Tag Archives: delay

Looks like the FEAR franchise’s many years of abusing the timestream have finally caught up with it, causing FEAR 3′s development to get stuck in slow-mo as well.

Translation: delay.

More »

When Microsoft proudly proclaimed that Fable III on PC was launching day-and-date with its console counterpart, did you think the whole thing just sounded too good to be true?

Then congratulations! You were right. That thunking sound? Yes, that’s your victory. You’ll find it to be quite hollow.

More »

SOCOM fans, are you sitting down? Oh, you say you’re sitting because you’re playing SOCOM 3 in rabid, feverish anticipation of SOCOM 4′s upcoming release?

Hoo boy. This isn’t going to be easy.

More »

You know what’d be really great? If this was an April Fools joke.

It isn’t.

More »

Is that a squad of Navy Seals in your pocket, or are you just happy to see us? Oh, you say SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo 3 on the PSP’s been delayed until January 12, 2010? Hm. Well, this is awkward.

“It’s looking and playing great…some high value visual assets have only recently been made available to global marketing and we have decided to move the release and allow time to get the word out to everyone,” said senior producer Mark Rogers on the PlayStation Blog.

“I understand that this move is disappointing to some in the community, however as a result, you will be seeing a lot more of SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo 3 in the following weeks! – stay tuned.”

So that’s that.

If you thought there was some big conspiracy behind the recently announced delays of Splinter Cell: Conviction and Red Steel 2, prepare to be disappointed. Turns out, Ubisoft just thought the two games could use a bit more time in the powder room.

“The changes on Splinter Cell and Red Steel – it’s just a question of polish. The team was asking that they couldn’t be with the level of quality on all the maps and all the game for the end of the year, so they had asked for more time to be able to come with a better product, for both of those games,” Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said during a recent earnings call.

The quality of the games is there for what you’ve been able to see at E3, but we were not able to have that same quality on the full game of those two products,” he added.

He also revealed that, by missing the chance to stuff gamers’ stockings this holiday season, Splinter Cell and Red Steel will probably sell “around a million units” fewer in their respective first months. Madness? Not quite. “We really think with the level of quality that we’ll be able to obtain with the time we give them we will have a long shelf life for those products,” he explained.

Thanks, Joystiq.

While BioShock 2′s delay into fiscal 2010 quite rightly dominated last night’s confessional press release and subsequent conference call from Take-Two, you may not have noticed that it wasn’t the only big game to take a tumble.

Max Payne 3 has also been pushed into the next financial year, having been originally planned for a “winter” 2009 release.

Said CEO Ben Feder:

“The decision to shift a release date is never an easy one, especially with a product as highly anticipated as BioShock 2. We felt that it was essential to invest the additional time to ensure that this title will deliver what its fans expect and deserve.

“As a result, we will now be launching sequels to several of our strongest franchises – including BioShock 2, Mafia II, Max Payne 3 and Red Dead Redemption – during the next fiscal year. These titles will anchor our lineup for fiscal 2010, and along with other products planned for next year, provide a platform for enhanced financial performance in what we hope will be an improved retail environment.”

Whoops.

Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick, during today’s Take-Two conference call, noted that BioShock 2′s delay can’t be blamed on any single platform.

“[The delay is] not related to any specific platform or any specific element of it. I would say generally there are some development issues.”

The game’s been pushed into the first half of 2010, much to gamers’ dismay.

During today’s Take-Two conference call discussing the delay of BioShock 2, Take-Two’s Ben Feder and Strauss Zelnick said the move was taken due to Take-Two’s “emphasis on quality.”

“We’re paying the price for that emphasis with today’s delay,” they added.

Even so, Take-Two ensured that it continues to focus on quality, in spite of a potential loss of money.

“There’s no shortage of incentive for everyone who’s part of Take-Two to deliver quality, timely results.”

So there you have it.

Update: During today’s Take-Two conference call, the publisher clarified BioShock 2′s new release date slightly, saying that the game will launch within the first half of 2010.

BioShock 2, originally scheduled for an early November release, has been delayed. As a result, Take-Two has announced that it’s significantly reducing its fiscal guidance.

Now floating in the nebulous purgatory of Take-Two’s fiscal 2010, a concrete release date for BioShock 2 has not been set. Fiscal 2010 begins in November, though, so the delay’s probably nothing to sneeze at.

“We recognize that our revised outlook for the balance of fiscal year 2009, due to both internal and external factors, is a disappointment. That said, we concluded that moving the release of BioShock 2 into fiscal year 2010 was the right decision for the product. We believe the result will be a more compelling consumer experience and a better performing product in the marketplace,” said Strauss Zelnick, Chairman of Take-Two.

See the full press release after the break.

More »

South African gamers looking forward to playing Killzone 2 on February 27 with the rest of us will have to wait just a bit longer.

Now, before you go off yelling “dat suig!” — it’s not that much of a delay. It’s only been pushed back seven days, so come March 6 you’ll get to hold a shiny, new PS3 shooter in your hands.

No reason for the slip’s been given, according to Lazygamer, but a delay is a delay no matter how small.

