So, Is this game delayed or not?

[Klemer]

*Sigh*

 

Oh well, it's all but confirmed now. We'll probably get an official announcement next week.

 

Pretty bad move by Sega if they move it to Q1 like everyone else has done, they will be even more crowded out then than if they were release in Christmas due to all the big hitters running away from COD.

 

So right man, so right.

 

IF it really does happen it will checklist time on what to get and when. Because for me, having my own family I got to balance out how I get games til after the holidays, more so since we are flying out of Germany to my family in the US for x-mas.

[Perseus Veil]

mmm... I wonder if Risen can be a great alternative for October.

[Cl_Flushentityhero]

mmm... I wonder if Risen can be a great alternative for October.

 

Color me skeptical on the quality of Risen. I'll go with Demon Souls though.

[AlphaPro]

yay! An 8-month Pushback!

 

Seriously, I understand the game needs to be polished, and needs to have good reviews from the publisher, but if I were Rorie id say screw SEGA and either A) Release the game, as is, without a publisher (are you allowed to do that?) or B ) Find some small no-name company to publish the game just so you have a publisher.

 

Thats my advice, and right now, I estimate low sales.

[Oblarg]

I must admit, this is pretty discouraging.

[Masterfade]

yay! An 8-month Pushback!

 

Seriously, I understand the game needs to be polished, and needs to have good reviews from the publisher, but if I were Rorie id say screw SEGA and either A) Release the game, as is, without a publisher (are you allowed to do that?) or B ) Find some small no-name company to publish the game just so you have a publisher.

 

Thats my advice, and right now, I estimate low sales.

 

Presumably SEGA paid millions (if not tens of millions) of dollars for Obsidian to develop AP. Unless Obsidian decide to buy the rights back, they're stuck with SEGA.

[alanschu]

Well, hopefully SEGA can use some of the money from my purchase of ETW to help with this haha.

 

Are you kidding? That's all going into Napoleon

 

 

As a matter of cat, I was kidding

 

 

 

EDIT: Wasn't there a ****load of threads earlier saying that it was potential product suicide to go up against the competition that AP would be facing, and to release the game at a quieter time may be better for sales?

Edited September 26, 2009 by alanschu

[AlphaPro]

EDIT: Wasn't there a ****load of threads earlier saying that it was potential product suicide to go up against the competition that AP would be facing, and to release the game at a quieter time may be better for sales?

 

 

I do not recall that event.

[ironcreed]

The date has been changed over on Gamespot to Q2 2010 as well. They might as well just go ahead and announce it, but I am sure Sega has a gag order on Obsidian for the time being, lol. I am just anxious to hear the story here more than anything.

[Silvernite]

Oh well, goodbye Alpha Protocol, hello Dragon Age.

[ironcreed]

Oh well, goodbye Alpha Protocol, hello Dragon Age.

 

Amen to that. 2009 is turning into year of the delays. As packed as Q1 alone is in 2010, I would not be suprised to see even more delays on the horizon in order to loosen things up. Which of course means that AP releasing in Q2 may be turn out to be quite the bad move.

 

Regardless, with this big of a delay so close to when it was supposed to release, I cannot help but get the feeling that this is a game with some great concepts and a great story that is probably just a technical patchwork quilt of a mess as it stands right now. After all this time and this big of a delay, what else could it be? Afterall, it was supposed to release back in Feb. for crying out loud. Now at the last minute they need 8 more months, lol?

[Sam Fisher]

Man, this is very depressing. I've been getting really hyped for this game as I know you all have been too. Manly I was excited because it looks sick and I've always thought a "spy style" RPG would be killer. But also it was pretty much the only game I was looking forward to until Q1 2010.

 

If it will substantially improve the game then of course I would support the pushback, it's just with all the games coming out around that time, I'll probably get the old.... "wtf" from my girlfriend when I drop like five hundred bucks on games all at once lol.

 

Anyway, I hope if it does really get pushed back its for something that will actually improve the game rather than just making SEGA happy.

[CRAZY GAMER]

Obsidian is only the producer ; as a publisher SEGA manages all the hype ; anyway I hope it comes out before my winter break

[Cl_Flushentityhero]

See? Delaying AP makes even Sam Fisher cry.

[Sannom]

Yeah, I clearly can't see the reason for a eigth month push-back. All the comments and previews we've seen those last two month hinted at a game that is pretty much finished, with only bu hunting let to do. Such a delay would indicate big changes in gameplay, not only polish. And I can't believe Sega would only realize NOW that the game isn't what they expected! Whatever that is.

Edited September 26, 2009 by Sannom

[Warren Bills]

hmm sure u guys have already discussed this.. but here goes--

 

nothing "official" but common sense/retailers says..

 

http://kotaku.com/5368298/retailers-point-...-protocol-delay

 

 

ehh.. i actually welcome a delay.. i have a new ipod to buy.. and already have fallout3 goty + uncharted 2 to buy next month.

