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Under 114,000 ride Tony Hawk in November

US sales figures show Activision's heavily hyped, peripheral-based reboot of once-iconic skate series sells just 67,000 units on Wii, 30,000 on 360, and 16,000 on PS3.

Before its November 17 release in North America, Tony Hawk Ride was being hailed as the second coming of the once-iconic skate series. That quickly changed once critics got hold of the game, which was based on an all-new skateboard peripheral that sensed players' positions on it. Unfortunately, according to many media outlets, including GameSpot's own reviewer, the board didn't accurately translate players' movements, making for frustrating playing.

Expect to see a lot of these in the bargain bin soon.

Expect to see a lot of these in the bargain bin soon.

Poor reviews--coupled with a steep $120 price point--appear to have tripped up Tony Hawk Ride sales faster than a skate stopper on a grind rail. According to November sales figures from the NPD Group, the game has sold under 114,000 units in the US, in line with analysts' pessimistic expectations. By platform, the game sold around 67,000 units on the Wii, about 30,000 on the 360, and only 16,000 and change on the PS3.

For his part, Tony Hawk himself has vociferously defended the 11th game to bear his name.* In a Twitter post last weekend, he declared, "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.

* = If one counts Tony Hawk's Motion/Hue Pixel Painter.

233 Comments

  • GameShark9000

    Posted Dec 14, 2009 3:17 am GMT

    I can see why Tony is the only person defending it; he thinks it is good since he is the only person on earth that can play that game without failing or cracking his neck. And even that's doubtful

  • Wetty01

    Posted Dec 13, 2009 4:16 pm GMT

    Hear that Vannord, you've been called snarky by TONY-FREAKIN-HAWK

    lol

  • Hotsora

    Posted Dec 13, 2009 2:22 pm GMT

    How is 114k a poor number

  • yukine

    Posted Dec 12, 2009 8:54 pm GMT

    You can't blame critics for poor sales, I've seen plenty of horribly reviewed games, movies, etc. sell very, very well.

  • aGiantSquirrel

    Posted Dec 12, 2009 6:00 pm GMT

    Well, theyre blaming critics for the few sales, I dont know if thats true, but it definately wont be a game that I will buy without renting first. well, wait, I guess you cant rent that because you need that skateboard. oh well, judging by how Tony Hawk games have declined in value after underground, Im not going to put my money on this one yet.

  • DbleBassDrummer

    Posted Dec 12, 2009 3:15 pm GMT

    Despite everything that's been said about it, I really still want to try it out at least once.

  • nohabs

    Posted Dec 12, 2009 2:47 pm GMT

    It's time to move out of your parents basement Tony.

  • Frankasti

    Posted Dec 12, 2009 2:40 pm GMT

    Diss

  • Darth_Tyrranus

    Posted Dec 12, 2009 2:25 pm GMT

    This franchise is clearly dated and should have been dropped a long time ago. When you are to the point that you are using a skateboard peripheral, you may as well just ride a real skateboard!

  • TC_Squared

    Posted Dec 12, 2009 1:31 pm GMT

    I'm just curious; I enjoyed the old THPS game-play style that 1-3 had (2 minutes to complete as many objectives as possible). When THPS4 started the open environment, free-wondering game-play that mainly consists of running errands for various people, I got bored rather quickly. The 2 minute time limit gave the games a better replay value because there was room for improvement as a player. I remember when I first started playing I could barely gain one achievement in the 2 minutes, but after playing for a while I could get almost every achievement in the 2 minutes. I felt like I had a reason to replay the games, as opposed to THPS 4 and beyond. How many of you agree with me? I find it ironic that the franchise began going down hill the same time that I lost interest in it.

  • C_T_SKYE

    Posted Dec 12, 2009 11:48 am GMT

    1,2,3 and project 8 are the only tony hawk games i found fun.

  • guichan

    Posted Dec 12, 2009 10:07 am GMT

    i dont know if its so that bad but sometimes reviewrs websites completely destroy sales and do something that I dont know if its weird or completely lack of will , like Kingdom Hearts 358/2 days I saw reviews that give 10 and others that gave 6 , whadda hell are those reviewrs thinking anyway ?

  • ShadowOfKratos

    Posted Dec 12, 2009 5:41 am GMT

    This franchise still exists?

  • Evil_Robo

    Posted Dec 12, 2009 4:34 am GMT

    Its good for the business though - at least from our point of view - have as many peripherals as you want, but if the games crap, we wont buy it.

    Where I work we sold one all week, and that was from some guy who reserved it, he expected it to be in such demand.

  • Bufta

    Posted Dec 12, 2009 4:30 am GMT

    HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAAAA HAAAAAH HA......!!!!!! Poor old money sucking Activision, it couldnt have happened to a nicer company.

  • dwd_27

    Posted Dec 12, 2009 4:09 am GMT

    Who ever did buy it they did'nt see gamespot's review 1st but i would give it back and get dead space extraction and new super mario bros

  • bm1212

    Posted Dec 12, 2009 1:49 am GMT

    It was pretty innovative initially but in the end it was just a huge mess.

  • darkmask1991

    Posted Dec 12, 2009 12:10 am GMT

    Pro skater 3, those were the times...

