View Full Version : Release Date and Gone Gold
How come retailers(Amazon, etc.) still estimate the release date as August 20? The game hasn't been announced as gold yet and it seems too late for that. AFAIK, games usually come out 2-3 weeks and even more in some cases after the game has gone gold.
chilliwilli
08-13-2002, 03:18
CA is aiming for the 23rd and it seems like its on schedule since its going gold very soon.
Schultzy
08-13-2002, 03:19
LOL
Sadly release dates are about as exact a science as Phrenology, except with slightly more head holding. http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/wink.gif
For example, HMV.co.uk say that MTW was released on the 12-07-02 in GB. LOL
I guess they just can't be bothered to update their website's frequently. http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/frown.gif
------------------
"Jetzt ist der Winter unserer Rabattpreiszelten."
Major retailers like Amazon and EB games usually update their release dates. They are usually accurate this close to release.
Quote Originally posted by andrewt:
Major retailers like Amazon and EB games usually update their release dates. They are usually accurate this close to release.[/QUOTE]This is entirely correct. If a game isn't coming out for a few months or is labeled as a generic Q4 release usually EB or Gamestop will slap a date on it. But when it's only a few weeks away usually they'll correct themselves, maybe 8/20 isn't far off.
Emp. Conralius
08-13-2002, 10:17
My local EB esimates a 8/21 release.
Nobunaga0611
08-13-2002, 12:38
Me too. However, I don't think its gonna make it. It would have gone gold by now. Its already the 13th and it hasn't happened yet. (at 3:00 am here, hopefully it will later today) I don't think they can produce all those copies and ship them in 8 days. I know its possible, its just not probable. I hope they prove me wrong though.
Hirosito
08-13-2002, 15:02
lol sadly it all doesn't matter as i wont be here to buy the game anyway
HardRock
08-13-2002, 15:28
Like the last one! three days before, 3 months later the game came out. http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/frown.gif
Funky Phantom
08-13-2002, 16:48
Gameplay.co.uk where i pre-ordered my copy estimates 30th of August as the release, i'll be glad if it comes out then, anything earlier and id be a very happy bunny http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif
Catiline
08-13-2002, 23:38
Two weeks
------------------
Timeo hominem unius libri
Kraellin
08-14-2002, 00:01
i just called Babbages. it's 1:15 p.m. here in kentucky and they say the 21st is the scheduled release, a week from tomorrow.
and in actual fact, a week from gold to hitting the shelves isnt that unusual, so it could still happen. Activision, the distributor, is a big company. i'm sure their production facilities could handle it.
K.
------------------
The only absolute is that there are no absolutes.
[This message has been edited by Kraellin (edited 08-14-2002).]
MagyarKhans Cham
08-14-2002, 00:21
would any of u be mad if i suggest "dream on" ?
i say, End of september
koc
DragonCat
08-14-2002, 02:16
I just checked www.gonegold.com (http://www.gonegold.com) and they still have it listed as close to gold with 8/21/2002 as the release date. But I can feel my grip on the game starting to slip ever so slightly - must hold on, must dream on, must . . . .
------------------
DragonCat
. . . on the prowl!
I still think august 21st, whoever doesnt believe me, is probably correct
I've been saying September to October for a while, and I am still doing it, although maybe they'll wait for Christmas http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif
Wavesword
08-14-2002, 04:37
Since I'm going away on September 5th I only hope it doesn't come out just before I leave. On the bright side it may have been patched properly by the hour of my return.
IGN has a new preview up and it says September 2002.
Hmm im PRAYING that it comes out the 20th but im not sure, yes I know that they could make all the discs in a week (Cant remember what company or what game but they did em all in 2 days only) and with gonegold saying that its "Close to Gold" it ups my hopes. Lets just hope that it comes out then (If it doesnt then its still fine but ill be bummed)
[Looks in His "Book of the Ages"...]
[Flips to Chapter 171...]
[Jumps to the 3rd page, 2nd parragraph...]
GAH!
It looks like the first occurrence of "Red Tuesday" is comming up...
[Reads on...]
Red Tuesday, it says here, is the day MTW was to be released to the people... but a shipping mix-up caused by not using a premium shipping company in a effort to save a few bucks meant the much anticipated game did not hit the shelves for 2 more days. Furious, the eager gamers became violent with rage. Some still outfitted in their Shogun gear from the previous game went on a killing rampage, killing 7 Hindu clerks in a 7-11 when the clerk said Vishnu would strike down the infidel crusaders for running off with a stolen slurpee. Outside EB stores around the country, masses of violent players protested the streets. In New York, the cops were called in to break up the protest. The crowd was tear-gassed. But to no avail. The leader of the crowd, who wore a stuffed wolf head and bear skin cape drew his plastic light saber and charged head first into the ranks of baton-wielding police. His impetousness got him knocked out as the baton was once again proven stronger than the skull. But his followers, inspired for this act of wanton bravery, charged into the unsuspecting cops. A brutal melee ensued that left 88 hospitalized, 12 dead and hundreds more with lesser injuries. The news anchors called it the incident a "bloodbath", and blame was distributed evenly between what the media called "trigger-happy cops high on adrenaline and savage youths brainwashed by violent video games". But the incident was not an American phenomenon only. Similar events wreaked across the world. Moscow. Paris. Milan. Budapest. Riyahd. Cairo. Kabul. Timbuktu. Tokyo. Shanghai. Portland. Montreal. Lisbon. Paducah. Djibouti. Calcutta. Isfahan. Ulan Bator. Birmingham. Red Tuesday will become an international day or mourning in all these cities. (Prague was too busy uprooting soggy carpets and scapping mold off walls to give a damn about the game...)
