3 reasons why the game will be release in November.

[InZaneFlea]

Pretty sure that delaying for 2 months will probably HURT their sales. Have it out now, the fans get it. The word get's out to your everday gamer, he gets it for christmas. He talks to his non-gamer friends, they say what the hell. HL2 sales for February, still in the 100k's. Simply enough.

 

[Dekstar]

That's about right, InZaneFlea. But to be honest, the people who really like the game wouldn't constantly make threads about how much VALVe and Vivendi suck.

VALVe, after all, are making/have made the game, and Vivendi are publishing it. What more can you ask for? Other companies would definately wait for the christmas period, but Vivendi might not, and not even you lot know if they will or not so why complain?

Like Chris_D said. If there was a Vivendi rep. Here, he might get the game release delayed further for, as Chris_D said again, Shits and Giggles.

 

[Eon Blue]

Well, if you had the biggest launch in gaming history, wouldn't you milk it for a few extra bucks too? I know I would.

 

[Gray Fox]

Yeah but you know if they release it in november they are going to piss a lot of fans of hallf-life off, and I don't think they wanna do that, because the people they would piss of are the same people that kept hl alive until today.

 

[NeLi]

etc etc

 

[Tarkin]

[/obvious]
I'm sorry, I had to do that, apparently someone forgot to close the 'OBVIOUS' BB tag a million messages ago and everybody were following it.

 

[Dr. Freeman]

I consider the idea releasing Half-Life 2 in November in order to sell more copies to be about the same level as adding a brick to The CN Tower. Yes, it'll make it a bit taller taller, but do the extra few inches really matter?

haha Feath i like that analogy considering i live near the CN Tower
anyway i understand ur point...but just to play devil's advocate i'd say the fat cats over at VU probably don't play games.. or played HL if u wanna get specific.. whats my point? they couldn't care less what fans want.. if they think releasing the game in November will get them more impulse buys like mentioned earlier, guess what?

 

[skipper]

why dont they just release it now and make a patch if we find anything because the time theyve had they should be very little wrong with it plus i woud not mind d/l patches at least we would have it

ps im not been nasty or anything there just my opinion

 

[Dekstar]

I doubt HL2 fans would like to have to downloaded patches, Skipper, considering that's apparently what VALVe have mostly been doing over these past few months.

 

[DrEvil]

I don't see how releasing the game in November will make it sell more than if they released the game now.

 

[iamaelephant]

Holy shit a business out to make money?!!?!

I say a lynching at dusk.

Jeez guys, what the hell do you think businesses do? Do you think the Coca Cola Corporation just wants to make fun drinks for you all? You think GM is in business because they just love to see their customers in flash looking cars? NO! They are in business to make money, and good f*cking on them.

 

[Formulajh7]

......

A car manufacturer that pushed back a car model an entire year after they showed it at a national convention and publicly promised it would be out... would be the laughing stock of the entire industry.

 

[BlumenKohl]

1. VALVe will be rich even if they release it ie. today

You don't know how business works do you?

It's not how much you will make, it's all about how much MORE you can make.

 

[Hectic Glenn]

Not another one of these threads. It seems that so many new members keep joining the forum recently, and posting lengthy opinions about HL2 and its release date. Theres seems to be like 4/5 of these everyday, and most of these people have 1 post to their name! Please consider before you post the same thing again, that we probably don't care, or already know. Gah.... :frown:

 

[Formulajh7]

It amazes me the negative crap that people post about someone's opinion...

Especially when I'm right.. I'm sorry loyalist are you too offended to read my post? Do me a favor and dont add to the post count.

 

[ViolenceJack]

Yes, it doesnt matter when HL2 is released its gonner sell like crazy.

I find it sickening that CS:S is actually delaying HL2. I mean couldnt they throw in the heap of crap in already even if it is bugged to buggery and beyond then just patch it through steam when its out. i mean steam streams, its the whole point in it, auto updating etc. It wouldnt matter if CS:S was bugged slightly out the box because of that matter. HL2 SP on the other hand is different as that is a offline singleplayer. As long as thats fine lets get the game out.

Although there may be somin else that we dont know about that is holding it up.

