News L4D2 UK retail release delayed by high demand

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/2009/11/18/l4d2-uk-retail-release-delayed-by-high-dema/1

Valve has admitted problems with the UK launch of Left 4 Dead 2.

 

I was affected by this last night, I was sat there thinking about buying it then I noticed it said it wouldn't be available until the 20th so I didn't buy it.

 

Yeah i did the same thing, bought it from HMV instead so it'll probably arrive at on Friday when I can unlock it.

 

I'm so fed up of publishers pandering to the dying retail chains. Activision just recently gave stores a 2 day head start against Steam for the release of Modern Warfare 2.

Digital distribution has its pros and cons. A con being you pay roughly the same price but don't get a physical disk (some people really dislike that) or the ability to resell. To counter that is the pro of not having to worry about finding a store with your favourite game in stock during a lunchbreak.

As much as I dislike the PSPgo, you have to give Sony some serious respect for being the major player to fire the first bullet into the head of retail stores.

 

People should chill out. Its only 2 days and Im sure you can find something else to do

 

Yeah, u can always cancel your order and buy the game from store, at least then u have a choice to get the baseball bat with Game's offering, (wooo) Gimme a chain saw thats where the new melee weapons are at....

 

TBH, Valve are infallable. They are a completely gamer-orientated company and even though decisions like the TF2 hat ban (or this delay) mean people hold short-term rages against Valve, we all know deep down we love those guys - especially with the frequency and quality of updates they give each of their games. I think the stuff they produce is exceptional value for the price, and since for every game there is a massive modding community, you can't get bored of their work. I'll probably buy L4D2 when I get paid.

 

Aye, I bought a 4-pack last night to join in with some buddies, but it doesn't unlock until Friday.

No big deal, I'm just happy to be giving money to a decent developer rather than Infinity Ward, who set the bar so high with their ass-hattery, that little things like l4d2 being basically an expansion pack, and this small delay, ... they barely register

 

Glad I pre-ordered it.

 

Here, here!

I totally agree.

All the ragers are just ragers in general. Never satisfied with anything.

Also, there is another advantage to having the retail disk rather than just the digi-download; minutes to install rather than days to download the content first.

I only have a 1 meg connection that means about the best part of a whole day just to get the content if I do it in a single sitting, and in most cases I don't as I use my connection all the time.

Seeing as launch day was mid-week, most gamers (with a life) will only play it properly at the weekend anyway.

I have to admit though, there's something nice about having something physical to associate with the digital content, and stack it on the shelf

 

It's well worth the wait.

 

If L4D2 was exactly the same as L4D1, then everyone would agree that it's a problem. If the original game is awesome, then the sequel would have to be just as awesome has to be true too (since they are the same). So the argument of "L4D2 is a great game" on it's own really doesn't help. Obviously it's not so cut and dry as that rather obvious example, but it does kind of illustrate the point.

It becomes an issue you see with sports games. Do you review Madden 2010 completely on it's own, or do you hold it up to 2009? If 2010 is fantastic, but only incrementally better then 2009, should that factor in? If you are comming in brand new, then no, If 2010 is an awesome game, that's great. But if you already bought 2009, the value proposition is less about (Entire game divided by $60) and more like (Small changes / $60).

The issue is further made difficult by the fact that game reviewers/media often aren't in the same position that end users are when considering game purchases. Even if they go out and buy L4D2 with their own money, they often get many games given to them for free, so the significance of each purchase to them isn't likely the same as to an end consumer who must pay for everything they play. So it's hard to really get that "angle" when reading media reviews.

All that means that I don't think we can just say "It's Valve, they get a free pass". It doesn't mean a boycott is also warranted. But when a game comes out a single year after the original, and the gameplay is very similar, I don't think an evaluation in terms "value proposition" is unwarranted.

 

I cant wait.

Ignoring dem haters.

 

You could argue that L4D2 is what L4D1 should have been ... BUT ... L4D2 is, thankfully, fantastic, the new special infected and better level design makes a much better game ... the BUT comes in when you remember back at how much fun you had on L4D1 and how that game gave you a years worth of fun. There are so few games that can manage that value for money, and that is where Valve won us over.

L4D2 is a natural progression and I'm pretty sure I'll get another years worth of value-for-money gaming.

Bargain!