Topic: Red Steel 2 Delayed Until Next Year

[Skeeter8887]

Ubisoft needs the extra time to polish the game even further.
 http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=19121

 If the upcoming selection of big Wii titles for 2009 seems slim, prepare for it to get even slimmer. Ubisoft has just announced the delay of Red Steel 2. The sequel to their launch title Red Steel, Red Steel 2 had hopes of slicing and shooting its way to Wii owners during the third fiscal quarter of 2009, but ended up being pushed into the fourth - ultimately giving it a 2010 release.    

Yves Guillemot, Ubisoft CEO, stated the following:    

"We are disappointed that we have to postpone the release of several major games but we consider that this choice is the best one in the long-term interests of Ubisoft. Lastly, we are having to adjust our full-year targets to take into account the fall in business over the first half. The excellent response to our games at E3, as well as the high buzz generated for titles such as Assassin's Creed 2, Splinter Cell Conviction and Avatar, reinforce our belief that the company can achieve strong growth in the second half of the fiscal year."    

During a recent Ubisoft conference call, Guillemot explained that the delay was simply due to a question of polish. "The team was asking that they couldn't be with the level of quality on all the maps and all the game for the end of the year, so they had asked for more time to be able to come with a better productÂ…"    

The push to next year will definitely take its toll financially - costing Ubisoft a potential loss of millions of units of sales - but Guillemot hopes that the added work on the game will give it a longer shelf life, providing more sales in the long run.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I'm glad they decided to take pride in the quality of the work they release and not the the time of release for maximum sales.
This gives me a little more confidence towards purchasing RS2 whenever it does release.

[ShyGuy]

Enjoy your Conduit boys and girls, cuz it's the only FPS we are getting this year.

[NWR_pap64]

Enjoy your Conduit boys and girls, cuz it's the only FPS we are getting this year.

As an FYI, all consoles are facing delays in their major titles. It seems they learned from their mistakes from last year and decided to even their releases before crowding the market.

[ShyGuy]

What is Red Steel 2 going to be crowded by? The only comparable title I can think of off the top of my head this Fall/Winter is Silent Hill.

[broodwars]

What is Red Steel 2 going to be crowded by? The only comparable title I can think of off the top of my head this Fall/Winter is Silent Hill.

Apparently, Ubisoft just wasn't prepared to face the "fierce competition" from Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles and Dead Space: Extraction, the only titles that even remotely touch the same demographic as Red Steel 2 (Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is not a shooter).  Then again, this is the same company that just recently blamed a "slow DS sales market" for the fact that people didn't want to buy all 9 million -z DS games they released last year.  Incidentally, I consider that latter event occuring to be a hopeful sign that perhaps even the casuals may have standards of some sort after all.

[kraken613]

Putting any FPS even if not on the same console against Modern Warfare 2 is stupid.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

ahahahahhah Motion Plus is a one-hit-wonder this year.

That's right.

[broodwars]

Putting any FPS even if not on the same console against Modern Warfare 2 is stupid.

Why?  I think the market can support more than 1 FPS a season, especially when one would be exclusive to one platform and the other not available on that same console.  Besides, with the exception of Modern Warfare 2, what really is the big competition for Red Steel 2?  Everything that is truly notable for that demographic has been delayed till next year, so if there was any opportune time to release the game this would be it.  This is especially true since for the second year in the row Nintendo doesn't have a really strong lineup of its own for the Fall outside NSMBW.  They would also be the first company to show off the Motion + in a non-Sports core-oriented Wii game.

No, instead they decided to delay the game until next year, when it will get its ass handed to it by Bioshock 2; Splinter Cell Conviction; and probably a few other games I can't think of right now.  Or at least that's what Ubisoft will blame while they release 50 versions of the latest -z title on the Wii and DS.

[ShyGuy]

UGH Stupid rail shooters are not only destroying their own franchises but are screwing with other games as well. YOU SUCK CAPCOM. YOU SUCK EA.

[kraken613]

I know if RS2 came out right when MW2 did I would not pick up RS2 for a very long time. If it came before that would have been ok but not much for a long time after MW2 comes out is going to grab my attention. And most hardcore gamers who would buy RS2 own a 360 or PS3 and would rather have MW2 than RS2.

[broodwars]

I know if RS2 came out right when MW2 did I would not pick up RS2 for a very long time. If it came before that would have been ok but not much for a long time after MW2 comes out is going to grab my attention. And most hardcore gamers who would buy RS2 own a 360 or PS3 and would rather have MW2 than RS2.

Is there a reason we think that "most hardcore gamers", especially multi-platform hardcore gamers, are going to give a damn about this game anyway?  No matter how good this sequel is, it's still a sequel to an generally-badly received Wii launch game, and that's a stigma that Ubisoft's going to have to work hard to break in the public eye.  Assuming they do, do you think that "most hardcore gamres who would buy RS2 and own a 360 or PS3" wouldn't rather have Bioshock 2 or Splinter Cell Conviction or whatnot if they were available in a similar timeframe?

[ShyGuy]

So Red Steel 2 is going to bomb no matter what?

