The real deal with game delays |
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It's a no-brainer that everyone hates game delays. Each time that a release is moved to a later date, the whine of gamers is met with a standard-issue "we want to add more quality to the game and we need more time to do it" type of response. Most of the time, it's enough to silence the fans. According to analyst Michael Pachter, that's only half of the truth.In fact, business strategy is the other half of the story. True, creative and technical issues are considered, but publishers may opt to hold in the title for a period of time if that's what it takes to generate better profits. Whether the company is looking for a date where it can cash in on holidays or if it wants to go head to head with the competition, nothing happens by accident as even the smallest details are considered.
One good example of a game delayed for business strategy would be The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess which could have been released for the GameCube 16 months earlier than the actual ship. But Miyamoto and crew seem to have had a business-savvy plan in mind to give the old 'Cube and the new Wii a mutual benefit.
In E3 2004, the world first laid eyes on the next installation in the immortal Zelda franchise. It took a year, however, before we got our hands on a playable demo. That was E3 2005 where Nintendo promised a November 2006 release. What happened next was a series of moves that would lead us to the status quo of electronic entertainment.
According to Pachter, Twilight Princess was good to go on the GameCube in the original release date or somewhere close, but director Eiji Aonuma may have hit a snag with Miyamoto and crew. The game was apparently deemed good enough for the Wii and development of a port was ordered. The game was to be released simultaneously for the Wii and the GameCube to give the new console the additional firepower for its launch. It was the logical thing to do.
Nobody can argue with the results. Together with other Nintendo titles, Twilight Princess propelled the Wii to becoming the hottest-selling console on the planet, edging market leader Xbox 360 in the first quarter of 2007. At the end of the day, everyone, including Nintendo loyalists, was happy.
Via GamePro
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Comments [refresh]
i could have played TP years ago. Screw you nintendo.
fact its better to buy a wii by late december or when nintendo releases new colors or better upgrade machine with dvd and hard drive. each store holds a limit oof 7 wii, really stupid. that why you never n64 with little game choices. heck they should of upgrade graphics card at least duh, better to harness the possibilities or power of games. the dam nintendo machine get smaller like a real wee wee. if some kid comes up and says wii is powerful, give him a toilet flush or in a trash can. why do you think compaies like konami, capcon, snk, square enix, tecmo want to make dreams come true, bigger better stronger sharp. hardly any wii games just ps2 ports to wii system. i rather not use wii remote or nun chuk: whatever u call it. i would just buy the heaper vc classic controller, NICE............. byezzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzz zzzz z zz zz z zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzz
I ALMOST bought a wii within months of launch, but I know nintendo will release some variant or bundle when the demand slows down, so i'm waiting.
I'd like a black one, or some metroid bundle or something...
u are very patient, what are you playing now
i'm guessing people are ignoring the 2nd post, since its clearly been written by a person with down syndrome
i tried to read it but is there actually any way of making sense of it?
i have large objections to nintendo's dropping the gamecube etc, i wanted super paper mario ages ago - and at the time it was slated for gamecube release, i wanted twilight princess ages ago but they screwed me on that one too... i hate nintendo for the way they do this, it's all about money. they sell gamecube at a profit, they sell wii at a profit (note most console manufacturers make money on software - psp was released with a attach ratio of something like 6 games to 1 system for sony to make any money!) , the wii is a major con.
grr
damn Sony is the only console company who actually still FULLY SUPPORTS its last generation console when they release their next gen. Another reason how Sony is loyal to it's fans.
It happened with PS1 and PS2, and now its happening with PS2 and PS3
I almost bought a Wii in late Dec. but ultimately decided against it. Instead I just bought parts for a new computer. Yay for me. I'm still kind of iffy on the whole Wii thing.
I worked in the videogame industry from fall of 97 till feb of 04. Many, many, times Nintendo would "strategically" hold a release back AND hold hardware (for example the Gameboy Pocket, Gameboy Color, and GameboySP) The hardware was specifically held in "short" supply to generate a want for the product.
I am not saying that Nintendo is doing the same thing with the WiiCube again, (since I no longer have the privy of the "inside scoop" that working in the Industry gave me) but I would not be surprized at all if this were the case.
Specific examples of games that Nintendo held back until they thought the time was right to release are....
Pokemon Red, Pokemon Blue, Pokemon Gold, Pokemon Silver, both Zelda's for the N64, StarFox 64, and some GameCube titles that elude me at the moment.
I know that Nintendo did this mainly because when I would go to Game conferences (mostly before forth quarter) I would chat with some Nintendo developers and "joke" with them on which titles are "not" coming out this time. They would sometimes play it off like it was not happening but as the years went by and they came to know me better (seeing me many times a year) that they would inevitably tell me more and more about their frustrations in Nintendo for not letting thier games release on time.
These people that I am refering to were Nintendo developers, and third party developers.
So, basically, if you want to continue to play Nintendo games.....Get used to BIG titles being held back till Nintedo thinks they can make the most money off of it.
You can beleive me or not, I do not care either way, but that is what happened and I would be shocked if it was not happening now.
Metroid Prime 3, SuperMario Galaxy, SuperSmash Bros. (really, how hard is that one to make) I would bet my life on it that these titles are being held back until the critical fourth quarter of 2007.
Don't you find it curious that Nintendo is consistently off on their release dates by a year plus on most of it's BIG titles?
I am sure that I have some spelling errors here and there, but that is not the point of this post.
Yep now i can still enjoy my ps3 and ps2 and ps1 games in peace without the fear of upgrading to another system every 2-3 years ..........XBOX360.......NintendoWii
nobody believes you, and the gap between xbox and xbox 360 was 4 years and microsoft did that to ensure they would launch with sony, playstation 3 was supposed to launch in Japan march 2006 a mere 4 months after xbox 360, but sony planned to launch march 2007 in Japan to give ps2 more life, but they had to come out earlier because of xbox 360, LOL, and nintendo gamecube to the nintendo wii was a 5 year gap the normal lifespan for consoles, so stop lying to people because you are a sony fanboy.