GTA IV Delay ??

ciano1

http://www.gamespot.com/news/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=25671962&sid=6171896&action=convert&om_clk=latestnews&tag=latestnews;title;0

The official story: "We do not comment on rumor or speculation."--Rockstar Games rep.

What we heard: Back in March, Take-Two Interactive's board was ousted by a shareholder revolt. Since then, it has been unclear what the company's new directors have in mind for the mighty--but mighty troubled--publisher. The first hard evidence about what tack Take-Two will take won't surface for 10 days. That's when the New York-based publisher will announce earnings for its second fiscal quarter, which ended on April 30.

In the interim, analysts are prognosticating about the possible outcomes of said call. One of the highest-profile game industry analysts is making some particularly gloomy predictions. In a note sent out this morning, Wedbush Morgan Securities' Michael Pachter said he thought "the company is likely to announce studio closures, lease terminations, and game cancellations during the conference call." He and his associates also "do not expect new games such as The BIGS, All-Pro Football, Fantastic Four, or The Darkness to be wildly profitable."

Pachter also set off a forum firestorm by wagering a guess about one of the year's biggest games. "We believe that it is possible that the company will choose to 'throw in the towel' on [its 2007 financial year] by shifting the release date for Grand Theft Auto IV by a few weeks, increasing the losses incurred this year and improving the company's prospects for FY:08." Take-Two's financial year ends on October 31, 2007.

Pachter gave another rationale for a GTA IV delay: namely, that moving it to early November would put more space between GTA IV and Halo 3, which is arriving September 25. "We believe that a two-week delay would provide a reasonable gap between the launch of Halo 3 and the launch of GTA IV, and would actually help sales of both games," he said.

Still another scenario in the Wedbush note would have the regular edition of GTA IV be pushed past Halloween, while the recently announced Collector's Edition of the game would go on sale October 16. That would "allow Take-Two to maximize revenues from the $89.99 Collector's Edition of the game...and to increase overall profitability." The extra $30 nets players a soundtrack CD, art book, duffel bag, keychain, and lockbox.

Bogus or not bogus?: Bogus that it's been confirmed in any shape, way, or form. Though well respected, Pachter is not infallible, and he is merely speculating here. Then again, stranger and more underhanded things have been done in the name of financial posturing. Also, giving gamers a few more weeks to save their pennies post-Halo 3 does make sense. But the November release schedule will still be crowded with competition, and GTA IV will be a monster hit no matter what...so why wait?


noooooooo!!!!!

Royale with Cheese

Jesus. If the release the rip off extra crap included version weeks before the normal version then they'll officially be the biggest cúnts on the planet.

projectmayhem

it sounds horrible but looking at the state of Take2, it's probably likely if it means it keeps them afloat for one more year...

Sea Devils

When you think about it every GTA release has had some form of delay one way or another so this is to be expected

Slippin Jimmy

Sea Devils wrote:

When you think about it every GTA release has had some form of delay one way or another so this is to be expected

Ah yeah that is true, but why???:rolleyes: . It does get a bit anoying after a while:mad:

Sea Devils

Duffff-Man wrote:

Ah yeah that is true, but why???:rolleyes: . It does get a bit anoying after a while:mad:

Exactly only Rockstar shall know. I always thought one answer was they've always had money problems so that could be it

philologos

Duffff-Man wrote:

Ah yeah that is true, but why???:rolleyes: . It does get a bit anoying after a while:mad:

Question is, do you want a rushed game or a finished one that is done better than if it was rushed? I think the latter would satisfy me most.

projectmayhem

Jakkass wrote:

Question is, do you want a rushed game or a finished one that is done better than if it was rushed? I think the latter would satisfy me most.

this isn't about the game being finished or not, it's business politics delaying the game.. not the development staff. i would imagine after 4 years of development, the game is pretty much completed (at least the engine is, since they're taking orders for it)...

There is no delay, the game is set for October 12th. Just saw an article on the special edition(which looks cool) over at IGN. New trailer for GTA4 out tomorrow as well.

Don1

If I were in a position to be buying it (no PS3 and no money >:( ) I'd ignore any special edition unless it was really worth it i.e. specific extra game content. The free stuff might look cool but after two minutes interest it'd be cast aside.