Yes, the current plan is for an August 24 release. But if they can't make that release, it will be postponed to February 11 (pretty sure its 11. Definetly February, though).

I dont see them rushing this, but i dont see them taking 10 years to make it good enough. Its a shame the stores cant just renovate themselves in anticipation of the Christmas season!

Day after my birthday.

Hey now! 24th of August is just fine, and it also happens to be my Birthday.

Brad has repeatedly said, however, that he thinks they can make it.  The only thing that would hold them up is the A.I.  I am sure, though, nailing down when the A.I. is good enough to be competitive against the developers is not an exact science.

Sadly, retail shelf space for PC games in the Southeastern U.S. is abysmal.  My guess is that, that is the case in a lot of places.  So, it is not surprising that the Christmas season space gets gobbled up.  Competing with the avalanche of titles cannot be fun either.

Poor, poor PC gaming.  That is why I rejoice every day for online distribution channels (Impulse being the greatest of those, naturally).

August vs. February seems like a huge cap.

That's where the shelf space comes into play.  The developers have stated that if they miss the August retail window, the next point at which they can get the game put on the shelves is February.  Or something similar to that.

I think it is assumed/theorized that retailers have some sort of requirements that if they are to stock a publisher's game, it cannot have previously been released via download.  If that were the case, retailers would have missed out on many months when it could have been purchased elsewhere, which, in turn, would most likely result in fewer retail sales.

Oh I agree, but you would be surprised at how many gamers that are not as attentive to development and who do not visit the number of gaming websites tat we do, still refuse to purchase on line. Of course, that is changing fairly rapidly, but the online distribution is still, relatively new.

I participated in a Beta for another game that was only going to be released via download (initially) and people on those general forums said they would not purchase if they could not pick it up in a B&M. 

I held off for a little while, not for fear of losing my game in anyway to an outlet disappearing, but I just miss the boxes and printed manuals.  Decent printed manuals have, however, pretty much died as well.

Bear in mind that those saying they feel August is not realistic are making that judgment with no data. Because as far as how ready the internal build is, Beta 1Z = "None" as far as anything to base an opinion on.

I am confident SD will do the right thing, whether that is to release or to wait.