  • S_Pac_316

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 10:32 pm GMT

    LOL,OWNED! XD

  • UchiahFAN

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 10:31 pm GMT

    first activision gets really good sales for an awesome game (MW2)
    and then epically fails in sales in the same month with horrible game (Ride)

  • frankblack789

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 10:21 pm GMT

    hey, Bobby Kotick, maybe you should raise the price on the peripheral like you wanted to in the first place. that should fix the problem.

  • TehUndeadHorror

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 9:39 pm GMT

    Ololololololol!

  • joma666

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 9:22 pm GMT

    good,activision deserves this, after that over hyped thing called MW2...i hope this made them understand how they are milking people for money...CoD hasnt changed for 3 years or 3 games for that matter, then they will come out with a map pack and make millions more dollars.

  • umbrae

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 7:30 pm GMT

    surprised it sold that many

  • WTFitsPauL

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 6:36 pm GMT

    ride a REAL skateboard.

  • pete_merlin

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 6:33 pm GMT

    This is just an awful game, buggy design. They are just trying to cash in and im glad the game isnt selling. They dont deserve to make money on what can only be described as an insult of a game

  • anotherone10

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 5:14 pm GMT

    I really do feel sorry for the 113,000 people who bought this game...

  • Absinthe951

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 4:53 pm GMT

    thats because this game really does suck, im not even joking

  • programexpert

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 4:41 pm GMT

    Maybe it's time for a franchise reevaluation? Knowing Kotick, this'll probably get the axe. You know, the thing about milking franchises to death that he himself has blatantly said he wanted to do.

    I'm not surprised, though. This smelled like riding the wave of the custom peripherals craze, except that in order to be good at that game you kinda need to be good with a skateboard... And at that point why not actually take a REAL skateboard?

  • Taegre

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 4:38 pm GMT

    What bites about all this is that Tony Hawk games are now trying to be realistic, Skate is trying to be realistic, so all of us who enjoyed fun cartoony RPG-esque skating in the THUG days are getting absolutely shafted. If Andy MacDonald would bring his game license back and keep it unrealistic, he could probably bury both franchises.

  • OldStupidGeezer

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 4:33 pm GMT

    i want to know why the game testers said, "ya, this game rocks, release it"

  • VenomRitual

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 4:05 pm GMT

    i feel bad for all the kids getting the game on Christmas. when u can buy an arcade or wii at $80 more which both include games the ride price is ridic.

  • Brettsky128

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 3:21 pm GMT

    I prefer doing kickflips by pressing over and X, rather than actually doing a kickflip on a (apparently terribly) fake skateboard. TH3 was definitely my favorite of the series, if not one of my favorite games ever, wish they'd make one like it now.

  • ItsEvolution

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 3:12 pm GMT

    Gamestop is already selling it for $20 off this weekend.

  • pigman239

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 3:09 pm GMT

    ha. hahaha. hahahahhahahaha.

  • Marcster1994

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 2:55 pm GMT

    I think Tony Hawk's games started to stale after American Wastelans,that was the last good game

  • brendanhunt1

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 2:52 pm GMT

    "Activision can just save their money and not put their products out on the Sony Console, nobody has one and nobody buys games for them"

    well that made me laugh.

  • alosborne

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 2:49 pm GMT

    Skate 2 is better.

  • towelie892

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 2:44 pm GMT

    The article title made me laugh.

  • joshboy101

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 2:20 pm GMT

    this game deserves it.

  • SDBusDriver1979

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 2:15 pm GMT

    I'm sure with all the rumbling of Activision and No Doubt that somewhere along the way Tony Hawk signed away his soul hidden in some contact to Activision. Activision owns Tony Hawk.

  • King-Tigre

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 2:13 pm GMT

    Looks like Skate 3 will reign dominance.

  • TheBionicRock

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 1:57 pm GMT

    I agree that Underground 2 might as well of been the last title. Every game since has further deviated from what made the series worth playing not to mention progressively worse create a skater. Is it any wonder why Activision's latest plastic gimmick controller themed game has fallen on it's face?

  • force_user1975 posted Dec 11, 2009 1:53 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    force_user1975

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 1:53 pm GMT (hide)

    Activision can just save their money and not put their products out on the Sony Console, nobody has one and nobody buys games for them. Pathetic. You know it's sad when the most anticipated game of the year fails to sell even 2 million on the paper weight.

  • xunhallowed

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 1:42 pm GMT

    "Under 114,000 ride Tony Hawk in November"

    AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

  • oneligas

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 1:35 pm GMT

    The reason this game failed was that the most fun in any skating game is trying to kill the skateboarder in the game. That would be a very stupid idea on this game since you would probably kill your self.

  • sparkypants

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 1:32 pm GMT

    @ PackinHeat09

    No way, Underground 2 was the end of the series. After that the jokes were stale and they had nothing new to bring to the table.I'm actually shocked, I was expecting them to do worse than this; I don't know one person that was hyping this game. Its a shame too, these games use to be so fun.

  • Jak_Napier

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 1:28 pm GMT

    what a garbage game.

  • nurnberg

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 1:21 pm GMT

    114,000 units is still way too much for this trash!

  • PackinHeat09

    Posted Dec 11, 2009 1:19 pm GMT

    I've said it before Project 8 was the end....

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