Tony Hawk: Ride Face-Plants, Sells Less Than 114,000
See Full ImageWhen I first heard about Tony Hawk: Ride, I figured, "well, Activision has yet another massive franchise; they've really got this innovative interaction thing down."
And then Arnold told me he sampled it several months ago and it played terribly, which really surprised me. And it seems Robomodo didn't bother to fix the issues so we ended up with a very poor effort, contrary to what Mr. Hawk himself has to say about the game. Now, those who continue to believe that review scores mean nothing should really pay attention, considering this is one game that - if such a theory was correct - should've rocketed to success on name-brand (and celebrity) recognition alone. But instead, after its November 17 launch, we learn from the latest NPD numbers that Ride hasn't even sold 114,000 units in the US, which falls well short of expectations on the publisher's side. But those analysts, they know how crucial review scores are and predicted this marketplace flop and of course, it couldn't help that the Ride package is priced at $120. Tony Hawk isn't about to take this lying down, though. As he said in a recent Twitter update:
"Most snarky critics had their minds set before ever seeing/playing the game. I'm proud of what we created; it's innovative, responsive and fun."
Sorry Tony, if any of them "had their minds set before ever seeing/playing the game" (which is an insulting accusation, by the way), it probably would've been set in the other direction, given Activision's history of innovation with new peripherals and the excellent success of the Tony Hawk franchise over the past 12 years or so. The bottom line is that the board peripheral simply doesn't work. Believe it or not - and this goes out to some critics, too - there is such a thing as "bad innovation." Hell, I've played lots of games that tried to do something new but you know why you never heard of 'em before? Because the implementation sucked and hence, the gameplay sucked. It happens.
Related Game(s): Tony Hawk: Ride
12/11/2009 10:31:42 AM Ben Dutka
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Comments (36 posts)
Juanalf
Friday, December 11, 2009 @ 11:03:46 AM
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3 up, 0 down
A2K78
Friday, December 11, 2009 @ 11:04:48 AM
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"Most snarky critics had their minds set before ever seeing/playing the game. I'm proud of what we created; it's innovative, responsive and fun." His skating series began in 1999 with Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and includes Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, the best-reviewed skating game to date."
There is nothing innovate about Tony Hawk:Ride as these types of games have existed on the arcades for the past 10 years.
Last edited by A2K78 on 12/11/2009 11:07:33 AM
3 up, 0 down
coverton341
Friday, December 11, 2009 @ 11:40:06 AM
0 up, 0 down
Nynja
Friday, December 11, 2009 @ 11:15:59 AM
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3 up, 0 down
RustEDalex
Friday, December 11, 2009 @ 11:23:29 AM
3 up, 0 down
Imagi
Friday, December 11, 2009 @ 11:37:10 AM
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Don't think i will need to wait long.
...oh any Tony needs to get a grip then crawl out of his own ass.
5 up, 0 down
Highlander
Friday, December 11, 2009 @ 11:42:36 AM
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I wasn't interested in this title from the get go, but the peripheral was interesting from a geek point of view. However it seems that the functionality and responsiveness of that peripheral is very poor, in which case, I can';t see why anyone would score a $120 game as anything but a dud if the peripheral that's so very vital to the game sucks, and that's not even considering whether the game itself has any merit, the lack of controller/control scheme kills it.
3 up, 0 down
Alienange
Friday, December 11, 2009 @ 11:52:07 AM
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3 up, 0 down
pSmingO
Friday, December 11, 2009 @ 11:54:58 AM
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0 up, 0 down
pSmingO
Friday, December 11, 2009 @ 11:56:36 AM
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1 up, 0 down
Naztycuts
Friday, December 11, 2009 @ 12:37:35 PM
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7 up, 0 down
BlackBriar
Friday, December 11, 2009 @ 12:42:38 PM
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0 up, 0 down
fuk u
Friday, December 11, 2009 @ 12:43:09 PM
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5 up, 0 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, December 11, 2009 @ 1:04:13 PM
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7 up, 0 down
Superman915
Friday, December 11, 2009 @ 1:46:54 PM
3 up, 0 down
bigrailer19
Friday, December 11, 2009 @ 3:22:45 PM
im not defending the product but his points r valid somewhat!