Roxas, Axel, and the rest of the sisterhood of the traveling hoods are stuck in traffic, according to GoNintendo.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days will now arrive on the Nintendo DS “sometime” during spring 2009 – as opposed to its previous February 2009 date. But whatever; we always hated February anyway.

Click through the link for a few new – if somewhat minor – details about the newly delayed title.

By Nathan Grayson

Bit of quick confusion here. Ubisoft sent out a release schedule earlier this afternoon listing combat flight sim Tom Clancy’s HAWX as a Q1 release. Eurogamer reported this as a slip – the date was listed in red on the schedule, meaning it had been amended – posting a story saying the game wouldn’t be seen before April next year, or the beginning of Ubi’s fiscal first quarter.

Ubi got it wrong, basically. A rep just did a mass mail to apologise for the “a lot of confusion in regards of the release date of HAWX.

“This is to confirm that the game is planned for released on calendar Q1.”

Step down to DEFCON 3, open up the mountain, etc.

This 1UP report contains a quote from Microsoft admitting that not all those who pre-ordered Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts received their code to get the original Banjo from XBLA, as well as a note saying the game’s release has now been delayed until December 3.

“We are aware that some consumers who preordered Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts have not received their redeem code for Banjo-Kazooie on Xbox Live Arcade,” said the firm in a statement.

“We are currently investigating the scope of this situation, but we believe it represents a small fraction of the total number of preorder customers. We encourage anyone who preordered Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and did not receive a redeem code to follow up directly with your retailer’s customer service team for resolution.”

Despite the delay, pre-orderers will still get the XBLA game a week earlier than everyone else, Microsoft’s assured.

Japan still has Sonic bound-and-gagged tightest, but North America’s now officially detaining the blue hedgehog-man as well. Probably as some kind of symbolic gesture.

According to IGN, Sonic Unleashed’s PlayStation 2 and Wii iterations will arrive on schedule, but after that, the scrambling begins. First up, the game isn’t hitting North American Xbox 360s until November 24 – a week after its scheduled release. The PS3, meanwhile, won’t be downing its helping of hedgehog until an unspecified date in December.

Bad signs? Probably. But we still hold out hope that the game’s been delayed because it’s too awesome, and Sega’s feeling merciful.

By Nathan Grayson

Well this is strange. According to a report by Siliconera, Sonic’s latest adventure won’t be making a pit stop in Japan until spring of 2009. However, the game’s release date remains unaffected in other territories.

And that’d be fine – if not for one perplexing detail. Apparently, Sega is slowing Sonic’s Japanese release in order to improve the game’s quality. But unless Sega unleashes a patch when the blue blur finally collides with the land of the rising sun, it appears that everyone else will miss out on the game’s elongated spruce-up. After all, the game arrives next week in North America and soon after elsewhere.

We just wonder what kind of “improvements” Sega feels shouldn’t migrate out of Japan. The eyes, maybe? Or other, er, regions?

By Nathan Grayson

Atari president Phil Harrison has told GI that Sony took “absolutely the decision” in recalling LittleBigPlanet after the company withdrew the game from retail due to complaints about a song that contained two sentences from the Qur’an featured on the disc.

“I wasn’t privy to all of the discussions and debate that went on within Sony, but I know they would have thought very deeply about it, and at the highest level of the company,” he explained.

“And on reflection I think it was absolutely the right thing to do, because LittleBigPlanet set out from day one to be a game for the entire world – and if there was anything that accidentally detracted from that vision and made the game not fun for the entire world, then the game would have fundamentally failed in its mission.

“So I think Sony took absolutely the right decision – painful though it was, and frustrating though it might be for gamers who were looking forward to it,” he went on.

“It only seems to have heightened the anticipation, so I think it’ll end up being a win, and full credit to Media Molecule for turning around a fix as quickly as they did.”

More through the link.

By Mike Bowden

Ubisoft’s finally made an official announcement on Splinter Cell: Conviction, saying Sam Fisher’s latest won’t be with us until the company’s 2009-2010 fiscal year.

The means no one’s going to see the game until somewhere between April 1, 2009 and March 30, 2010.

Conviction was previously down for a Q1 2009 release.

Talking with videogaming247.com, a Microsoft spokesman said that the company’s stance on the release-timing of Grand Theft Auto IV’s exclusive DLC remains unchanged.

We were told in an email this morning, “Comment from us stays at: ‘The first of the Xbox 360 exclusive “Grand Theft Auto IV” episodes will be available beginning fall 2008.’”

The statement arrives in wake of Take-Two’s announcement last night that the content will be delayed until fiscal Q1 2009.

Microsoft is unfazed, clearly. Left hand: meet right hand.

By Mike Bowden

How hard can it be? Very, apparently. Despite saying the Veteran Pack DLC for Army of Two would be available today, this IGN piece says various bits of it are going to be delayed in various territories. For ease:

North America
PlayStation 3 – Delayed
Xbox 360 – On time

Europe
PlayStation 3 – On time
Xbox 360 – Delayed

Why? We’ll probably never know. We’ll let you know when EA’s faced its demons and released everything as it should.