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Activision issues one sentence statement on Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 launch

Activision allowing a broken game to be released then apologising once they have taken the money, I'm so fucking surprised. Don't suppose it had anything to do with them not holding the license after 2015 and wanting to rush the game to market for one last pay-day.
 

Retsudo

Member
I imagine kids that are getting into skating now will buy this... and then smash the disc with their barely used skates.

I can't remember the last Activision game i bought, and apparently it won't be any time soon. What a bunch of money grabbing whores.
 

Wozman23

Member
"We are aware of the issues that players have experienced following the launch of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 and are working with the developer to address these so that we can continue to improve the gameplay experience for all of the Tony Hawk fans who have known and loved this franchise for more than 16 years".

You guys aren't reading between the lines. There's no way they can feign ignorance on something that pretty much telegraphed itself as a mess from its initial reveal.

For some time now Activision has been banking solely on name recognition. They knew that just putting Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5 on a turd would still move units. The franchise died some time ago. The same is true for Guitar Hero, which has been usurped by the far superior Rock Band. Still, countless less-informed consumers will pick up the franchises simply because they've heard of them before.
 

Madness

Member
Guitar Hero, now Tony Hawk Pro Skater, Call of Duty is on declining legs, and most of the problems people have had with Destiny is all Activision such as DLC, different editions, losing guys like Marty. They're such a bad company. I feel bad for the people who work there, but this company is not good for this industry.
 

_Justinian_

Gold Member
d1vV_2.gif

Zero gravity skating sim?
 
Why do legitimate game production companies act like this? Wouldn't it be in their long term financial interest to keep the quality of their games consistently high?

Especially when you look at the software sales a quality-focused company like Nintendo makes, and in the age where consumers are paying closer attention to reviews than ever before.
 
"We are aware of the issues that players have experienced following the launch of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 and are working with the developer to address these so that we can continue to improve the gameplay experience for all of the Tony Hawk fans who have known and loved this franchise for more than 16 years".

Theres the catch. They're only improving the game for customers who have been fans for more than 16 years.
 

KingBroly

Banned
Why do legitimate game production companies act like this? Wouldn't it be in their long term financial interest to keep the quality of their games consistently high?

Especially when you look at the software sales a quality-focused company like Nintendo makes, and in the age where consumers are paying closer attention to reviews than ever before.

Every company drops a clunker now and then with big brands, even Nintendo. I dunno how long this game was in development, but even without all the bugs and glitches, this game seems to have a lot of inherent design flaws in it that would make people mad. The menus, the slam button, always online, etc. These aren't things you can just fix, because they're essential to the core design of the game, for better or worse.
 

barit

Member
And nothing will change. This is probably the most frustrating part. Activision will continue to release broken games and half-assed Remasters which runs worse than their original and nobody will care. Fuck this awful company.
 
Activision said:
"We are aware of the issues that players have experienced following the launch of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 and are working with the developer to address these so that we can continue to improve the gameplay experience for all of the Tony Hawk fans who have known and loved this franchise for more than 16 years".
Well yeah, of course they're aware. They were aware before they put the game out, yet did that anyway, and charged full price for it. Pretending like they care about fans of the series after the fact doesn't really fly. Fly Birdman, be free.
 
Looks like they took this from the Video Game Publisher Manual, 2013 Edition.
Original reads as follows:

"We are aware of the issues that players have experienced following the launch of [title] and are working with the developer to address these so that we can continue to improve the gameplay experience for all of the [franchise] fans who have known and loved this franchise for more than [x] years."

Where can I get a copy of the manual?
 
This thread shows the pure entitlement some gamers have. You should be happy that they even made a new Tony Hawk game and that they sell it at a low price (they could have charged 100€ instead).

The game might have some gamebreaking issues but not every game needs to have the fanciest visuals, the best gameplay, or excellent game design. We are talking about a new Tony Hawk game by Robomodo here. Why would anyone expect a game by that team to work? Most gamers are well aware of the studio's track record and are willing to pay the price for the game just to have the game box on their shelves, not to actually play the game.

And when it comes to this, the new Tony Hawk game is an excellent purchase. The side of the boxart shows the well crafted THPS5 name in its full beauty. Fans of Robomodo's previous games, which for most must have been fans of games that are better left on the shelf, must be very happy about THPS5.

lmao, this is wonderful
 

Steroyd

Member
So is this game just broken or just plain bad? I have seen a lot of streams but not occured many bugs.

Both, even if it was polished, with decisions like the slam being the same button as the grind would remain, or the completely bland looking levels, or the mission variety looking uninspired would still be there.
 
Translation: "We were aware it sucked a few months ago, but we'll take your money anyways. Your money will help us finish the game for you, if we feel like it. Nah we're just gonna go pee on Tony's lawn and buy cocaine. Khanksbye."
 

padlock

Member
They just released a new statement:

"We are aware of the issues with the previous statement we released concerning the launch of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 and are working with the statement writer to address these so that that we can continue to improve the statement for all Tony Hawk fans who have known and loved this franchise for more than 16 years"
 
Is a game specifically tailored for today's 'core' audience, of course it will be and remain broken.

Software development in the cheap, for a cheap and easily amuse audience.
 

JCX

Member
I can't believe they launched it like that?

How can any CEO sign off on that?

Have there been any significant longterm repercussions for a major publisher over shipping broken games? I hear about broken games launching from the same publishers every year. Aside from the initial wave of games-media thinkpieces, the ire always dies down. They signed off on that statement because the statement doesn't matter, people will keep buying their games anyway.
 
Activision, passing up EA as worst VG company currently. Say what you will about madden EAs other franchises have been on he up, and EA access has been crazy good deal for me. Just on Dragon Age, the trial let me see it wasn't a 60 dollar purchase for me, and then it was put in the vault so I get to play it anyway.

Stack that against call of duty pulling SP from the last gen, tony hawk mess and non-apology, and their apparent stance of holding out against backwards compatibility on Xbox one and Acti looks pretty bad from my chair. Shame too, because I was looking forward to Transformers Devastation but cant support a publisher who doesn't want to let me play games I've bought on my next console, even if it doesnt mean work for them.
 

gossi

Member
Another quick update - Activision are planning to provide another 2 levels as DLC. Given the game doesn't have many levels it looks like they're trying to finish it up as DLC.
 

Moze

Banned
Activision, passing up EA as worst VG company currently. Say what you will about madden EAs other franchises have been on he up, and EA access has been crazy good deal for me. Just on Dragon Age, the trial let me see it wasn't a 60 dollar purchase for me, and then it was put in the vault so I get to play it anyway.

Stack that against call of duty pulling SP from the last gen, tony hawk mess and non-apology, and their apparent stance of holding out against backwards compatibility on Xbox one and Acti looks pretty bad from my chair. Shame too, because I was looking forward to Transformers Devastation but cant support a publisher who doesn't want to let me play games I've bought on my next console, even if it doesnt mean work for them.

For the most part, EA cares about the games they release. They have done some suspect things in the past, but they have consistently released good games throughout all last gen and it is looking the same for this gen. They are far from perfect, but to even compare them to Activision is offensive.

Activison is not capable of giving a single fuck. They literally never take any risks at all and release almost nothing but licensed shit outside of their 2 biggest franchises. This Tony Hawk thing is absolutely nothing new. Activision does this every single year with their licensed games.
 
This looks Street Sk8er levels of bad. I played all of the Tony Hawk games up to Proving Ground, despite 3 being the last good one, but wow. This is depressing. Fucking Grind Session looks less clunky than that.
 
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