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Industry Fallout from GTA IV Delay
SET writes "MSNBC has an interesting writeup on the shakeups in the gaming industry following Take-Two's announcement that Grand Theft Auto IV has been delayed. The article examines the problems this creates for Microsoft and Sony, both of whom were expecting GTA IV to help boost Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 sales this coming holiday season. 'Analyst Michael Pachter told Web site GamesIndustry.biz that he believes Rockstar has delayed the game because it is struggling with development on the PlayStation 3. Sony denies this charge and said that the company has a dedicated team working with Rockstar on "GTA IV." They say they're not that worried about the delay and would prefer that Rockstar take the time it needs to perfect the game. "We'd love to have [it] out as soon as possible," said Sony spokesperson Dave Karakker. "But we've never had a single game make or break any of our platforms. That's not how we built 100 million sales of [the] PlayStation 2, and that's not how we'll build 100 million in sales of [the] PlayStation 3."'"
Ultimately, the GTA IV delay helps Microsoft more than it hurts them. Microsoft already has a blockbuster holiday season lineup in the works, even without GTA IV. Sony, on the other hand, was relying on GTA IV as one of the cornerstones of its 2007 holiday strategy.
The idea that the PS3 is responsible for the delay is unfounded speculation. It would be just as valid to suggest that the XBox 360 is causing problems with its inferior media capacity, or that Rockstar itself simply underestimated how much work the project would involve. Unless Rockstar itself reveals what's going on, we're never going to know the truth.
Rob
So some random analyst assumes the PS3 is the problem, and it ends up in the flamebait summary even though a VP at Rockstar says they haven't figured out how to deal with the lack of hard drive in the Xbox 360?
Why doesn't the summary mention that Microsoft is considering allowing games which require the hard drive, possibly in response to these issues with GTA IV? Instead it just trash-talks the PS3. Lovely.
" ...That's not how we built 100 million sales of [the] PlayStation 2, and that's not how we'll build 100 million in sales of [the] PlayStation 3."
If the PS3 hits 100 million in sales, I promise you Sony, I'll go out and buy two.
I think what he's saying is that if there's 30 great games out for the XBox360, not having a 31st great game isn't all that much. However, if the PS3 only has 10 great games, then not having an 11th great game is three times worse. I'm pulling those numbers out of a .cx domain, but that's the gist of it.
Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
The 360 will have Halo 3. The Wii will likely have Mario Galaxies and possibly even Super Smash Brothers Brawl. And the PS3 will have... what? How many crappy holiday seasons can Sony survive?
I think they're banking on a couple, actually. Their stubborn resistance to permanently lower the price and their continued statements of pride (if not bombast) makes me think that they believe the Wii is a short-term thing, a fad, one whose technical limitations will cause it to hit the wall in a year or two, at which point the PS3 will become the mainstream machine, and still command a hefty price. By this thinking, the 360 isn't a concern; while the Wii is outselling the PS3 6-to-1 in Japan, it's outselling 360 by 15-to-1 (or, crunched another way, even the lowly PS3 is outselling 360 almost 3-to-1). Hopelessly irrelevant in Japan, 360 isn't the competitor, and Sony is simply counting on Nintendo to fail.
Crummy idea? Wishful thinking? I'd say so. But that's what this behavior looks like to me.