Now we all know that Final Fantasy XIII will be released on March 9th, but it's not the only title that will hit store shelves in said month. And especially on the PS3 there are big hitters all looking for room on the same plane. Gran Turismo 5, God of War III, Heavy Rain in February, and as stated, Final Fantasy XIII. March is overbooked and the best solution is for Sony to push back two big games, namely GT5 and God of War III into the months of April and May of next year respectively if they want all their big hitters to sell well. Here's why.
Everyone of the aforementioned titles a behemoths, and because they are, each of them needs ample room to breathe. It's like taking the three biggest stars in the music industry and giving each of them a concert at different locations in the same town on the same day; that would be a failure for all the organizers involved because although concert goers would love to participate and be at all the events, it's practically impossible, plus there's only so much cash one can afford to spend on partying.
Same with the games business. God of War III has dedicated fans, but a lot of those same fans are dedicated followers of Gran Turismo and Final Fantasy. It only makes sense that you separate the three to maximize sales potential or else leave gamers with the difficult dilemma of picking and choosing between the titles that they've waited on for years.
I'd say release Final Fantasy on the 9th of March as announced since it'll also be on the Xbox 360 making it harder to change its date. Then Release Gran Turismo 5 on Tuesday April 20th, 2010. That would be good enough time between the two megaton titles and by then GT fans would be more than ready (cash in hands) to get their 'drive on.' And finally, the biggest dog in the house: God of War III should be released on May 25th, 2010 which is also a Tuesday. The distance between GT5 and God of War III would be just over one month, again giving fans of the titles decent space to enjoy each and enough time to save up on cash in order to purchase all and miss out on none.
I think it would be the right move, do you share the same sentiment?
11/14/09 Ernice Gilbert
It comes down to which game has the most pull.
ReplyDeleteIf Final Fantasy is the biggest, everything else need to give it room.
If it's God of War III then every other game should be pushed back.
I think Heavy rain should be brought forward to january and GOW3 should take february and GT5 can then take april. This way we can be sure to pick up a triple A title every month for the 1st Quarter of 2010.
ReplyDeleteif anything should be pushed back, it should be Heavy Rain and/or FF13. GT5 has peen pushed back YEARS, it doesnt need any more delays, not that I think people are still super hyped for this game as they once were.
ReplyDeleteGOW3 is probably the biggest of the games listed, FF13 is pretty big, but for some reason I think it may not do as well as hyped.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! Please not GOW3. Anything but that. i can still buy the other ones later but i cant hardly wait til march for GOW3...
ReplyDeletegood last comment, but final fantasy can **** off and make way for real games that arn't rpgs. gran turismo and god of war should stay set.
ReplyDeletefinal fantasy should move a fortnight or month forward to april. sony has the first quarter sewn up, just lke this last quarter, even multiplats have been selling better on ps3, tekken, batman, pes, fifa, (yes FIFA even) these are brands thats have always been storng with sony, and now even more so.
hell, the splt of moderwarefare was 40 / 60, i think people were expecting ps3 to come of much much worse than it did, even infinity ward wernt expecting it, - hence they added more servers to allow the influx of people to get a smoooth game. god of war will be the sart of something NEW. halo reach with its new engne (scaughs) can kiss my left low hanger as god of war 3 will be the true nex gen engine for the masses (well...over 18s)
I totally agree with you!
ReplyDeleteGOWIII and GT5 NEED to be pushed back, and since in my opinion GOWIII is going to be the greater hit among the other three (namely Heavy Rain, FFXIII and GT5), GOWIII needs loads of breathing space... and should be released later in the year.
BUT, there is another problem, if they postpone the release date too much into the year, it will leave many fans discontented and probably discourage them from buying the game... so Sony has to make a clever decisive move and postpone the game not too much into the future, but also give some gap...
Fail. Terrible analogy - the concert would be over THAT day - the games will be in stores for as long as they sell and these games will SELL big time. You actually want games that have been pushed back, then pushed back and pushed back again to be pushed back??
ReplyDeleteNO - release them as stated, especially because they are all from different genres and they all will make an extemely important impact on gaming for the PS3 as well as gaming in general.
Sorry but you have not thought this one out properly.
GoodBye.
sony should not move AT all. SQUARE need to pss - off, as sony are bes' buddies with them im sure pril can be arranged... hell..its still better than june/july everyone was expecting.
