Insomniac not backing down from crowded pre-holiday release

by Griffin McElroy on Jul 21st 2009 6:40PM

If we were game developers, we'd be appropriately terrified of dropping our precious labors of love into the pre-holiday retail arena -- a battlefield filled with two-ton gorillas like Assassin's Creed 2 and Modern Warfare 2. Still, Insomniac Games hasn't thought twice about the late 2009 release date of Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time -- nearly all of the company's titles hit store shelves in late fall, after all.

In an interview with GamesIndustry, Insomniac director of marketing and communications Ryan Schneider explained the company has "had a lot of success" dropping its games around November. He went on to declare, "The Holiday season is still a great time to release a title." You know what else is a great time to release a title? Right now. The dust on our gaming consoles has actually started to collect its own dust.

Source

Tags: a-crack-in-time, holiday, insomniac, q4, ratchet-and-clank, ratchet-and-clank-future-a-crack-in-time, release-date

Reader Comments (65)

Don't worry Insomniac, I'll buy your game day of release. I'll pre-order that Moon package too =D

I'll be getting it too!

MW2 will be awesome, maybe even goty awesome depending on uncharted.

but none of that will take away from the fact that R&C will be a good time.

it should do a lil worse than banjo.

paul, who in their right mind would question naughty dog and uncharted???

R&C is insanely popular and the market for the games are totally different. There is some overlap(like me, I love COD4 and R&C) but for the most part i dont think its going to affect game sales.

Both games have longevity and even if initial sales are split among the two they will still do very well.

COD:MW2 is obviously going to skull f*** everything in sales anyways.

This holiday season will be packed with M-rated games, and at least this one will be the best family game coming out these holidays.

Brave Souls...

Ehh not really...i have a feeling Insomniac knows how amazing this game will be to the point that they have a chance to stand up to MW2, and if thats the case this game will be spectacular.

}: /

Wow sony boy. I'm surprised you are not going, "YEAH INSOMNIAC! YAY SONY! PS3 IS A GIFT FROM GOD! 11lolroflcopter!!bam there it is"

It's not about being brave. Ratchet and Clank is more family friendly and is a beloved franchise since the PS2 era. I'm definitely picking it up this December and so will others. It's a perfect gift Christmas gift for kids, teenagers, and adults as well.

at least i try be mature mgsrocks1 :P.

I didn't know that R&C was THAT popular.

This will most likely be one of my x-mas games for sure if not a day 1 buy.

Of all the game sI plan to get this fall, R & C thrills me the most. I've played since the original came out, and ToD was the reason I got a PS3. Sure wish they'd put trophies in, I would have played through it again.

amen to that. i played through it once but without trophies, i didnt bother to go through again and fully upgrade the weapons and other stuff like that.

Well there are different markets for both, the younger crowds unable to buy MW2 or AC2 will have the opportunity to buy R&C

No matter when Rachet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time releases, I'll be getting it on day one, I loved the Quark message they had when you're pre order came in when Tools of Destruction came out

I keep my consoles in an alternate dimension where there is no dust.

"The dust on our gaming consoles has actually started to collect its own dust."
hey Joystiq, you guys ever consider getting a PSP? it's like dust you can play OUTSIDE!

If you're missing something to play, you simply aren't trying hard enough.

Though it does seem to come all at once, doesn't it? KoFXII, Wii Sports Resort, Little King's Story, and MvC2.

I'm glad they're not backing away and delaying it until the dust settles from the other games releasing. Everyone knows this game is bound to be great, so I don't think they have much to run from. I'll definitely support them and this is going to be a sure-buy for me, just from Insomniac's previous record.

WRONG!

Sorry Insomniac, I mean, your games are cool, but don't deny the fact that you'll probably get slaughtered by AC 2 and MW2.

ima have to disagree with you shadow, R&C is a "two ton gorrila" all its own, i doubt they will have any trouble filling their sales quota regardless of mw2 and ac2

Keep in mind that R&C is a PS3 exclusive, and AC2 and MW2 are both multiplatform.

But, now that I think about it, you have a point. R&C are very innovative games that are appealing. So yeah, although I highly doubt it will surpass AC2 and MW2, it'll probably do well.

Excuse my comment above.

R&C Future is one of the only E-rated games being released this fall, which might help sales.

