Pachter - Activision holding onto hope of another Tony Hawk hit, peripheral craze has 'run its course'

“The brand has performed well in the past, and although the genre isn’t growing, it’s large enough to continue to chase. I think that they see the potential to sell 3–4 million units a year if they get the formula right. I think that their mistake was in trying to replicate Wii Fit with their own accessory, and then trying to sell us another skateboard. People don’t love skate games enough to spend $120, or even $100, but if they made a great $60 game, they would probably have been more successful. I think that the peripheral craze has run its course. Sales of band kits, turntables, balance boards and skateboards are all on the decline, while sales of Move and Kinect are replacing them (for a time). People have only so much room for these things, and certainly don’t want to replace them every year.” - Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter

I actually have to agree with Pachter here, on both counts. Activision still thinks they can pull off a hit with Tony Hawk, and I think they can as well. They just have to go back to basics to make it happen. The skateboard peripheral wasn’t the way to go, and the consumer has shown that they’re mostly done with peripheral purchases.

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