Electronic Arts confirms that the next installment in the Skate franchise will ship in May 2010, offering players the definitive skateboarding co-op experience.

After Tony Hawk: Ride massively disappointed, it was a foregone conclusion that Skate 3 would be the best new skateboarding game in town. Even if its chief rival has set a low standard, developer EA Black Box should be praised for sticking to a tried-and-true gameplay formula while finding new ways...

Beautifully-designed controls lead to rewarding gameplay; Cooperative play and team atmosphere will make you want to skate online; Balanced and pleasantly diverse soundtrack

Visuals haven't improved much since Skate 2; Hall of Meat antics look a bit too silly; Still a formidable challenge for casual gamers

Grab a board and hit the streets of Port Carverton in this Skate 3 video review with Justin Calvert.

Skate 3 doesn't reinvent the wheels. Nor does it reinvent the decks, the trucks, or any other aspect of the Skate series. This sequel is as noteworthy for the features that it cuts from Skate 2 as it is for those that it introduces, yet this is still a better game than its predecessor.

Adds more tricks to the Skate repertoire; Powerful park editor is easy to use; Robust online features; including team events; Two levels of completion for every challenge

Noticeably inconsistent frame rate; AI of pedestrians and other skaters is all over the place

Skate 3 was reviewed on the Xbox 360 . What a difference a generation in the video game industry makes. It used to be that the first and foremost franchise in skateboarding was Tony Hawk , but now on its third title, EA's Skate series has made a worthwhile stake to the crown.

In Skate 3, as the old T-shirt slogan goes, "skateboarding is not a crime" - and even if it were, it would be a white-collar crime. Departing from the anti-establishment trappings of Skate 2, the latest game in EA's kiss-our-butt-Tony-Hawk series is a tale of skateboarder as capitalist.

Skate 3's offline portions feel flat and sterile, but its deeper online focus helps bring more meaning to every facet of the game.

This review comes from UK magazine PSM3, which for UK readers can be found here for this single issue, or here for a subscription. Abov...

Online and offline team challenges; Intuitive; deep and fulfilling controls; Park editor and advanced replays

Incoherent single-player structure; Doesn't feel like you're making significant progress; Can't tell if challenges will be easy or hard

The first Skate burst onto the scene back in 2007 with its analog stick-driven flick-it controls, effectively sending the Tony Hawk franchise into retirement. It was an incredibly realistic take on the sport, but its bag of tricks was a bit empty.

There is something to be said about the feeling you get playing a new gaming experience. When skate first showed up it was unlike anything before it and totally up-ended the long-standing heavyweight in the genre: Tony Hawk.