If you're of a certain vintage then you probably have some very fond memories of the Tony Hawk's gaming series - particularly the 'Pro Skater' games that kept us entertained despite us not knowing one end of a skateboard from the other!
The man behind the name was a guest on Joe Rogan's podcast this week, discussing his life as the most recognisable skateboarder on the planet. While his success may have allowed him to own his own house by the age of 17, in the early days Hawk received plenty of criticism - unjustly by the sounds of it - for everything from his skating style to that video game series.
With Hawk's rise in fame, the backlash from some in the skating community seemed to be you're typical 'He's gone too mainstream" nonsense. Hawk used the pro-skater video game as an example: "Our video game came out and then it was like 'Oh you're just a sell-out.'"
"Because of the video game and endorsements that came from that. I was doing stuff for Jeep, for McDonalds, for Doritos, and they [other skaters] were saying 'Oh you're just a sell-out.' When I turned pro at 14, if McDonald's had asked me to do a commercial I would have jumped on it. Are you kidding me? I was eating McDonald's my whole life. I still do.
"They thought, somehow, I'd changed my values. It was like 'I haven't changed my value system it's just that I'm getting these opportunities, finally, and I've been doing this for most of my life.'"
Upon hearing Hawk's stories, Rogan sensed a bit of jealousy may have been at play: "For the most it's you're getting opportunities that they're not. So the best way to dismiss that or diminish it is to say that you're a sell-out. Because you're on a video game? That's so short-sighted."
You can watch the discussion from 06:34 below.
Skateboarding will be making its debut at next year's rescheduled Olympics in Tokyo, which of course has also annoyed some of those in the community. Hawk, on the otherhand, is all for it: "Guys, all those things that you love about skating will still exist ... That's not taken away from you. If anything, it's going to bring it to a bigger audience that is going to be interested.
"And I believe a more international audience. I think that's the really cool thing about it."
Also, in case you haven't heard Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 and 2 are coming out as remastered games on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on 4 September this year. Yes lads!
