Half-Life 2 Delay Discussion Thread

most likely vivendi got in touch with EBgames, or they saw the news. I'm still waiting on Valve though...come on valve!
 
Well, I'm pretty much convinced....

The EB thing coupled with all the silence coming from Gabe pretty much solidified the fact this game is pushed back.

Mark my words. I'll bet my left nut it's delayed.

Could be worse I suppose. Just kinda takes the DOOMIII slot for me. (which was originally planned to be released some time in November)

Here's to hopin' they release a gem of a game bug/content/support-wise. I know for a fact this is delayed ONLY because of business/money reasons. No doubt about it. Not really sure why it is, you would think you would sell more copies the longer you have them on the shelf, but who the hell knows. Could be so that they have cash flow for both the 4th quarter of this year and 1st quarter next year, or because of the sales for CounterStrike Zero. Hopefully this will give them more time to just add content, mod-tools, etc etc.

I just wanna play the game.


GibMonkey
[email protected]
 
Re: Uh oh

Originally posted by GibMonkey
I've only seen EB totally fubar one game date...
Click to expand...
Um, not sure what rock you live under, but EB gets release dates jacked up all the time.

There's also the possibility that they're simply reacting to the rumor rather some inside info.

But the biggest question is: Why the hell is Valve keeping us in the dark!
 
That's funny

All the games I've ever followed through EBGames never had a date get 'jacked'. Give me a name of a game they screwed up the release date on. I can't seem to remember any minus Baldur's Gate II.

It's delayed folks.


GibMonkey
[email protected]
 
Well if it really is delayed, it shouldn't be that big of a surprise. Since there are virtually no other big titles coming out until 2004, it was a good decision (for money, not for the fans) to delay till holidays. At least we still get the game this year. Seeing as Valve is notorius for delays, it was probably best for the publisher to take the heat on this one. Pure speculation, I sure hope the game still comes out Sept. 30th. :(
 
IT ALL MAKES SENSE! HALF-LIFE WAS RELEASED RIGHT BEFORE THANKSGIVING 1998. HALF-LIFE 2 WILL BE RELEASED BEFORE THANKSGIVING 2003.
 
Question though..

Why exactly IS it good for money to dalay?

Makes no sense to me. The more time a title is on the shelf, the more copies get sold. Let us see here, the first initial purchase wave is the frothing geeks (such as me) with the must-have-on-opening-day attitude. Second wave are gamers/casual gamers. Third wave is anyone that missed the first and second waves (due to funds or real life). Anything after are comprised of word-of-mouth, with later purchases due to mods (can you say counter-strike?).

So again, if all the frothing fan boys and gamers get it for the holiday season and it turns into a playstation2/elmo situation, how exactly does this help sales? People will be turning to warez at that point.

Just doesn't seem to do anything monetarily to delay the game. Anyone with some business sense want to chime in?


GibMonkey
[email protected]
 
I believe that the Valve team really listen to their fans, they even check the forums every now and them!!! So i think that's the reason for the delay. People have begun sending a lot of suggestions and new ideas to the team, and also complaining about some minor bugs that were shown in the video. But I think that mostly the new ideas that were sent in, they probably thought "hey that's an easy addon why not make the game more complete for the release?"! But what I think that was the biggest reason behind the supposed delay was those graphics issues with directx 9 redering and FSAA. Anyway, Counter Strike: Condition Zero is still schedule for the 09/01 release, so that's what I'm going to be playing til HL2, actually until the Source SDK release :flame:

d_P
:afro: RAsTa !!!
 
This just seems like a set-up to push Steam...

its possible Valve can seem like the hero by saying screw our publisher, we'll release it on Steam, and we will all rejoice "Yeaaah, Valve Rules!!" and rush to dl it off Steam.
 
Ah...yes

The Steam push sounds rather interesting. Truly would make a good case to use Steam. The only good case minus Counter-Strike....

....or it could be a government conspiracy....:cheese:

>RUNS OFF TO WATCH X-FILES DVD...


GibMonkey
[email protected]
 
Holiday 2003 generally means the Christmas season which traditionally starts around Thanksgiving (Thanksgiving Day is the 4th Thursday of November. This year it's November 27), so a Holiday 2003 release could mean any where between the first week of November to the last week of December. It's not really a specific date.

But I still refuse to accept that the release date is anything other than September 30, 2003 until Valve says otherwise.
 
Originally posted by Mountain Man
But I still refuse to accept that the release date is anything other than September 30, 2003 until Valve says otherwise.
Click to expand...

Amen to that.
 
The reason for the delay is probably 100% business. The dev team sounded pretty damn confident at E3 that they would have the game done by 9/30.

In this business, usually the publisher has all the say in when a title is released. In most cases, if a developer thinks they need more time to finish a game, the publisher has to approve it first. It's also possible that a publisher would want to hold off on releasing a game if it may compete with another one of it's products.

With Condition Zero so close to release, putting HL2 out a week later would kill the sales of CZ before they even got off the ground. In order to maximize sales of CZ, Vevendi may have held off the release of HL2 which is a sure shot to sell a million-plus, no matter when it comes out. Hell, they may even sell a few extra copies of CZ to people who are dying to get their hands on something new to pass the time.

Not the definate answer, but one that does make a lot of sense, business-wise.

Or, Valve may just be late. ;)
 
Ya know, if there's a delay for HL2, it wouldn't mean the end of the world for the PR side of Valve's interests, but after hearing a definite Spetember 30th release it wouldn't help. Regardless, the Valve guys have been so patient and plain cool to respond to all of our giddy emails and comments. We can't forget that.

