Tony Hawk: Shred managed to sell only 3,000 units during its first few days at retail. Still, Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing, believes in the brand power of Tony Hawk.
“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, said Hirshberg. We re going to keep the pedal to the metal on that and continue to market through the holiday and hopefully we ll deliver some proponents.”
“The interesting thing is that I think the last game had some technical problems with the board, and lots of times when you innovate that happens. This game and the relationship between the game and the board is spectacular, he continued. It s a whole different level from Tony Hawk: Ride. That might change things too. But at the same time, I think that you re basically asking the same questions that I m asking and that we re asking about how to recapture the mass imagination surrounding this franchise.”
“Tony Hawk does really still have relevance and tremendous appeal for people, added Hirshberg. He is a lasting icon. He has that Michael Jordan-ish or Jordan-esque staying power, seemingly. And that doesn t mean that other great skaters haven t come up who are younger and more current, but he really is that kind of Mount Rushmore-level guy in that category, so that s not the issue. 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.”
Source: IndustryGamers {link no longer active}
