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Mass Effect Delayed to September

Posted by Zonk on from the universe-is-cruel-and-uncaring dept.

Computer and Videogames reports that Bioware has moved Mass Effect's release to September, from the previous launch window of June/July. "The news comes from an official Microsoft event this morning, though no more details have been offered. The September release puts Mass Effect in head-to-head competition with fellow first-party RPG Blue Dragon, which is also released that month. This might seem silly to you budding industry analysts, but it's probably just as beneficial for Microsoft to avoid the infamous Summer drought." As much as I was looking forward to taking on the machines sooner rather than later, I guess if they want it to be 'good' ...

40 comments

  1. Good for them by revlayle · · Score: 1

    I can wait, as I want to buy a 360 at the last moment. I want this game, but not right now :) Hopefully it'll be *around* the time of the release of Bioshock, another game I am looking forward to.

    1. Re:Good for them by twistedsymphony · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I don't understand how similar games being released all at once is good for anyone?

      One will undoubtedly outsell another causing otherwise good games to get overlooked, next time that company wants to make a new awesome game they'll have a hard time getting funding because their last game didn't sell so hot in the shadow of the slightly more popular competitor.

      Even fans of the genre would benefit from having them spread out because it gives them time to complete one title before the release of the next.

      Though honestly, if this is a problem for MS I don't see why they can't just release Blue Dragon in the summer instead. It's already done and released in Japan and IIRC it's either been released or will be releasing soon in Asia with Japanese voice acting and English subs/menus... I would think most JRPG fans would be more then happy with the original English voices as opposed to English dubs.

      --
      Collector's Edition
    2. Re:Good for them by twistedsymphony · · Score: 1
      sorry:

      ...the original Japanese voices as opposed to English dubs.
      --
      Collector's Edition
  2. Summer Drought by jimbobborg · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It would seem to me that there should be more sales around the beginning of Summer, when the kiddies are set loose from school. Also, most of the younger set would get money from jobs (mowing lawns, odd jobs) to pay for new games. I know there is a big holiday rush, but come on, Summer should be great, too.

    1. Re:Summer Drought by drinkypoo · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Also, most of the younger set would get money from jobs (mowing lawns, odd jobs)

      dude, how old are you? Even if kids wanted to work these days, their parents wouldn't let them go mow strange people's lawns.

      Kids these days tend to get absurd allowances, even as much as $50/mo for non-wealthy families! I shit you not. That's where the game money comes from.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re:Summer Drought by fistfullast33l · · Score: 3, Insightful

      That's why I advocate the elimination of minimum wage and the revocation of all child labor laws! Screw summer camp, send them to the coal mines to become productive members of society!

    3. Re:Summer Drought by jimbobborg · · Score: 1

      I'm old enough to remember either myself or one of the neighbor's kids doing this when I was a teenager. In my current neighborhood, a lot of the kids could do this, and during the winter, they could shovel walkways. But the lazy buggers next door wouldn't even do their own walkway, so go figure.

    4. Re:Summer Drought by ivan256 · · Score: 1

      The kids in my neighborhood all hand out fliers for lawn mowing services.

      Perhaps you're one of those city folk?

    5. Re:Summer Drought by Minwee · · Score: 4, Funny

      Why waste them in coal mines when they could be working as programmers for EA?

    6. Re:Summer Drought by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Sure, my half brothers used to have a lawn mower and they'd run around and mow lawns, but they're ten years older than I am and even by the time I was a kid it was very much the fear-of-pedophiliacs-think-of-the-children culture already. And I grew up mostly in Aptos, CA, which at the time especially (but even today) was a refuge for rich whiteys. (How I ended up there is confusing to me, too.)

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    7. Re:Summer Drought by Gr8Apes · · Score: 2, Funny

      That would explain the current state of games.

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    8. Re:Summer Drought by MBGMorden · · Score: 1

      Where I'm at anybody in a "neighborhood" counts as city folk. It's 3 miles from my house to the nearest neighbor, and that's the way I like it. Luckily I still get DSL due to a fairly close switching station.

