Arkham City delayed again it would seem.

[DickSocrates]

Steam US is saying 22nd Novemver, while UK(EU?) is still saying 18th. What else can they do to make this go any worse? Constant net connection required? Terrible performance? I think things can only get worse going by how they've handled every single stage of the release so far.

The most botched PC release in recent memory? Or even on any platform, the console release didn't go without pissing off the majority of fans (or revenue streams as they are known as by WB executives). And officially they are still keeping silent, as if showing any kind of respect to their audience is strictly forbidden.

And the DLC is feature-poor and expensive. I feel sad. Not even sure I want the bloody thing any more now, my hype meter peaked and then broke weeks ago.

[Unaco]

A few days delay, so they can work on it, probably make it better, polish, fix some bugs etc. Not that big a deal, to me at least. Would rather have a better, less buggy game a few days later, than have them rush to release it. And just because they're delaying it doesn't mean they're going to throw a "constant net connection" requirement on it... that makes absolutely zero f*ckin sense. Just like making it perform terribly... Why would they do that? They're probably holding it back to tweak performance, or to work on it.

Hardly the most botched release in recent memory. Something like From Dust, RO2, Elemental or RAGE would probably take that title. There's been very little controversy or furore around release (the 3 week PC delay and some problem with 1 of the DLC).

Anyways... from everything I've heard about the game it is as good as, if not better than, the original. So I'll be happy to wait a few more days if it's required.

[grasskit]

a game gets delayed few days to get extra polish, yea lets whine about it like a bunch of spoilt babies. if youre so desperate to play it as soon as possible get derpbox version and play it right now.

[Vandelay]

Actually, this is a good sign that the original PC delay was not for some nefarious reasons. It shows they have actually been working on the game since the console release.

Disappointing that the wait is a little longer, but I'm sure it will be better for it and well worth the wait.

[DickSocrates]

Yes, defend the company that doesn't talk to the fans and delays games for reasons they have never explained and which are very unlikely to be to do with polishing anything.

You need to check your own attitude to life if you think you're being clever by taking the side of the people trying to exploite you. I bet you dance a jig when some overpriced DLC gets announced 'YAY CAN'T WAIT TO BUY WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN FREE AND WAS ANNOUNCED BEFORE THE GAME CAME OUT!!!! ME SO LUCKY!'

[Unaco]

We just don't automatically assume that, because there's a delay, it's being done for some nefarious reason. I don't think people here are defending anyone... more balancing or challenging the immediate negative reaction you've had.

[thegooseking]

Yes, defend the company that doesn't talk to the fans and delays games for reasons they have never explained and which are very unlikely to be to do with polishing anything.

You need to check your own attitude to life if you think you're being clever by taking the side of the people trying to exploite you. I bet you dance a jig when some overpriced DLC gets announced 'YAY CAN'T WAIT TO BUY WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN FREE AND WAS ANNOUNCED BEFORE THE GAME CAME OUT!!!! ME SO LUCKY!'

Yes, people who enjoy things are so naive and stupid. People who get any kind of fulfilment out of pursuing an interest are clearly doing it wrong. Being miserable and complaining about everything is the only way to live life.

Now go back under your bridge.

[airtekh]

Delays I don't mind. Poor porting I do.

Although saying that, Arkham Asylum turned out great, so hopefully the devs can do the job a second time. I'm really looking forward to this one; console gamers seem to be having a whale of a time with it.

[Phinor]

Steam US is saying 22nd Novemver, while UK(EU?) is still saying 18th. What else can they do to make this go any worse?

Don't think you are special because the EU release date is still after the US date. That is, the 25th. It's only the UK date that has yet to be moved but it's 99.9% likely just an oversight.

God I hate Friday release dates. The game never arrives on time and that means three more days of waiting. Thus the typical EU release date is six days after the US date. With story oriented games it basically means not opening gaming related sites for a week to avoid spoilers. Buying digital version you say? Not a possibility thanks to pricing, retail is 30-60% cheaper.

[Hensler]

The most botched PC release in recent memory?

