It's true,GTA 4 is delayed. - Page 2

Kona Palangi · 03-08-2007, 08:57 AM

Who knows from a business perspective why TT would delay GTA IV in conjunction with their ending fiscal year? Could it be they have an Ace up their sleeve? Another top tier title they are working on to be released in 08' along side GTA IV? Take Two had reiterated and stressed the fact that GTA IV was on target for the October 16th release on multiple occasion. As a matter of fact it was once again confirmed for the umpteenth time just recently. With that being said, if it were strictly a development issue, why use definitive language as Take Two has consistently done then turn around and delay it for an additional 5 months for developmental reasons? 5 months? To me, that does not sound to be a ''development issue''. I guess it's a moot point here as we both have antithetical perspectives.

friedkarma · 03-08-2007, 10:14 AM

Yep, we could go round and round all day, but I don't deny you make valid points.

friedkarma · 03-08-2007, 12:46 PM

Sorry for the DP, but a thought occured to me. As Malo said, GTA was confirmed for October on several occasions, so a developmental snafu doesn't quite fit. Is it possible they approached a final build and their testing revealed that the game absolutely sucks? Maybe a decision was made for an overhaul. Maybe they won't change anything and decided to release a crap product when there's less competition and a lot of bored gamers in the market. Food for thought.

Eazy_D · 03-08-2007, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by friedkarma

I disagree wholeheartedly that a delay of 6 to 8 months is tied to revenue recognition. That goes against any business sense whatsoever. When you have a cash cow like GTA is guaranteed to be, you ship it ASAP and use the proceeds to develop more titles. Think of the millions of dollars in interest alone that they are losing out on by a delay of this magnitude. A dollar in reveune now is worth more than a dollar in the future. Economics 101.

Secondly, when you have what is arguably 1 of the 2 biggest titles of the autumn/winter lineup, you don't back down. You know you are going to sell your game regardless, so you make sure your product is out there to throttle the competition and take sales from lesser games (especially just before the holiday season). Marketing 101.

Finally, they are guaranteed to sell more copies if the game is released sooner. The longer GTA in available in the market, the more copies they sell, plain and simple. From a business standpoint, there is no reason whatsoever for this delay. Without a doubt, there is a technical/development/manufacturing issue in play here. No company would ever delay a game by 2 or 3 quarters because they'd rather have the cash later. If someone told you that they would give you a dollar now, or they would give you one in April, wouldn't you choose to take it now?

I agree most gamers will want to get their hands on this title sooner rather than later. And with Christmas coming im fairly sure this murderfest would be on every little boys christmas list to Santa.

Eazy_D · 03-08-2007, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by friedkarma

Sorry for the DP, but a thought occured to me. As Malo said, GTA was confirmed for October on several occasions, so a developmental snafu doesn't quite fit. Is it possible they approached a final build and their testing revealed that the game absolutely sucks? Maybe a decision was made for an overhaul. Maybe they won't change anything and decided to release a crap product when there's less competition and a lot of bored gamers in the market. Food for thought.

I doubt that very much. As you said earlier -

"I disagree wholeheartedly that a delay of 6 to 8 months is tied to revenue recognition. That goes against any business sense whatsoever. When you have a cash cow like GTA is guaranteed to be, you ship it ASAP and use the proceeds to develop more titles. Think of the millions of dollars in interest alone that they are losing out on by a delay of this magnitude. A dollar in reveune now is worth more than a dollar in the future. Economics 101."

It would be an even bigger faux pax to intentionally release a sub standard title. That could potentially close the lid on what has been a very lucrative media franchise. I dont think Rockstar would take that risk. The GTA series is what made them after all.

Kona Palangi · 03-08-2007, 02:37 PM

I doubt the current GTA IV build is substandard. As far as the physics and the what not are concerned, TT and GTA have never been graphical powerhouse. Their game play is what has sold them tens of millions of copies. Take-Two had prior knowledge of both the PS3 and the 360 specs before both released respectively and began development shortly thereafter. They have had an abundance of time to develop a top notch title so the probability of the delay being attributed to poor quality is very slim.

Nate2583 · 03-08-2007, 02:40 PM

It could maybe even be a little bit of both.They don't NEED 6-8 months of more development. But in a financial situation this could be the better marketing plan?

Not too sure, just throwing ideas out there.

