Over the weekend at the 2011 Video Game Awards, Tony Hawk himself confirmed that Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD is in development. The game will be a $15 download offered through console online services like XBLA. Developer Robomodo (developer of the two-previous motion-sensitive Tony Hawk games) plans to take the best levels from classic Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 and rebuild them into HD versions meant for modern consoles. Skaters playable in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD will include Eric Koston, Andrew Reynolds, Rodney Mullen, Lyn-z Adams Hawkins (Pastrana), Nyjah Huston, Chris Cole, Riley Hawk, and Tony Hawk himself. Activision’s public voice (and former OXM editor) Dan Amrich passed along the bad news we assumed was coming, noting that the soundtrack will “probably” not have the full soundtrack for either THPS 1 or THPS 2. Given the legalities necessary to re-obtain the tracks from the earlier games, Amrich stated that a likely scenario would be to “mix up some classic tracks with new music,” imploring Pro Skater fans to hit up the game’s Facebook page to request their favorite old-school Tony tunes.

Unlike more recent Tony Hawk's Pro Skater offerings like Ride and Shred, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD will be designed for play on traditional controllers. Although it will be the first digitally downloadable game in the venerable Tony Hawk series, there seems to be clear hopes that Pro Skater HD will be able to help re-launch it. Both Tony Hawk: Ride and successor Shred faced much harsher critical reception and much lower sales than previous entries in the franchise. Prior to the announcement of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD, Activision had actually announced that the once-annual franchise was on hold.

What do you think of the latest details for Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD? Sound off!

SOURCES: VGA 2011: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD announced & What will be on the THPS HD soundtrack? [One Of Swords]