Arnold-KatayevSo approaching the very end of my Gran Turismo 5 preview, I come to the part where I need to give you the release date of the game. Knowing full well nothing concrete has been set for North America, out of sheer curiosity I wanted to see what date retailers are listing the game with. Amazon has March 31st 2010, but interestingly enough GameStop says February 2nd. Now, I highly, highly doubt the game will make an early February release, maybe late February, but that still feels like a bit of a stretch. Now, since the announcement of a March 2010 release, many have called Sony crazy for releasing two of their biggest game franchises within the same month.
I happen to disagree, as I don't see anything wrong. Why? Simple. The people who will buy God of War III are most likely not the same gamer who's into Gran Turismo 5. Sure, there will be many that overlap, but that's the hardcore gamer who will buy both games. Regardless, I think even the non-hardcore will find a way to get both games into their library, and having so much energy focused around the PlayStation 3 during that time should do nothing but help sales of the console even more.
Anyway, digression aside, I then decided to see what the pending release date for God of War III is. Sony had originally announced it for a March 31st release…which they've now bumped back one day to April 1st, a Thursday. Odd. But it may be because Sony wants to place all of God of War's success into their fiscal 2010 books, as opposed to FY2009, which ends March 31st for Sony. So what could this mean? We're not entirely sure. We can only assume it seems like Sony's trying to partially split the sales of Gran Turismo 5 into two fiscal years by releasing it in March. And we know it'll work well since GT games are historically known for their enormous momentum in sales – meaning sales don't stagnate a week after the game comes out; the games progressively keep on selling with healthy numbers for months. God of War is a slightly different beast, that, while also being a massive powerhouse in sales, tends to make a good majority of its sales in the first month.
Just stating a little observation here, is all. Talking out loud, while also informing you of a one day delay for God of War III.
Related Game(s): God of War III