StarDestroyer.Net BBS

Spore has been pushed into fiscal 2009. We hazard a guess as to why

By Ben Kuchera | Published: June 20, 2007 - 10:03AM CT



When I saw Spore for myself at last year's E3 I knew we were in for something special. Unfortunately the game has suffered delay after delay, and then this month's Game Informer hit and told us the game was "delayed indefinitely." I always thought that meant the game was canceled? Kotaku contacted EA, who stated the game had "slipped out of fiscal 08 and into fiscal 09." This is not good news for gamers hoping to get their Spore fix in the near future. Or even within a year. So what's going on? We hazard three guesses.

The game will ship on every platform

This is EA, and Spore could be the next Sims if it takes off. Hell, there is an entire group at EA that is dedicated to the business of the Sims; EA knows how maximize a popular franchise. So it's possible they're holding off on releasing the game until they have the 360, PS3, DS, PSP, PS2, Zune, mobile phone, and iPod versions of the game ready to go. And that would certainly take time.

Things aren't working, and it will take a very long time to fix them

When you see a live demo, it's pretty much the same demo everyone sees. It may look like the whole thing is off the cuff, but in reality you're seeing a carefully scripted show. It's possible giant chunks of the game are missing, and the illusion of the title being near completion is mostly smoke and mirrors. With a game this open-ended, it's possible the development team is running into a slew of unforeseen problems.

EA has something big planned for distribution

EA has already updated EA Link once, but it doesn't have the juice of more popular distribution services like Steam or even Xbox Live. It's possible that EA is sitting on the game in order to roll it out with something big in fiscal 2009. EA has a lot of large titles, but nothing approaching the pull that Spore has among both console and PC gamers. It's a huge game from a huge name, and if EA is hoping to piggy-back a big announcement using the buzz of the game's release, it could be a good business decision to let the game sit for a while.

Of course, this is all speculation, and it all feels pretty far-fetched to me. Still, there has to be some reason, and these guesses are as good as anything else. What do you guys think?

Rightous Fist Of Heaven wrote:Hellfire and damnation, it was bad enough that first it got delayed to next year but that now its delayed even further? Fuckin hell.

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:

Rightous Fist Of Heaven wrote:Hellfire and damnation, it was bad enough that first it got delayed to next year but that now its delayed even further? Fuckin hell.

For the record, "Fiscal Year 2009" starts April 2008.

Stark wrote: Either that or it's all a big scam and NOWHERE NEAR as stable as people think.

Either that or it's all a BIG SCAM and nowhere near as stable as people think.

“There seems to be some misinformation flying around,” explained a rep in a phone interview. “Nothing’s changed since our call on May 8, where [CEO] John Riccitello specifically said that we were moving Spore from fiscal ’08 to early fiscal ’09."

EA's fiscal 2009 runs from April 2008 through March 2009.

During that May earnings call, Riccitello stated, "…Spore is a title we have enormous confidence in. I've had the chance to review the title three times in the my short return to EA and it looks fantastic. I will also tell you that it's right up [to] the bubble in Q4 [of fiscal ‘08], if not sometime in early fiscal '09, so we don't feel comfortable in forecasting it."

There has yet to be a firm announced released date for Spore. An "early fiscal '09" release means that the game could theoretically launch in spring 2008.

The rep said that the rumor of the additional delay was exacerbated by a quote making the rounds in the games press lifted from the latest issue of Game Informer which says that the game is “delayed indefinitely.” Apparently, the information from the conference call was misconstrued, the rep determined.

“It’s the same information we said in May. Spore’s progressing and it looks great,” she added.

Hotfoot wrote:Honestly, I don't even think it's going to be that great a game anyway. Whoopie, you get to make Glorms. Hooray.

Tanasinn wrote:Just repeat after me, pessimists.

Will Wright is not Peter Molyneux. Will Wright is not Peter Molyneux. Will Wright is not Peter Molyneux.

Stark wrote: Repeat after me, fanboys.

Some people just can't get excited about Spore. Some people just can't get excited about Spore. Some people just can't get excited about Spore. Some people just can't get excited about Spore.

I know this hurts you on the inside, but it's true. Even the OP article, with it's 'zomg teh huuuge title every1 luves it lol' is bullshit: aside from nerds, NOBODY I KNOW has heard of it. Sure, it might be a good game, but all the 'zomg teh willz wheaton' crap is basically irrelevant. Some people just can't get excited about Spore.

Stark wrote:Sure, it might be a good game, but all the 'zomg teh willz wheaton' crap is basically irrelevant.

loomer wrote:I do expect it to be a good game, but more for the niche audiences. Those who are less worried about pure gameplay, but more about the sheer joy of it all. Like those weirdos who play The Sims in real time using mods. Freaks. I don't expect it to appeal to Fratboy 1 over there, or RTS lovers, or FPS gamers, etc. Just that one niche audience.