ReplyDeletereally tho, an rpg...
get back on your pc chair m8 and play some gak massivly multiplayer / rpgs all you want, i just dont wanna see you on psn. GET ME?
god of war is coming. and whooping all rpgs in the process. get with the program.
who ever wrote ths article is NERD. who has no taste in games. final fantasy can go hide in a dumpster for all i care. bring me gran turismo/god of war/last gurdian. NOW
also just incase of backlash, i am classing gurdian and god of war as action/rpgs. not full rpg/mmo. theres is no action in warcraft, you tap some buttons on the keyboard to cast spells, the enemie dies. woooo hooooo. now go play god of war. idiots.
are White Knight Chronicles and Heavy Rain confirmed for release in february? because GT5 is only confirmed for a march release in Japan, and I don't see much trouble since FFXIII is coming at the begining of the month and GoW 3 at the end
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete3/9/2010
ReplyDeleteI took that as 3 September, 2010.
Guess not?
Come January, our new website will be launched:
ReplyDeletewww.gamesthirst.com.
We are looking for professional writers who don't mind starting off without receiving monetary compensation.
We already have a very strong and exciting team and are looking forward to those of you who dare to join.
Do you have what it takes? Send us some examples of your work at gamesthirst@yahoo.com
We already bring great content, but we have so much more in store for you. There will be PS3 and Xbox 360 giveaways, we've recently started a brand new series entitled Throw Back Gaming, and on January 1st, 2010, we will introduce yet another where we take a look at games that were made into movies.
All the aforementioned plus:
Previews
Video and Written reviews
Latest breaking news and rumors
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And so much more. Keep coming back for more details.
Ernice Gilbert
Editor-In-Chief/President of GamesThirst.com
I wish you did not ask that the release dates of games I am anticipating to be pushed back.
ReplyDeleteI already don't want the other games because I don't buy a game every month and GoW3 holds my interest out of a lot of major titles.
I guess I'm part of the minority in that I don't like Final Fantasy, I suck at racing games and in general I play shooters and multiplayer dungeon crawlers as well as a few hack and slash games.
In short; I disagree because I do not like the other games you believe are heavy hitters.
I guess to each his own, then.
This discussion can remain clean and healthy so let's keep it that way.
ReplyDeleteIndecent language won't be tolerated here, all such posts will be deleted by website's admin.
Thanks, now let's continue this healthy talk.
A release in March doesn't mean you have to buy it in March, what's wrong with you? All 3 games have lots of fans not interested in the other 2, why would some of them have to wait for their games because you can't seem to find a way to buy/play all 3 of them? I myself am looking forward to GT5, GoW3 ánd FFXIII, I will see which one will be released 1st here in Holland and purchase it. The next 2 will be in mine no later then April's payday, perhaps even March - saving 100 bucks shouldn't be that hard. Playing all 3 the same month shouldn't be hard either, there's 3 different genres on offer.
ReplyDeleteMarch 2010 on PlayStation 3
God of War III
Gran Turismo 5
Final Fantasy XIII
For you 2 enjoy m8, and 4 many more=)
To each his own indeed. But the Ernice does have a point. It's not healthy to release so many big games back-to-back.
ReplyDeleteHe makes sense, however it should not be God of War, but racing fans will argue that it should not be GT5 and RPG fans will argue that it should not be Final Fantasy.
What a dilemma.
i think it should stay the way it is, im getting 3 of the titles and got the cash for them so i want it to stay as it is only for me cuz im awesome
ReplyDeleteHow about just forking the cash over for all three titles, besides if you want to play it bad enough you will regardless... I personally have waited long enough for these awesome titles, don't see why we have to wait any longer... Besides these titles will sell well during the year anyway, still so many ps3's to be sold
ReplyDeleteSeriously im not sure why Sony hasn't thought of this earlier. Yes i do agree, plus unfortunately Sony does need a little catching up to do with sales and this will probably be their big hit, but not if they are all crammed in like this.
ReplyDeleteThe order in which he put these titles in is actually the most profitable for the same reasons he said why. For one, FF is with Microsoft now so changing the date will be to much work especially if Microsoft is thinking good sales for them early in the year. Second, with GoW coming in May can be a big kicker for Sony to rake it in especially after GT5 coming in during April.
Financially this would be the best bet for Sony with all these three huge titles coming in at separate times, even if fans are getting a bit desperate.
The biggest threat for GOW 3 is Dante's Inferno.
ReplyDeleteI think we need more of these..... multiple great releases in one month. Look at this month, it is full of first-class releases and I am getting every single one of them, Uncharted 2, MW2 (got them both), next week: AC2 and GOW collection, getting them. If I could not afford them all at the same time, I would still like the idea that they are out there so that I can buy them whenever I have the money. March, it is going to be the same thing for me. Bad Company 2, GOW3, getting them. I don't like FF, so I don't care for it and GT5... that can wait.
