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[OutOfTimer]

Nothing wrong with being a Power Rangers fan.

 

Another interesting point is the story of the music business. Some of the places best known for rampant piracy are the countries of the former Soviet Bloc. Not many people know, however, that to this day, there is no digital distribution of music in any of those countries. You can't simply buy yourself a track from iTunes or Amazon MP3 if you live in the Czech Republic or Estonia, for example (this is actually against the EU law - everyone in the EU are to be equal, but corporations don't give a f*uck and nobody has the guts to sue them), not to mention non-EU countries like the Ukraine or Russia. There are both IP and Billing Address restrictions. Of course there are ways to counter this but one needs to be fairly advanced. The point is, the corporate execs didn't get it when the internet boom happened - and frankly - still don't. They believe that in the age of the internet, it really matters where you live in the world. Then they're surprised that piracy is rampant. I also like how they ask artists to speak out for them when everyone knows how they keep screwing them.

Edited November 20, 2010 by OutOfTimer

[Dwagginz]

Well, serves them right when they force earlier release dates in the US. What the f*ck is that about? US is a bad market for PC but they still get the games easrlier and cheaper. It's like those stupid ass publishers don't even care about maximizing profit.

As mentioned above, EU (UK for certain, anyway) releases happen at the end of the week. New Vegas, for example, came out on the 19th (I think) of October in the US, but the UK didn't get it until that following Friday. It's no different to movies seeing different release schedules. Games tend to leak before release, so it doesn't matter if the EU or US releases first - They'll be cracked and out there before they hit the shelves. Assassin's Creed 2 is one of the very few exceptions (Recently) that I can think of due to its DRM scheme.

 

And it's not always the US gets games before we do in the EU. If we're talking the major publishers (EA, 2K, UbiSuck, Actisuck etc) then yeah, chances are US gets it first, but a lot of smaller publishers like 1C Company release in the UK/EU before they do the US.

[mkey82]

 

Nothing wrong with being a Power Rangers fan.

Wouldn't agree

 

 

As mentioned above, EU (UK for certain, anyway) releases happen at the end of the week.

A botched argument, what comes before a Tuesday? A Friday, the one from the past week. But no, the US must come first, great, f*ck you (not you personally, I'm talking to the machine).

 

 

Games tend to leak before release, so it doesn't matter if the EU or US releases first

Yes, and when they are not leaked, scene groups get the extra 3-4 days to crack that sh*t and release it to the public. You know, the "one week" empiric rule I mentioned above? Those 3-4 days kind of split it in half.

 

 

And it's not always the US gets games before we do in the EU.

Yeah, it's only like 90% of the time, much lesser issue indeed.

[Dwagginz]

A botched argument, what comes before a Tuesday? A Friday, the one from the past week. But no, the US must come first, great, f*ck you (not you personally, I'm talking to the machine).

 

Yes, and when they are not leaked, scene groups get the extra 3-4 days to crack that sh*t and release it to the public. You know, the "one week" empiric rule I mentioned above? Those 3-4 days kind of split it in half.

 

Yeah, it's only like 90% of the time, much lesser issue indeed.

What comes before Friday? Ah, yes, Tuesday. Your argument falls down again and it becomes cyclic. It's the way it's been for years - If a game releases worldwide during one week, the US gets it on Tuesday and the EU gets it on Friday. It's the way games have released for some time, and it's not a "screw you!" to their customers.

 

As for your "empiric rule"; Why does it matter? 3-4 days is quite some time for someone to crack it. Whether it's released in the US or EU first, it doesn't matter. A game would be cracked and leaked in a roughly equal amount of time. Yeah, there's some exceptions, but for the most part a cracked game is out before the retail one, no matter the country.

 

And it's probably much less than 90%. Budget and indie releases dwarf the major ones easily.

[jnzooger]

Nothing wrong with being a Power Rangers fan.

Wouldn't agree

Ahh! Now we get to the root of the problem.

[mkey82]

 

As for your "empiric rule"; Why does it matter? 3-4 days is quite some time for someone to crack it. Whether it's released in the US or EU first, it doesn't matter. A game would be cracked and leaked in a roughly equal amount of time. Yeah, there's some exceptions, but for the most part a cracked game is out before the retail one, no matter the country.

You obviously can't understand the most basic concepts, so I shan't press this matter any further. Have a nice day, sir.

 

 

And it's probably much less than 90%. Budget and indie releases dwarf the major ones easily.

I guess we should factor in all the flash games as well.

