Nostalgia is a powerful tool. Gamers were tired of Activision's continued attempts to reinvent the Tony Hawk franchise. They just wanted an HD version of the classic games--and that's exactly what they got with the release of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD on Xbox Live Arcade. The HD re-release sold over 120,000 copies in one week--and PS3 and PC versions have yet to come out.

Josh Tsui, CEO of developer Robomodo, explained that the early sales success of the HD release opens up possibilities to expand the once-dormant Tony Hawk series. "The prospect of a fuller game is definitely on the table--it's just a matter of when and how," he said.

"I think for now Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD is a very good way to reacquaint people to the franchise," he told Gamasutra. "We were given the right amount [of resources] based on the scope of [Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD], but obviously we would always want more to go bigger."

The future of the series might be in the downloadable realm, away from the expensive peripheral-focused experience that Ride offered. "People are more apt to try games that are smaller and downloadable. Moving forward we'd have to see what our options are for a completely new experience, especially for any new platforms. But for now, downloadable games for a low price allow us great flexibility to try new things."