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Unreal Tournament 3 For PlayStation 3 Delayed Until 2008

Unreal Tournament 3

Midway announced today in a press release that the PlayStation 3 version of Unreal Tournament 3, originally scheduled to release with the PC version this November as a timed console exclusive, isn’t expected to be released until the first quarter of 2008. David F. Zucker, president and CEO of Midway, said he regretted having to lose the holiday sales from the delays but said, “[W]e remain confident that our technology strategy and product plan position us to grow both revenue and market share as we move into the heart of this console cycle.”

Developer Epic Games’ Mark Rein said in a forum post that the press release included UT3 as an obligation to investors and said that he was still optimistic about a 2007 release, but that they wouldn’t ship until the game was ready and “the best game (they could) deliver.” He also confirmed that the PC version, due out in November, was still on schedule to ship as planned.

Read More | Midway Press Release via Joystiq

Gallery: Unreal Tournament 3 For PlayStation 3 Delayed Until 2008


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Mercenaries 2 Delayed Until 2008

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EA‘s upcoming open-world game Mercenaries 2: World in Flames is being pushed back until 2008, further relaxing the pressure on a still crowded holiday season for games. Speaking to developer Pandemic Studios President Josh Resnick, IGN coaxed out a few more details:

We’re adding nothing at this point. Our only goal is to make gamers proud that they own a copy of Mercenaries 2 by making the highest quality next-gen open-world experience the world has ever seen. If that sounds ambitious, then you should see how many cans of caffeine our programming guys have choked down during the past two years of development.

Resnick also complimented Rockstar and said that he wasn’t concerned about competing with Grand Theft Auto IV because, as he puts it, “We know gamers are bloodhounds when it comes to sniffing out a quality gameplay experience, and we’re hoping that scent leads them directly to Mercenaries 2.” He said they were using the extra time to focus on fixing bugs, tuning the physics and working on the mission structures.

The delay was initial rumored because retail outlets adjusted their release dates from late ‘07 to 2008, forcing Pandemic and EA to confirm the delay. Commenting on the leak, Resnick said, “Those dang sneaky retailers! You just can’t seem to keep a lid on something once they hear about it.”

Read More | IGN

Gallery: Mercenaries 2 Delayed Until 2008


Unreal Engine Under Fire Again

unreal engine banner

First, Silicon Knights sued Epic Games, alleging that Epic’s Unreal Engine 3 had done “serious damage” to SK’s long-delayed Too Human.  Later, Epic fired back with a countersuit, in which Epic claimed that wanted to use the engine without paying for it.

Now, longtime Epic partner Digital Extremes, in the middle of development of its similarly delayed Dark Sector project, has come forth with its own complaints.  Game director Steve Sinclair explained, “A lot of promises were made about the Unreal III engine, particularly on PS3. But as we see now, the time frames haven’t been met and now a lot of games using it are being held up.”

Now that two developers are on the record about problems with Unreal Engine 3, we wouldn’t be surprised to see loads of developers come out of the woodwork with similar grievances, both real and imagined.  The situation is likely to become ugly really soon.

Read More | http://computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=170446

Gallery: Unreal Engine Under Fire Again


Wii Supply Problems May Not Be Fixed This Year

Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: Corporate News, Hardware, Nintendo, Wii,

Manufacturing

Despite being much harder to find throughout the year in retail outlets than the competitor’s next-gen console hardware, ‘s may not see much improvement in availability until sometime in 2008. Nintendo originally planned to expand their production in June but were forced to delay their expansion plans due to tight supply of certain components coming from Taiwan-based suppliers.

Wii units are certainly far more available than they were shortly after launch but that may be related to the comparatively lighter demand; with the 2007 holiday season fast approaching and key titles like Metroid Prime 3, Super Mario Galaxy and Super Smash Bros. Brawl expected before Christmas, this could mean another tough Christmas on shoppers with Wii systems high on their lists.

Still, Nintendo has not backed down on projections made in April of this year and in a statement to GameSpot said, “Nintendo has no revisions to announce to its most recent shipment forecasts at this time.” They originally predicted that they would sell 14 million Wiis this fiscal year.

Read More | DigiTimes via GameSpot

Gallery: Wii Supply Problems May Not Be Fixed This Year


Age of Conan Delayed Until ‘08

age of conan

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, Funcom’s highly anticipated PC/ online RPG, is bowing out of the crowded Fall ‘07 release window.  Based on the press release, it sounds like given the scale of the game, the development team just needed more time to polish and perfect the experience.

