Release date announcement?

[Rupertvdb]

Based on a game going Gold how long is it from then when a publisher announces a release date...i.e. game goes gold August x would we have a release date at the same time or is it up to Vivendi to choose when to disclose the date?

 

[monkeydust]

Usually when a game goes gold they announce that the game will be in stores in like 3 weeks or so at that time.

 

[Tarkus]

gold date + 2 weeks usually...
maybe less, it's HL2!!! they could speed things up.. i think farcry was out in less then 2 weeks after the gold date

 

[Gordon'sFreeman]

i say pfft to it all till i see a copy in my hands.

 

[Organizer]

Isn't it obvious that they will release it sometime in September? (if not September 30th)

 

[Headwires]

it looks like sep now then :/ ffs thats not summer at all. and steelhed proved us all wrong

 

[Gordon'sFreeman]

its Valves style, any game they make they hype it up then dump it - release it same time next year and laugh at us




btw, i reckon it wont come out till some time when the sun blows up, but thats me.

 

[Chris D]

it looks like sep now then :/ ffs thats not summer at all. and steelhed proved us all wrong

Summer doesn't start for two days, and then lasts three months, which will take you to September 22nd.

 

[Chris D]

On a side note:

Half-Life went gold on November 10th 1998 and was for sale on November 19th 1998.

It took them 9 days to get the game replicated and shipped.

Considering that Half-Life 2 is a much larger project, three different box styles, a collectors edition, probably a CD version AND a DVD version, a single player only version and a full version and more initial copies needed for sale...

That's a LOT of work to do. That could take up to four weeks...

 

[x84D80Yx]

i doubt 4 weeks from gold date lol. thats never happened no matter how many different box styles.

 

[Chris D]

i doubt 4 weeks from gold date lol. thats never happened no matter how many different box styles.

It's not just the different box styles though. It's the different types of media that needs to be pressed, the different manuals that need to be printed, the different SKUs etc. etc. It'll take a lot longer than some titles.

 

[x84D80Yx]

4 weeks tho? thats a bit stretch. like you said the orginal hl1 was out the door in 9 days, i would see a date after gold announcement no more than 3 weeks.

 

[Chris D]

Effectively they're releasing 3 different games. There will be three lots of gold masters that need replicating. I'd say at least 3 weeks, but up to 4.

 

[Maxi]

I'd say a week and a half.

Gold on a monday released nextweeks friday.

 

[Alec_85]

But what's there from stopping them from printing manuals & boxes, grant them different SKU's & stuff like that before the game goes gold? I doubt them would need a full copy of the game to start producing the boxes that they will ship the actual game in. Stuff like that could speed up the process imho.

Somehow I doubt Vivendi are that smart though

 

[pk1209]

exactly what i was gonna say alec_85. Heck maybe they already have a ton of boxes etc printed up and ready to go. They sure aint gonna wait for the first cd before boxes are being made. I bet if you do a google for "the going gold processs" you'll get more info.

 

[Chris D]

But what's there from stopping them from printing manuals & boxes, grant them different SKU's & stuff like that before the game goes gold? I doubt them would need a full copy of the game to start producing the boxes that they will ship the actual game in. Stuff like that could speed up the process imho.

Somehow I doubt Vivendi are that smart though

Actually it's a good point. I'd expect that most publishers do this as standard.

 

[Play4Fun]

what about the multiplayer?! we know the Gold date but we still dont have a clue about HL2's multiplayer!! :frown:

 

[lans]

On a side note:

Half-Life went gold on November 10th 1998 and was for sale on November 19th 1998.

It took them 9 days to get the game replicated and shipped.

Considering that Half-Life 2 is a much larger project, three different box styles, a collectors edition, probably a CD version AND a DVD version, a single player only version and a full version and more initial copies needed for sale...

That's a LOT of work to do. That could take up to four weeks...

Driver 3 has all that (except singleplayer only edition), it went gold in the starting of this month and is shipping already. EGM has already reviewed it. Took about 2 weeks.

 

[Alec_85]

Actually it's a good point. I'd expect that most publishers do this as standard.

Yeah me too but, to me, Vivendi doesn't appear to be an intelligent bunch of people j/k. But yeah it seems like a smart way to deal with the Gold status of all games. We've known about the box-art for quite some time. I bet Valve & Vivendi have known about it for even longer. Especially Valve!

 

[Chris D]

Yeah me too but, to me, Vivendi doesn't appear to be an intelligent bunch of people j/k. But yeah it seems like a smart way to deal with the Gold status of all games. We've known about the box-art for quite some time. I bet Valve & Vivendi have known about it for even longer. Especially Valve!

Vivendi own some of the best publishing labels in the world. Universal Pictures anyone? They essentially took over Sierra and a load of other publishers too so I'd imagine that the staff of these companies still exist at Vivendi.

