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Half-Life 2 slips News
PC PlayStation 2 GameCube News by Kristan Reed
Half-Life 2 looks certain to slip after all, despite Valve's repeated assurances at ECTS that there was no change to its September 30th release date.
An email has been sent out by Game to its pre-order customers said: "As you may already be aware, the UK release date for 'Half-Life 2' has changed to Nov-2003.
"Please don't worry, your order is still 'live' and will be despatched to you on the day prior to the revised release date, via your chosen method of shipping, unless you advise us to the contrary."
Vivendi is sticking to its mantra that the release date is "TBC", and indeed a release schedule sent to us this morning confirms this.
In addition, Judge Dredd Vs Judge Death has slipped by four weeks to October 17th, Condition Zero has slipped all the way to November 14th, while SWAT: Global Strike team is now down for a November 7th release on Xbox, and November 21st on PS2. Tribes: Aerial Assault on the PS2 has also been consigned to the realms of TBC, despite having been on U.S shelves for two months.
More news on the Half-Life 2 release date merry-go-round when we get it.
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Comments: 1-40 of 40 in total
Poster
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here are the old comments if you're interested...
Machiavel 03-Sep-03 13:01:48 The heading says it all. Wow. :) Edit: Well Actually Kristan's face says it all. Picture. Words. Thousands. It's all there in his anguished reaction ;) Edited 2 times. Most recently by Machiavel at 13:16 on 03/09/2003 from 131.251.58.74 ignore poster edit fozz3r 03-Sep-03 13:02:16 *sigh* ignore poster edit itamae 03-Sep-03 13:03:07 Precise and to the point; that's what I like about Eurogamer. ;) ignore poster edit Rusta 03-Sep-03 13:04:39 over? ignore poster edit jiroczech 03-Sep-03 13:06:01 Think it's the old 'first post' trick, where you post before you've got anything to say, just to get something u ;P. So HL2 slips.. Anyone want to guess by how much before krudster updates the story? I'd say November 30th. Edited 1 times. Most recently by jiroczech at 13:06 on 03/09/2003 from 212.135.207.162 ignore poster edit Merefield 03-Sep-03 13:06:59 Guys, I told you Christmas was the 25th December, not September 30th....sheesh! ;) ignore poster edit FWB 03-Sep-03 13:07:13 20th March 2014. ignore poster edit X3ON 03-Sep-03 13:08:38 F*ck them, f*ck them in their stupid ass Bugger all else out now until late Oct / Nov... ignore poster edit gravity0 03-Sep-03 13:09:10 Well... shit. ignore poster edit jiroczech 03-Sep-03 13:09:16 But.. that's when we're all going to die!! ignore poster edit El_MUERkO 03-Sep-03 13:09:33 hehe details o'plenty It does indeed look like HL2 is slipping, still Stalker, JK3 and the other september releases will benefit from increased interest. ignore poster edit jiroczech 03-Sep-03 13:10:18 Maybe it's a false alert? ignore poster edit FWB 03-Sep-03 13:10:50 But.. that's when we're all going to die!! Life's a bitch and so are game developers. IIRC, STALKER is very much in 2004. Edited 1 times. Most recently by FWB at 13:11 on 03/09/2003 from 213.166.80.236 ignore poster edit Bob 03-Sep-03 13:13:14 Erm... ignore poster edit jiroczech 03-Sep-03 13:14:56 Wonder if this is the publisher's putting pressure on for a nearer-to-Christmas release date, or Valve holding it back to fix some last minute problems? ignore poster edit mr Pants 03-Sep-03 13:16:02 I work for a games developer, and I can confirm that we are infact, all bitches. thankyou. valve are king bitches though, my intestines fell out of my arse when i saw this, the cleaners will be pissed off :( ignore poster edit UncleLou 03-Sep-03 13:17:22 Hm, maybe Rauper has forgotten to pay krudster his salary for September. Anyway, the websites I've read (and which all seem to refer to a C&VG article) say the delay won't be more than one or two months. ignore poster edit Rizo 03-Sep-03 13:18:29 I blame the f**king programmers ignore poster edit Rizo 03-Sep-03 13:18:45 F**king Retards ignore poster edit Rizo 03-Sep-03 13:19:10 Why the f**k did they get our hopes up ignore poster edit jiroczech 03-Sep-03 13:19:15 linkage to the C&VG article. Fixed again.. going for 'most edits to a simple link' record now. Edited 3 times. Most recently by jiroczech at 13:23 on 03/09/2003 from 212.135.207.162 ignore poster edit catmango 03-Sep-03 13:19:19 Supposedly this latest 'slip' idea has come from the retailer GAME? Valve themselves have never said anything but September 30th, which they repeated at ECTS in the last week. It's always been their publisher and retailers throwing random dates in the air. I'll believe it when theres official word from Valve. :( ignore poster edit mr Pants 03-Sep-03 13:19:45 one or two months!!? i