 

If we are disusing expensive DRM schemes it goes without saying we're talking about mid-high budget games.

[Dwagginz]

As for your "empiric rule"; Why does it matter? 3-4 days is quite some time for someone to crack it. Whether it's released in the US or EU first, it doesn't matter. A game would be cracked and leaked in a roughly equal amount of time. Yeah, there's some exceptions, but for the most part a cracked game is out before the retail one, no matter the country.

You obviously can't understand the most basic concepts, so I shan't press this matter any further. Have a nice day, sir.

 

 

And it's probably much less than 90%. Budget and indie releases dwarf the major ones easily.

I guess we should factor in all the flash games as well.

So, instead of being a dick, why don't you "dumb it down" then? Let's see if I understand your point. And no, let's not factor in the flash games. I wasn't talking about them and you damn well know that.

 

Your point about Friday coming before Tuesday? It falls down for one reason - It's a different week. The current system (Tues - US, Fri - EU) has both releases in a week, and of course there's always the argument that if it releases on Tuesday then the developer/publisher can get hotfixes/patches out quicker than if the first release is a Friday (Weekends, y'know?).

[sjaak327]

I don't see any reason to not simply have it released worldwide on the same day.

[mkey82]

I don't see any reason to not simply have it released worldwide on the same day.

They want to suck up to the less important (as far as PC gaming goes) market with exclusive release dates and pricing. It's the only reason and it makes absolutely no sense. They have new releases on Tuesday? Well, tough, the game is going to be released on Friday or whichever other day, for all. Retailers have too much say in this, if you ask me. Sooner DD takes over completely the better.

 

Dwagginz, now why don't go reread what was written and quoted, maybe after recomposing yourself you'll manage to make more sense.

[IronHide-AW]

 

They want to suck up to the less important (as far as PC gaming goes) market with exclusive release dates and pricing

Doesn't this also include the times where certain stores have their little "extra" as well. Like pre-order from here or there and get an exclusive flaming sword (sounds gay. About as gay as the concept IMO too actually), a special nitro boost, what-ever. I assume some of those types of offers would affect release dates based on the type of deal they have with the publisher and if the store/estore is even available in country x/y/z.

[OutOfTimer]

I don't see any reason to not simply have it released worldwide on the same day.

I think it might have something to do with promotion. I'm not sure about the gaming business, but if you release a music CD, you have to choose where to release it first and then travel around to promote it. Releasing everything on the same days is simply not feasible. In case of C&C 4, for example, the US premiere was on March 16 and then the EU release on March 19 so that Joseph D. Kucan could travel to Europe to promote the game here. I'm not saying that this logic is true, but perhaps it's a factor.

[mkey82]

the US premiere was on March 16 and then the EU release on March 19 so that Joseph D. Kucan could travel to Europe to promote the game here. I'm not saying that this logic is true, but perhaps it's a factor.

Again, if a simultaneous release isn't possible, why cater to a minor market first? I would dare to say that US us about 15-20% (based on various "official" sales figures) of the PC gaming market, giving it timed exclusives is ridiculous.

 

I wouldn't say anything if some games were promoted first in Europe, some in Asia and others in US. That would make sense, it would be like showcasing a new car model on various shows just to promote the shows themselves. But as things are now, most A titles, being those that attract most attention, have a US first, everybody second policy. What's the US country calling code? 1. Who get's most A titles first? USA. Is it just a coincidence or what?

[jnzooger]

 

the US premiere was on March 16 and then the EU release on March 19 so that Joseph D. Kucan could travel to Europe to promote the game here. I'm not saying that this logic is true, but perhaps it's a factor.

Again, if a simultaneous release isn't possible, why cater to a minor market first? I would dare to say that US us about 15-20% (based on various "official" sales figures) of the PC gaming market, giving it timed exclusives is ridiculous.

 

I wouldn't say anything if some games were promoted first in Europe, some in Asia and others in US. That would make sense, it would be like showcasing a new car model on various shows just to promote the shows themselves. But as things are now, most A titles, being those that attract most attention, have a US first, everybody second policy. What's the US country calling code? 1. Who get's most A titles first? USA. Is it just a coincidence or what?

US Calling Code is +1 because phones where invented in the US. That is the only reason.

 

The most premiers actually happen in Japan, it's just not that big of a deal there, and then when the games come west, we "premier" them again.

 

Most non-Japanese premiers are done in the US for two reasons: 1, visibility. Every country in the world carries news from the US. (Not saying its right, not giving a reason for it, just stating the fact.) And 2, most major publishers are in the US. (Ubisoft notwithstanding, being the only of the Top 20 publishers based solely in Europe.)

