If you recall, our commander in chief reported that Gears of War 3 was delayed by five months.
The reason given was for marketing. The worst possible reason for a delay in a game, since its so intangible.
At the recent Eurogamer expo, the Gears of War 3 campaign wasn’t on show to the public. According to a Microsoft spokesman, it was “too buggy”. Could this spokesman have unwittingly revealed why Gears 3 was delayed?
5 months is a long delay, especially considering Gears 3 is a big deal. Gears 3 will sell a boatload of copies, irrespective of its release day. Either Microsoft is trying to end off 2011 with a big title, since 2011 is a lean year in terms of high profile exclusives, or they have delayed it for polish. The Gears of War series is renowned for its level of quality, and anything less than near-perfect in terms of presentation is unacceptable.
Its now October, 6 months away from the original release date, which isn’t a lot in game development time. If it’s too buggy now for a public demo, what chance was there of it being in prime condition come April 2011?
Sure, marketing is an important part of the video game industry, since it makes the business more feasible if the marketing campaign yields good sales. However, delaying a game for a slightly better chance of shifting a large amount of units in a usually crowded release period, and burning fans in the process, doesn’t seem like a good move to me.
That said, if CliffyB and his cohorts at Epic polish Gears 3 in that period and improve it, I will be happy to wait. I won’t be ecstatic, as I echo the sentiments of our commander-in-chief, but I can accept that waiting will result in a better game. I think I speak for everyone when I say I expect the best from Gears 3.
Would you have preferred Microsoft to delay it due to quality issues, or is marketing a good enough reason for you? I reckon Microsoft should have lied and said it was for polish, even if it wasn’t.
Source: Electronic Theatre
Last Updated: October 6, 2010
Hayted
October 6, 2010 at 12:36
I would rather wait the extra time and finish off the Epic Gears story properly. I know G2 did not have the greatest Multi-player. But to be quite honest, I have replayed Gears over and over again. It is one of my top games. So for a delay to finish the story and see whether the 3rd Carmine lives or dies or just to polish the game. I can / can’t wait! There goes the sun again next year (sometime). Great games need time! (As I am sure all GT5 fans say as well). Can’t wait for that to come out as well! (Anyone have a night-shift job for the next couple months, lol).
shotcaller
October 6, 2010 at 21:33
I call bull on this. Who was this “Microsoft spokesman”?
James
October 6, 2010 at 21:35
You do realise i played the anvil gate mission at Eurogamer as did many of my friends after we played Beast…
Yes so get your facts straight before you right your articles
SmartyP
October 6, 2010 at 21:35
From CliffyB on twitter:
This is total horseshit, and whomever allegedly said it is going to get kicked in the balls by yours truly.
http://twitter.com/#!/therealcliffyb/statuses/26578753357
grits
October 6, 2010 at 21:54
cliffy is pissed! 😮 haha
http://twitter.com/#!/therealcliffyb/status/26578753357
asd
October 6, 2010 at 22:37
Horseshit http://twitter.com/therealcliffyb/status/26582667130
Gavin Mannion
October 6, 2010 at 22:38
Wow CliffyB’s tweet massacred the site… but we’re back for now at least.
II EV0L 0NE II
October 6, 2010 at 22:45
That writer can go suck it..
Cloystein
October 6, 2010 at 22:46
Pretty certain this is utter crap seen as it was publicly demo-ed at Eurogamer Expo like 3 days ago. Good work on this story.
ReAVeR
October 6, 2010 at 22:46
Now this is not a question I ask often (at least not on a weeknight), but Gavin… So how’s your balls?
Gavin Mannion
October 6, 2010 at 22:48
My wife left for SA 3 days ago… so yeah.. not so good.
And yours?
Karl Thomson
October 6, 2010 at 22:51
That quote comes from the Eurogamer Expo.
mathew
October 6, 2010 at 23:39
“our commander in chief” do you know how gay that sounds? reminds me of the warlock off die hard 4
Jonah Falcon
October 6, 2010 at 23:46
I pointed out to Cliff that Lazy Gamer did not originate the rumor – it was Electronic Theatre. He apologized to LG. 🙂
dox
October 6, 2010 at 23:57
Cliff says its BS so a credible site would print a retraction
Ghostofdota
October 7, 2010 at 00:00
rofl, guess I imagined the campaign being shown then.
Ghostofdota
October 7, 2010 at 00:01
rofl, guess I imagined the campaign then.
CliffyB
October 7, 2010 at 01:10
Don’t post shit if you don’t know what your talking about; That’s how you start lawsuits (;
Nick de Bruyne
October 7, 2010 at 01:17
Don’t try and impersonate other people; That’s how you start lawsuits (;
Optio
October 7, 2010 at 01:54
I was at eurogamer 2010 and when I wanted to play the campaign mode they told that I was not allowed or some bullshit I was really pissed because it was right their in the menu and when I quit the guy that was “supervising” that was over like a shot and grabbed the controller from fucking idiot why wouldn’t he let me play??????
Optio
October 7, 2010 at 02:10
Instead of rumbling on about it I should probably have said that with my expierece at eurogamer this was true I was there on the third day and nobody was allowed to play the campaign mode only beast I tried to but as soon as I got to the menu they took the controller from me and just started up beast mode again I was really disappointed but still got to play beast it was amazing
ElisabethinCA
October 7, 2010 at 04:49
Not even going to the point that this story isn’t true…why would you even advocate MS lying? Are you kidding me? You and everyone else would be flaming the hell out of Epic if they issued a press release that was an out and out lie and then were found out. Gamers aren’t stupid..when they are lied to it comes out. The gaming community (as in dev’s and pub’s) is small enough that someone will talk at some point. So to piss of Gears fans even more, you advocate lying about the release date being pushed back..that makes absolutely no sense. And neither does having any Joe Blow pretending he/she is legit press and not confirming a story with the actual people it’s about before the story is published. What is this, a subsidiary of the National Enquirer?
Gavin Mannion
October 7, 2010 at 06:38
The fact that people weren’t allowed to play the campaign mode at Eurogamer appears to be true… the fact that a Microsoft rep said it was because the campaign is buggy is in dispute but it hasn’t been proving incorrect.
There is an update to this story coming out in a little while though, feel free to stick around