Board Development Hindered Tony Hawk: Ride News

Tony Hawk took a bit of a bashing with the launch of the peripheral based Tony Hawk's: Ride last year, attracting a Metacritic rating in the 40s and the wrath of Tony Hawk himself across Twitter.  However it seems Activision-Blizzard is willing to give the much maligned slab of plastic another chance.

Speaking in a conference call following the US publisher's Q4 financials, Michael Griffith Activision CEO appeared to put the blame on the difficulties in developing both the skateboard peripheral and the game at the same time.

"Game ratings for Tony Hawk Ride weren't as high as we would have hoped last year," Griffith acknowleged.  "And in hindsight, it took longer to optimize the hardware leaving less time to develop the software we launched in 2009. Still, play testing and consumer feedback have been very encouraging. The premise of standing on the skateboard and performing tricks that only the pros can pull off is very compelling."

"This year, with the hardware complete, we’ll be focusing on improving the software in order to unlock the full potential of the board," he claimed.  "We continue to believe that this innovative peripheral redefines the skateboarding experience and could potentially have different applications in the future."