ReplyDeleteWhat dilemma? These days I'm playing the online multiplayer of Killzone, NFS Shift, DiRT2, WipEout HD (really loving that one), MW2 ánd Uncharted 2...for free! I mean, it's gamingheaven 24/7 and 2010 hasn't even started yet, MAG is coming in January, Mod Nation Racers in February last I heard. I don't like to quote George W that much but hey! BRING-EM ON!
ReplyDelete256 player FPS
16 player NASCAR races
A 5 vs 5 3rd person shooter that actually works
Unlimited PlayCreateShare levels & tracks
On dedicated servers...
For free
The other day I read that some pay2play service is 12-18 months ahead on all of this=)
Firstly, GT5 has only been confirmed for a march 2010 release date in Japan. There's no word on a US/EU release date yet. Secondly, your assuming that everyone who wants GT5 also wants GOW3, which might be the case for some, but die hard fans most likely have the cash saved up for said games. For the casual gamer, this might be an issue, but given the fact that the PS3's demographic is comprised of older gamers, 20-35 and on, this is somewhat of a mute point since these people are likely to have jobs to support their hobbies. GOW3 is likely to be pushed to April while GT5 has a better chance of a May release. only casual gamers will likely have a problem with the close release dates, but then again that's what Gamefly is for isn't it.
ReplyDeleteIt's Final Fantasy that has the dumb release date. They were last to say when they were releasing. They decided to go up against GoW3 and GT5. It's ahorrible business choice, and Sony shouldn't have to push back their 2 biggest exclusives to accomidate a cross-platform game. FF13 should be coming out much earlier. There's no reason to postpone GT5 or GoW. They aren't really battling each other, since they have totally different demographics. GoW1 and 2 together only sold about 5 million copies. GT5p alone sold almost that many.
ReplyDeleteAnd besides, who say you have to buy all the games when they come out. Especially when GoW3 and FF13, nor Heavy Rain are only single player games. You can buy them whenever you want. But they should all come out ASAP for people who are anicipating those games and want one more than others. I want GT5 more than any of those games, and I shouldnt have to wait for it because of FF13 a highly over-rated game that plays like FF12, the first FF I actually couldn't stand, the first FF I didn't finish because the gameplay was in no way "FF". Why should I have to wait because of that?
Peope shouldn't pressure Sony to change their dates for anticipated exclusive games, for over-rated cross-platform games. I'm only getting FF13 is I have extra money for it, otherwise I'm waiting for it to be bargain bin like I should have for 12. My priorities are HEavy Rain, WKC, GT5 then GoW3. Those games are being bought by me the day they come out. FF13 is not.
think about MAG and bad company 2 aswell
ReplyDeleteGive me Final Fantasy any day actually, I love that game too much to pass it up.
ReplyDeleteSo in essence, if you made available for me GT5 and FFXIII in the same month, I'd give my $60 to FFXIII.
That's why I believe he has a point.
The smartest push would be for Heavy Rain, because it's a completly new IP. The less competition the better for it.
ReplyDeleteFF XIII and GoW3 have a following, which are going to buy whatever happens.
Also Sony should think about a God of War Collection & God of War 3 bundles for people who didn't buy any of the previous titles.
GT5 is a quite complicated matter. It's the only title of which I think, if pushed it wouldn't be a pointless push. Yamauchi could polish probably another 12 months if he had the time. Also, since Forza 3 already released there is no "real" competition to it at all... racing sims fans will buy it, no matter when.
totally agree with you GamesThirst
ReplyDeleteFinal Fantasy XIII IS THE BEST !!!!!!!!!!!
God of War III should be delayed
please God of War fans don't cry !
We didn't say Final Fantasy is the best, Get it right. In fact we're not saying any title is better than the other.
ReplyDeletehowever if you think straight you'll without a doubt conclude that March 2010 is a congested month, especially for Sony.
You guys got some good points GamesThirst. Sony needs to figure this out soon and frankly they should have thought about this already.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeletepush final fantsy back...its mutli system(360) and who cares gow fans arent actually fans of that game series anyway...we like action not lame point and click funtions. hell im more worried about the flood of action platformers , bayonetta, dantes inferno, darksiders, then he king Gow. sony know's its the biggest thing they got and traditon is to realse it in march like noverember for zelda...a good coach dosnt start a game off by benching the star player...
ReplyDeleteDon't forget MAG!
ReplyDeleteYour a moron!!
ReplyDeleteYour the reason why the gaming industry is in the state it's in!
