Friday, November 2, 2007

Dear T3CH-FU ...

Answering video gamer's questions from the great beyond ...

Dear T3CH-FU,

As many know, "GTA IV" was delayed. Gamers don't know why it was delayed. Many say its because the quality wasn't good enough.

What is you opinion and what would you want more, quality or the game being released on time at the expense of quality (answer this carefully we all saw what happened to "Halo 2")

-- Matt

Dear Matt,

Unfortunately, R* delayed "GTA IV," which has yet to be named, for several reasons. One of the reasons is how the game was running on the 360. Just weeks before the game was to be released, R* admitted they had a problem.

According to joystiq.com, Take-Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick said "certain elements of development proved to be more time-intensive than expected."

To answer your question, I don't think the problem is the quality or the release date. I think it boils down to money.

What I find the most interesting is - everytime R* showed "GTA IV," it was always - ALWAYS - running on a 360 debug kit. I have yet to see any PS3 screens.

Other factors for the delay include: problems with the PS3, Take-Two wanted to have a financial boon in Q1 2008 and lastly, my personal belief, M$ calling the shots.

What makes me think that? Easy. MS paid R* $50M for extra content for the 360 version, but I do believe there's a small clause that also asked for R* to delay the release until next year. Why? Easy - getting paid. Look at it like this - with a flurry of games coming out before the holidays - "Mass Effect," "Call of Duty 4" and past releases "Halo 3," "The Orange Box" and "Bioshock," all of which would have faced some severe competition from "GTA IV." So, even though MS wanted the game exclusive (R* had originally approached them with "GTA III" exclusivity on the Xbox), they got the next best thing. Momentum. By the time 2008 rolls around, "Mass Effect" will have boosted the 360 to insane levels. And the whammy will be the extra content for "GTA IV."

Just sit back, son, and watch the drama unfold ...

S.K.I.L.L.Z., the demented gamer

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