I went to a local computer store with one simple question in mind: " When is Half-Life 2 going to be released?"
You see, back in the day, it was supposed to be released in March. Hell, I have a coupon I got with my 9800 ATI videocard that gets me a free copy. March came and went, and then it was May. Then July. Then September. Now, apparently, it will be released in November, and that is supposed to be the final release, no foolin, praise godand chunky peanut butter.
But will it?
I think not.
This is a increasing trend in the world of the PC game world. The Sims 2 hit stores recently, and only half of the order went out, and EA was very selective as to where it went. People that ponied up the cash got put off while other stores, some that didn't have a pre-order system set up, had literally 25 copies.
This year will also see one of the most anticipated MMORPGs realeased, Blizzard's World of Warcraft, and they aren't even sure that it will be out the date of release, though they are pretty sure it will, even if major patching is needed via online updating.
There was a wait for Doom 3, and for the Xbox game Fable. Christ on toast, Duke Nuk'em Forever will be the " Most Popular Game" never released. 1998 was the suppose release date, but still waiting. There is rarely a wait like this for console gaming, and that is ok. We don't expect as much from our console games as we do from the PC games.
The trend of making the public wait pays off. In the launch of the Playstation 2 system, it is speculated that Sony purposely shorted their own manufacturing quota to drive up sales. And you know what? It worked. At home, people were lined up for blocks to get the rare PS2. I got one, but I had to work for it.
Companies themselves aren't even sure when their release dates are anymore. There are a hundred things that could not be forseen, but it looks like the companies even tried to meet their own deadlines, which is dangerous. So many software companies are going broke trying to put out their games. The latest was the company that brought us Tribes. Banking in the strength of the series, it was THE game to bring out it's slumping numbers. They took too long.
And what about Acclaim?
They made a boatload of money off the Mortal Kombat games, but filed Chapter 11 this year. Not pumping out the right games, and holding back on the good ones. Most games are staggered for the Christmas buying season, or right before summer break, but any number of factors can throw out their anticipated sales figures. The great game Neverwinter Nights will never see anohter expansion by the company that made it a success because it shut down after they weren't paying their employees.
It is funny, as the iundusrty is making it's highest grosses ever, that there should be so much chaos as far as release dates. Clearly, some of it is the higher ups that are doing it, but you think that they would take note and try and improve this, especially when these companies rely on their big games to make their profits.
See you November 4th for the day Half Life 2 will hopefully be released.