Since when has gaming been about sales figures!! It is nothing like a concert at all as your talking as if games would only be at set place at set time and then gone but they wont. You can buy more than one game at a time you know and you dont have to buy each game on the exact release date.
Games should be release when there finished end of. If your going to buy the game then your going to buy it wether its on release day or a week or month later it doesnt matter.
Get a fucking grip!!
GOW3 will sell good since well its fuckn GOW so fuck delaying it so FF can try and sell good fuck em they switched to xbox its a multi plat and Gran5 is a racer so sure some will love it as for me i hate racing games so gimmie my GOW baby
ReplyDeleteGran Turismo 5 can NOT be delayed further.
ReplyDeleteFinal Fantasy XIII can NOT be delayed further.
White Knight Chronicles can NOT be delayed further.
God Of War 3 probably shouldn't be delayed past March either. PS3 owners are just going to have to handle the pressure of being spoilt for choice. :P
If I had it my way MAG would come out in January, Heavy Rain-Feb, God of War III-Mar, Gran Turismo 5-Apr.
ReplyDeleteBioshock 2 (february) and Final Fantasy XIII (march) would be as distant from Heavy Rain (feb.) and God of War III (mar.) as possible.
They'll all sell well if they are all released on the same fucking day so whats the problem? Do you want profits fast? But if you want them that fast then why not have the same release date world wide? But R&C was the reason I brought my PS3 in the first place but you haven't done anything in favour of Insomniac! I haven't seen a single advert or trailer and I didn't know until today that there was gameplay at E3!!! And you released it 2 weeks after Uncharted 2. And you overshadowed loads of games instead of Resistance Fall of Man but then those games were held back and Resistance Fall of Man was the best selling launch title. And then R&C ToD was kind of advertised and then Resistance 2 was overshadowed by LittleBigPlanet and now R&C ACRIT was overshadowed by Uncharted 2 and even MW2 because that is such a big game!
ReplyDeleteWhen Sony annouced GoW III's release date, there wasn't much games coming out in march, but now look, everybody wants to get released in march.
ReplyDeleteI say GoW 3 should stay where it is, and GT5 is coming out in JP in march, not US or EU, so it's not much of a problem.
SE just had to be an ass and release the US/EU version of FF13 in march, maybe it'll sell greatly in JP, but i don't think it'll sell that muhc in EU/US.
Bad move on SE's part if you ask me, they should've dated it in april 2010.
is it worth stretching your budget to a PS3 Slim 250GB? when you compare PS3 Slim packages will you get better games with a more expensive package? Or does it not matter except for the on-line game play? or should you wait till a big release like GOW3 to get the best price?
ReplyDeletelol clearly Sony just wants cash.
ReplyDelete@ BlackLaser - Final Fantasy XIII won't sell much in US/EU??? WTF???
ReplyDeleteYou do realise that Final Fantasy is the fouth best - selling videogame franchise in history, right??? It's sold more than Grand Theft Auto, God Of War, Gran Turismo, Halo, Fifa, Madden, Pro Evolution Soccer, Zelda and WAY more than Call Of Duty.
Yet you don't think THIS one (Possibly the most anticipated FF game of all time) will sell? LOL.........oh dear.
I don't think it's realistic to bring games forward, if this is what you'd want (releases not all clumped together) then you're probably asking them to be delayed.
ReplyDeleteA month or two off development time is a lot.
In short:
ReplyDeleteI agree with the article as some of sony's biggest titles are coming out at the same time. Spreading them out a bit during the year would be great for keeping things fresh but releasing all at once would be quite an impact.
SPREAD THEM OUT SO THERE CAN BE A GREAT GAME OUT EVERY MONTH TILL THE SUMMER!
they won't move god of war 3 cause they released the god of war collection 4 months prior and probably took time to figure out good timing to release the two titles.
yeah, this is quite a dilemma
I cant believe ppl actually think ff13 will outsell gowiii. ff13 has next to no hype riding on it except the jrpg fanboys, all 6 of them.
ReplyDeleteonly 2 of those games are being published by sony, GT5 is coming out in march in japan it wont be out anywhere else till april or later.
ReplyDeleteGOW3 will be out in march, im posetive of that.
though thats complete BS, europe has been the biggest supporter of the GT series.
europe has outsold japan by a long way and this is how they thank us?
thanks for buying our last games guys but your going to have to wait longer for the next one.
wow, what a way to say thank you.
typical sony.
doesn't bother me, this is the damn gaming reccession! So many sweet ass games coming out.
ReplyDeleteDante's Infeno,
As much as I love GOW, Gran Turismo will be a bigger hit. Regardless GT5 looks set to be released in April anyways for North America and Europe. Japan gets it in March, Final Fantasy comes out in December there, and GOd of War will release later than March there as well.
