Skateboarders and gamers rejoice! Bell True Fit and Activision are announcing the third and final video game/helmet contest giveaway! Today through Monday, February 22, 2010 we’re offering you the chance for you to win a Bell Hawk helmet and Tony Hawk RIDE for X-Box 360.

On February 1^st we announced the first of three contest giveaways, each for the chance to win a Bell Hawk skateboard/BMX helmet and, the latest and greatest skateboarding video game, Tony Hawk: RIDE. At the end of the first week we gave away a helmet and RIDE for X-Box 360. Last week we offered the chance to win a helmet and RIDE for Nintendo Wii.

Everyone’s participation in the first two contests has sent thousands of people to our blog, and helped us grow our twitter following exponentially. Thank you all very much for your participation.

Today we are happy to announce the winner of last week’s contest: Congratulations @davesniadak of Eagan, Minnesota! You are the lucky recipient of a shiny new Bell Hawk skateboard helmet and Tony Hawk: RIDE for Wii.

With February more than half way over and with two contests in the books, we still have one more helmet/game combo to giveaway …

For the next seven days we’re giving you the chance to win Activision’s Tony Hawk: Ride for X-Box 360 and a Bell Hawk Helmet! A value of more than $160! This is your last chance to win an X-Box version of Tony Hawk: Ride and a Bell helmet. 

Skaters will enjoy using the game’s unique skateboard peripheral (shown above) which is covered with motion sensors to simulate riding an actual skateboard.Similar to using the balance board in Wii Fit or Shaun White Snowboarding, the peripheral means you’ll have to ollie through challenges, pump for speed in the half pipe, and balance to accomplish tricks. There’s no sitting your way through levels in RIDE.

Entering the contest is easy: All you have to do is follow (@BellTrueFit) on twitter and retweet (RT) this link: http://bit.ly/cC37op

We’ll announce a winner on Tuesday, February 23, 2010.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the first and second rounds, and good luck in the third and final round! Tweet ya later!

Skateboarding and video games go back to the late 1980’s when relatively primitive, yet vastly popular, games for the Atari and Nintendo game consoles were introduced. California Games, Skate or Die!, and Skate Boardin’ all debuted in 1987 to great acclaim and positive reviews. While these were quite popular, none of these were the first skateboarding video game. This title belongs to 720°: The Ultimate Aerial Experience, which debuted in 1986.

720° is an arcade game by Atari Games, notable in that it is the first extreme sports video game, and it has a unique timed structure that requires the player to score points in order to keep the game going. 720° has one button and the joystick only spins in a circle. A fun and challenging game (even today) no doubt, but primitive when compared to all the video games Tony Hawk has put his name on in the two decades since 1990.

As we briefly discussed in a recent Fact Facts Friday post, the latest and most interactive skateboarding video game ever is Activision’s Tony Hawk: RIDE, which came out in November 2009.

In the game, the player uses a skateboard peripheral to simulate the riding of an actual skateboard in the game. So… STEP ON THE BOARD AND RIDE! 

Tony Hawk: RIDE lets anyone experience the thrill of skateboarding thanks to its new revolutionary motion sensing skateboard controller (above).  Give your thumbs a rest and discover why RIDING is the new way to play!  Be sure to check out BELL PRO Tony Hawk and the sweet Bell Helmets and Gear in the skate shop. 

Tony Hawk: RIDE is available on Nintendo Wii, PS3, and X-Box 360.

And in case you didn’t know, Bell offers helmets specifically designed for skateboarding: such as the Bell  Hawk.  

In celebration of Bell’s presence in this revolutionary game, we are giving away three copies of it along with three Bell Hawk helmets!

We have two X-Box 360 versions of the game and one Wii version, and we’re going to give away one package (which includes a game and helmet) per week for the next three weeks, starting with an X-Box 360 version.

Today through Sunday, Fedbruary 7, 2010 all you have to do is log into your twitter account and retweet (RT) the following message to be entered into a drawing for a chance to win:

“Win Activision’s Tony Hawk: Ride for Xbox AND a Bell Hawk Skateboard Helmet! Visit http://bit.ly/9FqEaT & RT to enter”

The winner will be announced on twitter and the BellTrueFit community site on Monday, February 8, 2010.

We’ll be running a contest to win the Wii version of the game (and a helmet) next week, and in two weeks well be running a contest to win another X-Box 360 version (and a helmet).

Again, for this week’s contest all you have to do is retweet this message:

“Win Activision’s Tony Hawk: Ride for Xbox AND a Bell Hawk Skateboard Helmet! Visit http://bit.ly/9FqEaT & RT to enter”

Good luck! See you on the Backside!

Like riding a bicycle, snowboarding, or golfing, skateboarding is a one-(wo)man sport. Sure you can go on a bike ride with friends or hit up the skate park with fellow skaters, but when the wheels hit the ground, you and only you are in complete control. Progressing in a singular sport such as skateboarding may not historically be as monetarily rewarding as golf, but for many there is something fulfilling about learning and mastering a new trick on a skateboard. Today’s Fast Facts Friday will take a look at some of the most daring feats, displays of athleticism, downright crazy stunts, and interesting personalities surrounding the sport of skateboarding.

1) Thrasher Magazine Skater Of The Year for 1991 and 2004 Danny Way made skateboarding history on July 9, 2005, when he jumped over the Great Wall of China on his skateboard. The skateboarding daredevil became the first person to clear the massive wall without motorized aid. (KidzWorld.com)

2) Rodney Mullen, born in 1966, is one of the oldest professional skateboarders and is considered by many to be the most influential skater in the history of the sport. He is credited with inventing at least 39 distinct skateboarding tricks including the Ollie, the Kickflip, the Heelflip, and the 360 Flip. (Wikipedia.org)

3) The youngest person to ever compete in a professional skateboarding event is Davis, California native Nyjah Huston. Now 15 years old, Huston was only 11 when he took second place in the (skate) park competition at the 2006 Dew Tour. (NYTimes.com)

4) Shanghai is the most populous city in China. Fittingly, Shanghai is home to the world’s largest skatepark. SMP Skatepark has an incredible 13,700 m² of skateable space, much of it incorporating local stone and granite. The park has two street skating areas, multiple bowls, a full pipe (video), a 52 m long wooden vert ramp, and a 2000 m² competition area. (GoogleSightSeeing.com)

5) Like baseball rookie cards, vintage skateboards (maintained in mint condition of course) are a hot commodity. Tony Hawk’s first skateboard model on Powell-Peralta from 1982 sold for $6,000 on eBay in 2002. Since that time a few other unskated “rookie” boards for Natas Kaupas (1985), Steve Caballero (1981) and Ray “Bones” Rodriquez (1979) have sold for $7,250, $8000, and $10,000 respectively. (Blogs.WSJ.com)

Skateboarding has become a popular sport and a lucrative business. According to a Wikipedia entry on Skateboarding video games there are at least 33 games about skateboarding! The latest and most interactive skateboarding video game is Tony Hawk: RIDE, which came out in November 2009. In the game, the player uses a skateboard peripheral to simulate the riding of an actual skateboard in the game. And, there are actually a few scenes in the game where the Bell logo pops up!

And in case you didn’t know, Bell offers a helmet specifically designed for skateboarding: the Faction.