The number of delays announced over the past few weeks. So much so that it feels like developers and publishers are moving Christmas 2009 into 2010.
Are retailers asking for less this holiday season? That’s what one podcast was speculating. Or perhaps everyone is afraid of Halo 3: ODST and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Whatever the case may be, holiday 2009 has slimmed down considerably, but that doesn’t mean there’s a shortage of quality titles to look for.
Here’s a little list I whipped up which hopefully clarifies the current holiday 2009 picture a little better.
(more…)
Announcements
- Ubisoft Delays Splinter Cell: Conviction, Red Steel 2 & More (via Edge-Online)
- Splinter Cell: Conviction (360, PC) & Red Steel 2 (Wii) delayed to Q1 2010
- I Am Alive & Ghost Recon 4 delayed to sometime after April 1, 2010
- Forza MotorSport 3 Confirmed for October 27, 2009 (via 1UP)
- Fat Princess Priced & Dated (via PlayStation.Blog)
(more…)
Update: Add Mafia II, Red Dead Redemption and Max Payne III to the list of delayed games for TakeTwo.
It seems like publishers and developers like to start the week off with disappointing news.
Such as game delays.
TakeTwo’s BioShock 2 was pushed to 2010 which starts November 2009, but don’t expect it this year. It’s definitely a 2010 title. And here’s why:
“.. it was essential to invest the additional time to ensure that this title will deliver what its fans expect and deserve.”
Unlike BioShock 2, Sony’s Heavy Rain was delayed until 2010 for strategic purposes.
“Most publishers today realise that it’s not ideal to release a new IP or a new genre just before Christmas. It’s a very crowded place to be, and certain games need more space to live their life.”
The last piece of game delay news involves StarCraft II. Despite not having an official release date, analysts are expecting Blizzard’s real-time strategy game to be a 2010 title as well. I’m not surprised.
Bethesda tops off today’s delay news with a delay of Fallout 3 downloadable content for the PlayStation 3 which was pushed into September 2009.
Two news articles caught my eye this morning; both StarCraft II related.
The first stated that Blizzard beloved RTS was held up for a year as staff was shifted to the World of Warcraft cash cow.
“One of the reasons that StarCraft II had some delays very early on in development is because a fair amount of the design team went onto World of Warcraft for a year to really help finish that game off,”
They even had a playable build of StarCraft II’s multiplayer for balancing purposes since 2005-2006!
(more…)
Announcements
- GTAIV: The Ballad of Gay Tony DLC Coming This Fall (via PR)
- Will play as Luis Lopez, part-time hoodlum and full-time assistant to legendary nightclub manager Tony Prince aka “Gay Tony”
- Retail disc of both “The Lost and Damned” and “The Ballad of Gay Tony” will be made available for $39.99 — will not require GTAIV to play
- Cost 1600 MS Points
- Exclusive to Xbox 360
- Windows Vista Service Pack 2 is now available
- Notable changes can be found here.
- Raiden IV is Coming to North American Xbox 360s (via 1UP)
- BioShock 2 Coming November 2 (via Examiner)
- Zune HD is Official; Zune Marketplace Coming to Xbox Live! (via Engadget)
(more…)
Welcome to the first edition of “FYI Tuesdays”. If you haven’t noticed, Tuesday is the day to announce and release things. Why have dinky little posts for each one when I can wrap it all up in one post. I don’t know how prevalent this will be, but let’s just wait and see.
Mass Effect 2 & Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Coming Early 2010
During a conference call with EA”s CEO, John Rictiello, it was revealed that both Mass Effect 2 and Bad Company 2 are in the works and scheduled for fiscal Q4 2009 — which means early 2010. He also revealed that these games will be multiplatform, but wouldn’t confirm whether or not Mass Effect 2 will come to PS3 or not. Only Xbox 360 and PC versions confirmed which is technically multiplaform.
(more…)
Update: It’s being delayed for just a week.
LittleBigPlanet was delayed after complaints were received concerning unsavory Quran lyrics were discovered in one of the game’s licensed song. In a post “Manchester Cathedral in Resistance” world, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe decided it was best to recall all the discs and postpone the game’s launch.
It’s a bummer and Media Molecule has said it will address the issue via a patch to those lucky folks who’ve already have their copy. I’m unphased by this, but I know a few you out there who’re quite upset that you don’t get to play with your Sackboys sooner.