 

 

 

 

(ahh yes, i (and kotaku) am late to the party.. i see this was discussed on pg 6&7)

Edited September 26, 2009 by Warren Bills

[Baeus]

Maybe it's just a case of me refusing to face reality, but I can't see 8 months happening. As some people have mentioned, you don't pay for 8 months of 'polishing' on a game that isn't going to be a mega-hit (whether you should or not is another question). As much as I wish it success, this isn't going to sell like Halo or GTA, and I don't see them making back the cost of an extra 8 months of development time. Gamestop could well be mistaken, and as far as I know, Gamespot usually takes their release dates from them?

 

Although this theory may well just be wishful thinking.

[mr insomniac]

Just picked up Storm of Zehir, and Borderlands is (so far) still slated to release on Oct 20th, so those will keep me busy 'til ME2 and Dragon Age arrive, which will in turn keep me busy til AP arrives next June, but damn, AP looks to be so much more entertaining than any of those. Ah well, it'll be worth the wait, whatever the reason(s) for the delay.

[Cloaker]

They had PAX attendees under a frickin' NDA. The E3 Build was slammed for bugs and blandness by IGN and a few others, just a few months from release. It also had Dragon Age and Borderlands as heavy competition, and those are currently way more popular. Not even a fair fight, considering the very low hype for this game. Hopefully Sega will also sink money into a marketing campaign.

 

This is good news and I hope it's true.

[Zoma]

Alpha Protocol's blandness I think is due to low texture resolution usage for the characters. The additional delay of 8 months might fix that up.

[cb.spike]

http://kotaku.com/5368298/retailers-point-...-protocol-delay

 

At least they tried to get in touch with SEGA. It looked like nobody give a **** about Alpha Protocol.

[Nepenthe]

Color me disappointed - and not the least with the publishers' trend of 'not announcing anything' and letting the ®etailers do the announcing. Bioware waited a couple of weeks to announce the Dragon Age delay after it had been all over the web. Seriously, how can anybody consider that to be good PR?

 

Looks like what was supposed to be a real 'super holiday season' is drying up to two games. I seriously hope this is not some impending disaster of doom

[Tigranes]

It ain't a big surprise what with the strange quiet that had descended in September regarding AP - and equally, I think that does mean that the game is seeing quite a bit of trouble in development. That may or may not be 'dumbing down' or other changes to meet Sega's demands; to say it is probable is putting too much significance into the leaked SCEA info. It might simply be that the game is, when it's all done and looked at, just not good enough and needs major reworking or re-addition of a major feature or area; i.e. what was a bug/polish job from Feb '09 to Oct '09 has evolved into some major surgeries into key gameplay features or missions. Similar to what happened after Ferret left for NWN2, you'd imagine that the initial shakeups with the story left ripple effects of instability down the line. All speculation, of course. But it's very unlikely that this new delay (if true) is an indicator of good progress.

 

That said, I personally don't understand people who say "Oh this game is delayed I won't buy it anymore, I'll get this". I mean, I can't criticise them because it's their call, but from my personal pov, is my own personal preferences (the desire to play the game i want to play) so low on the priority list? If I want to play Alpha Protocol I'll play Alpha Protocol. Games aren't that expensive, if I end up using the $ on Dragon Age or Conviction now I'll end up buying AP sometime when it comes out. I won't have time to play it in June 2010? Are you kidding me, who plans that far ahead to say with certainty you won't have some spare time to play games? On a related note, the wagging of paper notes about cancelling preorders and picking the game out of bargain bins are all fine, too, since it's a legitimate decision we can all make and a legitimate show of displeasure about the state of affairs, but you have to wonder when it gets rather carnivalesque.

 

Anyway, if the delay is true, I expect official confirmation would come sometime in early-mid October, very quietly, and it'll do Obsidian all the more harm for coming so sneakily close to the release date. If they want to fan the flames of hype again later on they'll need to show that there's a lot more to the game - peopl ehave already seen Moscow, people have already heard of 'extensive C&C' and 'play a modern spy' (which are, in fact, the only two major soundbites that AP can provide games press right now).

[cb.spike]

Obsidian still have some good reputation from days of Black Isle. But what have they done lately? KOTOR 2, LucasArts fault. Neverwinter Nights 2, meh. Aliens few years in development wasn

[Oner]

That said, I personally don't understand people who say "Oh this game is delayed I won't buy it anymore, I'll get this". I mean, I can't criticise them because it's their call, but from my personal pov, is my own personal preferences (the desire to play the game i want to play) so low on the priority list? If I want to play Alpha Protocol I'll play Alpha Protocol. Games aren't that expensive, if I end up using the $ on Dragon Age or Conviction now I'll end up buying AP sometime when it comes out.

I don't recall anyone saying they won't buy AP anymore, just not now.