Perhaps not coincidentally, Electronic Arts' Skate series is currently on sale on Xbox Live Marketplace, offering all three games at 50 percent off.

This is news because Activision's Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5, launched yesterday at $59.99 full freight, and is by all accounts an abysmal mess.

Skate and Skate 2 are $7.49 each (regularly $14.99), and Skate 3 is $9.99, regularly $19.99. All three titles are for Xbox 360, and all of their downloadable content also is on sale for half off. The deals are good only for Xbox Live Gold members.

The games were announced on Monday as part of the regular Deals With Gold weekly schedule of promotions. They aren't listed on PlayStation Network.

Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5, which faced doubts about its graphics and quality in the year leading up to its launch, debuted yesterday in a nearly broken state. See for yourself as Polygon's Griffin McElroy and Nick Robinson play, or attempt to, the game and comment on their experiences.