Video Game Delays : Helping or Hurting?

Delays regarding the release dates of many games these days are all too common. Actually, they might be considered the norm. Read any forums of upcoming releases, both major and minor, and you will find users complaining of announced delays, predicting future delays, or basking in I-told-you-so moments when those predictions come to fruition. We only have to look to two recent releases to see both potential outcomes of the issues.

Red Dead Redemption had sold over 5 million units according to Take-2's June 8^thfiscal report. The game was initially set to launch in April, but ended up releasing in mid-May instead. Obviously the delay here had no impact on sales or quality. One could argue that the game had a built-in audience; yet in the end, the quality of the narrative and the game itself are certainly worthy of it's best-selling and potential game-of-the-year-candidate status. The richness of this video-game representation of the Old West with its sprawling vistas and evocative soundtrack could make it an all-time top 10 game for many players.

Alpha Protocol, the Spy-R.P.G. hybrid offering from SEGA, saw a much longer delay period, with an initial reported release month of September 2009. In October, SEGA and developer Obsidian released a statement discussing commitment to overall quality and the potential for the game to be a franchise of AAA quality. Their extended development time pushed the release to June of 2010. The game has issues. While the story is somewhat conventional in the spy genre, it is carried out well and the player's decisions carry weight within that story. Voice-acting is alsp well done. The game has major issues on the A.I., game mechanics and graphical fronts. A.I. glitches abound, textures pop-in and out and the shooting mechanics don't mesh well with the R.P.G. attributes. The game also suffers from some really uneven animation.

So, what can the gamer expect from these delays? The answer is we'll have to wait and see. For every Daikatana, there is a Half-Life 2. With recent announcements delaying both Max Payne 3 and Portal 2 this delay trend will not be stopping any time soon. In some cases the extra development time really pays off. It is easy to see that the extra time and polish helped to create a truly great product. In other cases more development time is just not going to make a bad game good. Perfecting graphics and animations will never make up for poor game-play mechanics, or a world or story that at it's core is not engaging or does not provide a new enough experience to entice a gamers interests. There is also the hype factor to think about. Rarely, if ever, can a game live up to a hype that extends for years. Let us never forget the debacle that was (or maybe still is?) Duke Nukem Forever.

Be skeptical of those delayed titles. It makes sense to do so given the unpredictably of the quality of these delayed game releases. However, when you are predicting another games demise on your favorite message board in the future, remember that as a gamer, what you really want are good games to play. Maybe that delay is adding those little extra touches here and there, that will vault it into your top 10. Who knows, maybe that delayed game will end up being your all time favorite.

Fiscal Report, Take-2. June 8 2010
Initial Impressions on Alpha Protocol, Schumacher, James. June 16, 2010
Red Dead Redemption Delayed To May, Fahey, Mike. Mar 3, 2010
SEGA Comments on Alpha Protocol Delay, Reilly, Jim. October 15, 2009
Duke Nukem Forever Wiki, Wikipedia. 2010