Have you taken a look at the list of games scheduled to come out for the PS3 in Q1 2010? The booking here is atrocious with all the AAA titles being bottled up inside a 3 month window. If you haven’t read my previous articles about game scheduleing for the PS3, I pretty much went over how the 2009 gaming lineup seemed too good to be true at the time and then how the 2009 lineup was actually…too good to be true. This time around, I will go on about how the Q1 for 2010 has horrible booking and who suffers from this, besides the gamers.
Right now, the Q1 scheduling looks like they are doing what Microsoft wants to do with Natal and treat it like a console launch just in time for people to collect their tax returns. I mean, that is who Sony is marketing to, it’s the older gamers who work and spend a decent chunk of their disposable income on games – great success here. Either that, or these developers have a quota to meet and are being forced to release these titles before the end of the Fiscal Year (March for Sony).
This time, I’m going to take a look at the Q1 of 2010 booking and break down the situation to see what games will suffer from this and which games prevail. The first group I have here is games that will sell well regardless of any distractions or bad booking.
- Bayonetta – January 3rd – The Demo for this game will draw in lots of buyers along with people looking for a new game to play after beating Uncharted 2, Assassins Creed 2 and the God of war Collection. Next up – Bayonetta, Cha-Ching!
- MAG – January 26th – A lot of gamers are curious about this game and when everyone catches wind of how fun the online experience will be, the sales will go up plenty. Plus it’s the 1st shooter of the year while having a good enough cushion away from Modern Warfare 2. This game will sell well, even if it is just an average game, the booking here was sharp, it’s the rest of the booking that is the problem.
- Final Fantasy XIII – March 9th
- God of war III – March 2010
I’m lumping God of War III and Final Fantasy XIII into one section because these two games will likely be fighting it out for GOTY and we’ll have just gotten started, so I’m assuming they expect this one to go 12 rounds? We already know FFXIII comes out on the 9th, but if Santa Monica Studio’s is smart then God of war comes out the final week of March – or push the game back and break the tradition of releasing God of War games in March.
Regardless, these two games will sell and sell a plenty by the time everyone collects their tax return check and either finally pick up a PS3 or add to their collection with two blue-chip titles. God of War stands to sell more on the PS3 because of the potential 360/PS3 owners who can choose to buy it on the 360, but most gamers are likely buying this one ofr the PS3.
Next up, the forgotten games that most gamers want but will be forced to push them aside because of the horrible booking that we’ve experienced thus far. However, if a few of the titles set to come out early end up getting delayed a little, it could be the best thing for everyone especially with Q2 being as weak as it is already.
- White Knight Chronicles – February 2nd – Coming out a month or so earlier than FFXIII seems like a well played card by Level 5, but the reality is that most gamers will say that FFXIII is coming out in a month and they’ll just wait. Then you have your bunch that think they can beat the game in a month while spending time with the online experience which is…a lot of time. Regardless, this game has victim written all over it, which is sad because I remember when I couldn’t wait for this game to come out, now I feel reserved.
- Star Ocean The Last Hope: International – February 9th – This game has been held away from the PS3 long enough, or has it? I personally feel that we’ve waited long enough for this title and with White Knight Chronicles coming out the week prior along with Final Fantasy XIII coming out in a month, this game should just retreat to where it’s safe. I don’t care what additions are being made to this game – Tales of Vesperia was slated to be out by Q1 2010, but now I hear nothing about it. If only Star Ocean The Last Hope: International decided to postpone this game until late Q2 (let’s say June), then the gaming lineup would be eased up a bit.
- Bioshock 2 – February 9th – Bioshock has a but of a cult following which should allow this game to sell a bit, but that will be over the course of the year. Overall, this game should sell well but I expect a slow burn.
Next it seems as if Capcom has created a strange category – “double dips that have been poorly booked”, if ever there was a category then I think these two hit the nail on the head.
- Super Street Fighter IV – March 23rd – I am actually completely wrong about this game because T-Hawk is in the house and will salvage all the possible lost sales.
- Resident Evil 5: Alternative Edition/Gold Edition – February 18th/March 9th – There is a listing for both the Alternative and Gold Editions, so I’m not sure if there will actually be two Resident Evil 5 offsprings or if there is a titling conflict? Regardless, one of these games will be compatible with the PS3 Wand and with a Jill mission added in, I’m sold.
I see these next 2 games as the one’s that will be overlooked and having plenty of gamers say “wait…that game came out already?” – That’s if they are even interested at all to begin with.
- Lost Planet 2 – February 23rd – A game with potential…to be a great game, but to sell well? Let’s call this one an early victim.
- Battlefield: Bad Company 2 – March 2nd – Are you even interested? This game will have commercials and such, so people will know about it but none of that matters with said games that are coming out starting in 7 days.
Finally we have the games that should be pushed back because they can afford it and would benefit from such a move. This isn’t to say some of the above mentioned games shouldn’t or couldn’t get pushed back, but I’m picking the games that don’t have a release date set in stone.
- MLB 10: The Show – Q1 ’10 – This is a game that has to come out in a certain month of the year and would drop around late march which is suicide and could afford to wait a whole month to give the wallets a rest.
