Tony hawk games were the only other skating games, but they had button-press controls and goofy physics. Skate came out with much more realistic physics and the thumbstick flicking controls that made tricks feel purposeful. I think people who do skate (or wanted to) got pulled in for the realistic skating lines and tricks. There was also still enough over-the-top jumps and tricks to keep younger kids entertained.

GrayJay doesn’t cast to Chromecast, it uses F-Cast instead which isn’t on every platform.