"Tony Hawk: Shred" may have a long way to go before it can be considered a successful title, but Activision believes the game could be poised to make a comeback soon. The skateboarding romp only sold around 3,000 copies during its first week on the market in October, according to a report on GamesIndustry.biz, but the official line from its publisher is that the best may be yet to come.

"There's hopefully a method to that madness," Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg told Gamasutra. "For the first time we're targeting that game to kids. It's a gift-oriented game, but, that said, we need to build awareness for the game still. … I think you'll hopefully see a bigger ramp-up as we get further into the gift giving season."

He cited a recent appearance on the "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," where the game was named one of the top 12 gifts of the holiday season and his company's turn toward marking their Hawk series to a young audience as reasons that the game could catch a second wind in the coming month. (That does, of course, assume that it caught a first wind, which is debatable.)

3,000 first-week sales could need a few more Ellens and an Oprah, depending on where Activision wants to see "Shred" numbers go in order to consider it a success. Still, props from Ellen may be enough to consider it a critical victory in their eyes. Who knows?

Have you had a chance to try out "Tony Hawk: Shred" yet? Do you think a huge wave of holiday sales awaits it? Share your predictions with us in the comment section below.