ReplyDeleteStart of 2010 has an awesome line-up
ReplyDeleteMAG = Jan
White Knight Story = Feb
Heavy Rain = Feb
God of War III = Mar
Final Fantasy XIII = Mar
Gran Turimo = Mar/Apr
Different genres are releasing in each month so know reason to change month. As all games have ther fans.
Fuck Final Fantasy for a start. I think GOW should keep its release date and push GT5 back, as everyone knows the hundreds of hours that can be played on that game.
ReplyDeleteWhy would you change unless you want to ensure that the dev gets the biggest bucks and the players have to spend those bucks? All these games, if they have fans, will be bought at some time, so why delay. Let the fans decide which games they buy and when. I don't care to stagger these games so a developer has a chance to earn big before someone could steal their thunder.
ReplyDeleteNovember 17th is an example....
- God of War Collection
- Left for Dead 2
- Lego Indiana Jones 2
- Assassin's Creed 2
I'll get GOWC and Indiana Jones first and later on I can hopefully get the others cheaper. That is better for me.
This article sucks.
Blood WILL be spilled if Kratos's return gets delayed by FlowerFanny13!!! (lol j/k ^^)
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, i will be mighty pissed if GOW3 gets delayed(pushing forward is ok!) for whatever reasons, be it GT5 or FF13. Heck this will be the first time i'm buying 3 games in a month but i'll gladly pay!
NGS2 online coop has lasted me quite a bit and my copy of GOW:Collection arrives tomorrow. They can only last me till March, and i won't settle for 2nd fiddles like Darksider and that complete rip-off Dante'sInf
@BlackLaser
ReplyDeleteYou have got to be kidding me that FF13 wont sell. Just in japan alone it has just under 1 million pre orders. I work at a game store and before there was even a release date for FF13 we had 75 copies pre ordered. FF13 is going to be a big launch, everyone who knows anything about the series will tell you the same.
just a BTW, its not just like FF12, the only part like 12 is you control 1 character directly while 2 are AI. other then that its gone back to ATB and Turn based.
BUT with that being said if you really think about it. Myself i love action games and rpgs, i will be picking up both GOW3 and FF13. GOW3 will wait for me unless its released at the end of march like it has been stated. GT5 isnt a threat mainly because action and rpgs are going to share a lot of the same fan based. Racing fans (for the most part) wont care for ethier of the other games.
All in all i say leave it how it is with GOW3 released at the end of the month. All 3 of these games are going to be huge hits i agree but i also think as long as they split them up in the month it will be fine just because of the different genres.
Does anybody realise that sony's fiscal year ends after march 2010? Kratos will not move out of march because it's sony's 800 lb gorilla and I sure there will be enough FF fans that will buy the game. As for GT5, there isn't an NA/EU so people don't get your panties in a bunch. Either way, we when, sony wins and march is THE month to have a PS3. Side note- FF13 will be the first FF game I've ever purchased so I'm looking foward to it, I just won't put in the countless hours like the diehard fans.
ReplyDeleteWhat a load of **** ! Sony should hpld back on FF12 and GT5 and let the monster outta the bag God of War 3 should b on the shelves now c'on theres heaps of racing n rpg games out there I WANT KRATOS....I want 2 destroy olympus. I wanna rip shit apart....I wanna kill Zeus...sony should stop being dicks and just give the ppl what they want.....KRATOS !
ReplyDeleteThe games should not be pushed back at all. Many people don't feel like PS3 has the games to make them want to own the system. However, God of WAR 3 and Kingdom hearts are two games that I will unfortunately have to buy the system for! If Sony was smart they would have bought the rights to have FF13 as exclusive also. I guess I'll buy that one for my 360.
ReplyDeleteI honestly think this is one of the stupidest articles i have read about videogames.
ReplyDeleteNeither game is gonna go down price soon after its release date, so people will just pick up a copy of whatever they want to try first and then pick up the rest if they want to.
asking for a game to be pushed back for that reason is plain selfish in my opinion.
why oh why would anyone want a game to be pushed back cos of the sales! who gives a ####! i just want gow 3 in my house so i can play it end of
ReplyDeleteI agree to your idea. Though I'd rather GOW3 be released on April 20th and GT on the 25th of May. Just because I believe many more people are eager for GOW than GT.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you mentioned this. I hope Sony takes a good look at this.
Email @ OmegaKon@GMX.com
You can not delay God of War 3 any longer! People will buy any of the games if they really want to despite the release date. What a ridiculous article.
ReplyDelete