After the fiasco that was Tony Hawk: Ride and the recent debacle of Tony Hawk: Shred which managed to sell roughly 5,000 copies to date in North America, Activision is still unconvinced that Tony Hawk is a dying brand. In fact, the publisher/developer ultimately believes that Tony Hawk is on the same level of Michael Jordan when it comes to brand value, loyalty, and consumer interest. What gives them this idea? I have no clue, but I’m sure sitting in on the next meeting to discuss the next title in his franchise would be great to hear to say the least.

According to Activision Publishing boss Eric Hirshberg, Hawk is a lasting icon and still has consumer appeal.

“Tony Hawk does really still have relevance and tremendous appeal for people,” states 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,” Hirshberg said.

Funny enough, I’m guessing the skateboard peripheral just wasn’t innovative enough or perhaps it came down to the fact that the peripheral was a terrible decision in the first place. Unfortunately, Activision believes the peripheral itself provides a fantastic relationship between the board and the game.

“This game, the relationship between the game and the board is spectacular,” Hirshberg said. “It’s a whole different level from Tony Hawk: Ride. 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,” Hirshberg claimed.

“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.”

So basically what is going on here is that Activision is marketing this game to unsuspecting parents and children as gifts for Christmas day. The only problem with that is most kids will probably have preferred coal once they get their hands on the game.