This has seriously got to be one of the most hyperbolic posts I've seen on RPS. Arkham City could ship with an SNES emulator and the Atari Lynx verison Batman Returns, and it would still be a better PC release than Sword of the Stars... LAST WEEK.

And the DLC is feature-poor and expensive. I feel sad. Not even sure I want the bloody thing any more now, my hype meter peaked and then broke weeks ago.

Don't buy the DLC. Bam, problem solved and now you can still enjoy the regular game.

[Althea]

How is the DLC expensive when you get it "free" in the box?

[Hensler]

I think he's talking about the Nightwing DLC pack.

[Labbes]

I thought it was common knowledge that a delay this shortly before release doesn't "create" time to polish your game, as it has been printed on DVDs ages ago.
Although I guess with Steamworks (is it a Steamworks game?), day 1 patches are much less visible. After all, Steam downloads stuff all the time.
Then again, every ASoIaF fan waited years for the fifth book to come out, so I guess another four days, or even one or two weeks, are just fine for Arkham City as long as it's ported reasonably well*.

*(and doesn't suck, unlike Dance of Dragons)

[Hensler]

I thought it was common knowledge that a delay this shortly before release doesn't "create" time to polish your game, as it has been printed on DVDs ages ago.

The reason that's not "common knowledge" is because it's not true anymore. Average pro and repro time is down to 8-10 days for most software now, with similar gains being made on the distribution side. It's entirely possible that the game isn't even gold yet and will still make a 18/22 Nov release date.

[Unaco]

Also, with Digital Distribution, the number of physical copies that have to be produced and distributed is lower.

[Juan Carlo]

Has there been a smooth release of a PC game in 2011?

Most of the big titles this year have been a total mess:

Dead ISland (released dev build)
DA2 (buggy as shit, with a few major bugs that ruin your saves mid game and force you to loose hours of play)
From Dust (awful port and the devs lied about internet connection requirements)
Rage (didn't work on ATI cards)
RO2 (host of issues)
SOTS 2 (probably the worst of the bunch on release)

In fact, I actually think it would just be easier to list the games that did have a smooth releases (I don't know--Space Marine's release seemed pretty smooth, I guess--or I haven't heard many complaining about it anyway. Deus Ex also was pretty smooth relatively speaking).

It's like botched releases of buggy crap that isn't fully fixed until 6 months later is just the industry norm now.

[grasskit]

Has there been a smooth release of a PC game in 2011?

yea DX:HR was rather smooth i think
out of other AAA titles as far as i can remember Dead Space 2, Space Marine, Portal 2, Witcher 2 were relatively ok. there weren't many big problems whit Shogun 2 i dont think.

i would argue that worst offender in this category would be Brink actually

[Althea]

Witcher 2 wasn't actually a smooth release. I remember there being driver issues (Yay, nVidia!), problems with the DLC, Steam and patching and various other issues. It certainly wasn't a horrific release, but it wasn't that smooth.

[Labbes]

The reason that's not "common knowledge" is because it's not true anymore. Average pro and repro time is down to 8-10 days for most software now, with similar gains being made on the distribution side. It's entirely possible that the game isn't even gold yet and will still make a 18/22 Nov release date.

Interesting, I thought that maybe this would be the case (seeing, as Unaco said, that lots of copies are sold digitally, so probably less retail copies are being produced*) but I didn't know for sure .

*which would make sense, but I wonder what you have to compare a blockbuster game like Arkham City to. Battlefield 2? Mass Effect? It would certainly be interesting to have some numbers, but I doubt we'll ever get them.

Edit: Unrelated to what I wrote above, DXHR had huge issues with some ATI cards at release, and I can't play the SP campaign of Shogun 2 for more than ~7-10 turns before it inevitably stops (meaning the AI doesn't end its turn, basically).

[kyrieee]

Delays I don't mind. Poor porting I do.

Although saying that, Arkham Asylum turned out great, so hopefully the devs can do the job a second time. I'm really looking forward to this one; console gamers seem to be having a whale of a time with it.

The game was good, the port was so so
For instance you couldn't even change your mouse sensitivity