At last - Sept 30th Confirmed by VALVe at ECTS

"it'll be tight, but Half-Life 2 is still on for a September 30th ship".

this worries me, hope they wont rush it and release it full with bugs
 
Great great great news.

Might come out with a few bugs but nothing substantial you watch.

Singleplayer will be almost bug free. Probably just multiplayer will have bugs which by the way is always hard to release multi bug free. Bugs will be fixed by millions of people playing HL2 multiplayer.

I can't wait. I'm like so excited now.
 
Originally posted by G0rgon
If this is true I am going to upgrade my PC next month.....
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Me too, but first I'll try it on my exisiting rig, then start building a new machine with the latest greatest stuff. I'm sure there will be alot of hardware articles with benchmarks on what runs the fastest.
 
3 scenerios

1) Valve is correct with their deadlinesand estimations and the game ships on the 30th
2) Vivendi is going to pull "rank" and hold off for the holiday season, as they've stated.
3) After all the promises by valve, vivendi is playing bad cop to take blame for any possible delays.

regardless, i refuse to get excited for the 30th. Not only does vivendi have all the power here, but i will also jump off the highest cliff i can find if the date keeps moving back and forth ;)
 
Originally posted by Pagy
3 scenerios
2) Vivendi is going to pull "rank" and hold off for the holiday season, as they've stated.
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Stated where? Besides from the "miscommunication" a few months ago, they haven't said anything about the Holiday Season.
 
Originally posted by Feath
Stated where? Besides from the "miscommunication" a few months ago, they haven't said anything about the Holiday Season.
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why do you think some retailsites had changed their shipdate? They proly heard that from Vivendi
 
they changed the dates because they heard vivendi's "miscommunication, and they got worried, that's all. they don't have any inside information
 
there is a scenario that no one has considered. if, hypothetically, they don't release it on september 30, why are we all assuming it will pushed to holiday? If september 30 is "tight", then doesn't it make sense that if they DO delay, it would only be to like october 10? hmm?
 
Okay okay, but seriously now, lets get down to business.

Where do we go to get our free copy? I want fragmaster... er... gordon's signature
 
2) Vivendi is going to pull "rank" and hold off for the holiday season, as they've stated.
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Publishers could do this, but they are much more likely to be the ones forcing it to be rushed out the door, with the developer pushing for more polishing time.
 
I was thinking that. If they think they probably do it with only 2 weeks till the Gold date, then any delay won't be that long.

This also explains the "no Comment" thing. It's going to be tight so they aren't as committed to the date as before.

Vivendi didn't tell any retailers about release dates because every retailer had a different release date. If they all got their release date from one source, all of the release dates would've been the same.
 
Originally posted by Pagy
Not only does vivendi have all the power here
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Um, what?

Valve doesn't need VU to distribute over Steam.
 
Originally posted by Typhon
Um, what?

Valve doesn't need VU to distribute over Steam.
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Like there isnt a contract between VU and Valve that says they cant release the game on steam before the boxed version is out.. Vivendi isnt stupid :x
 
VU isn't all-powerful either. IIRC Valve has mentioned that they negotiated a pretty tough contract since HL is such a valuable title to publish.
 
that may be so, but I still don't think VU is the one with the power in this relationship. Valve has @(#$loads of cash, and a game that will sell like hotcakes just based on its name. I really don't think VU has any leverage here.
 
They do through the power of corporation

Though im sure Valve can get it out on its release date, negotiation is the key to all business
 
Originally posted by Typhon
there is a scenario that no one has considered. if, hypothetically, they don't release it on september 30, why are we all assuming it will pushed to holiday? If september 30 is "tight", then doesn't it make sense that if they DO delay, it would only be to like october 10? hmm?
Click to expand...
It comes down to the marketing and economy of it all.
If it's a couple of days, it would probably be released. If it's a matter of weeks, it may be more feasible to hold on, get it perfect, and steal a larger market share in november.
 
Originally posted by Typhon
what is the power of corporation?
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well, loosely speaking they have more money, bigger and better lawyers, and... i think are one of the leading 5 companies in the world, next to disney, viacom, etc.

basically they have leverage because they're bigger and as stated before, most likely have contracts only changeable by negotiation

i dont want to get into the skills of good negotiation
 
I don't buy the argument that games sell better in november/december. Everyone who cares will buy the game immediately regardless of when it comes out. It also takes a few months for games to build up reviews and such and go mainstream.

Also HL2 is at the peak of its hype right now, it would be foolish to let that die away before releasing the game
 
Originally posted by Pagy
It comes down to the marketing and economy of it all.
If it's a couple of days, it would probably be released. If it's a matter of weeks, it may be more feasible to hold on, get it perfect, and steal a larger market share in november.
Click to expand...

