We've heard of over-indulging during the lead-up to Christmas, but this is getting ridiculous.
If CVG's publicly-voted E3 2011 Most-Anticipated Awards are anything to go by, you're likely planning to purchase EA's shooter stunner Battlefield 3 when it releases in October.
A week later, any core gamer worth his PS3 Trophies would have to sport the resilience of a Shaolin Monk to keep their Visa away from Uncharted 3.
Then, seven days after that, depending on which side of the FPS fence you sit, Activision's Modern Warfare 3 will tempt millions to reach for their wallet once more.
Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Halo Combat Evolved: Anniversary, Saints Row: The Third... you'll probably fancy them too, won't you? And they're all releasing on the same day - a week after Modern Warfare and Skyrim.
Chuck in Need for Speed: The Run, Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater on 3DS, plus the very likely addition of either Super Mario 3DS or Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and you're looking at quite likely the most expensive and over-crowded month video games have ever seen.
UK retailer GAME's told CVG it already expects November 2011 to be the biggest ever - a "massive 'AAA' month", which it plans to stuff full of celebrations for each mega-game release.
But industry experts aren't convinced it's going to end well. Surely, certainly, one - or some - of these triple-A monsters are going to suffer, and slip further down the release ladder for the good of all gaming?
There's a traditional necessity to get the big guns out in time for Christmas, and most of the games listed above aren't in direct competition with each other (the type of gamer excited for Need for Speed isn't necessarily going to buy Assassin's Creed, for example).
But surely putting Uncharted, Skyrim, CoD, Battlefield, Halo and Assassin's within a few weeks of each other isn't good for anyone - customers or sharp-suited games industry executives? Surely, soon someone's going to lose their nerve and sail to the sweet shores of 2012?
On the customer side of the counter, many will see their wallets weep at the sight of so many essential purchases impacting the High Street like a PS3-powered atom bomb.
In the board room it's going to come down to who's got the biggest cahoonas: EA's definitely brave enough to step into GAME a week before its biggest Activision rival, but does THQ want to release its flagship title on the same day as Ubisoft's biggest blockbuster?
And surely Skyrim - as incredible as it looks - will still be hit by Modern Warfare's aftershocks?
Last year we saw Christmas releases flee en masse to the haven of Q1 2011 - and already Mass Effect 3's held up the white flag and legged it into 2012. We don't think BioWare will be the last to suffer.
Respected Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter told CVG he thinks there's a "pretty low probability of any of them slipping," but if the delays do come it'll be specific titles that take the plunge. "The only ones that have any risk are Skyrim and Saint's Row," he told CVG. "The former because Bethesda will launch when it's ready, and it won't hurt the game to move into February; the latter a very low probability, since it looks close to complete, and because THQ needs it in the holiday quarter, but given reviews on Homefront, they may choose to delay for more polish.
"I'd assign a 10 per cent risk to Saint's Row slipping," he concluded. "The others are really not all that competitive. CoD and Assassin's Creed always come out head-to-head, Halo is a re-issue, NFS and MGS don't compete with any of the others."
Will the most expensive four weeks of game spending go ahead with its release schedule fully intact? We don't think so. Or at least we hope not - our overdrafts have been hurt enough already.
Comments
38 comments so far...
StonecoldMC on 27 Jun '11 said:
Expect to see Saints Row, Skyrim, Need For Speed and one other getting pushed back.
Bottlenecking doesnt even come close to describing the congestion of Games we have to contend with, money isnt even the real issue (although if your buying every title on release then your looking at spending around £250 over a 2 month period
).
I hate the Games industry sometimes, no other entertainment industry does this, in fact; movies, music, DVD's etc actively try to avoid each other, with Games, its like a competition to see who blinks first.
djreplay on 27 Jun '11 said:
And not even a mention of Batman Arkham City which has got to be one of the biggest games of the year, I've planned ahead and postponed CoD, Battlefield and Saint's Row to the new year.
djreplay on 27 Jun '11 said:
And not even a mention of Batman Arkham City which has got to be one of the biggest games of the year, I've planned ahead and postponed CoD, Battlefield and Saint's Row to the new year.
djreplay on 27 Jun '11 said:
And not even a mention of Batman Arkham City which has got to be one of the biggest games of the year, I've planned ahead and postponed CoD, Battlefield and Saint's Row to the new year.
