Why is Rockstar Games missing X’mas?

Why? Why is Rockstar Games missing Christmas? Why doesn’t the sacred Grand Theft Auto IV see the light of day? Like I said before in this article, many games are going to be released this Christmas. Yet, gamers are not rejoicing. Instead, they are complaining. Maybe this time, Rockstar Games are in luck.

“So many games, so little time. We want to play these games, they’re all great, but we don’t have the money!” These are what some gamers are saying. The sight of reviews of so many great games just in a day, nothing stands out. Crysis now looks unappealling beside Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Hellgate: London, Need for Speed: ProStreet and Gears of War.

Coming back to the topic, why is Rockstar Games missing X’mas? Ok, maybe some will argue that they’re not missing Christmas, after all, they have Manhunt 2. No, we’re not talking about that Halloween game. We’re talking about their Christmas game, Grand Theft Auto IV.

Sure enough, many of us already know about how Grand Theft Auto IV missed it’s October 16’s release date and got pushed back all the way to Take 2 Interactive’s second quarter of fiscal 2008, which in other words is the period between February and April.

The reason of the delay was because “certain elements of development proved to be more time-intensive than expected, especially given the commitment for a simultaneous release on two very different platforms.” Take 2 Interctive also said that “perfecting the game is vital and I can assure everyone it will be worth the wait.” and that they “owe it to the game’s millions of fans, to our dedicated development team, and to our shareholders to make sure that Grand Theft Auto IV is a groundbreaking gaming experience that takes maximum advantage of next generation technology.”

However, many of the game’s fans, me included, thinks otherwise. Rumours floated around the internet about problems cropping up in the PlayStation 3 version and about Rockstar Games abandoning the project. More recently, Take 2 Interactive’s chairman, Strauss Zelnick, even said that a release date for Grand Theft Auto IV cannot be confirmed at the point of time.

Just what is the problem here? Perhaps Rockstar Games really missed the initial release date for Grand Theft Auto IV because of certain challenges and problems in development, but so far, I have seen that this release date is indeed good for both Grand Theft Auto fans and Rockstar Games itself.

Well, why do I say so? The delay is good for fans, because they have more time to save up for a next-generation console, and for Rockstar Games, it is good because they missed Christmas. Well, why is it a good thing then? As you can see, many games are being released this christmas, and by many games, I mean lots of games.

The problem is, the game publishing and developing companies won’t be able to earn much from games during this season either, so it’s a good thing Rockstar Games mangaged to skip that “money-burning frenzy” period of Christmas. Plus, if Grand Theft Auto IV is released in the period of February to April 2008, where not many games will be released, they can make more cash and at the same time kick Halo 3 out of the first place to be the “King of the Hill”.

In other words, by delaying Grand Theft Auto IV, Rockstar Games will be killing three peds with one bullet (pun intended). They will be able to make more money, implement more features and build up the Grand Theft Auto IV hype. No matter what you guys might think of the delay, I really think it’s a smart strategic move by Rockstar Games, really.

So far, Rockstar Games has made many great games and I think we must really compliment them for the hard work they have put in into the games they have made so far, such as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, The Warriors, Midnight Club 3: DUB Editon and most recently Manhunt 2. We must really all learn that the delay of Grand Theft Auto IV is all for the benefit of Rockstar Games and the Grand Theft Auto franchise itself, and we should not be too depressed.

Learn to love Rockstar Games, Grand Theft Auto, and the great games they make! Of course, Rockstar Games have missed Christmas, and some of us are not too happy. Cheer up! There are lots of other games you can play this holiday season. In fact, there’s so many of them you will have your hands filled and your pockets empty. Finally, we have come to the end of this article. As usual, give us your comments on what you think!

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