GAH!
[Closes book.]
GAH!
Stephen Hummell
08-14-2002, 21:09
HEHEHEHEHE
amazon.co.uk (from where i plan to order it)says it'll be released 30th of august
i think this is more probable than the 20th so don't be disappointed
edit: i wonder who writes these reviews at amazon if the game isn't released yet.hehe i guess some poor ca guys are ordered to do so http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/wink.gif
[This message has been edited by hamstar (edited 08-14-2002).]
ShadeHonestus
08-15-2002, 00:25
I just checked amazon.com again. August 20 for the release, and yeah...uh...the "strategy" guide is due the 30th for any that think thats worth buying. I hope this doesn't turn into another hurry up and wait release like MI/WE or the many other games out there. However I don't think I see much out there that is releasing this fall that activision would want to release-compete with, so maybe we'll be lucky!
[This message has been edited by ShadeHonestus (edited 08-14-2002).]
Companies generally don't want to release compete. For example, changing the release date of your game to around late June between Neverwinter Nights and Warcraft3 is not a good idea.
ShadeHonestus
08-15-2002, 01:55
A lot of companies do though, especially if they are larger than 1 title series. The marketing game is bigger than title vs title, it comes to acquiring market share, yet at the same time diminishing the competition. Sometimes, especially the six months before the holidays, companies will release with the precise purpose of hoping to dent another title's immediate purchases. My long time friend who works for a company went on and on about the release date and how much it has to do with marketing. He said developers he knew were working ungodly hours once, because the company moved the release date up 2 months for the reason of release-compete. Other developers he knew were well done with production, but the company was sitting on the title to compete with a release later that year. This of course doesn't just happen with games...
NagatsukaShumi
08-15-2002, 02:11
It's bad enough the yanks are getting it first, if it doesn't get released on the 30th I will scream as school would already be swiftly approaching anyway.
Funky Phantom
08-15-2002, 02:17
Yeah, i go back on September 2nd, if its not out by then im gonna be mighty pissed >:\
NagatsukaShumi
08-15-2002, 02:30
September 4th is my first full day back, so I'd prefer it to be August when it's released because I want to actually play the game.
Funky Phantom
08-15-2002, 02:37
Im hoping it comes out on the 30th at the latest, that way i get a solid weekend playing it before i go back to school http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif
That only works with titles that are not too big. Can you honestly imagine any publisher changing their release date to compete directly with Neverwinter Nights or Warcraft3? Most of the millions of people buying those 2 products have already made up their mind long ago to purchase it and there are countless preorders for it.
Besides, experience states that only mediocre to slightly good games get their release dates moved for competition purposes. Blizzard releases products when they are done. They don't delay or rush a game for competition purposes. Neither does Bioware. There is a reason most holiday releases are crap while the great games are distributed evenly throughout the year. Hopefully, CA will release games like those 2 companies as the Total War series is really good. Shogun and MI were released when they are done, AFAIK, and I think Medieval will be the same.
MagyarKhans Cham
08-15-2002, 05:03
well said, u should also be aware that the wolf behind u is working for GWIS
ShadeHonestus
08-15-2002, 05:36
Global Weapons Informatin Systems? lol
NagatsukaShumi
08-15-2002, 06:57
Well andrewt you've got to understand my concern of getting a good game during a time where my time to truly access it's greatness is very unlikely. Put it this way, if I get this game when I'm back at school, I'm not really going to be able to play it properly for six weeks when the next holiday is, I'm sure many people will agree with that statement too. Now I'm fully with MTW been released when it's ready, but I don't want to have no time what so ever to play on it properly (I can't play a campaign to win it on a school night, homework gets in the way of that, as well as time).
And if a review is already out PC Gamer it is doubtful that it will change the date of August 30th for us Brits anyway. And why is it that America gets it before the country where it is been produced? Unless their headquaters are near some strange Brighton in America.
I'm off to my junior year at university on August 26 but I can still play. With good time management, I can still come up with a few hours of playing time even during the hectic periods of school. It's only when the homework is sooooooooooooo boring that I procrastinate a lot and have my thoughts wander off while doing the homework that I lose the time to play.
I'm only responding to the comments about changing the release date for marketing reasons. They don't usually do that for good games and I think Medieval will follow that rule.
Release date in the U.S. might be the same as in the U.K., it's just more updated there. Anyway, the U.S. is the only country with a per capita income in the mid to high $30,000 and a population of around 300 million so it's understandable why companies want to release here first. Besides, I think Activition either has their headquarters here or a better distribution channel here.
Bishamonten
08-15-2002, 08:57
I hope they release it when it is ready and not because they are competing with some other game.
