Tony Hawk will be announcing "something new" during the Spike Video Game Awards on Saturday, the famed skateboarder and walking brand has revealed, which one imagines is most probably some manner of "video game." It's been over a year since the franchise's last game was released, and evidently publisher Activision feels that rest has been long enough.

"I'll be announcing the upcoming release of something new on Sat; the same day as the Spike Video Game Awards," The Birdman said on Twitter (via OXM). "Coincidence? I think not."

2011 is the first year not to have at least one new Tony Hawk game since the skateboarding series began in 1999. The last game to grind out was 2010's Tony Hawk: Shred, which used the wacky plastic skateboard controller introduced by Tony Hawk: Ride.

Though Shred was panned by critics, Activision stuck by the brand. "He is a lasting icon. He has that Michael Jordan-ish or Jordan-esque staying power," said Eric Hirshberg, CEO of publishing, in the wake of Shred's release.

Hawk himself teased a new game in April, saying "We're going to do something probably for next year but I can't give too much away."

One can only hope that this downtime has been used to reflect on what made the Tony Hawk series so much fun in the first place, rather than plotting dastardly new ways to milk players.

The Spike VGAs kick off at 5pm Pacific this Saturday, December 10. As well as being broadcast on Spike TV and MTV2, the ceremony will be streamed online.

[Image from Tony Hawk: Shred]