Civ 4 Goes Gold...

[mag827]

I assume going gold means the developer has completed the game & the manual. So that means it only takes about a week to burn the disk, print the manual, do the packaging and send it to the stores across the US. Wow... that IS quick isn't it.

 

[Goombaz]

Hooray!

 

[GangsterOctopus]

Nice!

 

[sir_e2]

As a sidenote, we recieved words from 2K Games that Civilization IV has been delayed(one week) in Europe till 4th of November.

OMG.. bad joke

 

[Undertaker798]

The events of the day Civ 4 arrives.


I open the package:
I brandish the case in the air:
I start the installation progress:
Install Complete:
Starts up Civ 4: (The suspense!)
Main menu appears:
Setup first game:
After 1 hour of playing:
After 3 hours:
Night falls:

So on and so forth...

In a few days get my mates addicted, force them to buy the game. Massive multiplayer rumble. Good days...

 

[Rayanth]

Another good bit of news on this announcement is that it says they're shipping to North American retailers on the 25th, not just U.S. Proof that EBGames compuers were wrong.

Actually it's proof that US EBGames computers are CORRECT -- it SHIPS on the 25th so we get it on the 26th, just as I've been telling everyone for the past 2-3 weeks.

 

[Punkymonkey]

Sweet, i just ordered it from amazon and i came back here only to see it has gone gold!

 

[NuclearElephant]

Woo-hoo I'm totally psyched!

 

[crazybeard]

It's only a two day wait (1 day if you pre-order with 1st class postage) people, the Americans aren't going to get hugely better at the game in that time.

Don't be too sure. Some people wiill not only be waiting for the store owner to open his shop on the 25th, but will have logged at least 40 hours of game play two days later. Of course, chances are those people are going to be asleep when the Brits first get the game

 

[senordante]

Ok now who is going to be the first to post a pic with them holding there shinny new Civ4 box next week

Does this forum have posts from when CivIII came out? I seem to remember I was one of, if not the first, to post I had Civ III in my hands.

I WILL have it in my hands the 25th! Connections have confirmed!

 

[Nesavi]

Yehaaaa!!!

 

[Fobok]

Actually it's proof that US EBGames computers are CORRECT -- it SHIPS on the 25th so we get it on the 26th, just as I've been telling everyone for the past 2-3 weeks.

I meant the Canadian one. Thus, the part about shipping to all North America in what I said. Since Canadian EBGames stores have been saying November 14th. Remember the whole 'OMG, delayed?!' thread?

*Edit as I realized I didn't actually say Canada in my earlier post.

 

[Shillen]

I've pre-ordered several games online in the past. They tend to reach my house either on the day of the release date or the day before. Also, what that other guy said is true as well. Stores will most definitely have it in their stock room on the 24th and it will be on their shelves first thing in the morning on the 25th. The good stores anyway. Don't expect that to happen at walmart. I fully expect to have my copy in my hands on the 25th, if not the 24th.

 

[crazybeard]

Nice! Now let's see when the first patch will arrive, hopefully not before the shipping date FEAR, AOE III and SS2, all are patched before the shipping date and after going gold

It's an unfortunate fact of life that game sales peak during the Holiday season, and a smaller peak around June (schools are out). Most "big games" are released in the four weeks beginning the middle of October. Release too late, and your sales are halved.

This leads to companies shipping a game that is playable but not completely "finished". The developers (and sometimes the beta-testers) continue on after it's "gone gold" to fix known problems, thus the first patch comes out about the same time the game is released.

 

[Mikeytikey]

I was really overjoyed earlier to hear civ4 had gone gold. I'm really bummed that it's been delayed in Europe though.

 

[crazybeard]

I assume going gold means the developer has completed the game & the manual. So that means it only takes about a week to burn the disk, print the manual, do the packaging and send it to the stores across the US. Wow... that IS quick isn't it.

More like a month to take the printed manuals, the completed disk, the printed boxes, etc., and turn them into mumblety-mumble copies of the game. I imagine that the actual "pressing" of the disk (turning mumblety-mumble blank discs into game disks) takes a week or less, but I know that the manulas go to the printers a minimum of six weeks before the shipping date.

It's fairly obvious to me that the game actually went gold a week or two ago and they're just *announcing* it now.

 

[Dimy]

I'm glad I pre-ordered my copy from the US, costs a bit more, but it's shipped a week earlier and full of extra's Can't wait to find it in my mailbox!!

 

[crazybeard]

Stores will most definitely have it in their stock room on the 24th and it will be on their shelves first thing in the morning on the 25th. The good stores anyway. Don't expect that to happen at walmart. I fully expect to have my copy in my hands on the 25th, if not the 24th.

Once in a great while games and books will be out on the shelves at Wal-Mart, Target, etc., the day before the release date. Having working in the stockroom at Sears, I can tell you that when the boxes arrive, they're put on the shelves, and anything on the carton is the written equivalent of "white noise".

 

[LoopyLewis]

November the 4th! Noooo!!!!!

 

[The Fjonis]

^^ Copy that.. NOOO!!!

I think I will try not to visit the forums between the US release and the European release. I don't want my experience to be spoiled.... But I'm sure that I won't be able to stay away for long..