 

[iamaelephant]

Especially when I'm right.. I'm sorry loyalist are you too offended to read my post? Do me a favor and dont add to the post count.

Anyone that has more than 4 posts on this board could tell you that I'm not a "loyalist" and in fact I believe Valve is among the worst game developers around, in terms of PR and respect for their fans, but I repsect the fact that both Valve and Vivendi are in business to make money. I go to work every day to make money, not for the love of the job. Just like Valve/VU.

When some of you guys get out of school and get jobs, maybe you will realise that money is what makes the world go round. Money is the reason we get all this awesome hardware at such low prices, and money is the reason we get to play these cool games. Movies, cars, art, games, books, it's all possible because people get paid to do it. Get over it.

 

[Mrmanwithsuit]

ill Sh|T on u VU

 

[alehm]

The real reason the game won't be out in November is because everyone is hoping it will come out in Sept or Oct. It's a Murpheys Law curse on the gaming community.

 

[Agent.M]

Especially when I'm right.. I'm sorry loyalist are you too offended to read my post? Do me a favor and dont add to the post count.

LoL ..... welcome to the HL2.net forums. :smoking:

 

[Dr. Freeman]

I don't see how releasing the game in November will make it sell more than if they released the game now.

u need to take a marketing101 class in school or something.
its been said a few times in this thread that a release in November will result in more "impulse buys" for Valve/VU than releasing it in September/October.

reason being? well generally pple start X-mas shopping in mid/late November.. and well.. if u don't understand the concept of "impluse buying" than yeah.. u really do need to go to a marketing class of some sort.

 

[ACROW_LEFT]

Wait!? so valve is in it for the money, since when have companies been in it for the money, i hate them....

 

[Your Mother]

so if they release it in september, that will give them even more time to sell before christmas. Everyone who wants it is gonna get it. If they dont get it the day of the release there still gonna get it after. They will make a bundle on release day and they will make a bundle around christmas. They are still making money off HL1 right now arent they. I know I just bought the new Half Life PE2 pack. What difference would it make if they made there money sooner than november. I know the sooner I have my money in pocket, the happier I feel. Thats what life is about, ain't it. Happieness!!

 

[Mr.Headcrab]

Im guessing a release date of november 20th-December 15th, because they know more people will buy it during Christmas time, because everyones Christmas shopping, and all the millions of 12 year olds are saying "Mom get me halflife 2!!!! Im gonna own the g man!" mother: "what does that mean?" boy: "nothing, your not cool like me, i poon so many noobs on cs" and then the mother gets Halflife 2 for there child in a desperate attempt to find a friend for him

 

[halflifeguy]

well if theyre RC is supposed to go in on the 16th (is that the right date?)then who long will it take to go gold?and after they go gold it takes up to 3 weeks to release

 

[Mr Neutron]

When will marketing idiots figure out that nobody really gives a crap when it comes out. As long as it's on the shelves by the holidays, the stupid people of the world will still be able to buy it just because the box art is pretty. Everybody in their established fan base wants the game as soon as it's done, not in November. I wonder if they've considered how many people will not buy the game just because it's been delayed for more than a year (assuming they don't release by the 30th).

Yes, I've gone over this before. The release timing of a AAA title hardly matters as long as it will still have significant shelf-presence through at least one holiday season (if not two, as in the case of Blizzard titles). So the question is, do you think HL2 would have fewer boxes on the shelves come late November if the game were released today (assuming stores don't have trouble keeping them in stock) than if it were released later? The answer is a pretty definite no.

 

[Platinum]

theyre probably sitting at a desk right now discussing the same shit we are ... oh wait ... nevermind! YEAH RIGHT!

Gabe, Doug and the rest of the Valve crew are probably running around naked together ... With only headcrab thongs on ... ... ewwwwwww :sniper: :sniper: :sniper: :sniper: :sniper: :sniper:

 

[alan8325]

This makes me wonder about the specifics of Valve's agreement with Vivendi over the Steam release of H-L2. Did they agree that H-L2 wouldn't be released over Steam until Vivendi makes a decision on the retail release, thus placing both releases in Vivendi's hands? Or did they agree on a "when it's done" release date ahead of time and then Valve could release it on Steam regardless of whether Vivendi wants to delay the retail release?

