Ubisoft and Activision Join Vivendi

[rec]

For those who have shifted attention to a new in-development game, still bitter as a fresh lemon about Vivendi's Half-Life 2 delay announcement (pushing the game back to an apparent April 2004 release); this might just ruin your day...

As many now know, Ubisoft have delayed their highly anticipated shooter, FarCry, until quater 1 of 2004. You can read specific information about this delay in the press release on the FarCry website.

What will come as even more of a shock is that today id Software's Doom 3 has been held back until the 2005 fiscal year, according to their publisher Activision. For those of you completely freaking out, don't do anything rash quite yet; the 2005 fiscal year starts April 2004.

This is really becoming a trend, seems that you're not a professional developer unless you delay your projects, specifically unless you delay your projects until Q1 the year after planned release. So it seems that once again the release-race has taken unexpected turns, and is far from decided.

 

[Estevan]

Seems like delays are the new trends for video game developers

 

[MultiVaC]

In the words of a wise man:


GOD DAMN IT!

 

[Vermiform]

I can't help it, i just have to laugh. It's just so f****ng.. well.. i can't find any fitting adjectives. I'll just make hysterical laughs. But we should have gotten used to such disappointments by now, shouldn't we? It just had to come.

 

[SIN55]

This is getting ridiculous, the gaming industry has got a real lack of discipline these days. Developpers need to pull their act together if they ever want to be taken seriously. A computer programming teacher won't let a student hand in a project late. In consequence, a lot of them end up sucking, but there are always a couple that stand out. And thats how the gaming industry should work. If you can't gather up all your effort on your current project, you will ultimately fail. But those that do make an effort will succeed.

 

[Camon_Draconis]

Originally posted by rec
This is really becoming a trend, seems that you're not a professional developer unless you delay your projects, specifically unless you delay your projects until Q1 the year after planned release. So it seems that once again the release-race has taken unexpected turns, and is far from decided.

I completely agree with you man. It really seems like all of the games that I have patiently waited for just keep getting pushed back further and further, like Lords of the Realm III, which is finally coming out after nearly a year of delay. Oh well, at least the government dosent push important matters bac... nevermind.

 

[ASnogarD]

I remember telling myself never to visit game forums again after waiting for Home World 2 at the Relic forums....now I remember why

Before I used ot visit game forums I used to just look at the selection of games currently available at the local, then look up some reviews and info and then buy the game...never worried about what new game was in dev just what game was available I could get my mitts on.

Since I started visiting game forums to get advanced info on in development games the wait seem to feel like eternity.

On the flip side though I would rather wait for a polished game than get a rough product on time.

 

[Mr. Redundant]

well hey... Far Cry only got delayed to Q1 2004, thats our best bet at this point.
heres hoping they dont skip that back too, Far Cry is a very snazzy game and would be the fresh splash of gameplay the market is dying from lack of.
not that I know what the gameplay would be like, just that the market is pretty bare currently, any gameplay would be better than none

Technically Doom3 isnt delayed, since they never announced a release date, and perhaps Activision has it slated for 2005 because they believe it will be ready by then, however there was no press release by ID or Activision stating so.

hey the bright side is we have a "projected" release date for Doom3 hehe, we had "when its done" before.. not that I care much, Doom3 is at the bottom of my list of "omfg gimme" games.

 

[rec]

I'm looking to Doom 3 vanilla multiplayer more than I am Half-Life 2's equivelant, however if TF2 is bundled with Half-Life 2, obviously there will be no comparison. Bring on TF!

 

[Unreal Panther]

Originally posted by Mr. Redundant
well hey... Far Cry only got delayed to Q1 2004, thats our best bet at this point.
heres hoping they dont skip that back too, Far Cry is a very snazzy game and would be the fresh splash of gameplay the market is dying from lack of.
not that I know what the gameplay would be like, just that the market is pretty bare currently, any gameplay would be better than none

Technically Doom3 isnt delayed, since they never announced a release date, and perhaps Activision has it slated for 2005 because they believe it will be ready by then, however there was no press release by ID or Activision stating so.

hey the bright side is we have a "projected" release date for Doom3 hehe, we had "when its done" before.. not that I care much, Doom3 is at the bottom of my list of "omfg gimme" games.

itll be delayed again worry not old friend

 

[Mr. Redundant]

I have no idea how either games are, in multiplayer.
but Half life 2 has vehicles apparently and open levels to drive/fly them in.. and thats kinda my bag

Doom3 multiplayer (from what I read) is pretty small (player wise) (currently) and from the screens and reviews of the demo demonstrated I kinda picked up on it as being a wee too quake-ish.

however, neither are out, and neither is decent info on either... but I want them both ;'(

 

[ASnogarD]

Last I heard (from Gamespy newsies at the QuakeCon I think) Doom 3 MP was a slower paced game than most MP's, hardly Quake style.

 

[ph34r t3h cute]

Bunch of Duke nukem forever wanna-bes!

Mwahhaa...haha.ha..