Kona Palangi · 03-08-2007, 02:45 PM

Anything is possible really. It is plausible they have chosen to add additional content not originally planned for development. They might actually be making an attempt at creating an aesthetically pleasing video game for the first time (I was far from impressed via the trailer). As Karma indicated, nobody knows for sure besides the TT heads.

Pepper Jack · 03-08-2007, 03:33 PM

i'm extremely pissed off about this, i'm a huge GTA fan and its my favorite series by far, i've been waiting 3 years for a new GTA and the wait till this autumn was long enough, but to have to wait another half a year just pisses me off badly, but on the other hand the game is gonna kick more ass than it would have done if it was released this year. so i'm extremely pissed off and a little bit happy.....but i want GTA now god-dammit!!!!

Nate2583 · 03-08-2007, 03:50 PM

Well, to me, if they state that they need more time due to development issues or whatever,this means the game should be looking A LOT better than the lacking trailer, as they have another 6-8 months to complete and polish development. They wouldn't say other wise and let the fans down.

Why push back 3 quarters and not change a single thing in graphics/content? Is this an elaborate lie for better fiscal earnings, and they are just "saying" they are polishing development or are they putting their corporate dick where it belongs and actually trying to please the fans?

remixFA · 04-08-2007, 05:22 AM

pushing back to make a higher quality product only helps them, not hurts them. Pushing back to a point when there is alot less competition for someones limited gaming dollars helps them, not hurts them. This fiscal year TT is at a loss on their stocks. It makes more sence to me to have it in the next fiscal year, at a point when they would MAXIMIZE their sales by having no competition, and make next year a bang. You forget, they are getting sued left and right by Jack Thompson, and were getting dangerously close to death. You also seem to think that GTA4 is the only game Take2 has under their belts comming out. With a company having so many financial troubles, it makes more sence to wait when there is no competition for your dollars. If you only have enough money to buy one game this holiday season (as many folks dont buy new games every few weeks or month), do you want to see your possible revenue split between you, halo3, pgr4, mass effect, and all the others??? NO... I dont think you do.
But if you come out shortly AFTER the holidays when you go into that bit of a lull, and your the only major title out, you get most of the sales without a hitch. So instead of selling say 1 or 2 million for the holidays, you might sell 3 or 4 million with a longer steadier stream of money comming in after launch because more people will have more money to buy your game. We dont know WHEN next year its comming out. My guess is late jan, early feb. UT3 also comes out at the beginning of the year.
Besides, it does give them more time to polish and do whatever. Instead of an average rating of maybe 8.5 they will get like a 9.2 (total guess) and get more hype out of it.

Joseph · 04-09-2007, 04:09 AM

This sucks, I was really looking forward to this game aswell!, but atleast now they have the extra time to iron out all the little wrinkles the game would have had. Is there any release date set now? or delayed until further notice?

Pepper Jack · 04-09-2007, 11:14 AM

i think its april/may

friedkarma · 24-01-2008, 10:21 AM

Turns out all you conspiracy nuts that thought GTA was afraid to go up against big, bad Halo or wanted to postpone revenue recognition (goes against every business principle) were dead wrong. Developing for the Paperweight 3 errr...Playstation 3 caused the delay. It seems I was right and Remix was wrong. Who would believe it?

'GTA IV' Developer Talks Delay, Violence, 'Hot Coffee' | Game News Story | Multiplayer Gaming | MTV News

Kona Palangi · 24-01-2008, 10:37 AM

Or so they say .......

ElderScroller27 · 24-01-2008, 10:58 AM

mabye they are adding multi-player?

Pepper Jack · 24-01-2008, 11:00 AM

i thought it was already gonna have multiplayer anyway

nufan · 24-01-2008, 11:33 AM

release date has already been announced as april 29, its on rockstars site. This is a worldwide release date for all the UK whiners

and yes it was the PS3 that caused the delay

multi player has been confirmed but details on it are non existant, be interested to see how they do it.

Kona Palangi · 24-01-2008, 11:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nufan

release date has already been announced as april 29, its on rockstars site. This is a worldwide release date for all the UK whiners

and yes it was the PS3 that caused the delay

multi player has been confirmed but details on it are non existant, be interested to see how they do it.

Wow Nofun I wasn't aware you were present during all the board meetings and share holder conferences.