Bioshock 2, Mafia 2, Max Payne 3, Red Dead Redemption all Delayed to 2010

[A-J]

Yep, worst christmas ever.

US, July 13, 2009 - Take-Two has announced that the highly anticipated BioShock 2 will be given a new release date.

The company released a statement this afternoon saying the game will be pushed back into their fiscal 2010 line-up, which includes Mafia II, Max Payne 3 and Red Dead Redemption, and will benefit from having more development time.

BioShock 2 was originally scheduled for release in North America on November 3, 2009, but now it seems as though that will change.

Take-Two CEO Ben Feder explains saying "The decision to shift a release date is never an easy one, especially with a product as highly anticipated as BioShock 2. We felt that it was essential to invest the additional time to ensure that this title will deliver what its fans expect and deserve," he said.

"As a result, we will now be launching sequels to several of our strongest franchises - including BioShock 2, Mafia II, Max Payne 3 and Red Dead Redemption - during the next fiscal year. These titles will anchor our lineup for fiscal 2010, and along with other products planned for next year, provide a platform for enhanced financial performance in what we hope will be an improved retail environment."

Take-Two did not reveal the new release date just yet, however. The company is having a conference call in just a bit, so hopefully they are able to clarify.

We'll update as soon as we can.

Update: Strauss Zelnick, Chairman of Take-Two, confirmed during the conference call that BioShock 2, Mafia II, Max Payne 3 and Red Dead Redemption will all be released in the first-half of 2010 (January-June).

Take-Two CEO Ben Feder also said during the conference that the development delay was not console specific, and that he believes the game will benefit (financially) from being released outside of the crowded Christmas schedule.

http://au.pc.ign.com/articles/100/1003147p1.html

but atleast this acted as a stealth confirmation of even more GTA IV episodes outside of the two one's we currently know of.

"BioShock 2, Max Payne 3, Red Dead Redemption, Mafia II, additional Grand Theft Auto downloadable content, and the possible launch of Agent should make fiscal 2010 the year of Take-Two. Next year, Take-Two will prove to the videogame industry they are more than just a one game publisher."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/take-two-will-dominate-2010-divnich

[Darkmoon]

Why the hell are all the games I actually want ending up in 2010? First Heavy Rain and Alan Wake and now BioShock...I don't think there's a single game I really want left in 2009. Bar them finally releasing the Fallout extras on PS3.

[A-J]

there's rumors that even SC Conviction and MAG are getting delayed, so it's not like multiplat is the only list to suffer

[BadWolfX]

Oh, balls.

Well, if it means that the game will only get better, I can wait a few more months.

[Darkmoon]

I can't. I say we go and start hunting exectuives until the game is finished, one executive for every week over the origional estimate we get. Daddy needs his fix of Rapture.

[missvalentine]

^ lol.

Well more dev time can only be a good thing. This doesn't really bother me much. I hate it when games are rushed.

[The Dude]

Saw this coming a mile away.
Less competition if they released it in 2010...oh wait, no theres not when you consider next years list of games.

[Archelon]

Yep, worst christmas ever.

It's still pretty packed, though.

But it's not just you. I've noticed a lot of people on several video game forums complaining about how this is a really weak Christmas season for games. I guess if you compare it to, say, 2007, or even last year, then it may look that way, but there are still quite a few high quality titles coming out for the rest of the year.

I think part of the reason people are in such an uproar about it, though, is that there isn't really one title that truly stands out among the rest like a Halo, or Gears of War, or Metal Gear Solid, or Grand Theft Auto. And please, before anyone says any of the games I listed suck, I'm not going by the quality of the actual titles, but rather their perception among the general gaming populace and gaming media.

As much as the Sony fanboys would like you to believe otherwise, Uncharted is still a relatively niche title when compared to the other series I mentioned. So while it may very well go on to be the unanimous Game of the Year, or sell a bunch of copies, or be the "best thing EVAR," it still won't garner the same amount of attention or hype as those other games.

(And just for clarification, I do not think everyone who is looking forward to Uncharted 2 is a Sony fanboy. Heck, I'm looking forward to it, and I sold my PS3 months ago. My point is that there is a contingent of fans of the games who are Sony fanboys, and they are trying to raise it up as something it isn't, if only because it's an exclusive on their console of choice.)

[Vector]

It's still pretty packed, though.

This. I myself wasn't looking forward to any of these games that much(I still need to play BioShock), so my Christmas/fall/winter still looks pretty good. Sucks for the people who anticipated these titles, though. Oh well. Delays happen all the time.

[Archelon]

This brings up something I've always wondered about gamers these days. Or maybe it's not just these days. Maybe they've always been like this, and I just never noticed, because I wasn't as connected to video game fandom during the days of the NES, SNES, N64, etc, as I am now, because I didn't have a computer or access to the Internet.

Anyway, just how many games have to come out for a system, and in what span of time, for the average gamer to not think that there aren't enough games either already out or coming out for said system? Maybe it's because I never actually owned a lot of games growing up (incidentally, I realized the other day that this will probably be our generation's version of the "in my day, I had to walk fifteen miles to school, barefoot, in the snow, uphill both ways..." speech), but only having a couple or few games coming out for a system at any given time, even over the span of a whole year, has never really been an issue for me.

For my NES, SNES, and N64, I owned, combined, a total of maybe 10, at max 15, games. I was lucky to get 2, maybe 3, games for a whole year, and I played the crap out of the ones I did own. I didn't have access to guides or the Internet, so I had to learn how to do everything on my own, which admittedly, probably added to their longevity. But even when I knew every secret, had explored every nook and cranny, had done everything there was possible to do in the game, I'd still go back and play it.

Do most gamers just not do this anymore? Do they buy a bunch of games, beat them once, and then shelve them? Do they even beat the games? I honestly want to know, because it's a mystery to me just how many games they have to have and play in order to feel fulfilled. Or have they simply become that obsessed that it's like a drug? They're getting less and less of a rush with each hit, so they think they need to take more and more in order to get that same feeling? And the more they take, the less meaningful each individual experience becomes?

[A-J]

the software attach averages are still pretty low ..

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/06/AR2008110601561.html

so things really haven't changed that much ..

[WeskerIncarnate]

B-b-bioshock 2...

I don't want to believe this. This is almost as bad as Blizzard's decision to not include LAN in StarCraft II...maybe even as bad.

Hopefully though, the delayed release will allow further polishing of the games. It never hurts to do that a little more.

Well, at least a little...

[missvalentine]

As much as the Sony fanboys would like you to believe otherwise, Uncharted is still a relatively niche title when compared to the other series I mentioned. So while it may very well go on to be the unanimous Game of the Year, or sell a bunch of copies, or be the "best thing EVAR," it still won't garner the same amount of attention or hype as those other games.

Well RE was a relatively niche series to start off with, and look at the hype for RE5.

But other than that point there I have to agree with both of your posts. Gamers these days go through games likes there going out of style. It really sucks.

Also to people who say the PS3 sucks cause 360 has more games. That is a pointless argument because I highly doubt you will ever buy and play every game on either system. There are simply too many.

This news doesn't bother me at all really. There are to many games coming out, I can't buy them all.

[Archelon]

Well RE was a relatively niche series to start off with, and look at the hype for RE5.

That's because it was the sequel to what many consider one of the greatest games of all time (and because Capcom put more time, money, and effort into the marketing than the actual game itself it seems like). Uncharted 1 isn't nearly that well regarded.

[Branden_Lucero]

good thing. its stupid when companies dog pile everything in the fall/ holiday.