The next best thing to skating for real is skating virtually. Since EA released Skate 2 in early ‘09, real life rollers the world over have been enjoying its new features and high replay value. Some dabble with the game to pass the time when the weather's fowl, while others are part of an elaborate online community of hardcore users. Mock their nerdiness if you must, but regardless of the light you choose to view this degree of user-participation under, it's some kind of impressive.

"What we've done is made a simulation of skateboarding and given people different tools to allow them to fulfill the roles that exist within skateboarding," explains Chris "Cuz" Parry, who's an Associate Producer on the Skate team.

Cuz, real life.

The depths of the Skate 2 online community matrix re-enacts key media ideals, influenced by real world skateboarding, that are constantly evolving. Along with the fact that full-blown teams are developing within the game's subculture, creating and sharing video is a driving force much like it is in the real world. However, in-game video creation capabilities can theoretically bridge the gap.

"When we first showed Rob Dyrdek the replay editor in the first Skate a few years ago, he was like, ‘Holy sh*t! This is gonna change filming,'" says Cuz. "We will be influencing a new generation filmers and editors because we're giving thousands and thousands of kids the tools that they can apply to capturing real life skateboarding."

A vehicle for Cuz' active member status within this virtual skate community is through his "Producer Blog" on the Skate 2 site. He's also involved in the real world community as a long-time skater first and foremost, as well as an MC and organizer for the famed Metro Vancouver-based grassroots Bowl Series every summer.

Cuz may or may not have been late for a meeting to answer a few questions about his role on the Skate team, and how advanced its network of users has become.

Cuz, in-game.

What does your Associate Producer role entail?
I'm one of the guys on the team that oversee "gut-check" on making sure the skating's right and that we're being true to the culture. I was involved with the audio recording and voice acting with the Pros, and made sure to get them in a comfort space so they could just be themselves while recording. I was partly involved with the concept of how the game progresses. I also dabbled in environments, picking music...a little bit of everything as it relates to the culture of skateboarding.

How were some of your experiences "pitching" the game industry folk down in Cali initially?
Pitching them to be in the game is pretty easy, especially with Skate 2 because Skate did really well. We're actually getting calls about people trying to be in the game now.

The scariest, most surreal moment was talking to Jake Phelps from Thrasher—going into his office and explaining the game. By the end of it, he said, "Hey, you're old, you must ride Indys," and he gives me some Indys, then pulls a pair of Fallens out of his ceiling somehow, and gives me those. He gave me a ride to the airport, so then I'm driving around in his beat up old car, listening to Bad Shit. That was a good one. Another experience was taking the first Skate over to Dyrdek's house. It was funny watching him playing the game with his cousin, Drama. It felt like being in an episode of Rob & Big. Drama grabbed the controller and said, "I'll show you how to 3-flip," then Big Black came through. That was a pretty surreal moment talking to those guys about being in the game.

Can you explain your active role with the "Producer Blog" on the Skate 2 site?
I've been involved with writing in the game. A big part of our game is its community. I'm a skater and I play the game online just as much as everyone else, so it just became: "Why don't you write a blog about what's happening in our game community?" I've got a weird sense of humour, good or bad, and I like to write, so that's how it came about. It's more about communicating what's going on with the game, and creating a bridge between how the development team sees it, which I'm a part of, and how I see the game as a user. I learn more about trends within the Skate 2 community every day.

The underlying evolution with the Skate franchise lies in the development of customizing and making videos with the game, then sharing them with the online community. How far has this progressed?
From the beginning, we knew we wanted to edit and share videos from within the game because video is the biggest source of news we have as skaters in the real world. It was just a matter of how much of the tools we can put in the hands of the user and still make it user-friendly. When we saw the success and creative quality of the videos people made with the first game, we were amazed. They basically broke what we gave them, and we were just like: "How the hell did they film that?" Skateboarders always figure out a way to get creative and inventive. With Skate 2, we make these promotional game videos with a program called "Ice," and we decided to put it into the hands of the users. We put a simple version of it in Skate 2, then we released a downloadable advanced Filmer Pack. There's a hardcore audience that was screaming for it, and the stuff that's come out of that is mind blowing.

How closely cropped is this virtual skate community to the real deal?
Some people are better at skating vert or bowls in the game. Some people can't skate mini-ramp in our game and some are better at doing all the tech flatground tricks. There's also the Graphics Creator, where there are people out there that will make graphics for other people in the community. It's simulating skateboarding to the point where there's teams out there that recruit certain types of skaters, and give quotas of how many clips team members need to get in a week. They have dedicated filmers, editors, graphics guys, and even team managers. They post trailers for their upcoming full-length vids, and post up requests for "sponsor me" tapes when they have an opening on the team. It's impressive. I'm blown away by The Berrics re-creation—it's surreal when people are building websites simulating real websites for a game that simulates real skateboarding.

The Cuz Picks: Skate 2 User-Created Videos

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Related:
An Inside Look: Skate 2
Skate 2 Release Trailer (video)
Skate 2 Graphic Creator (video)