August 3, 2007

Pachter: PS3 Port Caused GTA IV Delay

Pachter: PS3 Port Caused GTA IV Delay Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter says Take-Two management has "stumbled badly for the first time" with the delay of GTA IV, and said that he believes difficulties porting the game to the PlayStation 3 are to blame and that the company's new green light policy appears to be a failure.

"We think it is likely," said Pachter, "that the Rockstar team had difficulty in building an exceptionally complicated game for the PS3, and failed to recognize how far away from completion the game truly was until recently."

"We think it is also likely that Take-Two had a contractual commitment to Sony that it would not favor competitor Microsoft by launching the Xbox 360 version of GTA IV prior to launching the PS3 version," he continued, "and believe that any delay of the PS3 version necessitated a delay of the Xbox 360 version."

The delay has caused somewhat of a valuation quandary for Pachter, as he adds "we are unprepared to predict what Take-Two management can truly deliver until we see some positive results."

"We think that new management is doing many things right," he says, "but believe that some structural obstacles remain. The company has begun an initiative to improve the green light process for new projects, but given the delays of Manhunt and GTA, its process for monitoring projects under development appears to be a failure."

Pachter concludes, "Until we see evidence of better controls over work in process and greater diligence in project selection, we are not confident that the company will gain market share in future years."

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Now I've seen reasons behind the 360 being the delay also, but bear in mind that EVERY time GTA4 has been demoed it has been on a 360 and not a PS3.

BLOG - The multiplayer beta for Infinity Ward’s much-hyped Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare will be restricted to US Xbox 360 owners, publisher Activision confirmed today.

The Infinity Ward developed FPS title, which sees the renowned CoD series shift from its traditional WWII setting to a modern arena of combat, will not be available in multiplayer beta format to European gamers according to CVG, who received confirmation of the disappointing news from the publisher Tuesday.

Activision chose not to comment on why the beta, set to launch later this month, will be a US exclusive, although an official line on the matter is expected in due course.

While multiplayer betas are becoming an increasing phenomenon, as evidenced by the success of the recent Halo 3 beta, there’s clearly still work to be done in executing them on a widespread scale.

Next-Gen's Blog is reserved for opinion pieces, quirky news stories and general news detritus. We welcome your comments on this article.

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I would love to get into this beta, but knowing my luck I'll be without internet when it happens, Like I was when my 360 broke during the Halo3 beta.

Now this looks like I'm going to be very happy with a purchase.

Sony and Square Enix celebrate 10 years of Final Fantasy with a special edition FFVII Sony PSP console and game bundle.

The FFVII Sony PSP bundle featuring a custom PSP console can be pre-ordered now in Japan from Sony for 25,889 Yen (~$219).
Shipping date of the Final Fantasy special edition PSP is September 13th.
The FFVII bundle features the new slim silver PSP with Final Fantasy logo and graphics on the back. Also int the FFVII bundle are a special FFVII retractable headset, FFVII wrist strap and the Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core game.

Japanese video game exporter Play-Asia has the FFVII PSP listed, but not priced yet.

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That is a slick looking PSP. With how much I've heard about Crisis Core, I'd be looking to pick up this bundle if its released in the US.

Now I can't tell you how many hours I spent on Rollercoaster Tycoon, so this game has me REALLY excited.

Screenshots

I'm looking forward to playing a little more NWN2. When this hits this fall, I'll probably buy this one and not play it like I did for all the original NWN XP packs.

Now what I would like to see is an Eberron hak pack so I can fully realize my campaign idea. So many fun ideas!

On the heels of Lego Batman, next we'll be getting Lego Indiana Jones. Now how much fun could this game be?

Check out the trailer HERE.