Ben-DutkaOkay, so the list of delays has gotten pretty ridiculous this generation.
Not only have many high-profile games been delayed but very often, each title has been pushed back multiple times.
In truth, despite the fact that the previous era of gaming dragged on far too long, it seems clear to me that developers weren't quite ready for the new generation. They're hardly taking to these new systems like fish to water, so-to-speak, but you know, I'm okay with that. We'll get the games eventually and everyone I know has a massive backlog, anyway. Anyone with lives outside their houses has at least some games they haven't yet played. That's not the issue.
The issue is this new release date craze. Well, it's not "new," per se; we always wanted to know when the next big game was coming out. But in the Internet age, knowing exactly when something is happening way before it's set to happen is an accepted commonality. We're seeing release dates for games earlier and earlier, and I think publishers and developers are feeling that pressure. If they can't give us an exact date, they feel pressured into giving us a release window. And really, we don't need it .
Any particular reason we can't simply learn about a new game coming out in a few months' time? Why do we need to know a freakin' year in advance? As far as I'm concerned, CD Projekt Red never needed to give us a date; they could've waited until now and then given us that May date for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt . Yeah, it's okay, I've got plenty of time to prepare. I know release windows sorta tell gamers, "yes, it's coming soon" but when it's obviously a stretch, and the game ends up getting pushed, there's a lot of unnecessary bad press out there.
Just wait, guys. We'll live, I promise. Like this year's Assassin's Creed and Call of Duty ? Tell us when you know they're coming, to the absolute best of your current knowledge. Tell us in August if they really are showing up in October and November; there's no reason at all that we need to know now . Everyone just needs to calm down. It's not like these games will never show up, and it's not like they're showing up tomorrow. Just ease off on the rabid frenzy surrounding launch dates, seriously.
I think the demand for specific release projections has less to do with us fans and everything to do with shareholders and the companies these developers design for. But yes, I agree us fans can sometimes get a little too butt-hurt when a game we're anticipating gets delayed. After going through a generation of gaming and not getting what I want for the most part I've pretty much become a bitter, uncaring gamer that accepts whatever my master decides to put on my plate.
I so totally agree with this. I suspect it has a lot more to do with business, share holders, marketing work and hype engines running, than actual demand by gamers.
At least I know I'm as calm as can be.
Hit it on the head. Everything has to do with business. Which is the main reason why I'm becoming less and less connected to the modern world. Not saying business is anything new, or I'm becoming a recluse, it's just getting harder and harder to avoid. If I don't take time to breathe and reconnect to the actual world, I get overwhelmed.
Last edited by mk ultra on 3/12/2015 6:44:26 AM
I must've been hiding under a rock. I've never really seen gamers anger out in demanding a release date or wanting a game to release at a specific time or date. Sure, gamers sometimes want the game to release asap, but not in the compromise of a broken game and we understand that much . I'm not speaking for all the gamers but that's the vibe I see from comments. The real upsets I see are mainly the actual delays. I've seem more comments from gamers telling them to take their time.
Uncharted 4 for example, if it was announced for 2016, it would probably be just fine. I want closure and a release date gives that. That doesn't mean I want them to be rushing. Two different things. They can announce GT7 for 2017 for all I care, but at least I know what to expect than to speculate everyday out of anticipation.
Release date announcements just need a new format: Game X will maybe be released Jan 2016. Probably. But expect it by May 2016 just in case. If not later.
Boom. Delay problems nipped in the bud. Just adjust months and years accordingly.
That's the way things are now, they just don't talk that way yet.
I agree in general, but then you get into problematic games like The Last Guardian and Final Fantasy Versus XV, too much quiet surrounding Fallout 4.
Eventually you are closing in on a decade and there's still nothing, so we want assurances all too often cuz it drives us nuts.
Some freakin updates besides "It's still alive" are what I'd like rather than a release date until it's time for a release date. Like tell me what's done, not how massive your stupid living breathing world is gonna be.
Yeah, what everyone said above pretty much. Updates about what is going on with the game in question. "We started the character models but we aren't happy with them so we are remaking them, again."
As for unveiling things too early… Sometimes they feel its all set and ready to go. They have their vision and they have the ambition to bring it to light. Sometimes other team members don't share the same enthusiasm and everything starts to run around in different directions causing the entire thing to collapse.
ND is so good because they all share the same ideals and beliefs for their games. Obviously Amy did not share the teams vision and so she was let go. In order for something to move along, every leg has to work together in order to move along. Square did not like Nomuras FFvs13 since it was everything they are too dumb to know the fans of Final Fantasy want. So they cut his head off, made him run around working on FF13 garbage, and now they killed his game.
End of it all though, as gamers, we gotta be teased with not knowing if it exists or not sometimes. Most of us want Fallout 4, and we don't even know if its in development (I do though) so that makes people on edge, and hungry. You gotta keep'em hungry to roll in the sales. Look at GTAVs massive success. It wasn't a coincidence it hit so big when they waited to release it when everyone was dying for it.
