Char Ell Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 I considered posting this in Kavar's Corner but didn't think it's that serious of a subject. As some of you may be aware, LucasArts has quietly pushed the release quarter for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed from Spring 2008 to Summer 2008. While that in and of itself is not the reason I'm starting this thread, this change did get me to thinking. What does summer 2008 mean? I know what I think it means but I wonder if other people think the same thing? Now you know the reason for the poll question. I did make the assumption that all poll participants agree that a seasonal quarter like summer 2008 is a 3 months period of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
True_Avery Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 Estimated dates are just that. Estimates. A summer release date could mean anything. Look at Duke. It has had a few release dates, but has taken almost 10 years to come out. Summer 2008 could mean winter of 2018. If it makes the game better, I say push the game as far back as they like. Getting worked up about dates is basically the same as giving yourself false hope. Wait until it goes gold to get worked up over something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Char Ell Posted March 23, 2008 Author Share Posted March 23, 2008 I think perhaps you misunderstand the purpose of the poll. I don't intend for this to be a gripe session about games that don't make their originally announced release dates. I just want to find out what months people think of when told a game will be released during the summer of a particular year. I just provided the background for my posing the question, that's all. One could reasonably expect forum members from the Oceania region to select the last option in the poll. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilentScope001 Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 "September, October, or November" sounds to me mostly right. It provides enough wiggle room anyway for me. Well, actually, it's supposed to be December, Janurary, Februrary, since Austraila's summer is different from America's summers. Curses! I voted wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev7 Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 Eh, I voted for the "May, June, or July" option. Makes sense to me mainly because LA has released there video games in May. Or at least that was only with Episode 3 video game. It sounds a lot more realistic if the game was released around "August, September, or October". That is my view... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Achilles Posted March 23, 2008 Share Posted March 23, 2008 According to meteorology, summer is the whole months of December, January, and February in the Southern Hemisphere, and the whole months of June, July, and August in the Northern Hemisphere. Emphasis added. I could be giving marketing people much more credit than they are due, but I can't imagine that they would start arbitrarily redefining commonly accepted seasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ctrl Alt Del Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 Summer 2008?! WTF, that should have already been released last month! Oh wait, northern hemisphere... September, October, or November, or the Summer/Autumn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCarter426 Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 Eh, I voted for the "May, June, or July" option. Makes sense to me mainly because LA has released there video games in May. Or at least that was only with Episode 3 video game. It sounds a lot more realistic if the game was released around "August, September, or October". That is my view... The movies all came out in May, and are considered "summer blockbusters", but yes, not as realistic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Negative Sun Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 June, July or August I believe. With a strong inclination towards June or July. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 Uh... Wasn't this supposed to have been released sometime last year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimartin Posted March 24, 2008 Share Posted March 24, 2008 Doesn’t LucasArts usually release thing early. Maybe they are actually waiting till the game is complete or till the Christmas buying season, whichever come first. I voted June, July and August. Always understood Labor Day to be the last blowout of summer and it is the first Monday of September. So I just worked back from there. Now if I went strictly by temperature only, I’d vote for all of the above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HerbieZ Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 I don't mind games getting delayed, i just judge if it was worth it by playing it. A game like Stargate worlds i wouldn't mind if they delayed it for another year as long as it has the utmost level of polish on the release. Only because i have high hopes for that game and want it to receive their full attention. So it can receive mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabish Bini Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 December, January, February, but it doesn't appear to be in tyhe poll. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Char Ell Posted March 27, 2008 Author Share Posted March 27, 2008 I could be giving marketing people much more credit than they are due, but I can't imagine that they would start arbitrarily redefining commonly accepted seasons. Probably not, but I originally thought of it in equivalent terms to the calendar quarters of the year, e.g. Q1 = Winter in northern hemisphere, Summer in southern hemisphere Q2 = Spring in northern hemisphere, Fall in southern hemisphere Q3 = Summer in northern hemisphere, Winter in southern hemisphere Q4 = Fall in northern hemisphere, Spring in southern hemisphere About half of the poll participants thus far agree with the seasonal definitions you cited from wikipedia. IMHO though game publishers that announce a seasonal quarter as the timeframe for a game's release are at best intentionally ambiguous and at worst exhibiting a callous hemispherocentric line of thinking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrotoy7 Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 what a curious thread. Estimating about an estimate?? Sounds truly Monty Pythonesque Theres obviously some QA issue that came up in development/testing that theyre wanting to tweak. This is a good thing.. better that than release a game replete with bugs, inconsistencies interface problems etc. They could just as easily say 2009 in a couple of months Best thing to do is put it out of your mind and be pleasantly surprised when someone tells you its just about to be released!! (like happened to me with Mass Effect for PC ) mtfbwya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tk102 Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 Usually companies describe time frames like this in terms of fiscal quarters, and for those companies which have a fiscal year beginning in January the quarters fall as you'd expect: 1Q08 = Jan - Mar 2Q08 = Apr - Jun 3Q08 = Jul - Sep 4Q08 = Oct - Dec Lucasarts fiscal year ends in April so: 1Q08 = May - Jul '08 2Q08 = Aug - Oct '08 3Q08 = Nov - Jan '09 4Q08 = Feb - Apr '09 Internally they're probably targeting to get it released during 1Q08 which roughly translates to Summer 2008. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Xander Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 What game? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miles Edgeworth Posted March 27, 2008 Share Posted March 27, 2008 What game? As some of you may be aware, LucasArts has quietly pushed the release quarter for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed from Spring 2008 to Summer 2008. Read the first post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tk102 Posted April 4, 2008 Share Posted April 4, 2008 Congratulations to the 10 people who got it right (in regards to TFU anyway). TFU will be released in September according to Lucasarts. http://www.lucasforums.com/showthread.php?p=2445568#post2445568 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilentScope001 Posted April 6, 2008 Share Posted April 6, 2008 Woohoo! I was right the first time! But you shouldn't rest on your laurels LA. DNF will give FU a run for its money due to its better-quality. Better to just delay the game indefintely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Char Ell Posted April 6, 2008 Author Share Posted April 6, 2008 Congratulations to the 10 people who got it right (in regards to TFU anyway). TFU will be released in September according to Lucasarts. As far as I'm concerned there wasn't a "correct" answer to this poll question. Unfortunately it seems TFU's release window became the focus of this thread when in reality it was just the impetus for me to pose the larger question. If one were to ask someone in Australia what consecutive three months they would expect a summer 2008 game to be released I anticipate they would answer December-February or somewhere in that range. I guess people in the southern hemisphere just have to realize that most games are made in the northern hemisphere and so when games are announced for release in a seasonal quarter then they just need to remember that it's the seasonal quarter for the northern hemisphere, not their own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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