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GTA IV Delay Rumoured
This past weekend Gamespot did a Rumor Control article on the possibility of a delay in GTA IV's release. Michael Pachter, of Wedbush Morgan Securities, predicted that the Take-Two board shakeup would result in some game cancellations and (in GTA's case) some delays. The article points out that the rumour is as-yet unconfirmed. The company has gone on record as saying, that the game would still release in October (the expected launch month), but that doesn't necessarily rule out Pachter's scenario. "'We believe that it is possible that the company will choose to 'throw in the towel' on [its 2007 financial year] by shifting the release date for Grand Theft Auto IV by a few weeks, increasing the losses incurred this year and improving the company's prospects for FY:08.' Take-Two's financial year ends on October 31, 2007. Pachter gave another rationale for a GTA IV delay: namely, that moving it to early November would put more space between GTA IV and Halo 3, which is arriving September 25. 'We believe that a two-week delay would provide a reasonable gap between the launch of Halo 3 and the launch of GTA IV, and would actually help sales of both games,' he said."
the previous board was a bunch of Jack Thomson accomodating pansies.
We must delay to add more pointless sex, blood, violence and gore. Please be patient
[Disclaimer: this post is not by the Take 2 board, or anyone affiliated, and is meant only in joke, satyre, and hopes that reality pans out to be like this]
Seriously, has any highly anticipated game ever NOT been delayed? I don't think this guy is really going out on a limb here.
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Why would it be in Take-Two's interest to help boost the sale of Halo3?
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http://games.kikizo.com/news/200706/004.asp
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This just means politicians will have to wait a few more weeks to find a new scapegoat for all of the problems in the world.
I said this on Kotaku as well, but I worked for several years at Rockstar and through the release of six or seven different GTA titles, and there is no way in hell Rockstar will ever, ever, ever postpone the release date of GTAIV. It is too big of a game with too well-publicized of a release date.
Pachter doesn't know how Rockstar thinks (and I'm making the distinction between Rockstar and Take 2, because while they are the same company really, the decision-making between each is handled differently). First of all, there's no chance whatsoever of them delaying a game because of the competition. None. Because they don't think they have any competition. They think of GTA as the #1 game series in the world (and I'm not sure if that's true, but it may be over the last 7 or 8 years). If anything, they're wondering if Bungie is going to delay Halo 3 because of GTAIV, not the other way around.
Second, they don't delay games because they're not ready. Never happens. They're one of those game companies that work their developers to the bone to make milestones. This is completely different from Take 2 - we all know about the DNF saga. Rockstar doesn't operate that way. They pride themselves on discipline, and they will work 20 hour days for six months straight if that's what it takes to release a game on time.
The only *possible* reason they would ever delay a game was to move it into another fiscal quarter. I think they actually did that with one game while I was there... maybe Max Payne 2. I don't remember exactly. But never a numbered GTA game. They would never spend millions promoting a release date and then change it. They've considered all the fiscal considerations long ago, before setting that date.
Note that there's also a difference between "delaying" a game that never had a release date (like The Warriors, which came out about 2 years later than original internal schedules had it) and delaying a game that does have an announced release date. Rockstar thinks of themselves as above doing the latter, and they also just consider it suicidal in terms of publicity and eventual sales. To them, delaying a game 2 weeks in October just means 2 fewer weeks worth of Christmas season sales, not to mention garnering them an air of incompetence and generating questions among the public about the game's state of readiness.
I have been wrong once or twice in my life, but I will seriously cook and eat the Rockstar shirt that I'm currently wearing if they delay GTAIV. There would have had to have been a complete sea change in attitude at Rockstar since I left for that to ever happen, and I know the people who are still there from when I was there - and the real decision makers at Rockstar are among them. It would take direct involvement from the Zelnick to delay GTAIV, and even then it would be strenuously argued against, literally to the point of threats and near-violence. I have seen it happen before - there are reasons why Take 2's CEO churn rate is so high that go beyond simple fiscal issues.
It'll probably be the usual time difference with the added constraint of requiring Vista.
Anyone that takes Pachter seriously ought to have their noggins examined. The guy is about as accurate as a coin flip or a Magic 8 Ball (tm). Over the years I've seen him quoted again and again and he's almost always been wrong. It's possible that I haven't seen his correct predictions, but anyone that knows anything gaming industry usually scratches their heads when they read quotes from him. In conclusion, you can spell analyst without the "anal" and he's got plenty of it.