0 up, 0 down
Scarecrow
Friday, December 11, 2009 @ 4:35:21 PM
+1 on this statement haha!
0 up, 0 down
Deleted User
Friday, December 11, 2009 @ 2:16:05 PM
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2 up, 0 down
pSmingO
Friday, December 11, 2009 @ 2:54:03 PM
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Last edited by pSmingO on 12/11/2009 2:54:15 PM
2 up, 0 down
bigrailer19
Friday, December 11, 2009 @ 3:20:10 PM
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I knew i wasnt going to get the game because i had a feeling it would fail, and i may not be a reviewer or mainstream critic, but really we all are critics otherwise video games wouldnt have an image they'd all just be something to play, and no game would feel the weight of being better than the past or even feature. So really im guilty of this myself, and i think he's right.
Personally i've never played the game, and i do not intend to buy it! But if given the chance i would play it! Not to mention i think what they TRIED to do was very unique, im just upset it apparently failed. As i said though i had no intentions of buying this game.
1 up, 0 down
JackC8
Friday, December 11, 2009 @ 4:21:01 PM
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Kotick: "Oh, yes Tony, this is exactly how the production board will work. You have my word on it."
3 up, 0 down
tes37
Friday, December 11, 2009 @ 4:55:45 PM
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Last edited by tes37 on 12/11/2009 4:56:58 PM
1 up, 0 down
Snaaaake
Friday, December 11, 2009 @ 6:05:30 PM
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They can't come up with something new so they had to rely on the game name to sell.
2 up, 0 down
LowKey
Friday, December 11, 2009 @ 6:28:38 PM
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It looks good on them, if people keep this up I think Activision will get the message that games shouldn't be 180 bones.
2 up, 0 down
Alienange
Friday, December 11, 2009 @ 7:45:17 PM
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1 up, 0 down
LowKey
Friday, December 11, 2009 @ 8:24:26 PM
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0 up, 1 down
BikerSaint
Friday, December 11, 2009 @ 10:24:23 PM
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Both GS & EB "DO" buy gaming equipment & accessories.
That's how I've picked up hundreds of used gaming add-on's for most of my 13 gaming systems.
1 up, 0 down
LowKey
Friday, December 11, 2009 @ 10:37:07 PM
0 up, 3 down
Fane1024
Saturday, December 12, 2009 @ 8:09:42 PM
p.s. I'm talking about EB in Canada, so it's not that either (see comment below).
Last edited by Fane1024 on 12/12/2009 8:11:18 PM
1 up, 0 down
BikerSaint
Friday, December 11, 2009 @ 10:33:41 PM
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Of course when I do, I'll probably have to have my spotter hold me by my ankles while I'm hanging upside down digging deep into the bottom of GS's used $2 bargain bin.
0 up, 0 down
BikerSaint
Saturday, December 12, 2009 @ 1:52:46 AM
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I guess that's just something stupid going on at your GS, cause the 5 local GS & EB's my way do!
And they have used RB/GH guitars
Checkmate
1 up, 0 down
LowKey
Saturday, December 12, 2009 @ 1:46:22 PM
Last edited by LowKey on 12/12/2009 1:46:54 PM
0 up, 0 down
___________
Saturday, December 12, 2009 @ 5:36:18 AM
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activision should be banned from releasing games full stop.
o besides singularity, im actually looking forward to that looks decent.
but than so did time shift and we all know how that turned out.
0 up, 0 down
BikerSaint
Sunday, December 13, 2009 @ 12:03:22 AM
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I didn't think of it, but....as Fane stated above.... it just might be because they've got too much used band stock & need to clear it out before they can take any more in trade.
So I'm thinking that if you have more than 1 EB/GS near you, just call around to each one to see if any of them are under-stocked and are in need. With what high prices they usually mark-up most used trade-in stuff, I'm sure one of them will want to snatch it up.
0 up, 0 down
jaybiv
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Friday, December 11, 2009 @ 10:51:16 AM