 

[McRed]

That means more time to save for my new vid card!

 

[Dhoco X]

Bah, let's play tetris net =]

 

[jameth]

oh what the gay =/

 

[Sushi]

Ubisoft and Activision Join Vivendi

lol, when I read the headline, I thought Vivendi purchased Ubisoft and Activision

 

[Cheetarah654]

doom3's multiplayer will suck in terms of joining and amount of people. i mean, 4 player multiplayer that requires everyone to join simultaniously? old news brotha

 

[Mountain Man]

Well, on the plus side, 2004 is going to be a stellar year for FPS fans. Just wish we could get some of the FPS goodness before the end of 2003.

 

[Sporky]

Originally posted by Cheetarah654
doom3's multiplayer will suck in terms of joining and amount of people. i mean, 4 player multiplayer that requires everyone to join simultaniously? old news brotha

Yeah, C&C Generals & Diablo II multiplayer suck ass for exactly the same reason. :dozey:

Anyhoo, the official word last month was 'we have at least 4 months left but it's all tuning, the levels themselves are completed'. Which sticks them more or less on April I guess. Ho hum.

 

[Crushenator 500]

holy maggots breath i got the willies when i saw doom3 in the same sentance as 2005, thank god its still on for april 2004ish

 

[Dhoco X]

And what you want Spork ? Enter in the server, build your base with the allgoddamnsuper weapons and when a guy enter in the server you just drop a litle atomic bomb ?

 

[Tlaloc]

what if movies like matrix and other big titles gave release dates and then pushed them back 6 months or more? I wish there was a game that would come out and "sweep" all the disgruntled gamers and made them lose interest in these giants. That way they would learn to NEVER do that again.

At least doom3 never stated a specific date...

I am really dissapointed by the gaming industry today.

 

[XShrike]

From now on all FPS are vaperware, muhahahahah!

 

[alco]

Slow month for news, huh? :dozey:

 

[Brian Damage]

Maybe now I'll be able to get a Radeon 9600/9800 before HL2 comes out, then.

 

[Cyphron]

lol already got my radeon 9800 pro. probably should have waited but i couldnt resist. that and my old card sucked monkey balls.

 

[KaneRobot]

Someone hates us. Doom 3, Halo 2, and HL2 all delayed to 2004. Cancel Christmas.

 

[Menelaos]

does anyone know if VTM:Bloodlines is still on schedule for February? it would be kind of sad if it was the first source engine game, despite the fact that it looks great.

 

[He@t!]

2 WORDS

SO GAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY


:flame: :flame: :flame: :flame: :flame: :flame:

 

[Kadayi]

heh, Doom 3 Vapourware that would be the funniest thing, don't ewok (version...whatever) catch you saying that, you'll only set him off again.

 

[alco]

Originally posted by Cyphron
lol already got my radeon 9800 pro. probably should have waited but i couldnt resist. that and my old card sucked monkey balls.

 

[alanschu]

Game development companies don't push back games because they are undisciplined. That makes it seem like these developers are just sitting around taking their time, and at the last minute realizing that the original release date is approaching and the game is not finished yet.


That is not the way it happens however. Video game development is not an easy thing, and as a result it takes time. When a project first starts production, they have a schedule of when they would like the program to be finished. Over the course of the project, difficulties can arise that slow down productivity. Depending on the nature of the problem, it is possible that all productivity can virtually be halted. Depending on the publisher (who generally finances the product), when the deadline hits they either release what they have, cancel the project, or delay the product. In the game industry, publishers typically opt for the latter, especially when dealing with high-profile development houses like Valve or idSoftware.

Providing fixed time intervals for games to be released would be horrific. Forcing unfinished products out the door only spells disaster. Not only for the company image and initial sales, but also for the maintence team that has to try to fix all the problems in the game.

The reason why you have a hard deadline in University has more to do with the nature of University than industry. You have set limits for semester breaks, deadlines for marks to be in, and post-secondary schooling is inherently competitive. This can be an advantage, as having a deadline for your project forces you to plan and organize your project in order to make the deadline (very useful ability). Without it, students could spend years adding all the cool little things to their program, and never actually finish anything. It also serves the competition against fellow students. If someone can make a much better program in the given slot of time, he is likely the better programmer, and more deserving of a higher mark.

True, in industry deadlines must be met. But in the game industry publishers understand that releasing unfinished products can be suicide. Cancelling it creates a sunk cost (however, this can be advantageous if it is believed that any future spending will not result in a profitable game...cutting your losses so to speak). Extending the deadline may provide a better opportunity to recover all the costs that go into the game, especially when it will be a bestseller like Doom 3 or Half-Life 2. These games will make money, so publishers have no problems in extending deadlines in order to ensure the best possible product is released.

 

[Shuzer]

Originally posted by alco

Whoa. AiAi's ears are way too big. I have the GonGon version of that toy.. that ball falls apart so easily if you try to roll it

 

[kelisis]

Ah, well damn. That sucks...I really am itching for Far Cry, Doom III and HL2.