release date moved UP?

[Inverse Icarus]

ebgames.com used to say 10/29/02.

then firaxis said "early november".

now, ebgames.com says MONDAY.

http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/categories/products/product.asp?pf_id=222945

[WarpStorm]

Pretty sure ebgames is wrong. Wouldn't we have heard that it went gold before now if it was going to be in stores by Monday?

[Skeeve]

Re: release date moved UP?

Originally posted by UberKruX
ebgames.com used to say 10/29/02.

then firaxis said "early november".

now, ebgames.com says MONDAY.

http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/categories/products/product.asp?pf_id=222945

Holy Frijoles!! You're right. EBgames says that it ships 10/21/02!!

It's probably a misprint, but technically that's false advertising. I say: Let's SUE 'EM!

[Inverse Icarus]

email i just got:


Dear EBgames.com Customer,

Thanks for pre-ordering from EBgames.com! As an added benefit to ordering
from us, we'll keep you informed of ship date changes. We are writing to let
you know that the publisher has set a new ship date for Civilization III:
Play the World of 10/21/02. As always, EBgames.com will not charge your
credit card until we ship your order.

To check the status of your order, please visit
https://www.ebgames.com/ebx/myaccoun...us/default.asp If you need
further assistance, you can reply to this e-mail or give us a call at
1-877-432-9675 (internationally at 1-702-614-1570). We're here seven days
a week from 8:00 AM to Midnight (EST).

Thank you for choosing EBgames.com.

Best Regards,
EBgames.com Customer Service Team


About release dates:
EBgames.com works tirelessly with game publishers to ensure accurate release
dates on our site. Occasionally, publishers decide to delay production to
improve quality or add new features. Sometimes dates move forward; more
often they move back and frequently they get changed more than once.

If a game is scheduled for release far in the future, the publisher may not
even give us a date. In those cases we rely on the collective wisdom of our
buying staff to estimate a date based on their knowledge of the industry and
the publisher's history.

We guarantee that we will always post the best information provided by
publishers. We know that you want that hot new game yesterday and we want to
be the company that gets it to you quicker than anyone else.

[WarpStorm]

Well, let us know if it ships Monday.

[monkspider]

The release date for PTW has always been pretty ambigious. I wouldn't trust that EB date too much.

[kring]

Both Sid and Jeff Morris have said early November in separate interviews; I would trust that to be the earliest date, and until I hear from someone at Firaxis/Infogrames that it has gone gold, I won't even trust the early November date. I have heard that it typically takes a minimum of 2 weeks from gold to market. I would hope the testers are doing what it takes to get a quality product to us.

Personally, I would rather wait a little longer for a quality product than get a buggy one quicker.

[Jon Shafer]

I just pre-ordered it from EB also, and it definitely says 10/21. I doubt that's correct, but who knows.

[Swissy]

To ship on the 21st, they would have to have product in-house now. Infogrames has been very tight lipped on the GOLD status of all their games. So much so that the product has been released before anyone knew it was gold on some titles. Infogrames has shut-off the infomation leaks so well that most gamesites don't even bother making predictions on release dates anymore.

Also, if the game is ready to go and all the beta testing is basically a bug hunt; the packaging and manual can be printed right after beta is done. Then it is a matter of three days from gold to distribution. Any delay from gold to distribution would be due to re-printing the packaging and manual; and this would only be done for a game-killer bug. Since the framework of Civ3 has been used, I doubt any killer bugs would be found.

[WarpStorm]

I have it on good authority that it takes 2 weeks to get a game from gold master to stores. If it seems like it was less, the company hid the fact that it went gold (a common practice for AAA titles).

[Cidifer]

They do that sometimes with music titles to prevent people from getting them off the internet. Also didn't they change FF X from January something to like mid december right before releasing it? I can't remember exaclty but I remember my brother got it before christmas and I remember looking at gamepros december issue or something and seeing it say Q1 2002 or jan 2002 or something.

[Jon Shafer]

Yes, the release date of some games can be quite fluid, depending on a few circumstances. While I still doubt it'll be shipped as early as the 21st, it wouldn't boggle my mind if it did. Stuff like that happens from time to time (though usually the release date goes backwards, not forwards).

[Buster13]

I called my local EB store, and they said thier computer still says the 30th. I guess we'll see if it shows up Tuesday, but I wouldn't count on it.

[Dom Pedro II]

Did Civ 3's release come out earlier than expected? I seem to remember having the date practically circled on the calendar, and then walking into my local EB and finding it there already! *shrugs*

[Todd Hawks]

Well, someone on a thread a few days ago said, he already has the add-on (illegal, for sure) and that means it is finished and gold for some time now. If he didn't lie. But I don't think he did.
Meaning it is quite possible that it will be out today or very soon.


In the US only, that is.