      On topic: I'm interested in Mass Effect, but willing to wait. Bioware's latest games have just been excellent. Even Jade Empire, which I put off playing for so long because I thought it would suck, was great. I'm hoping for at least one price reduction in the Xbox before release of this title :).

      --
      "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    9. Re:Summer Drought by 7Prime · · Score: 1

      That would just be too cruel.

      --
      Multiplayer Gaming (defined): Sitting around, discussing single-player games with my friends, at the bar.
    10. Re:Summer Drought by bateleur · · Score: 1

      What?! Mod +4 Insightful... surely, surely that should be "Funny". Please tell me nobody took that seriously?!

  3. /shrug by DragonPup · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This is BioWare, so I can only assume if they pushed it back, they have a good reason. They don't rush games out of the door(Hey, KOTOR2 wasn't made by them!), so I guess I'll just wait a little longer.

    --
    "Useless organic meatbag" -HK-47
    1. Re:/shrug by Itchyeyes · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Apparently Bioware is a little miffed about this announcement and refuses to confirm the date. Until I see an official press release, I'm filing this one firmly in the "rumor" category.

  4. Thank goodness by Sciros · · Score: 1

    I still haven't finished Twilight Princess and haven't even started Shivering Isles (Oblivion)... agh and then there's God of War 2 which I still need to grab. With Forza Motorsport for my 360 just around the corner, there's just no shortage of stuff to play so I'm glad I don't need to add to my "backlog." I haven't even unwrapped KOTOR 2 yet!

    If all you have is a 360, Forza Motorsport 2 should be good enough to last until... Unreal Tournament 3 I suppose. Is that the next "big title" now that Mass Effect's been delayed?

    --
    I like basketball!!1!
    1. Re:Thank goodness by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't expect UT3 before September.

    2. Re:Thank goodness by jchenx · · Score: 1

      I haven't even unwrapped KOTOR 2 yet!
      I suggest playing KOTOR 2 with "reduced expectations". The sequel wasn't actually developed by Bioware, but by Obsidian Entertainment. You can read more about it at the KOTOR 2 wiki page.

      Personally, I never got around to finishing the sequel, as I just found it rather bland compared to the first game. It also got a lot of criticism for being buggy and essentially unfinished.

      As always, your mileage may vary of course.
      --
      -- jchenx
  5. One less reason... by brainlessbob · · Score: 1

    to be inside this summer away from the dangerous sun!

  6. Halo3 = Sept, Blue Dragon = August. by EveryNickIsTaken · · Score: 1

    Right? I'm surprised MS would want to release anything in September if the juggernaut that is Halo 3 will be dropping then.

    1. Re:Halo3 = Sept, Blue Dragon = August. by Mobkey · · Score: 1

      Why would a Halo release in September? Halo 1 = Nov 11, Halo 2 = Nov 9, Halo 3 = Nov 13? I was really looking forward to some Mass Effect this summer though. One of the major reasons I bought my 360.

    2. Re:Halo3 = Sept, Blue Dragon = August. by EveryNickIsTaken · · Score: 1

      Release date is 9/15, if memory serves. The reason? They can release it in September, sell a shitload, and then still sell a shitload more in November.

  7. This is a good thing by solar_blitz · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Whenever I hear a studio with a good reputation is delaying a video game it reminds me of a saying from a very wise individual:

    "A delayed game is eventually good; a bad game is forever."

    To those unfortunate individuals who have already reserved the game awaiting its release, I can sympathize with you. After all, this quote comes from Shigeru Miyamoto, the man who delayed Zelda 64's release for two years, ultimately becoming one of the best games of all time!

    So take heed, the game's probably just getting all its kinks ironed out to be the best it can be!

    1. Re:This is a good thing by ivan256 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      To those unfortunate individuals who have already reserved the game awaiting its release, I can sympathize with you.


