Dear Future Gamer,

Nearly all the Future Publishing mags and your site have run Aliens Vs Predator reviews up to two months ago, and PC Gamer are again taking the absolute mick by including it in both the recommended box and their top 100 when nobody can buy it yet!! It's a repeat of Quake from three years ago, and I hope there won't be a backlash against this ridiculous hype.

I know you must get this question so many times, but I'll ask anyway - have you had any indication from Electronic Arts that their June 18 release date for AvP is going to happen or has it already slipped? And if HMV are running ads with the cover artwork, and the reviews have already been done (from what I assume will be the final code) then what else is delaying the game's release?

I haven't been this cut up about a game's delay since Syndicate Wars (which thankfully was worth the wait).

Kenneth Henry

FG: Despite appearances to the contrary sometimes, the last thing we, or indeed any other Future Publishing magazine want to do is create a massive hype around a game that you can't go out and buy. In an ideal world we receive boxed copies of a game a couple of months before it is due to hit the shelves (I'm talking in print magazine terms here, FG's a little different because we're more immediate) which gives the magazine reviewers time to play the game, review it and for the magazine to be printed and land on the newsagent's shelves around the time that the game hits. Sadly there are far too many variables to make this situation a normal state of affairs, but those aside, we are sometimes guilty of getting ahead of ourselves. Each and every magazine is fighting for readers. This often means we're all in a race to bring news, previews and reviews on the biggest games first. Alien Vs Predator has become a victim of this because we know it's a big enough game to persuade people to pick up the magazine and buy it. The downside of this, as you've pointed out, is that sometimes it can lead to disappointment because readers can't actually get hold of the game. As far as we're aware, AvP is still slated for a June 18 release, so thankfully the wait's nearly over. We're sure you'll agree that the wait's been worth it though.