(no video available for MLB 10: The Show)
- Heavy Rain: The Origami Killer – Q1 ’10 – This game looks to be amazing, but releasing at any time during Q1 is a horrible idea for this game, so dropping Heavy Rain around late May would allow the numbers to be huge.
In result, there will be games that are “finished”, but you will also have games that will be glitchy due to being rushed out, the trick is finding out quickly which game is complete and which is rushed out. Your gaming experience depends on your decision making so don’t get burned – broke gamers can’t afford to be burned.
Be sure to hear our discussion on this topic Live on Wednesday on Vice Weekly Live – Also check out the YouTube Channels that the videos are from as well.
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Overbooked? Hardly. I’m not interested in any one of those games. I guess I have Borderlands, Uncharted 2, and MW2 to hold me over until ModNation Racers ships.
Yakuza 3 will release in March as well and I still don’t see a solid timeframe for ModNation Racers, but I hope it stays away from Q1…
and lol how can you not be interested in either FFXIII or GoW3?…at least one of those games should be appealing..
FF? I never understood the appeal of those games. They’re so boring. And the GoW series just don’t appeal to my tastes.
BTW, your captchas are broken. Listening to the letters gives you something different than what is seen. (The sound is the correct one.)
Seriously!
Even if you’re not a fan of turn-based RPG’s like FF, it’ll still have an awesome story. And how the FU** could you not want GOWIII!?!?!?!? O_O It’s an epic hack ‘n’ slash with a kickass greek mythology story!
My wallet’s already been raped this year
and even when I do have time to play games, I don’t have the money to get them…I need a job!
am willing to bet you copy of $60 that M.A.G. will take the back seat to BFBC2. I played both in beta, and will likely not buy another shooter til summer, having MW2 i’d likely follow with BFBC2.
i think gow3 comes out a week or 2 later than ffxiii
Out of all those games day one buy for me is GOW 3. I got the god of war collection last week and already beat god of war and now working on god of war 2. I played the GOW 3 demo and i was really impressed. The visuals are awesome and kratos has never looked so detailed and bad ass. He really looks intimidating. I hope white knight chronicles does good. Bayonetta sucks, and yes i played the demo. The game is just way to girly and im not into that stuff. Plus the music is terrible and the same weird drag queen song comes out everytime your fighting, i hate it. I will probably buy Heavy Rain after i see the reviews because although it does look amazing im a little skeptical. That and im broke so i wanna make sure and buy games that I know ill play through several times. MAG is also on my list but will wait on that one, god of war 3 comes first. Great lineup SONY. 360 is left with shit, lol.
Oh and MW2 was way overhyped. I only have it because my cousin bought it for me because i wouldnt buy it. I told him first thing on my list is UNCHARTED 2. MW2 sucks i bearly even play it, i like uncharted 2′s multiplayer way better.
these comments sections alway make me laugh. it’s like everyone thinks that there opinion and taste’s need to be heard.
I agree with you. It sucks that a lot of these games will suffer..but I’m asking for most of them for xmas and the others I’ll just buy myself, so I’m good!
what about Army Of 2?
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I definitely agree with the author, there are WAY too many games to get in the first 3 months of the year. He did not even include Darksiders… I plan to be purchasing Darksiders, Heavy Rain (if it isn’t pushed), Yakuza 3, possibly M.A.G., White Knight Chronicles, FF XIII, & GOW III… If reviews of the PS3 wand w/ RE5 are good, I’ll get that too.
I wanted SO4 & BF:BC too, but I will probably have to put those off. And I’ll get Bioshock 2 around May.But regardless, I am going to have WAY too many games to get through next year. If I have to choose though, my most important games are Heavy Rain, Yakuza 3, White Knight Chronicles, FF XIII, & GOW III. Still, there’s not a lot of time b/w those releases.
This is nonsense. I see no problem with releasing all of those games so close together. Nobody says you have to buy them all at once. Maybe buy the ones you really want and wait on others. If you do that you can watch for sales and save some money too.
omg so many games… im so freaking poor because of of mw2 and uncharted 2. The only game imma get is ff13 for 2010. I’ll probably get bioshock 2 as well.
MAG woot
It’s amazing, people bashed the PS3 for no games not more than a year ago, and now the PS3 is getting bashed for having games.
Go, go hypocrisy.
It’s true, Sony must have a few trump cards up their sleeves for the second half of 2010 otherwise a good couple of theese releases would be pushed back. Still, this just goes to show how dominant the PS3 is compared to the competition, they have TOO MANY AAA exclusives, whereas Microsoft have far too few, in fact, Microsoft barely have any at all.
i would just like to point out that GOW3 is not on the 360. It’s a PS3 exclusive. I think the author meant FFXIII
What about the new Aliens Vs Predator game? Or other games like Dark Void?
@DMan
so true…:D
you forgot Gran turismo 5, modnation racers,
yea i cant wait for E3 2010 sony must have something for the fall and im waiting to see what jaffe and eat sleep play has been working on. hopefully Agent, 8 days, getaway, twisted metal will pop up from sony along with some megaton bombs