Why a larger market share. I mean if it comes out on the 30th of September it will still be out in November and at Christmas.
 
mr white: what does VU have that EA (for example) doesn't have? My point is that VU may have money and lawyers, but lawyers are irrelevant without some sort of leverage, ie only we can distribute your game well or we're the only ones willing to produce your game. Producers would go nuts for the opportunity to produce HL2. Valve has all the cards, or in this, the only card: HL2. VU has nothing. They're just another massive distributor relying on the developers. Valve doesn't need them.
 
Originally posted by Feath
Why a larger market share. I mean if it comes out on the 30th of September it will still be out in November and at Christmas.
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well think of it like this, its very simple actually, though HL2 is an exception due to everyone wanting it, most games dont have THAT much hype, so they think of it like... computer sales are down in the summer because everyone's (whos normal) outside, whereas the winter, especially the holiday season they skyrocket

its one game, I doubt they'd change thier business tactics because of that... but who knows?
 
Originally posted by Typhon
mr white: what does VU have that EA (for example) doesn't have? My point is that VU may have money and lawyers, but lawyers are irrelevant without some sort of leverage, ie only we can distribute your game well or we're the only ones willing to produce your game. Producers would go nuts for the opportunity to produce HL2. Valve has all the cards, or in this, the only card: HL2. VU has nothing. They're just another massive distributor relying on the developers. Valve doesn't need them.
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But as its been said, two times before, they're probably under contract, doing so without VU's permission would be breaching it

and even though they probably ARE nuts to distribute it, they would make more money if they delayed it until a later date

they arent us, they dont want HL2 (well not the market leaders) they want money

they're just a big corporation and like to do that, at any cost
 
but that's assuming they're under contract. I can't see why Valve would have signed a restrictive contract in the first place.

edit: I'm not saying there's no contract, I'm just saying I don't see why it would as restrictive as you're suggesting.
 
Originally posted by Typhon
but that's assuming they're under contract. I can't see why Valve would have signed a restrictive contract in the first place.

edit: I'm not saying there's no contract, I'm just saying I don't see why it would as restrictive as you're suggesting.
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why not? Like any big publisher would publish a game without a contact
 
Hmm... thats a good point, I guess I didn't think it all the way through

well i guess in defense of my 4 years of business management I'd say that Vivendi distributed HL1 (which was released a year after it was supposed to be) so they just wanted them again, and would sign any contract saying VU called the shots on distribution time and gold dates

but now its only a thoery
 
diablo2k: are you serious? I just went over that, like 2 posts ago. Come on, derek.
 
"may" is the operative word here.
selling more copies before the christmas boom isn't always a great thing.
Having a larger share of the (ie gaming)market at certain points in the year help to control the competition.
For example, if at the highest grossing period of the year, you sell the most product, then your competition is at a disadvantage.

I'm not an expert with video game marketing, but it does happen in other industries. There are always pros and cons to product releases, and sooner isn't always better.
 
mr white: true enough, we don't really know.

What I do know, however, is that my avatar wants to eat your avatar. Down boy! That's not a peep! No, its not!
 
and simple strategic business wins again... well... atleast the big companies are winning :p

we lose if they do

oh yeah? well my bunny's got a gun... though by the looks of it it wont do it much good

flip11.jpg
 
OMG. It's HL2 for crying out loud. EVERYONE is going to buy this game. EVERYONE knows about this game. They don't need marketing and all that shit to boost sales. The name will sell considering the whole CS most played online game ever created and all. Every gamer knows HL.

Very simple really. Why else do you think there has been no huge push for marketing? Why waste money on all that shit when everyone is going to get it anyway.
 
right but VU wont pay attention to that if thier your typical international company.

they'le go by the book, they wont change thier whole system for one game, even if it is Half-Life 2

it'l be the best game ever, but it wont be the second coming of christ
 
i guess this disproves alot of you who said "my brothers best freind is an eb representative who happens to be the son of Erik who said its release 2004"
 
Originally posted by Kamakiri
OMG. It's HL2 for crying out loud. EVERYONE is going to buy this game. EVERYONE knows about this game. They don't need marketing and all that shit to boost sales. The name will sell considering the whole CS most played online game ever created and all. Every gamer knows HL.

Very simple really. Why else do you think there has been no huge push for marketing? Why waste money on all that shit when everyone is going to get it anyway.
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It's not about how many sales they make. It's about market share. When they sell relative to others' in the market.
Selling more "total" isn't always better than selling more "during the buying boom"
People buy more at christmas, and if no one buys your competitor's products during christmas, then you are at a huge advantage.

again, this is all speculation. I'm just throwing in "what ifs" and "maybes"
 
Pagy: thats proberly true for console games which are mainstream and are just bought randomly by the masses because they saw a TV advert where it looked good, the same as movies, but PC gameing is different, for a start when your buying a pc game as a present there's no knowing if it will work on the person's pc who you are buying it for, unless you are like you or me which not many people are.

Most of the people who are going to be the owner of HL2 will buy it themselves.
 
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