 

Anyway, the reason new DVDs, CDs and Video Games are released on Tuesdays in the US is that music charts are calculated on Wenesdays, allowing a full week to maximize the numbers that are posted the following week. Movies followed the Album release dates, and Games followed suit.

 

Edit: Just found out that in Japan, games come out on Sunday because if they release anything on weekdays, too many people take the day off work.

 

Edit2: Albums in the U.K. and France traditionally release on Mondays, only in Germany is it Friday. So the US release date explanation doesn't apply to Europe.

 

Edit3: Another possible reason why every other day of the week doesn't work.

 

Monday: If stores are told to begin selling CDs on Mondays, distributors need to ship them by Sunday, and stores need to pay staff to unpack, inventory and stock over the weekend. That is a bummer. Also, Monday is a government holiday more than any other day of the week.

 

Wednesday: Stores and musicians can tell people the new CD is available to buy in the middle of the week, but it usually takes a bit for people to motivate themselves on over to their local record store. By Wednesday the week is almost over (I wish).

 

Thursday: For the reason above, Thursday is more too late.

 

Friday: Even more too late. But it is payday.

 

Saturday: It's harder to get press coverage that people see on the weekend.

 

Sunday: Who goes to record stores on Sunday?

 

And another from the same page:

 

In the old days, payday was Thursday or Friday for most folks. We didn't have direct deposit, so if you got off early enough, you took it to the bank. Still, it took 2 business days for checks to clear, so they figured most people had money to burn on Tuesday.

Edited November 23, 2010 by jnzooger

[mkey82]

Well, firstly thanks for the calling code, it only makes sense, I actually wondered for a while about that and it never crossed my mind that those days were quite a long while ago.

 

I'm not sure why would you bring various media releases into the discussion here, as they just plain can't possibly compare. For instance, the way games make profit is so fundamentally different from the way movies earn money it's practically not even the same sport. And I fail to see the relation between games and music charts but maybe you can shed some light on this issue.

 

The argument of companies being based in US is a solid one, but only at a glance as those companies are global and they sell their products worldwide (not being argumentative, just expanding on what you wrote). It would be the same as you had a (I'm bullsh*tting here, no offense intended to anyone) a Belarus based developer that decided to give a 5 day timed exclusive to their own country, allowing handsome amount of time for the game to be "distributed" over the web. The point being, those companies are not driven by free market rules and thirst for profit, but to show off or something of the sort. I find that very peculiar, especially on the so called dying PC gaming market. Considering the quality of games and the fact the publishers are not actually trying to push those copies (especially true for various ports) that DOA market is doing quite well.

 

The argument about how news fly from US toward the rest of the world is certainly true, but that blade cuts two ways. Many people I know will gladly switch the channel when some bit of US foreign affairs or some political event is mentioned in the news. I guess there are both positive and negative cultural influence effects and one should consider which waves does he want carrying his news and information.

 

Those various site comments are, well interesting, but I don't think they relate that well to discussion at hand; the music CDs sales figures do not follow game sales trends; the Monday comment probably has some tenure, but even from local shops I know they receive games days in advance from various outlets and have them stacked waiting for the release date - local publisher representatives are even able to show some initiative and allow some games to be sold a day earlier if the "global" release date happens to collide with some local holiday. Just a bit from personal experience over here, not that much relating to the discussion at hand.

 

The last comment about the old days - well, how old days? How old are those people? Do they buy video games? If not, how does that relate to the discussion at hand? Paychecks here are handled usually around 10th of the month, but that has no practical value as there are so many payment methods, one can purchase practically anything at any time*.

 

All of those points would maybe make sense had it not been for the takeoff of the DD distribution which is steadily taking the largest market share. When DD becomes the predominate game distribution system, there are really not going to be many excuses for non-simultaneous releases which can only hurt the game sales and profits, without any positive side effects. Apart for the feeling of the minority that they are the first ones to get it.

 

Searching for release dates is always a bitch and to pull a few dozen somewhat relevant results is tedious to say the least (imo). So, I went to vgreleases and pulled some results that contain Japanese release dates, I skipped a few obscure titles but just for volume kept all titles which were at least fairly familiar.