      More like: To all those impatient individuals who have already reserved the game, maybe that will teach you not to do that anymore. The good games are always available on or near release day, and all you're doing by reserving early is relieving yourself of access to that $5-$60 for some unspecified period of time.
    2. Re:This is a good thing by jimbobborg · · Score: 1

      So that would make Duke Nukem Forever the most awesome game ever!

    3. Re:This is a good thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      One word: Daikatana

    4. Re:This is a good thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I believe the quote is actually:

      "A late game is only late until it ships. A bad game is bad until the end of time."

      http://www.pixeljoint.com/pixels/quotes.asp

      http://www.cbsgames.com/games/story/10122197/2

    5. Re:This is a good thing by The_mad_linguist · · Score: 1

      But he said bad games are forever! I'm so confused!

    6. Re:This is a good thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, Duke Nukem Forever should be the greatest game of all time ?

    7. Re:This is a good thing by solar_blitz · · Score: 1

      More like: To all those impatient individuals who have already reserved the game, maybe that will teach you not to do that anymore. The good games are always available on or near release day, and all you're doing by reserving early is relieving yourself of access to that $5-$60 for some unspecified period of time.

      That kind of thinking doesn't get you a Nintendo Wii.
    8. Re:This is a good thing by solar_blitz · · Score: 1

      I believe the quote is actually: "A late game is only late until it ships. A bad game is bad until the end of time."

      It depends on how you translate it. I got my quote from Wikipedia, fyi. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shigeru_miyamoto
    9. Re:This is a good thing by DeeDob · · Score: 1

      "A delayed game is eventually good; a bad game is forever."

      I can prove that this quote is NOT true with one word:

      "Daikatana"

      The game was delayed for more than 2 years and we got a really bad one. The game was so delayed, the technological foundation on which it was based was outdated when it was finally released.

    10. Re:This is a good thing by ivan256 · · Score: 1

      There are always special circumstances... I don't think the Wii is one, as the lines for the pre-orders were just as bad as the lines for the consoles, but some (few) things are worth pre-ordering.

      A big-budget "planned hit" game isn't one of them. The big name stores (Target, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, etc...) always stock enough. The ones you have to worry about are the cult hit imports that they expect to flop...

  8. Exactly! Why is this newsworthy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There are a huge number of games to look forward to this year, Mass Effect being late is no big deal.

    Supreme Commander, Gears of War, C&C 3, Burning Crusade and Shivering Isles should still be taking your attention. Enemy Territory: Quake Wars is coming out in about a month. Thn there's UT3, Halo 3, GTA4, Crysis, LOTR Online, Mario Galaxy, Smash Bros, Metroid Prime 3, Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Bioshock, Assassin's Creed, MGS4, Spore. And this is just the sequels/semi-sequels to stuff that's been awesome in the past, there are bound to be some suprise great games.
    I've genuinely considered quitting my job to get enough time to play all this stuff! I expect I'll just get fired for too much slashdot instead.

  9. Someone is getting a Nobel in Physics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Supression of the Higgs field for 5 months must take an enormous amount of energy. I hear the DNF team will be supressing the weak nuclear force until Christmas.

  10. This may not be a reliable source... by EveryNickIsTaken · · Score: 3, Informative

    See IGN's Take on the matter.

  11. Summer Drought and other self-fulfilling prophecy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've seen mediocre games hit the shelf during the summer and do very well, better than they would have performed at other times, simply because there was no viable competition.

    The summer drought is ridiculous, as well as the christmas glut. If games publishers would release games when they were finished, as opposed to when the marketers viscera inspecting prognostications dictated that the moons were right we wouldn't have this cyclical release schedule.

    I suppose the question I'm posing is:

    Is this wierd cycle of releases, drought in the summer glut in the winter, good or bad for the industry, the players and the games themselves?

    Number Three

  12. Tsk, tsk. by Schraegstrichpunkt · · Score: 1

    You and your jokes! I don't think you fully understand the gravity of the situation.

    --
    http://outcampaign.org/
  13. Delayed? by I'll+Provide+The+War · · Score: 1

    How can a game with no announced release date be delayed?