The Tony Hawk: Ride skateboard is more than just another plastic videogame peripheral. According to Robobmodo’s John Tsui, it’s a benchmark. The Ride peripheral will inspire developers and “usher a next generation of controllers.”

It’s not a gimmick. “It’s a very enhanced piece of machinery,” Tsui told GI.biz in a recent interview. “This is the most advanced peripheral on the market. It really is going to usher a next generation of controllers for games.”

“The other thing is that this is an advanced piece of software and hardware put together – this is a full package – and when people see how tightly integrated it is, what a great experience it is, people will pay the right price for it,” he said.  

The Ride peripheral is no longer black, by the way. It’s white. Tsui said the color choice was made because it makes it “more consumer friendly,” and they also fancy that whole iPods thing (or whatever the kids are talking about nowadays).

We’ve gotten our hands, er, feet on Robobmodo’s Ride skateboard before, so check out our previous coverage to see “the most advanced peripheral on the market” in action.