 

 

Title	US	Europe	Australia	Japan
America's Army 3.0	17.06.2009	17.06.2009	17.06.2009	17.06.2009
Battlefield Heroes	25.06.2009	25.06.2009	25.06.2009	25.06.2009
Bejeweled 3	07.12.2010	07.12.2010	07.12.2010	07.12.2010
Bionic Commando	28.07.2009	24.07.2009	15.08.2009	25.06.2009
BioShock 2	09.02.2010	09.02.2010	09.02.2010	11.02.2010
Bubba Time	01.01.2010	01.01.2010	01.01.2010	01.01.2010
Call of Duty 4	05.11.2007	09.11.2007	07.11.2007	27.12.2007
Call of Duty: World at War	11.11.2008	14.11.2008	12.11.2008	14.11.2008
Call of Duty: Black Ops	09.11.2010	09.11.2010	09.11.2010	18.11.2010
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars	26.03.2007	30.03.2007	27.03.2007	28.03.2007
Dead Space	21.10.2008	24.10.2008	23.10.2008	24.10.2008
Dynasty Warriors 6	18.11.2008	10.10.2008	x	11.07.2008
Empire: Total War	03.03.2009	04.03.2009	04.03.2009	04.03.2009
EVE Online: Dominion	01.12.2009	01.12.2009	01.12.2009	01.12.2009
F1 2010	22.09.2010	24.09.2010	23.09.2010	07.10.2010
Fallout 3	28.10.2008	31.10.2008	31.10.2008	04.12.2008
Final Fantasy XIV	30.09.2010	30.09.2010	30.09.2010	30.09.2010
Final Fantasy XIV Online	30.09.2010	30.09.2010	30.09.2010	30.09.2010
Grand Theft Auto IV	02.12.2008	03.12.2008	02.12.2008	02.12.2008
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City	13.04.2010	16.04.2010	16.04.2010	16.04.2010
Left 4 Dead 2: The Sacrifice	05.10.2010	05.10.2010	05.10.2010	05.10.2010
Mech Hero	01.03.2010	01.03.2010	01.03.2010	01.03.2010
Pro Evolution Soccer 2009	x	15.10.2008	30.10.2008	30.09.2008
Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI	09.09.2008	05.09.2008	11.09.2008	17.03.2006
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat	03.02.2010	05.02.2010	25.02.2010	19.02.2010
Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter	28.04.2010	28.04.2010	28.04.2010	28.04.2010
Spore	07.09.2008	05.09.2008	04.09.2008	05.09.2008
Spore: Galactic Adventures	23.06.2009	26.06.2009	25.06.2009	25.06.2009
Starcraft II	27.07.2010	27.07.2010	27.07.2010	27.07.2010
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning	18.09.2008	18.09.2008	19.09.2008	18.09.2008
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King	13.11.2008	13.11.2008	14.11.2008	18.11.2008

So, from this quite limited (but random and not tainted, quite diverse) sample of games we get

 

11/31 - games with a simultaneous release dates, consisting in about equal shares of smaller games, online titles and games from predominately DD distribution

11/31 - US first releases

0/31 - Europe first releases

1/31 - Australia first release

4/31 - Japan first releases

 

* no, not nuclear weapons and yes only during the open hours.

[jnzooger]

My comments about album release dates are because games in the USA are released on the same traditional day of the week as albums and movies. They call it New Movie Tuesday. Everything else was just for clarification of why a Tuesday.

 

Yes Digital Distribution should eliminate the need for this, but tradition is a hard thing to change. On the other hand, a very strong minority of game are becoming simultaneousness releases and the majority of that minority are releasing on a Tuesday, probably because Americans are more set in their ways than the rest of the western world.

 

Now all of this only applies to game released in the same week in all regions. The games that are 6 months later in Europe, or the games that never come out in the USA do not count for this portion of the conversation.

[mkey82]

 

Now all of this only applies to game released in the same week in all regions. The games that are 6 months later in Europe, or the games that never come out in the USA do not count for this portion of the conversation.

That's what, 2 games on the above list? And both of those support your "Japan gets it first in most cases" thesis.

 

I personally can't absolutely care about which day of the week it is, if it's going to be one of those small victories for the US gamers, so be it.

 

Also, from above simultaneous releases

 

17.06.2009 Wed

25.06.2009 Thu

07.12.2009 Tue

01.01.2010 Mon

01.12.2010 Wed

30.09.2010 Thu

30.09.2010 Thu

05.10.2010 Tue

01.03.2010 Mon

28.04.2010 Wed

27.07.2010 Tue

 

A nice and even spread, if you ask me. Not one single Friday, though.

Edited November 24, 2010 by mkey82