could get hit by a car or eaten by crocodiles in that time! ignore poster edit Genome 03-Sep-03 13:19:49 20th March 2014 Well, at least I'll be playing something good when the end of the world happens, then. Yay! My guess is November 28 or November 26. A Wednesday or a Friday. Not on a Sunday. ignore poster edit gravity0 03-Sep-03 13:21:21 Edit: *nevermind* Edited 1 times. Most recently by gravity0 at 13:22 on 03/09/2003 from 195.166.200.15 ignore poster edit Rizo 03-Sep-03 13:22:59 I think it may just be the uk date otherwise the large us sited would has known before CVG. That or there going to release it on stream first. ignore poster edit lost_soul 03-Sep-03 13:23:12 Hmm, GAME have probably only just caught up with the slippage rumour of a couple of months back. I'll believe HL2 has slipped when Valve says so, or it's the 1st of October and it hasn't been released. ignore poster edit FWB 03-Sep-03 13:23:30 Genome: If you're not at work, otherwise you'll only get a few levels in. I shall assume loved ones, friends and family will not figure in your last few hours on earth. ignore poster edit Merefield 03-Sep-03 13:24:12 This thread is getting crowded already...can someone open a window or something? thanks... ignore poster edit Blerk 03-Sep-03 13:24:17 Come on, chaps - what does it matter? It's a game. It's not an organ transplant or a cure for cancer. Jesus, what difference does a few months make? At least it's still coming! Having a pop at the programmers is just cheap. ignore poster edit UncleLou 03-Sep-03 13:27:04 i could get hit by a car or eaten by crocodiles in that time! But this could happen today, and then a September 30 release wouldn't help would it? Or maybe you would have been eaten n by a crococdile on your way to the games shop on September 30, and on November 30 the way to the shop will be crocodile-free? Ah, I feel quite transcendental today. ignore poster edit Killerbee 03-Sep-03 13:29:32 Better that they finish it properly and release it later than rush it out half-done and patch it up afterwards. imho Plus it gives me a chance to play some of the other stuff I've got on the go. ignore poster edit X3ON 03-Sep-03 13:29:46 hey Blerk, what are we supposed to do ? we are all cynical bitches and if we haven't got anything to bitch about then we have to do other stuff like get a life / fresh air / girlfriend ;) /still reeling in shock over the "its just a game" comment lol ignore poster edit krudster 03-Sep-03 13:30:14 If there is one crumb of comfort, it's that only the *retail* version of the game seems certain to slip. That's not to say Valve won't go ahead and do something unprecedented via Steam.... edit volb 03-Sep-03 13:32:56 Yay! Developers obtained a delay to fix things up instead of rushing a release because of stubborn management pressure! We won't have to suffer the agony of a game shipped unpolished and unstable. Is this good news or WHAT? :/ ignore poster edit catmango 03-Sep-03 13:32:58 And more to the point, why believe a GAME employee/email over a valve team members word of mouth? ignore poster edit catmango 03-Sep-03 13:33:58 They've been making it for 5 years, it's hardly going to be 'rushed out'.. ignore poster edit Merefield 03-Sep-03 13:36:46 That's not to say Valve won't go ahead and do something unprecedented via Steam.... Ah, good point, interesting...an incentive to sign-up perhaps? ignore poster edit UncleLou 03-Sep-03 13:37:21 I've also read a rumour that there will be three different versions of HL2 (differently priced, of course), a single player only version, a sp/mp (and/or mod tools?) version and a sp/mp/mod tools/extras (whatever they would be) version. I would imagine - if it's true at all - that this would only be an option via steam, not for the retailers. ignore poster edit krudster 03-Sep-03 13:37:30 Game is an extremely powerful retailer with over 40 per cent of the market...and the info came direct from Vivendi. I doubt very much this is some kind of lame excercise from Game. edit volb 03-Sep-03 13:37:42 catmango >They've been making it for 5 years, it's hardly going to be 'rushed out'.. It's always "rushed out" to some degree, or else they would have been making it for 4 years and 10 months. |
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Necropolis
03/09/03 @ 13:41
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I keep meaning to go to Game in Middlesbrough, apparently there is a guy who works there who my friend assures me is unbeatable at Soul Calibur. I must try to beat him.
/realises what has just happened and gently puts comment thread back on topic... |
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I do find it hard to believe that with less than 4 weeks left, they've suddenly found an extra 2 months worth of work to do. Especially when you consider that last week Valve were still saying Sept 30th.