Half-Life 2 will probably still hold the Sierra label.

 

[Alec_85]

Yeah probably since Gabe said @ HL2Fallout that they would send the game to SIERRA when it's finished. Thought it was a little weird but your post solves the problem I guess

 

[Kotik]

Yeah probably since Gabe said @ HL2Fallout that they would send the game to SIERRA when it's finished.

Nope. Gabe said that they would send the game to Vivendi.

 

[lans]

Half-Life 2 will probably still hold the Sierra label.

It sure does, I think even F.E.A.R would as those movies displayed the logo.

 

[SubKamran]

I thought Steam was made to solve this problem...instant release.

 

[Alec_85]

Nope. Gabe said that they would send the game to Vivendi.

It said Sierra when I looked. It was his most recent post about the homelanfed interview.

 

[KagePrototype]

It said Sierra when I looked. It was his most recent post about the homelanfed interview.

Look at the halflife2.net front page.

 

[Nasum]

I thought Steam was made to solve this problem...instant release.

No, they are being released at the same time.

Edit: What i mean to say is that the store release date and the steam release date are the same, so you will not see it any early through steam.

 

[Alec_85]

Look at the halflife2.net front page.

Yes I know that. But check here:
http://www.hl2fallout.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=211
The post by Gabe. Game to Sierra in August. But Vivendi == Sierra in a way so it doesn't matter I guess.

 

[Chris D]

Yes I know that. But check here:
http://www.hl2fallout.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=211
The post by Gabe. Game to Sierra in August. But Vivendi == Sierra in a way so it doesn't matter I guess.

I don't see why it would considering the interview has the information from Gabe and that post is written by Gabe. And yes, he is real at HL2Fallout

 

[Alec_85]

I just thought Sierra didn't exist in the same fashion as before. And they have always talked about Vivendi when it comes to thing like this before. Anyways, it's not important

 

[Chris D]

I suppose you could say Vivendi is just the parent company of Sierra. And a shit load of other publishers too.

 

[gunstarhero]

what about the multiplayer?! we know the Gold date but we still dont have a clue about HL2's multiplayer!! :frown:

they could stagger the release.. single player then multi then additional stuff. All i really want at this point is the single player. That I feel is the main point of Halflife 2.

 

[PatPwnt]

So... Vivendi Universal owns Universal Studios?

 

[Dougy]

I thought Steam was made to solve this problem...instant release.

not even 1 in 10 people will buy HL2 over steam.

Not every person has a credit card.
Plus not every1 one of them has a fast connection.
plus not every one of them fully trusts Steam and buying online.

I could buy it over steam, but id rather have a hard copy in my hands than something that would be lost or damaged everytime my computer needed fixing.

 

[GorgeousOrifice]

not even 1 in 10 people will buy HL2 over steam.

Not every person has a credit card.
Plus not every1 one of them has a fast connection.
plus not every one of them fully trusts Steam and buying online.

I could buy it over steam, but id rather have a hard copy in my hands than something that would be lost or damaged everytime my computer needed fixing.

Most people have access to credit cards, either their own, their parents', a friend's, etc.

Of all people with Internet access, gamers tend to have the fastest connections.

Of all people with fast connections and Steam, most of them have bought online before, so it's not a frightening idea to them to buy games online.

Nothing wrong with wanting a hard copy, or a pretty box, or a nice manual, or the tchotchkes that Valve will put in the CE. I have an ATi coupon though. Besides, why wait until 8 AM when the stores open when I could be playing at 12:01 AM on release day?

 

[Dr. Freeman]

It's not just the different box styles though. It's the different types of media that needs to be pressed, the different manuals that need to be printed, the different SKUs etc. etc. It'll take a lot longer than some titles.

exactly!
this HL2 release won't be like "normal" games because of the so many different versions and such.

i also think it will take 3-4 weeks.. it just makes sense the way u described things Chris.

 

[deathryuu]

lol sucks to be me...i still have to figure out a how im going to buy hl2..i could buy it from steam but my parents hate using their CC now..i could buy it in stores but my parents think that just cuz a game is rated 'M', then its a devil game...i could buy it online but then your combined those 2 problems together(M rating AND CC problem)...hmm *ponders*

 

[ferd]

they want a word wide release, so they could do it in maybe 2 weeks
but ive seen games going gold, and in the shops 5 days after

 

[ShadowFox]

exactly!
this HL2 release won't be like "normal" games because of the so many different versions and such.

i also think it will take 3-4 weeks.. it just makes sense the way u described things Chris.

UT2k4 had a 6-CD version, a DVD version and a collecters edition with special content and a free headset and all of the versions were on store shelves within two weeks of the gold date.