After some misguided entries in the beloved Tony Hawk video game franchise, Activision has promised to bring the series back to its roots with Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5. With a major focus on the core skateboarding gameplay that made the series famous in the first place, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 looks like it could do just that: rejuvenate a franchise that has been on the ropes.

Late night talk show host Conan O'Brien agrees with that sentiment, if his recent Clueless Gamer episode is any indication. Joined by rap artist Lil Wayne and the titular skateboarding legend, Tony Hawk himself, Conan tries out some of the game modes in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5, which offer a sneak peek into what fans can expect when the game drops early next week.

While the punk rock infused soundtrack for the game has to be muted due to copyright reasons, players otherwise are in for a genuine Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 treat if they tune in to the Clueless Gamer video. It shows a wide-range of skate parks, including a traditional one and one that appears to be set in space, in addition to a couple of different game types.

One of the game types is called Big Head Mode, and it looks absolutely hilarious, especially with the new cel-shaded graphics. In this mode, skaters' heads will be constantly growing to immense size, and the only way to keep their heads from exploding is by performing tricks. This is definitely one of the more creative modes in a Tony Hawk game, and should be good for plenty of laughs. Check out Big Head Mode and more Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 gameplay in the Clueless Gamer episode below:

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Conan O'Brien's Clueless Gamer series continues to be entertaining, and even though Conan is still fairly ignorant to a lot of aspects about video games, he treats the medium with respect. This is in stark contrast to some of his peers on the late night talk show circuit, such as Jimmy Kimmel, who recently came under fire for his remarks about people that like to watch Let's Play videos on YouTube.

Thankfully, Kimmel seems to be the odd one out when it comes to talk show hosts blasting the gaming industry. Besides Conan, other talk show hosts like Jimmy Fallon have regularly featured gaming on their program, which has included a hilarious game of GoldenEye 007 with Pierce Brosnan in the past, among other things.

Stephen Colbert is even throwing his hat in the gaming ring next week, as he plans on having both PewDiePie and Sean Murray (a key developer for No Man's Sky) on his program. Video gaming has come a long way, and it's refreshing to see mainstream media finally start taking gaming seriously.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 will hit PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on September 29th. A last-gen version is due for release on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on November 10th. It's worth noting that the last-gen versions of the game will not have online multiplayer, so the current-gen versions are definitely the way to go if at all possible.

Source: Team Coco