I've been a fan of the Skate series since its inception, and have played a hell of a lot of these games ever since. The new demo for Skate 3 that was released today is great, and I'll tell you why.
 

• They have fixed the off-board controls immensely. You can turn on a dime, and for the most part the animations are nice and fluid. Another good thing that they did is instead of coming to a full stop if you didn't completely fall over, your skater does a tuck and roll on flat ground, in a situation such as messing up a grind at high speed.  Also, he/she will BOOK IT when you hold down the A button to sprint.

• The graphics are beautiful, and full of stark white and vibrant green colors. There are virtually no jaggy edges on display in the demo, which is nice. They also seem to have fixed the frame rate, though I remain slightly skeptical until I see the full breadth of Port Carverton in action.
• They give you a decent bit of the University locale to skate around in, as well as Coach Frank's training grounds, which are plastered with Stereo logos. The logos don't really distract from the golf course-esque scenery on display in this area, and everything looks crisp and clean.
• The darkslides take some getting used to, and I've yet to figure out exactly how to pull off a casper, but they are present and explained slightly, along with the underflip mechanic, which is quite hard. Basically, you're doing a normal kickflip flick of the stick, but in the same motion, you are required to flick it down in the opposite direction that it was flicked up. Like I said, the new moves take some getting used to.
• The soundtrack is excellent, and the original scores from Del and Mark Mothersbaugh are fantastic. Very good ambient music to skate to.

Good impressions! Sadly I think i will never play a skateboard game again... Dunno why, just went off it completely! 

cool. i forgot about darkslides. it is something that i am excited for as i'm a Rodney Mullen fan :) he is such a dickass skater. i'm donwloading the demo right now.

Having skipped skate 2 and loved the first skate I will probably pick this one up. I instantly went to realistic settings which don't seam that realistic but still fun and you're can't hulk jump over objects.

Duuude. You got me hyped for this game reading about this. BTW, I had no idea the demo was out. Downloading it NOW!  :P

Also, Jason Lee is in this game.

dunno if i'll even try it, i like skating games and all, but Skate 1 pissed me off in so many ways

I've never played a Skate game until I played that demo last night. I liked it,the trick stick felt nice and easy to get a hang of. Also Jason Lee doing the tutorial as Coach Frank is completely awesome.

The frame rate drops when you turn on cameraman mode. The difference is quite jarring actually.

" Also, Jason Lee is in this game. "

Coach Frank is annoying a F U C K.  Other than that the game is fantastic.

The demo was fantastic. Still can't see myself paying full price for Skate 3, though. I'll hold off for awhile.

" The demo was fantastic. Still can't see myself paying full price for Skate 3, though. I'll hold off for awhile. "

Awesome stuff man. Thanks for the heads-up. Looking forward to downloading the Demo.

Sounds good. I'm looking forward to it. I thought Skate 2 was a lazy and disappointing sequel, so hopefully this game will get things back on track. 
 
Jason Lee, huh? Well, that's pretty cool, I guess. He was like the main narrator guy in Tony Hawk's Project 8 (the last great Tony Hawk game). I'm still pretty upset that Activision bailed on the Tony Hawk series the way they did. I still don't think Skate has reached the level of awesomeness that Tony Hawk was at, but maybe Skate 3 will do things right and make some smart improvements to give it the edge.

Skate 3 is really interesting me now.  I didn't play the first two, but now that the guys at Black Box have improved the game so much, I can't help but put Skate 3 on my wishlist.  The only bad part about the game to me is that Coach Frank is played by a stupid, scientologist.

I was always interested in Skate but decided to wait for it to polish up.
 
I think S3 is definitely interesting me a lot.

I wasn't aware that the demo is out, downloading it later fo sure 

After playing the demo: Yep, it's Skate.

" Just need to know, is that asshole who introduces you to the game and trys to be your guide still in the game?  If he is then its a  no go for me. "

I love the punch button.
 
So. Much.
 
But seriously, awesome. Hardcore mode certainly provides the challenge that this game (didn't) need. Flipping out of grinds is a bitch and a half.

" I love the punch button.
 
So. Much.  But seriously, awesome. Hardcore mode certainly provides the challenge that this game (didn't) need. Flipping out of grinds is a bitch and a half. "