Activision shares drop on Spider-Man reviews

Activision's shares fell by 5.2 per cent yesterday evening when news emerged that the Spider-Man 3 title has averaged review scores of 73-74 per cent, compared to 80 per cent for the previous title.

However, a report on Forbes.com suggests that there is still confidence in the title, with Todd Geenwald, a Nollenberger Capital Partners analyst suggesting: "Reviews are not as important for a movie-based game. What's more important is how the movie does in theaters."

And the third movie in the Spider-Man series has certainly proved itself at the box office, taking some $382 million in its opening weekend and smashing records in 29 countries.

Lazard Capital has reiterated its 'buy' rating, according to Forbes, with the firm's analyst Colin Sebastian commenting: "We believe the strong opening weekend clearly demonstrates the on-going mass market popularity of the Spider-Man franchise, and bodes well for initial sales of the video game."