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When, oh when

© Dan Caines

I know this sounds dull but one of the things I get most questions about is the thorny issue of release dates. What seems to frustrate gamers the most is when they cannot get their hands on the game they want when they were told they could. (Actually, what annoys me more is when you do get the game and then it turns out to be bugged to hell, but never mind!). To that end I promised (yes, this is for you Jane!) to write a simple little piece examining future release dates of the biggest games and then suggesting whether I think they will be on time or not. Kind of a release date directory. Well, here goes:

- Command & Conquer Yuri's Revenge (PC)Suggested Release Date: 10/15/2001. WILL SHIP ON TIME. It's an add-on pack, which always helps,and from what we have seen it looks pretty much all there. May not add that much, though...

- Aliens Versus Predator 2 (PC)Suggested Release Date: 10/23/2001. If you had asked me to predict a release date I would have pushed this back at least a couple of months. It didn't really look all there at last glance, but if they have given it this firm and this soon a date then they must be pretty confident (Especially given their pre-order push).

- Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven (PC) Suggested Release Date: 10/29/2001. Looking great. Could well make the date if the developers limit their scope: however, if they want to put in all the frills they were talking about it could take a little longer. Still, I would put this in as a near certainty: the publisher will put its foot down.

- Die Hard: Nakatomi Plaza (PC) Suggested Release Date: 10/30/2001. Will probably be on time but looks like it is being rushed pretty badly. Will still be pretty decent Soldier-of-Fortuneish action fare but I would not think it would be mould-breaking.

- Buffy the Vampire Slayer (PC)Suggested Release Date: Cancelled. Dead, gone and kaput. The Collective have given up their efforts on this game (yup, all we needed was another sub-standard PC fighting game. Thanks for pulling the plug guys).

- Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds (PC)Suggested Release Date: 11/12/2001. Looking pretty good, unlike the game which looks like the two-year old Age of Empires rip-off it is.

- Comanche 4 (PC)Suggested Release Date: Q4 2001 (poss. November). Looking absolutely great at ECTS, with a relatively small amount of stuff to go in. This will be a cracker, and I will have an in-depth look at it soon. Great.

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