Firefox compatible; Not Opera compatible

Client: Activision
Creative Agency: 65media
Technology Vendor: EyeWonder

"Nail The Trick" is a key and defining gameplay feature in Tony Hawk's Project 8. An entirely new way to play the game, "Nail The Trick" mode gives precision control over how you move your feet to flip the skateboard. Using dual analog stick motions, you can create your own unique skate tricks -- even during a combo -- as you watch the action unfold in slow motion. The challenge every year with Tony Hawk games is to communicate what is new and different and why gamers should think it's cool. This new feature became the focus of an integrated media campaign that crossed print advertising, TV advertising, and our website. The challenge was to replicate this feature in an interactive form online. We really wanted to have highly interactive units that are true to game and true to the skateboarding audience in general.

In its original state, the tricks were performed in a motion capture session then transposed graphically into the game. (We also produced a series of online videos showing this transition.) The video footage used for the online ads was taken directly from the game and the videos were optimized for online delivery. The audience can interact with the units by rolling back and forth over the ticks, frame by frame, to fully experience "Nail The Trick" and see how effective high quality motion-captured gameplay can be.
-- Anne Leuschen, associate brand manager, Activision

When you’ve reached the eighth installment of your skateboard game series, you’ve got to pull out something new for the diehards out there. Enter the “Nail The Trick” feature of the new Tony Hawk game.

Eyewonder exploits this new add-on with a full-featured expanding banner, previewing the frame-by-frame tutorial that allows players to dissect a trick and learn it, or invent their own. Drag the mouse left to right and watch the action in slow motion, giving a taste of what gamers can expect within the game itself. Also featured are game screenshots and a nicely compacted trailer that showcases the best of the game.

While this new version of the Tony Hawk series has been criticized by gamers for leaving out features of older games, the “Nail the Trick” feature is universally acclaimed. Eyewonder keeps that in mind and delivers, previewing it with just enough intrigue and information to guarantee clickthroughs.
-- Dave Wilkie, VP, creative, Dexterity Media, and author of the advertising blog Where's My Jetpack?

This was a fun campaign. I enjoyed it both for the Flash Development side's cool effects, and for how well it showed off the new features of the game. It's easy for each game of the same genre (like skating) to appear the same, and it's a tall order for the folks to come up with truly new and exciting features and events within the game. Being able to do your own "instant replay," as well as watching the simple tutorial style videos from a favorite character, was a really nice touch to involve the viewer. It's no surprise that their clickrough rates were enough to have them excited.

An 'A' in my book -- if I could have bought the game right from the unit, I would have given it an A+.
-- Keith D. Pape, sr. partner/vice president, FrontGate Creative