GTA IV försenat till 2008

[yo.yo]

Kan inte öppna länken på skolan, kan nån quota vad som står där?

Source: A daisy-chain of blog entries, forum posts, and news reports that stem back to a piece on British industry site Gamesindustry.biz.

What we heard: On the morning of August 2, eager gamers were still saving their pennies so they could pick up Grand Theft Auto IV on October 16. However, by the afternoon, the same would-be virtual carjackers were aghast upon hearing Grand Theft Auto IV had been pushed back until the second quarter of 2008.

The delay was especially shocking because the game looked nearly done at the E3 Media & Business Summit in July. It also went against precedent. Since Grand Theft Auto III hit shelves on October 22, 2001, Rockstar Games has stuck religiously to each GTA release date it has announced. Traditionally, that date has been in October, the last month of the fiscal year of Rockstar's parent company, Take-Two Interactive.

Today, though, came a flurry of reports that raised the prospect that the game might slip yet again from its Q2 2008 window. The reports stem back to Gamesindustry.biz's summation of a presentation at yesterday's 2007 BMO Capital Markets Interactive Entertainment Summit in New York City. At the event, which was convened by the titular financial firm, a number of luminaries shared their thoughts on the state of the game industry. The speakers included THQ president and CEO Brian Farrell, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, and Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime.

Also on-hand was Strauss Zelnick (pictured), the recently installed chairman of Take-Two Interactive. Over the course of his 22-minute presentation, which showed off the latest 2K Games and 2K Sports titles, the executive was asked point-blank by an analyst about the status of GTA. British site Gamesindustry.biz pulled some quotes from Zelnick's response and said he "refused to narrow down a release period" for the game. That report was then picked up by the online edition of UK game trade MCV, which trumpeted the fact that Zelnick "won't commit to any date or time period" for GTAIV. Given that many US sites pounce on anything coming out of Europe, the news soon mutated into various reports, blog entries, and forum posts implying GTAIV might not make its Q2 release.

The official story: Although several outlets, including Gamesindustry.biz, accurately quoted part of Zelnick's response, none reprinted the question he was asked. And, as can be heard on the BMO Capital Markets Webcast archive of the event, the analyst is clearly referring to a firm release date like GTAIV's previously announced October 16 release. The exchange--taken verbatim from the recording--is below in its entirety:

Analyst: "You guys have talked about Grand Theft Auto IV being February 1 to April 30. Obviously, there's been rumors that it could be later, and then, recently, the gaming communities have said that it could be earlier. Just help us understand when we should expect a firm date on when that release could be..." [Emphasis added.]

Zelnick: "It's a fair question, I think, given that we weren't obviously able to stick our firm date the last time. We're gonna give the firm date when we're utterly convinced we have it. And that isn't right now. You know, we do feel that the way the title is being developed so that it's going to be fantastic, we know it's highly anticipated. I think there was a concern, initially, when we slipped, that we sort of missed the boat in terms of Christmas, and I think that concern has been alleviated. I think most people are--even though, obviously, it wasn't the intent--are saying, 'Hey, that's OK. You know, the hardware penetration is going to grow over Christmas, and this is gonna be a must-have title, it's probably ok you're not selling it during the Christmas season.' So I think right now, our view is to put out a really high-quality title. Obviously, we're not in the business of disappointing investors, and we're certainly in the business of doing what we say we're going to do, so we'll give a firm release date when we know we can stick to it." [Emphasis added.]

Bogus or not bogus?: Bogus that Zelnick specifically said Grand Theft Auto IV's current Q2 2008 release window is no longer valid or in jeopardy. Not bogus that he is understandably hesitant to lock down a release date on the massively important game until Rockstar is 100 percent sure of it.

[Merkky]

Tack!

Jag räknar med en till försening, men hellre det än ett buggigt och dåligt spel..

Redigerad 9 november, 2007 av Merkky

[MrNoNja]

Kan inte öppna länken på skolan, kan nån quota vad som står där?

Det står att rykten säger att GTA IV släpps i andra kvartalet 2008.

Skulle inte förvåna mig om att det gör det, blir väldigt ledsen då.

Men dem skall ha den tid dem behöver.

[Kiedis]

Måste ju säga det att jag tycker dom är otroligt dåliga på att ge ny info, trailers, bilder...whatever.

Gäller inte bara GTA IV, tycker det överlag om spelen som Rockstar ska släppa nästa år.

Hoppas på nått....snart, innan jul iaf.

[MrNoNja]

Måste ju säga det att jag tycker dom är otroligt dåliga på att ge ny info, trailers, bilder...whatever.

Gäller inte bara GTA IV, tycker det överlag om spelen som Rockstar ska släppa nästa år.

Hoppas på nått....snart, innan jul iaf.

Håller med dig. Rockstar som sa "Vi kommer släppa en ny, sista trailer innan spelet släpps i oktober".

Jag vill se lite "ingame-action-videor", inte någon video som visar för mycket, bara man kan få en liten glimt av vad som väntar.

Det där som har visats i dem två första filmerna är inte tillräckligt för mig.

Redigerad 14 november, 2007 av MrNoNja

[Merkky]

Måste ju säga det att jag tycker dom är otroligt dåliga på att ge ny info, trailers, bilder...whatever.

Gäller inte bara GTA IV, tycker det överlag om spelen som Rockstar ska släppa nästa år.

Hoppas på nått....snart, innan jul iaf.

Det har varit riktigt dött ett tag nu, shame on them.

[kobbe]

Det har varit riktigt dött ett tag nu, shame on them.

jaa, man får hoppas på att de gör mer än beräknade 3 trailers annars kommer vi få vänta jättelänge tills nästa

ååå tänk om spelet hade varit släppt

[emo]

Jag vill se lite "ingame-action-videor", inte någon video som visar för mycket, bara man kan få en liten glimt av vad som väntar.

Rockstar har väll aldrig gett ut något annat än bilder, info och 2-3 trailers till sina GTA spel. iaf så har dem väll aldrig gett ut ingame videos innan release

[MrNoNja]

Rockstar har väll aldrig gett ut något annat än bilder, info och 2-3 trailers till sina GTA spel. iaf så har dem väll aldrig gett ut ingame videos innan release

Jag vet det. Jag skrev att jag skulle vilja se ingame videor.

Redigerad 15 november, 2007 av MrNoNja

[burken12]

nån som vet när trailer nr 3 kommer

[Merkky]

nån som vet när trailer nr 3 kommer

Inget är sagt, förmodligen dröjer det minst några månader eftersom dom verkar ha en fet nedräkning varje gång..