All you naysayers...we're not dead yet!

[Spiffae]

Pretty Official Update on Delay

I sent Amy Farris, The VU Games director of Public Relations an e-mail asking for delay clarifications. I just got this back:

Valve is still working toward the Sept. 30 ship date.


Amy Farris / PR Manager

Vivendi Universal Games

The e-mail was CCed through three PR folks at VU and Sierra. They know about it now, that's for sure.

The race is on!

 

[Guest]

Give us a screen shot of your email, so we can beleive you.:cheese:

 

[BillyJoBob]

YAY!!

 

[Axyon]

Yeah, a screen capture would be nice, but I've made a newspost anyway. Good job.

 

[Spiffae]

i'm at work, so it's outlook mac. I leave the messages on the server so i can redownload them after work.

 

[Loke]

Spiffae: Ahh! So f****king great news! I love you!

 

[Spiffae]

oof. ok, time for lunch with a smile on my face!

 

[Chris D]

That's all very well and good, but can I just remind you:

Source: Fragmaster, PHL Newsmaster
Just a follow-up on yesterday's Half-Life 2 delay story: to clear things up, we have confirmed directly with Vivendi Universal that there is a delay. We've even double checked.

 

[Typhon]

So now the question is, where did the false rumors come from? I WANT BLOOD! lol.

:bounce: :bounce:

 

[SpineofGod]

you better not be foolin'..

 

[Spiffae]

no foolin'

there was another post, but it got deleted because he just copied and pasted the entire thing, including phone numbers and e-mail addresses. if he edits out that stuff, you'll see another e-mail with similar information... something like "Valve is still committed to the September 30th release."

 

[nw909]

Someone at the Steampowered fourms got an e-mail too, said basically the same thing, coolies.

 

[Guest]

I don't think this email is real...

But still hop.....

 

[reever2]

But is the delay still due to a problem in Valve or Vivendi?

 

[SpineofGod]

Thing is.. she says "Valve is still working toward the Sept. 30 ship date." which really doesn't tell us much, sure Valve may be still trying to get the game done for the 30th, but that doesn't mean VU will ship it.

Sounds like a "Give em something to shut em up" PR response.

 

[nw909]

Well im just gonna sit back at wait untill this blows over and we'll have a final verdict.

 

[Spiffae]

the e-mail just gave me hope.

and that's enough.

EDIT: The other e-mail, which you can see at steampowered.com forums says "Valve is committed to the Sept. 30th release date." -- small change in wording, but maybe a little more promising.

 

[Chris D]

I reckon the game will always be ready for the 30th September, but for whatever reason Vivendi want to delay it because it seems like a good strategy to earn extra on it. But Valve aren't like that so they want to ship it earlier to keep the fans happy...?

Who knows.

 

[Mountain Man]

Why won't Valve just release an unambiguous statement clarifying that the game will be released on September 30? Or are they simply refusing to jump every time another delay rumor pops up?

And who did GameSpy talk to that confirmed that the game is delayed? Did they talk directly with an official VU rep (a scenario that appears increasingly unlikely) or was it another one of their so-called reliable sources?

 

[Typhon]

Just a thought: since STEAM is valve's baby, they can release HL2 on steam without going through VU, right? So they must be the ones in control of the release date.

 

[Guest]

Be cool and enjoy HALO if HL2 will be delayed :cheese:

 

[The Duke]

Originally posted by Chris_D
I reckon the game will always be ready for the 30th September, but for whatever reason Vivendi want to delay it because it seems like a good strategy to earn extra on it. But Valve aren't like that so they want to ship it earlier to keep the fans happy...?

Who knows.

You think Valve would turn down money to keep the fans happy?

Don't worry, when you grow out of diapers, you'll begin to learn how the world really works.

 

[FISKER_Q]

Originally posted by Typhon
Just a thought: since STEAM is valve's baby, they can release HL2 on steam without going through VU, right? So they must be the ones in control of the release date.

Well basicly no one knows yet.

But i would judge that Valve decides what to put on it.

1. They have free half-life games on it, and they have said the others will be free if you just have 1 half-life game(expansion, retail mod, or just original) And you will get access to it all

2. I see no copyright notices or logos about VU Not on the client, not on the content there.

3. They can allow to be distributor outside VU's area. I dont think VU would try to compete with themselves

The Duke you better grow out of diapers yourself.
Valve has strong commitments to the community, so giving up some bucks in exchange to make the community glad, would not be a problem.
Basicly they've used all the sales from HL to make you and the community happy.

 

[d8cam]

Ok everyone I just left a phone message with a high-ranking official in the PR department of Vivendi Universal. I told them to call me back at my number, which I gave them, or e-mail me at my e-mail address. I will let you all know what happened when she gets back with me.

 

[Mountain Man]

Do I detect a hint of sarcasm?

 

[Nostradamus]

thank you!. awsome

 

[dscowboy]

Here's the link to PHL's "HL2 is definitely delayed" statement:

http://www.forumplanet.com/planethalflife/topic.asp?fid=2348&tid=1117393

Appears there's still some confusion within Vivendi. Let's try to find out who Fragmaster contacted at Vivendi, then we can ask them why they're sending out two different stories.

