Spore Delayed Until Q2 2008

georgewilliamherbert writes "CNet has the news that EA is reporting a slight loss for the quarter. It expects profits for the year to fall short about ten cents, hitting a high of $1.20 as opposed to the expected $1.31. The company's share price was down 3% in extended trading yesterday. The reason for these adjustments? EA reluctantly announced that Spore has been delayed until Q2 2008. ' Redwood City, Calif.-based Electronic Arts said it taken out Spore, a game where players build organisms from scratch, from its financial projections for the fiscal year ending in March 2008, adding that the game could be delayed until fiscal 2009. In the fourth quarter ended March 31, the company said its net loss widened to $25 million, or 8 cents per share, from $16 million, or 5 cents, in the year-earlier period. Excluding items, the company earned 6 cents per share versus 14 cents in the year-earlier period.'" From a technology perspective, this thing seems at least as complicated as some Massive games; makes perfect sense it would take about as long to build this title as a game in that genre.

Comments

I sense a Black and White coming

[Blakey Rat]

Man, this game is great! Wow! ... Ok, it's delayed. Ok, another delay. Hm, ok, that preview doesn't look as impressive as it once did. Man, this game isn't really all that good.

Re:I sense a Black and White coming

[paeanblack]

Man, this game is great! Wow! ... Ok, it's delayed. Ok, another delay. Hm, ok, that preview doesn't look as impressive as it once did. Man, this game isn't really all that good.

If a game can stop being "all that good" with the passage of time, then it was never great to begin with.

Re:I sense a Black and White coming

[Chyeld]

Black and White had years of hype-machine following it, proclaiming it the best game ever with the best AI, most creative premise, best writing, etc. All the magazines and websites had previews. Then as the months dragged on and it was delayed, the hype started to dissolve. Then when people actually played the game, the hype disappeared... turns out the game was never that great to begin with. Same thing could happen to Spore. Look at how much hype "The Movies" got before it came out, and what impact has it had on the industry? Next to none.
There is a trend that you are missing in the examples you are providing, one that is far more telling as to why those games were well hyped flops and why few people fear the same about Spore.

Hint: The initials P.M. come into play.

I'm not saying Sid's games don't have their faults, and I'm especially starting to feel burned by the combo of "publish and forget" and "one million and one expansion packs!" business strategies that Maxis has adopted under EA. But publishing games while failing to deliver most of what was promised isn't shown as Sid's particular failing if you check his CV.

No quantum leap anymore

[polarbeer]

Perhaps if Will Wright stopped appearing at every single games/computers/electronics conference, he would have more time to finish the game.

Seriously, though: EA seems to think that Spore is such a unique game that it will sell no matter when it is released. I'm not sure about this. Plenty of companies are working on creating more dynamic and procedural content for games, such as the NaturalMotion software for simulating the human body. If EA/Wright keep postponing it, Spore will not feel like the quantum leap it was supposed to be.

Re:No quantum leap anymore

[elrous0]

At this point, he HAS to go to every conference. Getting back into his office would mean having to fight his way through EA investors with torches and pitchforks.

Re:phew

[Anonymous Coward]

That record goes to Duke Nukem Forever, which as its name indicates will be in development FOREVER!

Much to learn, my young padawan.

[ObiWanStevobi]

Once you leave your mother's basement and discover that females do exist in other forms than internet porn and men pretending to be women in chat rooms, you might begin to understand. Until then, AC, there is little other help I can offer you.

Re:Teasing isn't nice.

[Anonymous Coward]

Half-Life was two years late. Half-Life 2 was 18 months late. World of Warcraft was two years late. E.T. shipped on time. Any questions?