Yeah, it does stand pretty much alone in that category with NSMBWii, and the difference of platforms (and the fact that NSMBWii is 2D), should shield it from significant damage.

Actually I think it will be E10+ since that what most R&C games has been the ratings of the last two future games

I find myself constantly trying to figure out acronyms in these comments.

New Super Mario Brothers Wii

Both R&C and NSMB Wii are on my list of game to buy. I love R&C and really enjoyed NSMB on the DS. They should both make for a nice change of pace from other games I'll be purchasing like MW2, Halo, and AC2.

These guys have been releasing a game every year since Resistance 1

06 R1
07 R&C
08 R2
09 R&C
10 R3???/

God I hope not, resistance is a pretty awful series. I hope they make something new next year.

@tmac

Resistance has potential. First game had a great single player and a decent multiplayer, especially for a new franchise created by a developer that has never done an FPS. Resistance 2 had a poor single player but an amazing multiplayer. You know what they say, third time's the charm.

What are the weapons like?

These guys have been releasing a game every year since Resistance 1 Ratchet and Clank 1

2002 Ratchet & Clank
2003 Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando
2004 Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
2005 Ratchet: Deadlocked
2006 Resistance: Fall of Man
2007 Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
2008 Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty AND Resistance 2
2009 Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time

I actually like Resistance. I played through the first one 4 or 5 times because of co-op alone. I thought R2 was a bit of a let down because it lacked true co-op, but while the single player started off a bit slow, it finished strong. Resistance is far better than crap like Army of Two that sold millions for whatever reason.

Having said that though, I would like to see Insomniac do something else. We have no shortage of shooters and I think their talent would be better applied to a different genre.

@mgsrocks1
Resistance wasn't their first FPS. That was Disruptor on the PSone, which was also their first game ever.

I could not figure out the love with Resistance. I could never get into that game in the slightest, I found even random quick throw-up games like Area 51 more fun.

No reason for them to worry. As previously stated, its the only standout E-rated game on PS3 at least, so it won't clash significantly with anything else.

Plus this year isn't nearly as bad as last year, whether the companies are delaying games for their own reasons, or truly are scared of MW2, the rush has been delayed somewhat

I lol'd at the thought of Assassin's Creed 2 coming anywhere near Modern Warfare 2 in sales.

Sure it's probably gonna be a good game, but after the repetitive taste the first one left in some people's mouth, they might think this one will be the same.

MW2 really has no competition this year.

yeah I am not thinking about AC2 at all after the first one. Although I agree with you that nothing will come close to MW2 in sales, I do think they are gonna have some stiff competition with uncharted as far as fun factor goes.

AC 1 has sold over 8 million copies to date. Sure it's not MW numbers, but it's not a damn shooter and it was a new IP. I expect at least similar numbers for AC 2

NSMBWii will give MW2 a run for its money, and probably beat it in the long run. Wii Sports Resort will do the same.

@Khan: Makes sense. The Wii Market is just insane at how fast games sell. MW2 and NSMBWii might be the only games I get this year. (Possibly Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 not sure yet)

i doubt that Khan. If only because MW2 is on PC, PS3, AND Xbox. It sold what, 5 million on xbox alone? Im pretty sure it can beat NSMBW just through sheer availability

I'm basing this on the similar heavyweight matchup of Mario Kart Wii vs GTAIV. The latter had a heavy victory right out of the gate, and had broader availability, but the former boasted much, much stronger Japanese numbers, and selled consistently for a long time

The same scenario should repeat here, unless Nintendo fails drastically to excite the market

I'll buy Uncharted 2 and R@C future: a crack in time this holiday season. those other games, i will get l8r.

so many good games coming out, this one will be low on my list to pick up but still on my list. Below AC2, MW2, UAT, and GH5.

I hope they revisit the style of Deadlocked some time.
I really loved that game, even if it wasn't really a R&C title.

are you serious? Deadlocked was the worst one. It was just arena battles with absolutely none of the humor, story or charm of the others

I like Deadlocked myself. I didn't think it was the best or anything, but I didn't dislike it either. And it was more than just pure arena battles, it had quite a bit of platforming involved with traveling from arena to arena. In fact, even though people like to claim it didn't have any platforming, I'd argue that it had the most challenging of any of the games. Some of those sections with all the swinging blades, flame throwers and moving platforms were tough.

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Insomniac not backing down from crowded pre-holiday release

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