Denther on 27 Jun '11 said:
I don't think Skyrim will be moved because of the special 11.11.11 date thingy.
almanac2015 on 27 Jun '11 said:
I doubt the games mentioned in the title will suffer much. Uncharted will sell a similar amount to the previous Uncharted no doubt. There's no way CoD will disappoint in sales, and many people have waited too long for Skyrim.
Battlefield may suffer, though that depends on realistic sales expectations. I may get it near launch (not sure though with Skyrim coming out so soon after), but lets face it - it won't sell the same as CoD.
SeriousBenny on 27 Jun '11 said:
I don't think Skyrim will get pushed back either, although maybe Saint's Row will.
Also, is Michael Patcher really a respected analyst?
flash501 on 27 Jun '11 said:
If Skyrim gets delayed I'm gonna bomb Activision's HQ!
bagofbones on 27 Jun '11 said:
Shut up and take my money!
Mark240473 on 27 Jun '11 said:
To be fair, I think that most of those mentioned games (other than BF3 & MW3) cater to different audiences, so they should all sell well enough at launch. And all worthy titles will be bought by most games fans throughout the following months anyway.
Personally, I'm just going to select a couple of my preferred titles, and then catch up on any others I missed. My initial thoughts are UC3, Skyrim and Battlefield 3 as my 3 big holiday titles.
Please don't delay Skyrim!
Barca Azul on 27 Jun '11 said:
On my christmas list are
Batman AC, U3, and maybe BF3. The rest won't get a look in for me.
I think CoD and the Halo remake will suffer to a degree compared with other years.
STE MO on 27 Jun '11 said:
Top of the pops for me is TES:Skyrim then the Batty man flies in in second place. No room at the Inn for any of the FPS's this chrimbo for me, i'll be saving for ME3 and FF13/2 and when they do get released no doubt i'll still be playing Skyrim
laminated0 on 27 Jun '11 said:
no mention of fifa or pes?? from the end of sept - end of dec there are a huge amount of supposedly triple A titles coming out. i def think some will get pushed back but even so no-ones gonna buy every single one that comes out at the same time so pushing them back won't hurt as some people will buy their most wanted game and then wait til the others price drop if they all release at the same time.
c3dpo on 27 Jun '11 said:
Sorry to say, its been this way for years!
Only difference is there are more commercialized crap being released that the sheep lap up.
Saints row 3? please!
Nitramuse on 27 Jun '11 said:
Becarefull that you say. They might postpone it to 12.12.12!
Dom Bom on 27 Jun '11 said:
I'm leaning more to the action-adventure genre this November. A bit of Uncharted, Batman and Assassin's Creed will suit me fine for months.
WHERESMYMONKEY on 27 Jun '11 said:
Whats october looking like. Thats usually a nightmare too. Now that Mass Effect 3's not out till next year the only games i'm really looking forward to in i would ramraid blockbuster is it meant i could play it a minute ealrly kind of way are. UNcharted3 and arkam city, chances are skyward sword will come out before or after christmas anyway.
I'll play the rest somewhen but i can definately wait.
Laughlyn on 27 Jun '11 said:
only ones i'm interested in are battlefield 3, mario kart 3d, skyward sword and super mario 3d. but in a show of pure genius, y'know what i'm doing? saving up now onto my O2 prepayment card. £5 a week and it works liek a visa so i can buy games where i want to. saves having to struggle with the other christmas crap
DarthSeaBass on 27 Jun '11 said:
I don't see skyrim losing any sales to CoD i don't imagine there's much overlap in audiences for either game to be a concern.
Denther on 27 Jun '11 said:
Oh Christ!
*Tapes up mouth for fear of jinxing it any further*
humanhand on 27 Jun '11 said:
Before Christmas I will buy GoW Origins (yes people September counts!), BAC, Uncharted, Saints Row (if I can find decent price), and Vita if it's out. I'll probably spend at least $150 on 3DS games, and more on Vita games if they're out. Yeah I'd say it's pretty crowded! And as for Skyrim, I'm only buying that after I finish Uncharted.
KK-Headcharge78 on 27 Jun '11 said:
BF3 and COD19 for me with perhaps Batman tucked in there somewhere too.
