused ideas of the original game.