 

[Spiffae]

Originally posted by d8cam
Ok everyone I just left a phone message with a high-ranking official in the PR department of Vivendi Universal. I told them to call me back at my number, which I gave them, or e-mail me at my e-mail address. I will let you all know what happened when she gets back with me.

this is exactly what i was afraid of. I blurred out the phone numbers on my e-mails, but some other guy didn't. now the numbers are out to the public, and that's a shame.

 

[d8cam]

Ok not only have I contacted the head PR person at Vivendi, but I just left a message at Gabe Newell's desk...to see if he knows anything new now. I gave him my e-mail address and phone number. This is for real.

 

[Mountain Man]

Since you're not affiliated with any credible publication, what makes you think they're going to call you back?

 

[The Duke]

Originally posted by FISKER_Q
The Duke you better grow out of diapers yourself.
Valve has strong commitments to the community, so giving up some bucks in exchange to make the community glad, would not be a problem.
Basicly they've used all the sales from HL to make you and the community happy.

So they're releasing the game for free now? That will sure as hell keep the fans happy! Hurray, that's great news. Valve is so dedicated that they don't care about money at all! :cheers:

 

[FISKER_Q]

Originally posted by dscowboy
Here's the link to PHL's "HL2 is definitely delayed" statement:

http://www.forumplanet.com/planethalflife/topic.asp?fid=2348&tid=1117393

Appears there's still some confusion within Vivendi. Let's try to find out who Fragmaster contacted at Vivendi, then we can ask them why they're sending out two different stories.

Cause they're ****heads and they dont want to quote their news, and dedicate it to "Some guy" @ Vivendi Universal.

Those guys should learn a bit of official instead.

 

[d8cam]

I told them I am with www.halflife2.net

And I am...so are you...lol

Call me stupid....but if this works....call me genius.

 

[X-Vector]

If the CEO of Vivendi doesn't answer my e-mail in 1 hour, I will change my avatar!

Be warned.

 

[d8cam]

Guys check out this hilarious post from a different forum:

"I don't get it, valve comes up with real-life physics in a game and meets it's deadline. Vivendi has to make a fricking box and they can't even get that done on time. It's not like this box is going to come to life and guide us through the game as your sidekick..."


lol

 

[Mountain Man]

Originally posted by X-Vector
If the CEO of Vivendi doesn't answer my e-mail in 1 hour, I will change my avatar!

Be warned.

Please don't make it that hidious clown thing you have at the 3D Realms forums!

 

[SnowBall]

Originally posted by Mountain Man
Please don't make it that hidious clown thing you have at the 3D Realms forums!

oh dear. I might have to spam vu to answer u!

 

[Typhon]

Some quick economic thoughts:
Everyone here is acting like the game market is the same as the movie market, i.e. there are seasons that do better than others, or that most copeis ship on the first weekend. This is true for games also but not to the same extent.

Just because HL2 rocks our world we act like its gonna blow away all sales records and there will be some sort of pop-culture phenom. HL2 will break no records and won't make a blip on most people's radar. The fact is that most people will need to hear about this game from their friends and others who are more informed about this.

So, shipping a game like this at Christmas isn't that big of an advantage. If this were Sims 2, that'd be a whole different story, but remember the FPS's are a niche market. They don't respond that much to overall market trends and such.

Bottom line, we're all gonna get the game when it comes out regardless. When it does ship, it will take time before everyone else notices.

Short version: the argument that Valve/Vivendi make more money by waiting till Christmas is a fallacy.

 

[d8cam]

Originally posted by Typhon
HL2 will break no records and won't make a blip on most people's radar.

Short version: the argument that Valve/Vivendi make more money by waiting till Christmas is a fallacy.

To your first statement, I agree....but I have already told 6-7 people I know about the game...I told them they need to see the video.

To your second statement, I agree...they are going to make money from September 30-December and then BOOM (lots of sales) for Christmas sales!

 

[Spiffae]

Originally posted by Typhon
HL2 will break no records and won't make a blip on most people's radar. The fact is that most people will need to hear about this game from their friends and others who are more informed about this.

So, shipping a game like this at Christmas isn't that big of an advantage. If this were Sims 2, that'd be a whole different story, but remember the FPS's are a niche market. They don't respond that much to overall market trends and such.

Well, yes and no. If you're looking at the general population of the world, then yes, FPS are a niche market. But if you look at the portion of the population that plays computer games, FPS' are not a niche. Flight simulators are a niche (less than 1% of gamers), hex-based wargamers are a niche market, but FPS? not a niche. Certainly, everyone who has played a game of solitaire has not played a game of quake, but enought people know what FPS are, and the electronic entertainment market is big enough that a huge release like HL2 will be a big deal.

You say that the game will break no records, and won't make a blip on most people's radar. Possible, yes, but i think unlikely. This is the game that PC Gamer advertized as "the most anticipated game ever...the sequel to the best game of all time." Nearly every piece of gaming press is coving this game with extensive articles are high praise. A working modding community exists, even though no game is out yet. Certainly, these are not guarantees of success, but they are good signs.

You say no records, no blips?

That's your prediction. I predict a sellout. I predict editor's choice awards, high marks, and a wave of mods so intense and so polished that the community doesn't know what to do with itself. I predict articles in The New York times Circuits section, Rolling Stone, and TIME.

We'll see who is right.