That would make for a very interesting legal situation if Valve decided that they did not want to wait for the holiday season but Vivendi did. Valve could potentially release H-L2 over Steam at a time when Vivendi could technically release the retail if they wanted to, even though they may want to delay for the holidays. Vivendi's delay of the CZ release makes this situation plausible depending on the agreement they have with Valve. I would laugh my ass off if this happened.

 

[dkelly]

u need to take a marketing101 class in school or something.
its been said a few times in this thread that a release in November will result in more "impulse buys" for Valve/VU than releasing it in September/October.

reason being? well generally pple start X-mas shopping in mid/late November.. and well.. if u don't understand the concept of "impluse buying" than yeah.. u really do need to go to a marketing class of some sort.

Well, I did take marketing class 101, in university that is (I'm a business student). Studies show that impulse buy tends to be lower around Christmas time than any other time of the year (I'm sorry but I don't have any links to support this), but basically it's because people tend to buy less for themselves around this time, and purchases for other people aren't considered impulse purchases.

Also, to maximize profit around Chritmas time it's best to release a product around the first of October.

Why would you think that it would sell more if it were released in November anyway.. that doesn't make much sense to me.

I wouldn't worry about VU holding out on HL2. It just isn't profitable.

[offtopic]Dr. Freeman has the best sig on this board[/offtopic]
The Fragile = <3

 

[AngstyTeen]

Its time for some Angst Theater our play takes place sometime after the release of Hl2 at Valve....
Vivendi: Gabe the sales of half life 2 are even more then we expected, we are wondering what you are working on now?
Gabe: Thank you and we are Making the Hl2 Ex pack, its doing quite well and should be out in the next couple of months.
Vivendi Gabe now thats all good and all but we want more money we were wondering feel like releasing it now and fixing it up later through patches or better yet how about we draw a stick figure and put the half life logo on it put the valve sticker on it and release it? We would make even more money because we at Vivendi think that the average gamer will buy anything whenever we feel like releasing it and we canceled Sam N Max 2 we also have the cure for cancer but we feel like it would be better to delay it. *Im stopping this now I had fun writing it, its a Joke so take it as one.* I think its coming out in Oct and also I really doubt that Vivendi would hold the game just to make more money because if you think about it everyone who truly wants the game will get it when it comes out well if its out earlier then around xmas time there will be the people who don't know half life 2 all that well and just go hmm this looks good I bet little Billy will want this for X-mas.

 

[Mr-Fusion]

Why would you think that it would sell more if it were released in November anyway.. that doesn't make much sense to me.

Personally i don't see why it would sell much more copies either.

But lots of publishers are trying to their games released in November. Here's the list i've got.

Half-Life 2 : November
Metal Gear Solid 3 : November
Halo 2 : November
Painkiller expansion : November
World of Warcraft : November
MOH-Pacific Assault : November
Playboy: The mansion : November
Prince of Persia-Warrior Within : November

The thing about the above games is they're production standards are all AAA. The publisher can virtually pick and choose when to release to make maximum profit.

 

[dkelly]

Personally i don't see why it would sell much more copies either.

But lots of publishers are trying to their games released in November. Here's the list i've got.

Half-Life 2 : November
Metal Gear Solid 3 : November
Halo 2 : November
Painkiller expansion : November
World of Warcraft : November
MOH-Pacific Assault : November
Playboy: The mansion : November
Prince of Persia-Warrior Within : November

The thing about the above games is they're production standards are all AAA. The publisher can virtually pick and choose when to release to make maximum profit.

Well now that is interesting.
Having seen this, a November release seems very likely.
I stand corrected (atleast probably).

A very good point indeed Mr. Fusion. Good job.
:thumbs:

On a side note, I didn't know that WOW was being released so soon. That's great, I can't wait for it. Cheers.

 

[Dr. Freeman]

Well, I did take marketing class 101, in university that is (I'm a business student). Studies show that impulse buy tends to be lower around Christmas time than any other time of the year (I'm sorry but I don't have any links to support this), but basically it's because people tend to buy less for themselves around this time, and purchases for other people aren't considered impulse purchases.

