Activison CEO Bobby Kotick feels that gaming consoles are overpriced. "With the rising costs of fuel and food and housing, it is more difficult to go out and buy a $399 console," he said on Wednesday. That’s a little dramatic, Bobby, especially since this isn’t the first time
you’ve beat this drum. Is Activision not doing quite as well as you hoped this quarter? Or is it deeper than that; this isn’t exactly a new issue. Maybe console pricing isn’t the issue and Activision should rethink several details of their business.

Activision seems to have hit a creative rut, probably because success seems to have a blinding effect on those who experience it. Guitar Hero and its sequels were smash hits, as were the Spider-Man and Tony Hawk games. An original gem like GUN, however, did little for the company’s bottom line. So Activision continues pumping out games that sell – more Tony Hawk, more Guitar Hero, instead of creating original titles to compliment the same old stuff we’re used to. But it’s starting to backfire. Tony Hawk Proving Ground performed poorly compared to innovative newcomer SKATE. The series ongoing lack of originality is starting to reflect in sales. What’s to say Guitar Hero won’t start losing ground to Rock Band at some point – Aerosmith isn’t really a gameplay feature. Nobody wants stale products, and Activision is starting to see the effects of lazy development.

Of course, the summer months are infamous for a lack of new games to play. Spider-Man games are practically guaranteed million sellers, despite their refusal to progress in the gameplay department, so why not release them then? If the company is intent on releasing the same old crap, it will probably perform better if there’s less for it to compete against. Activision isn’t the only publisher to turn a blind eye to the warmer months, but they’d be doing gamers and themselves a tremendous service if they turned the wasteland into something to look forward to – we’d have something to play and they could make money. It’s a win-win.

Of course, Kotick does have a point. The consoles are pricey, Nintendo’s Wii included. It stands to reason that more consoles would be sold if the prices were lower, which would theoretically raise software sales as well... but software would sell more if it were cheaper, too. Perhaps $60 is a little high for the mainstream, especially if it’s the same tired type of game we’ve seen before (Mr. Hawk, please stand up). If a game plays like an expansion pack, it should be priced as such.

Truth is, if Activision isn’t making the amount of money they want to be making or moving the amount of software they think they should be, the ball is in their court. Kotick should stop blaming console manufacturers – original ideas and lower prices would do wonders for any publisher’s catalog, and right now Activision supports neither.