With the NPD data for November having just been released, IndustryGamers has learned that Activision's "reboot" of the Tony Hawk franchise, Tony Hawk: Ride, has gotten off to a pretty slow start. The game sold a total of 114K units across the Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3 during the November NPD data period.
The press has been pretty hard on the title, yielding the game a pathetic 48 on Metacritic. GameSpot commented, "Busted controls and stripped-down gameplay make Tony Hawk: Ride an overpriced fiasco." Indeed, the $120 price tag was likely a major impediment for the game. Developer Robomodo, to its credit, tried to innovate with the unique skateboard peripheral, but many still felt uncomfortable and wished they had an option to use a traditional controller. Tony Hawk, who was deeply involved with the game's development, complained recently that critics weren't giving his game a fair shake.
Giant Bomb was even harsher: "The execution is such a miserable failure that it manages to splash even more mud on Tony Hawk's legacy. I'm left with a firm belief that whichever side of the Tony Hawk/Activision partnership has the out clause in the contract should just exercise it and part ways for good. Enough is enough."
If sales don't pick up, we do have to wonder what the future holds for the Tony Hawk franchise.
8 Comments
December 11, 2009
That’s pretty awful considering how hard Activision was pushing it and its availability across three platforms. I’d recommend that even if consumers are interested in the game, wait until it drops in price (something that will probably happen in the next month or so).
December 11, 2009
I'm very curious to see what happens with that board. It was a big R&D investment for ATVI, but consumers and critics didn't seem to care. Do they try to justify their investment by making the board useful for other upcoming games, or do they just cut their losses and forget the board and Ride?
December 11, 2009
Well, this has already been "acquired" as a Christmas gift for my son. Hopefully it'll at least be decent enough to play around with. He's a skater anyway, so if he really wants to shred he'll do it for real.
To be honest, I got it for myself as much as for him. I can't ride a real board (age sucks sometimes).
December 11, 2009
It definitely helps if you already have some skateboard skills, so your son should be more acclimated to it than some other gamers who just aren't comfortable on a skateboard.
December 11, 2009
Those numbers are pretty bad . . . it should have sold only about 3K copies. And those 3K copies are just for kids who were on Santa's "naughty" list.
December 13, 2009
Not surprised. I reviewed this thing after Activision sent it to me and found it completely unplayable. No matter what Mr. Hawk may "think".
May 1, 2010
tony still making cash, the problem is over saturation on these games
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June 21, 2010
Tony Hawk Ride (Wii). There were problems with synching with the Wii and I had to get a replacement sent. video games