As krudster says, it'll probably be released on the 30th via Steam, with a retail release 2 months later. |
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Well, I don't work in games development but I do work in software development. If it's much the same, then it probably goes something like this:
Customer: When will it be out? Marketing: It'll be ready next week! Developers: What? You made that release date up based on something we said last Christmas! We need another two months. Marketing: But we told them it'll be next week! Management: It *will* be ready next week. /glare Developers: There's no way on earth we can do all that work by next week. Management: You'll have to tell the customer it will be delayed Marketing: Fuck that - kick the programmers into shape. Management: You're right - they'll do it by next week. Developers: But... but... but... Management: If you worked hard enough it would be done. Marketing: It will be ready on time! Customer: Good. One week later. Management: Well, is it done? Developers: No. We said it wasn't possible at the time. It wasn't possible. We still need two months. Management: Doh! Marketing: You're all fuck-wits! You said it would be done! /developers get pay cut
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most recently on 03/09/03 @ 15:11
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Wretched Chin
03/09/03 @ 14:20
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Is this just making the people who are waiting for the game want it even more?
My thought is, as long as they squeeze it out before Xmas it'll still be the best selling bit of code in history, so they don't really care what we want... |
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the release on the 30th via steam makes sense to me. all the localisation such as manuals and such may not be needed if it's known that it is an English only release, and if one of the reasons for delaying his lack of play testing, then via steam patches and updates can be constantly streamed to the user if bugs or problems occur, and then these updates incorporated into the retail pack for release in November
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I've experimented programing first handed for 4 years now, in various projects, mainly colege related. I'd like to quote someone very smart "A task, no matter which, will take you 10% of your time, to finish 90% of it, and 90% of your time, to finish the resting 10%". This holds so true.
When programing a game, they can make something which is playable in less than 6 months, if well coordinated. A masterpiece can take years of course, but that is to develop more stuff (phisics, fx engines, alternate routes, FMVs, etc). Now, what really sucks time out of release dates, is bug crushing. Many times, you find showstopper bugs when you though there were none left, and many other times one can loose more time then needed trying to fix the said bug, or trying to find where on the fuck they forgot the ";" on 100000 lines of code. Imagine that they squashed all bugs, and when they thought they had a gold in their hands a new bug is found. Either with a combination of hardware, or something not tryed before. They can either a)still release the game, and hope the players won't find the bug, releasing a patch 1 week after the game release, b) delay the game for further testing and to deliver a finished product. Valve no doubt is in the bug squashing mode. And this is a unpredictable time in game developement, because no one knows how many bugs/erros will come up. If they knew, they'd have avoided/currected them in the first place. And lets not mention that sometimes currecting an error may provoque another error. This happens too many times with patches for example. So, be aware that this a very painfull process, and whatever they do, don't rush the little bastard, I don't want to download a 550 megs patch 1 day BEFORE the release (games take time going from gold to being printed and distributte). And let me quote another smart person "No matter how good and foul proof your program is, someone who never saw a computer in his front will find a way to crash the program."
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most recently on 03/09/03 @ 15:37
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Release dates, on the developers side, are usually extimatives. Not promisses.
I look at my example. Many times I say "I'll have this long term project done in 3 months". I schedule the days dedicated to the project. Near the end, I allways have to get together with my group everyday, and usually ask the professor some extra time. |
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"No matter how good and foul proof your program is, someone who never saw a computer in his front will find a way to crash the program."
"That'd be me." Me too. When a friend of mine wanted to show me the superiority of PC games over console games by letting me play Half-Life 1, I managed to get stuck in a wall one minute into the game. I've never heard of anyone being able to reproduce this bug, so I'm quite proud of it. |
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Yeah, in the end of the day, people might be disappointed, but this is cutting-edge work, these guys really own, credit to them, we should cut them some slack - and I hope the devs and creative teams make a fortune.
Looking forward to it when it arrives.
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most recently on 03/09/03 @ 17:19
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Read Rapid Development by Steve McConnell - is all I can add...
I got sent on a course a little while back about RAD (Rapid Applications Development) and DSDM (Dynamic Systems Development Method - don't bother visiting the site, it's as boring as the inside of your elbows) and I was involved in a project using DSDM which actually worked quite well. At least, it did for the period I was on it - I never had to hang around to the end of the project or dirty my hands in supporting the thing which was probably a blessing (for me). The idea, as CyberClaw describes, is to create 90% of your deliverables in 10% of the time - thus reducing costs for your customer. You had a set of discrete project phases, each "timeboxed" so that you worked on them for a predetermined amount of time and then moved on to the next whether you'd finished or not. Nice idea, as long as your customer doesn't need a 100% finished product and can get by on the basic functionality. So not really appropriate for games unfortunately. |
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So not really appropriate for games unfortunately.
Well yes and no...the title of that book is a bit of a misnomer....its more of a Software Project Managers reference book of best practice with a lot of generic advice for all software development....I'd say its VERY relevant....just take a flick through it and see what I mean!! |
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Good link X3ON, particularly:
In the Steam world, some people will want to buy it once, like the middle SKU above. Other people will want to buy the game on subscription (e.g. $9.95/month). The good news for the "buy it once" crowd is, well, they only have to pay once. The bad news is that when we come out with new content (expansion products, TF 2, and presumably other games) then they have to pay separately for those. We're pretty sure that the $9.95 guys are going to get the better value, as we've been pretty good over the years at generating a lot of content. Hmmm....the EA business model on nitro! |
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