I don't really care if it comes out tomorrow or next month,as I have other things to do...
(tomorrow would be nice though, heh http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/wink.gif )
ShadeHonestus
08-15-2002, 10:16
I think Activision is headquartered out of California. Don't quote me on that...
Although I do respect your opinion and what you say may be true for most games (I hope its true for MTW). However, a company just doesn't make a game and release it when its finished, unless that date directly coincides with a direct marketing plan or they plan to sell only to a select cult of series followers. It really doesn't matter if the game is the best ever made. Unless it goes hand in hand with a concise marketing plan, its not going to do that well when compared to those that do. Its a fact repeated again and again in business. Going against the old saying, you could build the worst mousetrap ever and it wouldn't matter...it comes down to marketing. But like the rest of you, I hope a release-compete tactic is not used here.
Nobunaga0611
08-15-2002, 11:21
In talking about both school and Marketing, I hope I can positively contribute to this discussion (as I am going to school for marketing). To be quite honest, the production dept. (whomever is actually making the product) doesn't always communicate that well with the marketing department. Just think of this as, two departments, who choose what to do based on their own goals (normal people like you and me) who may not communicate in the most efficient way possible.
Add to this the MAJOR factor, that being the demand for the product is being generated by the very people creating the product, instead of the people introducing it to the public, (the way it is in MOST cases)and you come up with an equation that is anything but normal. If anyone disagrees with the fact that demand isn't created by the CA developers creating the product, speak now, or forever hold your peace. Also, if anyone so much as witnessed a bit of marketing worthy of deeming the product better than it actually promises to be, thus creating a favorable marketing environment, rather than a strictly production environment, (one in which what is produced is what is expected) speak now or forever hold your peace.
LONG STORY SHORT: If anyone read anything in which the features of the game sounded like they outlived their usefulness, speak it now (even if you haven't played the game, DarknScaly http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/wink.gif or if you have). If you CAN find any examples of this, then you have found good marketing.
So for those of you who still haven't gotten it, you will see a bit of good marketing (REMEMBER: The best piece of marketing is WORD OF MOUTH), and a bit of advertising. The part that will motivate you to buy the game, even if you haven't heard of it, is marketing, the rest is advertising.
(I might have a lot of errors in this post...ignore them, as I am drinking wine! I won't know what my limit was until sometime tomorrow http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/wink.gif http://www.totalwar.org/ubb/smile.gif )
[This message has been edited by Nobunaga0611 (edited 08-15-2002).]
Blizzard announced Warcraft3 and delayed it a lot. The date of its release did not coincide in any form with any marketing plan, they just wanted to make Warcraft3 and release it when its done. The same goes with Diablo, Diablo2, Starcraft and their expansions. They delayed those games so much that they missed their original target date by around 2 years each. Those games all missed their holiday releases (a lot of holidays in fact) and got released at slow times of the year (around March for SC and June/July for Diablo2 and War3) when generally nobody is buying their games. They still broke the record for fastest selling game when they were released.
Contrast them with Westwood who milked their C&C franchise to the extreme and would hurry their games for Christmas releases. They released competed a lot. I used to hold both those companies in high regard but Westwood disappeared from the radar completely. Blizzard only has "when it's done" as their release date and they have sold millions of copies per game.
Game marketing doesn't really need a date to be effective. If you do it correctly, your game will create a buzz and will sell no matter when you release it. In fact, most of the top titles currently all missed their original dates, some like Blizzard's by a large margin. They all got released when they were ready. Marketing didn't set the date for them. They made an estimate as to when a game was done and marketing marketed that date. The date was never changed due to marketing. If it was changed due to delays in getting the game done, then it was marketing and not the designers and programmers who adjusted their date.
The game industry is different in that the best marketing for a game is replayability. Many people buy games because friends and relatives bought the game or they saw somebody playing it. Starcraft was still in the top 10 best seller list for a few months this year even though it is 4 years old already and Blizzard stopped marketing the game a very long time ago. The reason for it is the number of people still playing the game today.
People buy bose speakers because of good marketing. Because most ears cannot distinguish between slight differences in quality, they will buy bose instead of say harman kardon or altec lansing because of marketing. People, however, can easily distinguish between the games they enjoy more by playing time. Taking the time to craft a great game and releasing it as it's done is still the best marketing tool there is when it comes to gaming.
EvilTinksta
08-15-2002, 13:53
Tinky says i think itl be out maybe next year or end of this year because they set those dates to get people talking about it magiznes etc
think of warcraft 3 that the set date for that was 3 years ago and it only came out 1 month ago
another one is a game called duke nukem forever that was ment to come out to years ago but they keep pulling it back to change the engines etc so i dont think 20th of this month will be right lol tinky says maybe you wont even see the game for another two
------------------
Two wise words that will eco trough history...
EH-OH!!!!!!!! http://216.40.241.68/ups/icis/ices_tubbie_3.gif
NagatsukaShumi
08-15-2002, 18:08
Well I believe the dates are fixed for the UK now as MTW has gone gold,k announced by a Activision employee on DD's site.
vBulletin® v3.7.1, Copyright ©2000-2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.