Skateboarding

Lore & Background

The first skateboards started with wooden boxes or boards with roller skate wheels attached to the bottom. Crate scooters preceded skateboards, having a wooden crate attached to the nose. The boxes turned into planks similar to modern decks. Skateboarding as it exists today was probably born in the late 1940s or early 1950s, when surfers in California wanted something to do when the waves were flat, calling it 'sidewalk surfing.' No one knows who made the first board; several people came up with similar ideas at around the same time. The first manufactured skateboards were ordered by a Los Angeles surf shop, meant for surfers in their downtime. Shop owner Bill Richard made a deal with the Chicago Roller Skate Company to produce sets of skate wheels attached to square wooden boards. Early skaters emulated surfing style and maneuvers, performing barefoot. By the 1960s, surfing manufacturers in Southern California such as Jack's, Kips', Hobie, Bing's, and Makaha started building skateboards resembling small surfboards and assembled teams to promote their products. In the early 1970s, Frank Nasworthy developed a polyurethane skateboard wheel, calling his company Cadillac Wheels. Precursors to modern skateparks included repurposed urban hydro and storm water infrastructure such as the Escondido reservoir in San Diego. The team became known as the Z-Boys and became one of the most influent

Reader's Guide

Skateboarding originated in the United States in the late 1940s or early 1950s as 'sidewalk surfing' for surfers when waves were flat. Its development was driven by multiple anonymous inventors and early manufacturers like Makaha and Hobie. A resurgence began in the early 1970s with Frank Nasworthy's polyurethane wheels, which improved traction and performance. The repurposing of urban infrastructure like the Escondido reservoir inspired modern skatepark design. Skateboarding's significance extends beyond sport: it is a recreational activity, art form, entertainment industry job, and transportation method. Controversy has arisen where the activity, though legal, has damaged curbs, stoneworks, steps, benches, plazas, and parks. Since the 1970s, skateparks have been constructed for skateboarders, freestyle BMXers, aggressive skaters, and scooters.

Did You Know?

• The first manufactured skateboards were ordered by a Los Angeles surf shop and used roller skate wheels attached to square wooden boards.

A Chronological Catalog of a Niche Genre

This list functions as a comprehensive inventory of every skateboarding-based sports video game, organized strictly by the year each title was released. The chronological arrangement invites readers to observe how the genre has expanded and transformed across successive years, with newer entries appearing later in the sequence. The scope is deliberately narrow, covering only skateboarding-based sports video games rather than the broader universe of extreme sports or action titles. The page is structured with distinct sections: a legend to explain any symbols or classification markers, a games section housing the actual entries, and a references section for editorial sourcing. A See also link points to the general Sports game category, anchoring this specialized subgenre within the wider taxonomy of competitive video game design and signaling that skateboarding titles share structural DNA with other rule-based sports simulations.

The Two Defining Franchises

Among all the individual titles cataloged in this list, two franchises emerge as the recurring, named series that define the genre's commercial identity: Skate and Tony Hawk's. Rather than being one-off releases, these two names represent ongoing franchise-level entries that have returned across multiple installments, suggesting a sustained audience and commercial viability that allowed developers to revisit and reimagine the formula. The fact that both are listed under a dedicated Franchises heading, separate from standalone games, underscores their elevated status within the skateboarding video game landscape. Together, Skate and Tony Hawk's form the structural backbone of the genre, providing the recognizable brand names around which the broader catalog of individual titles is organized. Their presence as the only two identified franchises implies that the genre's recurring series are concentrated, with most other entries in the list being standalone or one-time releases.

Positioning Within the Sports Game Category

The list explicitly positions skateboarding video games as a subcategory of the broader Sports game genre, as indicated by the See also cross-reference. This classification carries weight because it places skateboarding titles in the same taxonomic family as football, basketball, and other traditional competitive sports within video game design. Rather than being filed under action, extreme sports, or pure simulation, skateboarding games are treated as sports games, implying they carry the structural expectations of that category: scoring systems, competitive frameworks, and rule-based progression. The existence of a dedicated, standalone list for this subgenre—separate from the general sports game category—underscores that skateboarding has carved out its own recognizable niche within the sports gaming world. It is a niche substantial enough to warrant its own chronological inventory, its own franchise entries, and its own dedicated documentation, distinguishing it from more ephemeral or experimental subgenres that might not survive long enough to be cataloged.

Documentation and External Cross-Referencing

The list does not exist in a vacuum; it is cross-referenced with three external databases that maintain their own independent catalogs of skateboarding video games: Universal Videogames List, MobyGames, and Spectrum Computing. These external links serve as supplementary resources for readers who wish to explore the genre beyond the scope of this particular compilation, potentially accessing different levels of detail, review data, or historical context for each title. The inclusion of three specific, named databases suggests that skateboarding video games have been documented across multiple gaming reference platforms, each offering its own perspective on the genre's history. The presence of a dedicated References section, alongside the external links, indicates an editorial effort to maintain some degree of sourcing rigor in the compilation. Together, these external connections create a layered web of documentation that reinforces the legitimacy and recorded history of the skateboarding video game genre as a recognized and cataloged corner of interactive entertainment.