But if the delay is real, Valve shoudl release the playable Tech Demo to hold us over. I mean just give me that manipulator and a few matresses and bodies with some water and I could wait til November easily.
 
I doubt that Valve itself is responsible for the delay. Gabe Newell and Doug Lombardi gave the public their word that the game would be released Sept 30th, and if there was a change on Valve's end, I think they would have immediately come forward with the information. Also, they wouldn't have given that date without Vivendi's previous approval.

So, it seems to me to come down to a decision by Vivendi to delay the release. There are a lot of reasons why the corporate suits may have changed their minds, and knowing corporations, the public may never hear the actual truth. But that's no fun, so I'll speculate...

Content: Vivendi may be asking for a change in the plot (doubtful though)

Production: Vivendi may be unable to get the CD-Keys, boxes, discs, the Special Edition version, localizations, etc. ready in time (doubtful too)

Technical: Vivendi may have 'Quality Assurance' issues (bugs) they want resolved. (possible)

Press: Valve may not have a preview version ready for the press at this time, so Vivendi wants a delay. The magazines need a few months lead time to get a preview published. (possible)

Condition Zero: A marketing decision to give CS:CZ some shelf time with no competition from HL2. (possible)

Marketing: A high-level marketing executive at Vivendi has concluded that HL2 will sell better if it is released between Nov 15th and Jan 15th, the USA's frenzied holiday buying season. Since the marketing department has tremendous corporate influence and handles press communications, this seems to me to be the most likely cause of the sudden announcement and neglecting to inform Valve in advance of the delay announcement. (highly likely)

But, whatever the reasons, putting Valve in this embarassing position was a gross error on Vivendi's part. Even if the delay increases sales of HL2 by 20%, jeopardizing future contracts with Valve and driving consumers to the Steam Version of HL2 may cost Vivendi 100's of times more than what they may have gained in the short-term.
 
Originally posted by Dunsel
Content: Vivendi may be asking for a change in the plot (doubtful though)
Click to expand...
I thought VU's relationship with Valve was just distribution? So then VU wouldn't have anything to say about content...
 
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.
 
Vivendi Universal controls the release of the game....Valve makes the games....Vivendi knows whats going on...Valve doesn't.
 
Valve makes the game.. they are able to tell when they'll finish it.
 
To satisfy you, I just left a message at Gabe Newell's desk. I hope one of these people will get back with me...and no I am not lying.
 
As far as I know, the initial release date was set by Valve and Vivendi just had to deal with. Now it seems (though details are still confusing) that Vivendi wants a different date, perhaps one closer to the Christmas buying rush.

The only reason I can assume we haven't heard anything official is because Valve and Vivendi are seriously butting heads over this issue. Let's hope Valve wins this one.
 
That sounds like a good theory. What if both companies got so mad at each other...that they went to war and Vivendi trashed Valve's offices...and all copies of HL2....noo nooooooo NOOOOO

lol
 
So it would be a comercial reason ?
Click to expand...
I can arrive at no other conclussion. For the past few months, Valve has very confidently said they'll make the September 30 release date. Now all of a sudden they say, "Oh, gee, I guess we're not going to make it after all. Oops."? I find that a little hard to swallow.

Another theory going around is that Vivendi doesn't want Counter Strike: Condition Zero to get buried under the release of Half-Life 2, so they're pushing Half-Life 2 back to give CZ a little extra shelf time. If anything, I say the should either push the release date of CZ back or perhaps release it as shareware (honestly, is anybody even looking forward to Condition Zero?).
 
Originally posted by Mountain Man
honestly, is anybody even looking forward to Condition Zero?
Click to expand...

I am not but some are so lets not change the subject to CZ.
 
I'm not. I'm just commenting on the fact that it could be responsible for a HL2 delay, if any. I threw the editorial comment in for free. No, no, you don't have to thank me.
 
Originally posted by Mountain Man
For the past few months, Valve has very confidently said they'll make the September 30 release date. Now all of a sudden they say, "Oh, gee, I guess we're not going to make it after all. Oops."? I find that a little hard to swallow.
Click to expand...
Hmmm... Wouldn't be quite so sure as to take that as gospel. I'm sure similar things have happened many a time before - we all now how punctual games developers are... But on the other hand I do agree that the fact Valve has yet to comment is more than a little odd. Perhaps they ARE butting heads with Vivendi as someone speculated.
Although why Vivendi should want to put it back to december when it'll clearly sell shed loads WHENEVER it's released is mildly beyond my meagre thought processes.:hmph:
I'm more than a little on the fence but at the same time a little wishful thinking/denial goes a long way. It'll make Sept 30th, sure...
 
It is very easy to contact Vivendi or even Gabe by phone...I don't want to give the numbers here but I think 2 minutes of looking around will be easy enough.
 
In fact, I just found Gabe's home phone number and address...thats scary....he needs to make his stuff private.
 
Originally posted by d8cam
In fact, I just found Gabe's home phone number and address...thats scary....he needs to make his stuff private.
Click to expand...

He said he doesn't mind. People can phone him, just so long as it's not early-morning/late-night or anything for Gabe.
 
His HOME PHONE NUMBER? Man this guy has a lot of time on his hands.
 
Originally posted by El_Chi
Hmmm... Wouldn't be quite so sure as to take that as gospel. I'm sure similar things have happened many a time before...
Click to expand...
Not really. Most developers don't name a specific release unless they are 100% confident they'll make it. Most of the time, you'll hear them say, "We hope to have it out by the end of 2003. Oops, make that first half of 2004." Valve, on the other hand, said, "The game will be released on September 30." They named a specific day for crying out loud!

I can only assume, therefore, that if the game is delayed, it is against their wishes.
 
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