“We naturally regret that we have to push back ‘Age of Conan’. However, after careful consideration, and analysis of recent Beta feedback, we believe that the new release date is in the best interest of the gamers, our company and our owners,” said Trond Arne Aas, CEO of Funcom.

You have to respect a developer that delays a game to make it better, and doesn’t just shove it out the door for the sake of the company’s shareholders.  At any rate, MMO players can now look forward to slashing their way through the world and characters of Robert E. Howard on March 25th, 2008.

Read More | Kotaku

Gallery: Age of Conan Delayed Until ‘08


Breaking: Grand Theft Auto IV Delayed Into 2008

Grand Theft Auto IV logo

In some rather surprising (and extremely disappointing) news, Take-Two has announced that it is reducing its fiscal 2007 guidance due to Grand Theft Auto IV for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 being delayed until fiscal 2008. Currently, GTA IV is set for release in the second fiscal quarter of ’08. Take Two’s second fiscal quarter runs from February 1, 2008 to April 30, 2008. The delay is due to additional time required to finish developing the game.

Strauss Zelnick, Chairman of Take-Two, stated, “With Grand Theft Auto IV, Rockstar is setting a new standard for next generation video games. Certain elements of development proved to be more time-intensive than expected, especially given the commitment for a simultaneous release on two very different platforms. We all recognize that perfecting the game is vital and I can assure everyone it will be worth the wait. We owe it to the game’s millions of fans, to our dedicated development team, and to our shareholders to make sure that Grand Theft Auto IV is a groundbreaking gaming experience that takes maximum advantage of next generation technology.”

Sam Houser, Founder and Executive Producer of Rockstar Games, added, “The new consoles are allowing us to create the Grand Theft Auto game we always dreamed about. Every aspect of the game and its design has been completely transformed. The game is huge and is pushing the hardware platforms to their absolute limits. The top engineers from Sony and Microsoft are working closely with the team in Edinburgh right now, helping us to fully leverage the power of both platforms. As always, our goal is to surpass even the wildest expectations of the game’s fans, and to create the ultimate high definition video game experience.”

Gallery: Breaking: Grand Theft Auto IV Delayed Into 2008


Blacksite: Area 51 Gets Delayed Until November 5

Blacksite Area 51 screenshot

Originally scheduled for a September release, Blacksite: Area 51 has been pushed back until November 5. The announcement was made during a Midway conference call, where the European release date was revealed to be October 26.The game is set for release on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

This is a smart move be Midway, as Blacksite would otherwise be competing more directly with Halo 3, and by releasing in November, they also manage to space the title away from heavy-hitter Grand Theft Auto IV.

Gallery: Blacksite: Area 51 Gets Delayed Until November 5


Lair’s Landing Gets Delayed

Lair boxartOver on the official PlayStation blog, Ryan Hamlyn has announced that Factor 5’s PS3 exclusive, Lair, has been delayed in the US. Originally planned to come out on August 14, Lair will now hit store shelves on September 4. Hamlyn claimed it was due to an extra step in the QA testing process – so it probably isn’t in response to the poor review scores the game received in EGM, which have created quite a buzz around the Internet.

Gallery: Lair’s Landing Gets Delayed


Tekken Dark Resurrection Delayed

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Well, while Tekken: Dark Resurrection was initially promised “this month” by Namco Bandai, February has passed and there is still no sign of the brawler on the PlayStation Store. If IGN’s latest release list is to believed, the game should be available on March 8th, another week out. With Namco Bandai promising basically a straight port of the arcade and Japanese PlayStation Network releases, it seems strange that the US version would see an unexpected delay. One can hope that extra functionality or optimization is being worked into the product, but that would seem to be doubtful at this point.

Update: Looks like IGN was wrong, according to reports, Tekken: Dark Resurrection should hit the PlayStation Network today at 5pm PST, only a mere day late.

Read More | IGN

Gallery: Tekken Dark Resurrection Delayed


PS3 Launch Titles See Delays

Oblivion It is looking like Sony’s Playstation 3 launch may be missing a few titles; Bethesda Softworks recently announced that Elder Scrolls: Oblivion has been pushed back to 2007, according to a report from GameSpot. In addition, rumors have Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog also being delayed to 2007 along with Vivendi Universal’s F.E.A.R. Other titles could potentially miss the launch window at this point, but with so few consoles shipping software availability would seem to be the last thing on Sony’s mind.

Read More | Gamespot

Gallery: PS3 Launch Titles See Delays


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