Also, to maximize profit around Chritmas time it's best to release a product around the first of October.

Why would you think that it would sell more if it were released in November anyway.. that doesn't make much sense to me.

I wouldn't worry about VU holding out on HL2. It just isn't profitable.

[offtopic]Dr. Freeman has the best sig on this board[/offtopic]
The Fragile = <3

well...i guess it really comes down to what one considers as an "impulse buy" over just normal shopping.

i think the one thing we all agree on is this game is gonna sell like hotcakes.. Valve and VU know this too but u know they aren't worried about selling it to pple such as u and i.. their aim is to sell the game to those pple, (average gamers and parents alike) who probably don't know very much about the game.

plus someone earlier mentioned about X-mas shoppers looking for the new and "cool" items out.. if HL2 is released in September/October.. then perhaps to the average parent who does not know enough about the HL series may overlook HL2 in favour of something new and "cool" i know i've seen this happen with my young cousin getting the new cool/hip stuff for X-mas at the time.

and thanks for the compliment on the sig.. most pple just overlook it :E

 

[dkelly]

This is also off-topic, but I just now noticed what your avatar was too. Nice.

 

[DrEvil]

u need to take a marketing101 class in school or something.
its been said a few times in this thread that a release in November will result in more "impulse buys" for Valve/VU than releasing it in September/October.

reason being? well generally pple start X-mas shopping in mid/late November.. and well.. if u don't understand the concept of "impluse buying" than yeah.. u really do need to go to a marketing class of some sort.

How does releasing the game now diminish impulse buys in November/December? Impulse buys will be the same and the game will sell a lot of copies between now and then. Also, 'word of mouth' would help get more people to buy the game during the holidays.

There, I resisted the temptation to get annoyed by you asking me to take marketing 101 and gave a calm reply.

 

[Dr. Freeman]

How does releasing the game now diminish impulse buys in November/December? Impulse buys will be the same and the game will sell a lot of copies between now and then. Also, 'word of mouth' would help get more people to buy the game during the holidays.

There, I resisted the temptation to get annoyed by you asking me to take marketing 101 and gave a calm reply.

fair enough, im sorry for sounding harsh there even tho i did not mean it honestly.

as for ur question on why/how it would diminish impulse buys in November/December.. well like i pointed out.. alot of parents X-mas shopping are usually looking for the new items on the shelves.. now granted to some HL2 may still be new in December (assuming its released in September) but compare that to popular game title being released in November or December? since parents don't generally tend to know games much, they grab the newer title.

anyway thats my example.. i seen it happen and so i believe November releases do work somewhat.

 

[Formulajh7]

.....

I (the thread starter) am the one who mentioned impulse buys and its really easy to understand why they are classified as such.. Read the following example..Mom goes to buy Joey christmas presents.--> she sees lots of new games out HALO 2! wow I think I have heard of that.. Half life 2.. wow I think I have heard of that... Oh but Halo 2 says New release and half life 2 isnt on the new release section as a matter of fact it came out in september.. Joey did mention half life 2 butr all the store banners are saying HALO 2 and its new! I will get him HALO 2 he will like it better!


Understand now? Impulse buying is very much a presence in the Holiday season. (by the way I work for a large marketing firm in Manhatten so please by all means argue with me.)

Now if VU would stop looking at trends are start thinking this is what the would have come up with..


Hey Half life 2 is a pc game.. Mom doesnt need to buy joey it becuase our audience is mostly 16-35 Hey I can get this game out before all the other hot titles.. Hey we should release this game ASAP....

It doesnt work that way though.. Execs look at trends and whats proven.. my statement while based in marketing fact is not a proven holiday trend... Half life 2 will be out in November.

 

[Formulajh7]

P.S. I wrote valve for the hell of it explaining the 101 and why Half life 2 should be released ASAP. They of course ignored it.

 

[Formulajh7]

P.s.s

If I can get enough "enlightened people" here expressing there concerns over VU I will more than happily forward this thread to every Valve and VU employee's email address that I can find.