Too Close For Too Human?

stealth toilet

stealth toilet

Moderator
As of right now there is heavy speculation that Too Human, a title plagued by rumors, numerous delays, and high expectations, is going to launch on May 6th of this year. This means that GTA IV, one of the most highly anticipated titles, ever, is launching a week before the release of Too Human. Keeping in mind that Too Human is but the first of a promised trilogy, it is imperative that this game in particular grabs people's attention and is generally well liked. Microsoft says that a release date that close to GTA IV will not affect sales because the games are after different audiences. However, the audience GTA has historically been nearly every single person that owned an Xbox, and due to the sandbox nature of the series it seems unlikely that people will be ready to take on a new game after only playing GTA IV for one week.

So, is GTA IV launching a week before Too Human going to negatively affect sales of Too Human? Or is the release date irrelevant because of the nature of each game as Microsoft has stated? Would it make more sense for Too Human to be delayed a month or so and come out during a historically slow period for games, in the summertime, or will it benefit by being released earlier?

If you were a Microsoft exec. in charge of figuring out release date schedules, what would you do at this juncture?
 
i'd say they are idiots.... the last time they did something like this was with metroid and halo 3 release dates... and that did affect metroid's sales. too human is gonna get affected by GTA IV and that simply is not fair for those developers that spent time making a great game, i for one would buy too human over GTA
 
It's irrelevant because Too Human will inevitably be delayed again.

Assuming it does actually meet a release date (miracles happen :lol), I'm sure its sales will be greatly effected by the release of GTA IV a week before. The last three GTA games have sold well over 10 million copies, with each game outselling the last. Too Human will be lucky to go platinum.

Personally, I'm exponentially more interested in Too Human, but releasing a week after the biggest title of 2008 is just a stupid move on the publisher's (Microsoft) part.
 
stealth toilet said:
So, is GTA IV launching a week before Too Human going to negatively affect sales of Too Human?
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Yes. For numerous reasons, but mainly what you said.

However, the audience GTA has historically been nearly every single person that owned an Xbox, and due to the sandbox nature of the series it seems unlikely that people will be ready to take on a new game after only playing GTA IV for one week.
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Also, the price. To some, it won't matter, but to others, paying $120 in a week's period might be too much.

stealth toilet said:
If you were a Microsoft exec. in charge of figuring out release date schedules, what would you do at this juncture?
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I think the best option would be to push Too Human back. But if they were unwilling to do that, lower the price (maybe make it $30) so that people picking up GTA IV can pick up Too Human as an impulse buy.
 
Are the games in direct competition though?

Are people going to go into a game retailer and feel forced to choose between the two because of the close release dates?

Might Too Human suffer from poor initial sales, but in the long run still reach a wide audience? If people do feel forced to choose between the two games within their launch windows, is it not possible somewhere down the road they will go back and purchase the other one?

Are people who were interested in Too Human before going to pass it up to play GTA IV instead? Or will they simply hold off on Too Human for awhile once they've had their GTA fix?

Might Too Human also suffer from launching closer to summer when people are less interested in staying indoors and playing videogames? Is it prudent for Microsoft to release Too Human as soon as it's ready because it has already been pushed back so many times?

An interesting situation that raises lots of questions.
 
stealth toilet said:
Are the games in direct competition though?
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Considering every GTA game since III has sold almost as many copies as the 360 had so far, I'd say any game coming out around the time of GTA is in direct competition with it.

That's not to say it isn't possible for Too Human to put up good sales figures. Bioshock sold 1.5 million copies, despite being released a few weeks before Halo 3, and Too Human could very well do something similar. But its sales certainly won't improve because it's coming out within a week of GTA IV.
 
stealth toilet said:
Is it prudent for Microsoft to release Too Human as soon as it's ready because it has already been pushed back so many times?
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You know, that's a good point, and for that reason I would say release it as planned.

stealth toilet said:
Might Too Human suffer from poor initial sales, but in the long run still reach a wide audience? If people do feel forced to choose between the two games within their launch windows, is it not possible somewhere down the road they will go back and purchase the other one?
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The problem with this scenario is that if people don't pick up Too Human right away, and word of mouth is bad on the game, they might never pick it up. If Too Human is actually good, then it does have the potential to reach a larger audience, though.
 
wait wait wait........ it also means that GTA IV is released one week before super smash bros brawl.......darn it microsoft is trying again >_<
 
Zidart said:
wait wait wait........ it also means that GTA IV is released one week before super smash bros brawl.......darn it microsoft is trying again >_<
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I don't know what crazy calender you have in Venezuela, but in America, May is two months after March. :lol
 
darn it >_> i always forget that.... (in spanish is marzo and mayo.... and i always mess up both no matter what language XD)
 
Zidart said:
wait wait wait........ it also means that GTA IV is released one week before super smash bros brawl.......darn it microsoft is trying again >_<
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That makes sense though. As Microsoft is in competition with Nintendo (despite Nintendo's assertions) it is prudent to have a AAA title to draw attention away from their AAA title. So you can't really blame them for trying to offer something of equal or greater value to people who bought their console. (Discard this, should have looked at release dates closer, :-X)

Homicidal Cherry53 said:
But its sales certainly won't improve because it's coming out within a week of GTA IV.
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Too Human is in a rough spot to begin with, I agree, at this point Microsoft is essentially in damage control. Therefore the question is: Will pushing the game's release date back again and have it launch in the industry's "slow" quarter negatively affect sales more than launching in close proximity to GTA IV, or less?

I guess I'm just curious, which choice would you make, and why? Because it seems like either way you have to shoot yourself in the foot, but hopefully choosing correctly here will result in the other foot being unharmed.
 
Will the Too Human trilogy be released on every other generation console? Xbox 360, Xbox 4, Xbox 6?
 
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