Felly117 on 27 Jun '11 said:
Makes me want to leap with joy and take out another credit card
Very_Silver_Ownz on 27 Jun '11 said:
It isn't a good idea releasing games near christmas when there is this reta*ded BF vs CoD war going on. Someone is going to get shot between them.
rikkicm on 27 Jun '11 said:
Uncharted 3 for me is a day 1 buy for me and Saints Row, AC and Arkham all look good plus maybe Battlefield but UC is the one major game I don't really want to wait for a price drop for
cult on 27 Jun '11 said:
Considering ongoing rumours is this a launch game for the xbox720?
humanhand on 27 Jun '11 said:
hahahaha
phate666 on 27 Jun '11 said:
What I don't get is why I just cant grow up and realise I cant play them all at once so its not so bad to wait a month or whatever. But no, I will end up buying them all on release day and struggling with money for less important things like bills and that.
Sammy_bham on 27 Jun '11 said:
skyrim will suffer the most (unfortunatly).
nowhere near as casual or as popular amongst all the casual gamers as mw3. it will sell well no matter what. whether you hate it or love it.
the hardcore gamers will get it, but the hardcore gamers are minority, fact.
its a shame because its set to be brilliant
damoxuk on 27 Jun '11 said:
I actually think skyrim will be the no 2 best seller this year worldwide. So many people are anticipating this game it's unbelievable.
Of course MW3 will be the big dog but Skyrim and MW3 are totally different types of game. If anything the one game what could suffer the most is actually MW3 itself. I mean COD hasn't had such a big rival as BF3 before - not to mention a lot of PS3 owners gonna be buying UC3 same goes for Halo on 360 (and you know how much 360 owners love there halo).
And you have people who prefer big mogo games ala Skyrim who might think i'll buy MW3 next year instead and play skyrim all xmas.
Saints Row 3 most likely will slip as going against Assasins Creed : Rev is mental.
NFS: The Run has no competion this year in the arcade racer market.
Anyhow I nearly always wait for games to drop under £20 but this oct/nov there is multiple exceptions :-
Batman : AC (my most anticipated)
Uncharted 3
Skyrim
NFS : The Run
The FPS games i'll get 2012 as that genre is ok but 3rd person is mainly for me. Assasins never played em before so unless I have time to play Assasins creed 1 2 and brotherhood in between now and nov then that could change (if I like it).
Oh and if Vita comes out in US Nov then import that as well and my credit card will be trying to commit suicde.
wasted-again on 28 Jun '11 said:
Good job Space Marine is coming out early, it'd get slaughtered if put up against any of these.
PS, MW3+360=FTW
sonic_uk on 28 Jun '11 said:
Not bothered. I'll get some for xmas and buy the rest. Sorted. Its better to have more games available to you than less.
Old Skool Gamer on 28 Jun '11 said:
FIFA 12 & Skyrim for me first, then I'll wait for all the usual problems of BF3 & MW3 to be sorted and then pick up these in 2012.
flowerday11 on 28 Jun '11 said:
Skyrim all the way! seems to be a lot of interest on this site alone and with the firm 11.11.11 date i very much doubt it's gonna be delayed.
Skyrim and Arkham City for me as well.
Don't get the whole uncharted thing, played the 1st one for about 2 hrs and it wasn't for me, maybe should get back into it, just sits there gathering dust.
STEVONYMO on 28 Jun '11 said:
Well I'm getting them all! He what's the problem just game your ass off, ditch the missus/girl friend because lets face it apart from a shag now and again they are worthless lol! What? You don't agree...well enjoy Homebase/shopping/decorating or visiting the in laws...me I will be gaming my ass off!
Very_Silver_Ownz on 28 Jun '11 said:
Call of duty is the best series ever.
MW3 is going to crush BF3.
CoD FTW !!!
spaced73 on 28 Jun '11 said:
easy answer for me battlefield and cod day 1 purchases,halo christmas vouchers,i dont own a ps3,hated oblivion even gave fallout ago,come to think of it bought a few aaa titles this year a traded them all in,keep going back to cod and battlefield.
gmcb007 on 28 Jun '11 said:
Why do we never get any good games released in the June to August period? I know its summer and people tend to be out of their houses for holidays and the good weather but its like a bloody drought in the gaming world. All we have is crappy movie games and generic bland games like FEAR 3.