[Flames_of_chaos]

Ubisoft delayed Splinter Cell Conviction, I am Alive and a couple of titles as well. My guess is that they don't want a couple of their title lost in the holiday shuffle.

[broodwars]

So Red Steel 2 is going to bomb no matter what?

I don't know.  There's no predicting what on the Wii is going to sell these days when the developer puts actual effort into a game.  I can tell you this, though: I own a PS3 and I don't give a damn about Modern Warfare 2 but probably would have given Red Steel 2 a chance just to see Wii Motion + in action.  That probably puts me in a severe minority but whatever.  But if this game releases next year against Bioshock 2, there's no way Bioshock 2 doesn't get my gaming dollars.

It's a question of competition.  Modern Warfare 2 is an incredibly-strong franchise game that's destined to sell spectacularly, but it is only one game.  You look into next year, though, and you're talking about Red Steel 2 having to compete with 2 or more strong franchise games within its own genre.  You're also looking at over 6 months since the Motion + came out without a single non-sports game to promote itself.  I just don't think that a delay helps this game more than it hurts it.

[ShyGuy]

I am Alive was mentioned for the Wii when it was first announced (E3 08?) but hasn't been mentioned since. There were rumors that the game was canceled.

[kraken613]

Both Bioshock and Splinter Cell have a smaller audience than COD.

Bioshock had about 3 million in sales where as COD4 got upwards of 12 miliion.

[ShyGuy]

So Red Steel 2 is going to bomb no matter what?

I don't know.  There's no predicting what on the Wii is going to sell these days when the developer puts actual effort into a game.  I can tell you this, though: I own a PS3 and I don't give a damn about Modern Warfare 2 but probably would have given Red Steel 2 a chance just to see Wii Motion + in action.  That probably puts me in a severe minority but whatever.  But if this game releases next year against Bioshock 2, there's no way Bioshock 2 doesn't get my gaming dollars.

It's a question of competition.  Modern Warfare 2 is an incredibly-strong franchise game that's destined to sell spectacularly, but it is only one game.  You look into next year, though, and you're talking about Red Steel 2 having to compete with 2 or more strong franchise games within its own genre to compete with.  You're also looking at over 6 months since the Motion + came out without a single non-sports game to promote itself.  I just don't think that a delay helps this game more than it hurts it.

I completely agree that they need to capitalize on Motion Plus ASAP. A Star Wars M+ game has all but been officially announced and I'm sure Nintendo will be showing off Zelda Wii with motion plus next E3.

[ShyGuy]

Both Bioshock  and Splinter Cell have a smaller audience than COD.

Bioshock had about 3 million where as COD4 got upwards of 12 miliion.

But Bioshock and Splinter Cell are primarily single player franchises so in that respect they compete more directly with Red Steel 2.

[kraken613]

Im not questioning your reasoning, if Bioshock 2 and RS2 come out at the same time Bioshock is what I will be getting and your in the same situation I will be for MW2.

But Bioshock and Splinter Cell are primarily single player franchises so in that respect they compete more directly with Red Steel 2.

But just a single player game means less time playing it. Where as MW2 will be my gaming time for months.

[ShyGuy]

I'm not getting either title. screw dual analog. I'll probably get Bioshock 2 when it's cheap on the PC.

I'm bitter and angry. The 2009 "year of the gaming suck" started with no Disaster: Day of Crisis and continues with a Red Steel 2 delay.

[broodwars]

I'm not getting either title. screw dual analog. I'll probably get Bioshock 2 when it's cheap on the PC.

I'm bitter and angry. The 2009 "year of the gaming suck" started with no Disaster: Day of Crisis and continues with a Red Steel 2 delay.

Don't forget no Fatal Frame 4 as well (which coincidentally led to me just picking up Fatal Frame 2 last week), which was announced not too long after that.  Yeah, I'm more than just a little bit bitter myself, though there are at least a handful of promising Wii and PS3 games left on the horizon for me to enjoy before this year is complete.  And hey...we are getting Fragile over here, and I didn't see that happening when this year began.

[kraken613]

Uncharted 2! I can't wait for that game! October 13th!

[broodwars]

Uncharted 2! I can't wait for that game! October 13th!

Due to a screw-up by a Gamestop employee when I picked up my reservation for Infamous (he gave me the pre-order code for both the Uncharted 2 Beta...AND the Uncharted 2 pre-order bonus), I can if I need to but that game does look very good.

[ShyGuy]

I'm not getting either title. screw dual analog. I'll probably get Bioshock 2 when it's cheap on the PC.

I'm bitter and angry. The 2009 "year of the gaming suck" started with no Disaster: Day of Crisis and continues with a Red Steel 2 delay.

Don't forget no Fatal Frame 4 as well (which coincidentally led to me just picking up Fatal Frame 2 last week), which was announced not too long after that.  Yeah, I'm more than just a little bit bitter myself, though there are at least a handful of promising Wii and PS3 games left on the horizon for me to enjoy before this year is complete.  And hey...we are getting Fragile over here, and I didn't see that happening when this year began.

Yeah no Trace Memory either. That one really irks me.