they need to do something about the holiday releases

Mai Valentine

Mai Valentine

Moderator
Why do game companies insist every year on releasing a ton of games in October, November, and December and leaving the months in between so empty?


I mean just look at November:
Resident Evil 4
Metroid Prime 2
Halo 2
Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater
Nintendo DS (unconfirmed)

If you want all of those....ouch!

Plus, with so many big titles, smaller games that are just as good often get ignored (look at Prince of Persia and Beyond Good and Evil from last year).

It would be nice if they could spread it out a little more evenly through the whole year. I mean...people buy games in months other than October, November, and December, right?

Wouldn't it make more sense to have at least some of the big releases in the summer, when kids are out of school and have time to play them?

[edit: I just noticed I had said Twin Snakes instead of Snake Eater...heh]
 
That's actually a lot how I feel. I mean sure Christmas is bound to boost sales a bit, but if you're sitting on a failry decent game and decide to ship in June, well, you're bound to boost sales there a bit too. Like you said, kids are getting out of school looking for something to occupy their time, as well, right now there are no other big releases this month, so if anyone is looking to buy a game and your fairly decent game has just been put on a shelf, their probably gonna pick it up instead of some other game you know is good but has been sitting on the same shelf in the same store for the past 4 months. I dunno, it just makes sense to me to spread out release dates, the simple fact that both RE4 and MP2 are coming out the same month means that some fans of both games are only gonna pick one.
 
Yeah, I'm glad Tales of Symphonia comes out this month.

I will probably end up getting just the DS and maybe Resident Evil 4 in November. It depends on which games launch with the DS and at what price.

I also heard that Viewtiful Joe 2 is coming out in December, so that's a Christmas present for sure.
 
Today at work I counted all the games coming out in November. Guess how many? 85! And not all of them are crappy. :p

GBA has 9 games coming out, two of which are somewhat high-profile: Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Donkey Kong Country 2

Gamecube has 17 games coming out in November, including Metroid Prime 2, Resident Evil 4, Star Fox Armada, and Baten Kaitos.

XBOX has 22 games out in November, including Halo 2 and Jade Empire.

PS2 has a whopping 37 games coming out in November, including Metal Gear Solid 3, Jak III, and Ratchet & Clank.

Prince of Persia 2 and Ghost Recon 2 will be out on all the home consoles in November.

So like...next year, when game makers are going "Why the heck didn't my game sell during the holidays?" you can tell them, "Well you fool, it's because you released it along tons of other high-profile games coming out at the same time!" :lol
 
I'm with Neph over there, it only a move for the holiday season. Just look at it, of course the biggest buying season is during the holidays, and if they let the hype build up long enough and then relase it during the season, nothing is going to stop people.

But of course, most games like Halo 2, Metriod Prime 2 etc. is going to get outstanding sales no matter when it's realsed, so it's kinda confusing as to why they do it.
 
Yeah, I guess. But it's likely that Halo 2 will crush everything else in November. I didn't see nearly as many games listed for December. If I was Nintendo I would have waited until December to release RE4 and Metroid Prime 2. At least give people time to get another paycheck, you know?
 
Oh, belive me. I didn't forget it. As soon as that effing games comes out I will be humping my PC with it on the screen... but I thought it came out a little bit before the others.
 
I still don't understand the hype behind Halo...

I mean, at least Metroid Prime did something different with the genre, tried to push the envelope a bit.

But I do agree with Neph, the competition will be stiff, especially with the new MGS coming out. You gotta remember, there are far more PS2's in people's houses than Xbox's, so MGS has the advantage. The real battle will be between MP 2 and Halo 2. There's not a Gamecube owner on the world who isn't gonna pick up MP 2 (aside from myself that is... maybe one more person) and that goes likewise for Halo 2 and every Xbox owner out there, so it'll be interesting to see. It's practically the first franchise battle between Microsoft and Nintendo, and it'll be interesting to see what happens. Smart money's on Halo 2, but I'm betting on the dark horse.
 
Half-Life 2 is scheduled for September. It's not going to compete with the November bad boys unless it gets pushed back again.

And GTA: San Andreas has a ship date of October 19, so by the time the November games come out, it will have lost a little steam.

Yeah, I guess MGS: SE would probably sell the most in Nov. because of the PS2's much larger userbase.

As for the Halo 2 vs. Metroid Prime 2 match-up, I think Halo 2 will win that one.

Halo 2 is so hyped it's not even funny. At work we have over 200 pre-orders for just the Limited Edition. I don't even know how many for just the regular one. This is of course argueable, but IMO the XBOX doesn't have as many marquee titles as the other systems do yet. Most people will still tell you that Halo is the best XBOX game, even with stiff competition like KOTOR.

Honestly I'm not psyched for MP2 at all. The single-player mission looks fantastic but I was really looking forward to the multiplayer. However, most sources are saying that it's only going to be 4 player splitscreen. It would be so much cooler if you could at least have system link with up to 16 (heck, I would settle for 8 ) like you can with Mario Kart: Double Dash.
 
I really don't think RE4 is going to sell that well actually. It just doesn't seem like it has a broad enough appeal. I know Resident Evil is a huge franchise, but they haven't sold that well on the GC and althought this one seems infinitely better I don't think that's gonna get through to the mainstream audience. I really don't think it'll do that well, especially compared to MGS and Halo.
 
I still don't understand the hype behind Halo...
Click to expand...

Well, it looks like an amazing game, already has a huge fanbase from Halo 1, and the level of detail they are putting in is amazing. Add that to at least 16 player Live multiplayer, the graphics, AI, vehicles, and weapons, you have a great, hype worthy game.
 
It IS just another FPS, but it will be an astounding game when it comes out. You could say that about almost any game in any genre. Oh, that game is another RPG with better graphics, more enemies, more weapons, etc. Unless the game is really innovative, you can make that claim about almost any game.
 
I think GTA: San Andreas will be the years big seller by a fairly big margin. Honestly, even if it is out a month earlier than the other big contenders, I still think it may beat them in the November/Xmas period. People love GTA, even people that aren't really gamers but own a PS2 anyway. I think it's gotta be one of the most well known games of this generation because even non-gamers can't get enough of the freedom and carnage of it. You can't really say the same for Halo, MP and MGS, mostly people that are quite into video games will just want them. Where as GTA seems to stretch beyond the video game world.
 
I dunno, a lot of celebrities when asked about what videogames they play their first response is usually "Xbox" followed by "Halo". I think just as many people know about Halo as GTA, but once again, with the massive userbase of the PS2, who knows...
 
^title
ironically... it looks like they did for the game Gamecube and some of the other systems ..... for delayed games :D

†B†V† :hat
 
Yeah, I noticed that a lot of the games I am looking forward to were pushed back, which I'm happy about. It's good for my wallet. :p
 
stealth toilet said:
I dunno, a lot of celebrities when asked about what videogames they play their first response is usually "Xbox" followed by "Halo". I think just as many people know about Halo as GTA, but once again, with the massive userbase of the PS2, who knows...
Click to expand...


Celebrities can pretty much stop by bungie studios and play Halo 2 >:( Stupid fame. Justin Timberlake played Halo 2 before me! Don't believe me? Check OXM (October).
 
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