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[kswiston]

Considering a lot of what is released in Jun-Aug still underperforms or bombs, I don't think moving games there will raise sales all that much. People (especially kids and teenagers) are busy with summer vacations, and sports, and camping in the summer.

Sept-Nov and Jan-Mar are always pretty busy, then things die down in Apr-Aug. December is actually one of the worst month for quantity of game releases, but people are too busy working through the October/November gaming glut (and visiting family) to notice. At least December has the Steam Holiday sale to make up for it.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

My first problem is they announce shit why to early, I understand building hype. But they show an ultra cool teaser trailer, but then go silent for a year. And dev blogs and community manager posts don't count because they are little more then fluff. They should only announce games when they are like 6 months from going gold.


Second, spread out releases. Why cluster bomb the last quarter in the year? I want shit in the summer and spring too. It seems like commonsense.

Because Hofstadter's law.

"It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take Hofstadter's law into account."

 

[Mr. B Natural]

Black Friday is a monster for all retail. It's the elephant in the room.
That's why post-late-November is a wasteland while early November is, of course, the opposite.

 

[Chet Rippo]

Summer is still a wasteland though. Still not sure why.

Because most people would be more interested in doing things outside in the nice weather than to play video games in doors.

 

[famousmortimer]

The amount of stuff coming out on Oct 30 for the Vita absurd. Especially considering the draught we just went through and the draught im sure we will go through in late winter/spring.

 

[MarshMellow96]

Because most people would be more interested in doing things outside in the nice weather than to play video games in doors.

It's not summer everywhere, games industry!

 

[mgcastro]

There's all kind of stuff happening during a development process that can alter schedules. A dev process is far from linear, for example, you get new requirments to be met in the middle of the process. That implies rescheduling, more work hours and such.

 

[Version 3.0]

You know why they cluster things in the 4th quarter? Because people buy lots of games in the 4th quarter.

You know why people buy lots of games in the 4th quarter? Because all the damn games come out in the 4th quarter.


...among other reasons, admittedly.

 

[Metal B]

My first problem is they announce shit why to early, I understand building hype. But they show an ultra cool teaser trailer, but then go silent for a year. And dev blogs and community manager posts don't count because they are little more then fluff. They should only announce games when they are like 6 months from going gold.

Because people don't like it. Look at Nintnedo. They pretty much doing this right know, announcing only titles, which will be released in the near future and are quieted about anything else. People bitch about it all the time. The common core and hardcore gamers love the idea of playing a game more, than actual playing the game. Again Nintendo is a example with its Smash Brother Brawl Dojo Website and the "realistic" Zelda Twilight Princess.

 

[Manmademan]

My first problem is they announce shit why to early, I understand building hype. But they show an ultra cool teaser trailer, but then go silent for a year. And dev blogs and community manager posts don't count because they are little more then fluff. They should only announce games when they are like 6 months from going gold.


Second, spread out releases. Why cluster bomb the last quarter in the year? I want shit in the summer and spring too. It seems like commonsense.

hardcore gamers like you and I are only a small fraction of the market that publishers want to hit. The big money is in getting parents and casual gamers to buy these things, and they almost always wait to do so until the christmas shopping season.

there are exceptions, sure- if a game is big enough it's an event in and of itself- but most games aren't in this category.

 

[Goro Majima]

Crunch as many games as possible before the Q4 report.

It's a big deal for stockholders and performance.

It's also because of the shareholders that they announce things way in advance.

"See? We're doing things!"

 

[Gentleman Jack]

Ctrl+F "Take Two"

Was not disappointed.

AAA games take too long to make and publishers haven't broken the habit of being 'present' at every press event, which leads to BS like countdowns to previews which amount to nothing more than concept art, 'target renders' or outright bullshots, or countdowns to trailers that show zero gameplay. As a consumer I'm happy when games come out at all and never take publishers at their word if they deliver hard deadlines anymore. My backlog is vast enough that I can wait, I'm not starving for games to come out at their promised release day.

The common core and hardcore gamers love the idea of playing a game more, than actual playing the game.

Depressingly accurate.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

My first problem is they announce shit why to early, I understand building hype. But they show an ultra cool teaser trailer, but then go silent for a year. And dev blogs and community manager posts don't count because they are little more then fluff. They should only announce games when they are like 6 months from going gold.


Second, spread out releases. Why cluster bomb the last quarter in the year? I want shit in the summer and spring too. It seems like commonsense.

I wholeheartedly agree with this. I HATE this. Let's release 20 AAA all in 2 to 3 months time, but release 2 AAA for the rest of the year. It's moronic. People are out of school during the Summer and games do actually sell all year round guys. I'll never understand this obsession and most people have to make sacrifices because they cannot buy all of the games they want simultaneously for the obvious reasons. Also, announcing games 3 years in advance is VERY annoying. Look at FF13 Versus and Last Guardian for examples.