14 DAY TRIAL // Seeing as how the last two Tony Hawk games, Ride and Shred, failed to achieve decent sales, Activision has just reiterated its support for the long-running skateboarding franchise, saying that it is still relevant in today's industry.
The latest Tony Hawk Shred failed to even make an impact in retail sales, as it managed to sell just 3,000 copies in its first week.
This, coupled with the last failure that was Tony Hawk Ride, meant plenty of voices claimed that Activision would just drop the skateboarding franchise altogether and recoup its losses through something else.
Not so, as Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg revealed that sales were bound to pick up this holiday season, seeing as how the company is marketing it to the kids.
"I think it's early to close the book on Tony Hawk Shred, because we are marketing it to kids, and it is a great gift, and the gift-giving season has already begun.
"That said, just as a category, I think your evaluation is correct... I think we have to ask all the smart questions and make some smart moves in terms of innovation to see if we can recapture people's imaginations."
According to Hirshberg, the franchise is still relevant and Tony Hawk will continue to be popular with people for quite a long time.
"The one question that I can answer, and remarkably so, is that Tony Hawk does really still have relevance and tremendous appeal for people," Hirshberg added. "He is a lasting icon. He has that Michael Jordan-ish or Jordan-esque staying power, seemingly."
EA boss John Riccitiello recently went on the record saying that the skateboarding genre is over, and his company might not release any other titles in its own Skate franchise, in order to rival Activision's Tony Hawk one.
What do you think? Are skateboarding games still popular or did their time pass?