When a gaming company manages to churn out a hit franchise, we'd most probably think that they hit paydirt, like what Activision did when they came up with the Guitar Hero series of games. However, the benefits of coming up with a great title may be a bit of a bane as well.

According to analyst Mike Hickey from Janco Partners, the emerging competition resulting from Activision's Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk franchises may prove to be "damaging for growth prospects".

Of course, when talking about Guitar Hero's and Tony Hawk's competition, it can only mean Harmonix' Rock Band (for the Xbox 360, PS3) and EA's Skate (also for the Xbox 360 and PS3). Hickey said that Rock Band may prove to be a compelling option in the console music gaming genre, which may eventually mean trouble for Activision itself.

Hickey said that analysts are expecting the Guitar Hero series to develop and evolve with the addition of new music peripherals in the near future, which will help the franchise in staying afloat in the midst of competition.

It's time once again for GameStop's Deal of the Week, for the week ending October 4. This time Tony Hawk's Proving Ground by Activision is in the limelight with its US$ 5 discount for every pre-order. The discount is available for all versions of the game (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, DS).

Another big pre-order offer for this week is the extra 20% trade-in credit given for games traded in towards the reservation and/or purchase of Nintendo's Super Mario Galaxy. That's a pretty nifty offer right there, handy when you're itching to get Mario's latest romp and don't have enough cash to nab it.

GameStop now also offers some exclusive Hellgate: London items along with every purchase of the game, for both the Collector's Edition and the Regular Edition. The free goodies are not to be scoffed at: a Hellgate poster, a customized armor kit, beta invitation, and even a Founder's Offer Subscription. If you missed out on the last Hellgate: London contest and the chance to get Hellgate goodies, then consider this your second chance.

As always with GameStop's weekly offers, there's much, much more in store for gamers (there's even something for Tabula Rasa fans), so just click on the above images for more information, or better yet, click on the Read link below.

Who'd have thunk it? Adam Yauch a.k.a. MCA of the Beastie Boys will be showing off his mad skateboarding skills (at least virtually) in Activision's upcoming skater game, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground. He'll be one of the new faces that will grace the famous, if improbable, line up of bonus skaters for the game.

Included in this update is the complete soundtrack listing for Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, totalling a hefty 54 licensed songs all in all. Included in this list will be famous bands that play to the tune which has marked this high-velocity series, such as the Foo Fighters, Nirvana, Slick Rick, and Jurassic 5.

Activision also announced an added bonus for those getting the Xbox 360 version of the game. The game will include a five song demo of "Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock." While the demo will be available soon on the Xbox Live, this is definitely a freebie that will be hard to pass up on.

Developed by Neversoft, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground is scheduled for release during the last quarter of this year. It will be coming out for the Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Nintendo DS and Wii.

Check out the complete list of songs and their respective artists right after the jump!

 

We already nailed down some major details about Activision's Tony Hawk's Proving Ground and its grand scale. Skate fans who've been keeping a tab on this title would know about the different locations, skater types, and cool features like the video editor. For those not in the know, here's co-project lead Chad Findley giving us a brief rundown.

Days of busting tricks over the west coast are finally over, as Proving Ground takes the challenge to the east. Hot spots Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington DC will be the new playgrounds. Players will be in the shoes of three different skaters - the pro, the hardcore, and the type who skate for the sake of it. Whatever you choose, anyone can become a star with the video editor packed with plenty of bells and whistles.

Take it from the man Chad Findley himself by clicking on the Read link below.

Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk recently sat down in an interview to talk about the latest title of the Tony Hawk games, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground - as well as a few comments about Electronic Art's SKATE. We're here to hit you with the cold hard facts faster and harder than botching an Indy 900.

The Hawk began the interview by talking about his involvement in the past games. He reminisces that, while his participation in the games have been fairly consistent, it was a much harder time when the first game was still in production - he had to give Neversoft and Activision a crash course of skateboarding culture besides helping with the actual game.

When asked of his thoughts about SKATE, Tony Hawk replied that it was about time for someone else to jump the bandwagon, and that he wasn't worried about EA's foray into the skating genre stealing Proving Ground's thunder. Posed with the fact that SKATE aims to be as realistic as possible, Tony replied that the game was as real as the player made of it - part of the appeal of video games is doing stuff you'd never be able to do in real life. He elaborated by saying that if they did make the Tony Hawk games as "realistic" as possible, they wouldn't even be able to make the 9th game in the series, much less a sequel to the original game.

Well, what about you, readers? SKATE or Tony Hawk's Proving Ground? Realism or over-the-top action? Either way, the comparison WILL be unavoidable - and we'll be here to update you as developments occur. In the meantime, you can check out the full interview at the read link we've provided below.

Customization is the name of the game with the latest Tony Hawk game in the pipeline, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground from Activision (PS3, PS2, Xbox 360, Wii, DS). A complete first for the series, the game gives you complete and total freedom with your character's story, appearance and skating style based on the choices you yourself will make - and the only way to do that is to skate, grind and manual your way through the streets of Baltimore, Philadelphia and Washington DC.

Skating's not the only thing you can do in Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, however. Get into Skater's Nirvana with more Nail The Trick moves to challenge even those with the hardest of cores. Show the world you've got what it takes by making an "Epic Skate Video", courtesy of the game's easy-to-use video recording and editing features. There's also a fully-customizable online Skate Lounge to chill out and tear it up with buddies for online street cred.

With all these new features, as well as a new gameplay mechanic that promises to alter and build the skateable environment around you as you skate - it's not a surprise that many are eagerly awaiting the title's multi-platform release. Keep it locked right here for any and all developments about Tony Hawk's Proving Ground.