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Spore Delayed Until Q2 2008

Posted by Zonk on from the no-terraforming-until-next-year-go-home dept.

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.

25 of 107 comments (clear)

  1. The real reason... by AmIAnAi · · Score: 5, Funny

    The main Spore code is on schedule and almost complete, its just that they wanted to include Duke Nukem Forever as a side mission.

    --
    Any sufficiently advanced bug is indistinguishable from a feature.
    1. Re:The real reason... by Shark · · Score: 3, Funny

      Nah, they're too busy *playing* it internally and pretending to be working.

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      Mind the frickin' laser...
    2. Re:The real reason... by sammy+baby · · Score: 2, Funny

      Unfortunately for the developers, they didn't actually develop the DNF side-mission code themselves - they're letting it evolve directly within the game. Unfortunately, the element of chance involved means that they'll have to play it an infinite number of times before DNF-evolution appears in the game...

    3. Re:The real reason... by rishistar · · Score: 3, Funny

      I think they just want to see how many years they can keep winning Games Critics Awards Best Original Game at E3.

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      Professor Karmadillo Songs of Science
  2. I sense a Black and White coming by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

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    Comment of the year
    1. Re:I sense a Black and White coming by paeanblack · · Score: 5, Insightful

      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.

    2. Re:I sense a Black and White coming by Chyeld · · Score: 2, Insightful

      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.
  3. Say it ain't so... by illeism · · Score: 3, Funny

    By the time this comes out it will have become a full-fledged fern...
    Also - insert DNF joke

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    Help test the /. effect at my min
    1. Re:Say it ain't so... by wolfemi1 · · Score: 4, Funny

      By the time this comes out it will have become a full-fledged fern...

      Actually, it will come out as a pot of petunias, whose final thought will be "Oh no, not again."

  4. Mac Support by vertigoCiel · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hopefully this extra time will allow them to release Spore on more than just the PC at launch. Will Wright has said he wants to port this game to as many platforms as possible, and I'm praying for a simultaneous OS X release.

    1. Re:Mac Support by Kimos · · Score: 4, Funny

      It's a sad state of affairs when hoping for a Mac release of a game that's a year and a half away gets you modded +5 Funny.

  5. I'm on to you, EA! by zyl0x · · Score: 5, Funny

    Will Wright is dead. They're just delaying the game because they don't want to upset anyone. It's like Weekend At Bernie's, but not funny anymore.

    ..I guess that makes it more like Weekend At Bernie's 2.

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    Blerg.
    1. Re:I'm on to you, EA! by elrous0 · · Score: 2, Funny

      I *KNEW* he smelled slightly worse than normal at the last developers' conference! That explains it!

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      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    2. Re:I'm on to you, EA! by Odin's+Raven · · Score: 4, Funny

      Will Wright is dead. They're just delaying the game because they don't want to upset anyone.

      I thought the delay was due to them using the game to re-evolve a replacement Will Wright. Last I'd heard they've achieved a coder with three brains and six eyes, but only one foot and no hands. They've been trying to teach it to code by hopping up and down on a large keyboard, but it's not working out very well. (I believe they've nicknamed the creature "Won't Write".)

      --
      A marriage is always made up of two people who are prepared to swear that only the other one snores.
  6. what really happened... by CJSlim2001 · · Score: 4, Funny

    is the programmers got a DMCA take down notice for code within the game. Seem that someone emailed the MPAA, letting them know that all species in Spore are created in hex. Guess they took offense to highly aggressive baboons and HD-DVD sharing 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0.

  7. No quantum leap anymore by polarbeer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

    1. Re:No quantum leap anymore by elrous0 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      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.

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      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  8. phew by ObiWanStevobi · · Score: 3, Funny
    I was wondering how I was going to get the wife to allow another computer purchase this year. It's much more likely that I can convince her in Q2 2008.

    BTW, what is the record on longest development time for a game? In Q2 08, Spore will be just shy of a decade. IMO, anything Will Wright has spent nearly a decade on has to be truly awesome.

  9. Re:Game or Metagame by denominateur · · Score: 3, Informative

    That has actually been done and is called GameTycoon http://www.gametycoon.de/ (site is in german) A review can be found here: http://www.strategyinformer.com/pc/gametycoon/revi ew.html

  10. Good by ALeavitt · · Score: 2, Informative

    They can delay the game as long as they want. I have always had good experiences with Wil Wright games, and I trust that when Spore finally does release it will be as polished and tested as possible. They're delaying it in order to release the best game possible. If they didn't, we'd be complaining about an incomplete, buggy game, and we would finally see a patch to instate full functionality... oh, around Q2 2008. Either that, or they're all just playing Spore so much that they can't get any work done.

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    This sig has been stolen. Return it to its original user for a reward.
  11. Re:I don't get the hype. by TheThiefMaster · · Score: 2, Informative

    It's been shown that you can shape the main body of your creature however you want, only the mouth, feet, hands, etc. are pre-made pieces, and you can place them wherever you like. And there's 30+ of each to choose from, not to mention the whole automatic animation and texturing system.

    If you don't believe me just go look on youtube for the videos from the various E3 and GDC demos.

  12. Re:I don't get the hype. by MeanderingMind · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I'm guessing they're having trouble with the following things.

    1. Inappropriate content management. How are they going to filter for crass people who make walking embodiments of MA material?

    2. Transitions. Moving from an amoeba to a fish isn't a boolean moment. If you watch the videos, you see them constantly skip the transitions and go from clearly an amoeboid to clearly a sea dweller to clearly a tribal society etc. Transitioning is obviously difficult to get right.

    3. Choices. There's a huge amount of fervor and expectation centered around this game, and I think they want to avoid "obvious" criticisms. Things such as "Why can't I have a creature with no legs?" "Can my creature have two brains?" "Why does my civilization have to be on land?"

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    Thunderclone: ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE! ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE!
  13. Much to learn, my young padawan. by ObiWanStevobi · · Score: 2, Insightful

    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.

  14. Teasing isn't nice. by sherriw · · Score: 2

    At what point do we start demanding that game companies keep their mouths shut about games until they are X % done? Like say 95%. Or Beta or something. I've been disappointed by delays in this game one too many times. That's it Spore, you're off my "Games to Watch For" list.

    So sad.

  15. Re:I don't get the hype. by flargleblarg · · Score: 2, Funny

    > Then again, I have fond memories of Mega Lo Mania, the early days of
    > Civ, Risk and what not to at least retain some modicum of hope for Spore.
    > I mean, YOU GET TO OBLITERATE PLANETS! :P

    The ability to obliterate a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force.