I was in High School in the year 2000. When I think about those days, some of the things that pop into my head are MSN Messenger, baggy jeans, how awesome pro wrestling was, and Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2.

Is there a video game series from this era that stole more collective hours of an entire generation's lives than the Tony Hawk Pro Skater series? EVERYONE played these games. You didn't have to be a skater in real life, or athletic, or even that good at video games to play Tony Hawk. The first one laid the groundwork, but number 2 is when the series exploded. It was a phenomenon.

When I bought my original Playstation (which I have a soft spot for because it was the first gaming console I bought with my own money), I didn't have enough cash left for a game. So I had a "Jampack" demo disk that I played for two weeks until I got paid again. I don't remember what all was on that disk, but I remember there was a Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 demo. One single level I think. I proceeded to probably put 30 hours into just that one demo level over the next couple of weeks.

Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 had air tight controls, an absolutely insane soundtrack, and, well, Tony Hawk. Literally anything I know about skateboarding now, I learned playing the Pro Skater games. You were able to create yourself and be a pro skateboarder. As someone that always thought skating looked awesome, but sucked at it in real life, I could turn these games on and be as cool as the guys I saw on tv. The formula was perfect. To this day, the original Tony Hawk Pro Skater games are placed on a pedestal with some of the greatest games of all time. Kids that grew up in that era can't help but smile and get excited when they talk about those games and the memories they created.

My buddy Tyler is on the show this week, and we had a great time dropping into the nostalgia halfpipe (I don't skate, is that how you say it?) and remembering the great times we had with the Tony Hawk series, and specifically, Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2. I hope you nerds have as much fun with this episode as we did.