Not only is it a smart tactic, its a beneficial way to create a game and have more time devoted to it. The way I see it, as someone who waited for FFvs13 for YEARS, I'm used to waiting.
Uncharted HD Collection, Fall 2015 CONFIRMED!! Lol! 🙂
I'd give you gold if I had it!
They should give that project to Ready At Dawn, poor kids probably won't be working on The Order 1887
Please don't give it to RAD, or they will destroy it…
Well it'd just be putting in the better textures from the resolutionizer and pushing the game to work at 60fps.
Actually I think the combat could be rebalanced though, some scenes in the trilogy were too tightly managed for my taste. (must hide here and shoot like this or you die)
The thing that gets me is the game stores that allow you to pre-order the moment a game is announced…
Your money is then sitting in a high interest account for EBGames thank you very much!
I only do business with Amazon. You aren't charged for a preorder until a game goes gold, at the earliest.
^ What LimitedVertigo said. I've never been charged a dime until the order ships.
Yeah Amy hasn't charged me until it ships.
*WE* don't need it, but investors might.
Or you know… You could go outside and make some friends
Great input. Thank you so much for offering a rather insightful response to the article.
Are you like a new age messiah. I submit.
Yes now watch as I part your bumcheeks and lead the jews through it's cavernous passage
I feel bad for those jews
Those are some "crabby" Jews.
I agree the dates are mostly for investors, as are the annual releases you know are coming and can practically time your watch to.
As I said in the Project Cars update, it's probably a lot harder to anticipate every little thing that's going to go wrong as these games get more complex. I don't think it's because the devs aren't taking to the systems well. And as you said, with the release dates for future games being announced seemingly earlier and earlier, it just seems like a recipe for disaster.
How do they know how long something they weren't anticipating is going to take them, when they're trying to do something they've never done? As the games get bigger so do the unknowns that take time to figure out. This isn't PS2 anymore, giant, complex, living, breathing worlds take time and I'd rather wait a year or two if need be and play something really amazing.
I feel bad for developers working their ass off on a game, knowing it's not going to finish on time, and also knowing all the backlash they're going to get from the community. All because they failed to deliver on an exact date, dictated a year before hand, while working on new engines and tech. As you said, people just need to relax and take dates as estimates. Building software is a unique animal and takes time. As long as the people who invest and make this industry happen are happy. I'm willing to wait indefinitely for unforgettable, timeless experiences.
Last edited by mk ultra on 3/12/2015 6:14:54 AM
It's stress central I bet. I'd want an open ended dev time.
I understand that sometimes developers might encounter some unforeseen obstacles along the way but have they ever considered such possibilities when they announce a release date?
I might be very disappointed when any game I'm interested in got delayed, but not so much I'd be pissed at the developers, no matter how good they are, they're just humans working with computers.
Except for SE, if they suddenly announce FFXV coming in 2020 and KHIII in 2021 then there will be blood.
Probably uncharted 4 game map is to damn big, bigger than gta and skyrim, that why it's been delayed…
God I hope not
Just hope "greatness awaits" is no lie.
We have delays because all these gaming sites, including this one, accepts remakes of games instead of new games. I still cant believe how most every site thought putting a PS 3 game like The Last of Us on a new game system was a great idea. I mean, it was the EXACT SAME GAME AS THE PS3 was, yet tons was acting like it was remade and remastered and blah blah blah.
If it wasnt for Destiny the ps4 would the the worst console of the current 3 out. Thank god for Nintendo.
End of line.
Yeah, that's not why.
It seems like the front runner in the last two generations of hardware are lazier than the ones who need to work their asses off to gain market share. With the ps3 vs xbox, microsoft had that year head start and a decent market share, and I guess felt like they didn't need to push the envelope with quality titles.
Sony used their amazing first party talent during that time to pump out amazing games that showcased why they were the better studio.
Now the tides have turned and last I heard the ps4 was outselling the XBone 2 to 1…and microsoft has the better software in the near future, while sony continues to coast. Sony really needs to throw some serious cash at some new and amazing I.P's…
Uncharted 4 has been delayed to utilize dx12 cpu parallel processing allowing 4k resolution.
In all seriousness, I really don't get worked up at all over delays. Gran Turismo has granted me patience of steel… Or something like that.
The problem is far from the gamers. These publishers just projected wrong. It doesn't help that they'd announce something too early sometimes. Last Guardian, Agent, FFvsXIII, etc.
know we don't need it those release windows i mean people need to realise that these things take time and not just a little while like 3 yrs+ for a decent game and so they need to be patient when it comes to these release windows but these delays are a side effect of the pressure to put a release date or tie frame which is sad cos it almost always back fires on us the gamers for being to impatient in general and i know not everyone is,i know me and most of us around here aren't like that but you know what most people are like these days
happy gaming
Last edited by Rachet_JC_FTW on 3/13/2015 6:52:57 AM