Developmentally Delayed

    Developmentally Delayed

Final Fantasy XIII; Star Craft II; and Grand Theft Auto 4.  What do these three games have in common?  Well, aside from the fact that they were/are being hyped more than Peter Molyneux’s sense of self worth, these games have all met with serious delays.  The question is:  Are delays a necessity in order to make a shitty game better for release, or is it all just polishing turds and taking your damn fool time to do it?
    In some cases, delays have done nothing to make a game that’s assumed to be good better.  In the case of Daikatana, three years went by and the finished product we got was a steaming pile of camel spunk.  Duke Nukem Forever is a joke played on all of us; not only did 3D-Realms sit on its hands for ten years before going tits up, but at this point who is even interested in this archaic franchise anymore?  If Duke Nukem Forever came out tomorrow with a price tag of $20, it still wouldn’t sell as good as a free kick to the nads.
    On the flip side, there are a few games which took the “It’s done when it’s done” route and came out shining like a sparkling fairy piss.  One of the most notable of these is Half-Life 2.  A vast, polished, and incredibly addictive game (if you’re into first-person shooters, that is), Half-Life 2 delivered to its fans exactly what they wanted.  Hell, I wasn’t even a fan of the first one, and I loved this sequel.  Of course, I wasn’t hopping up and down on my dick in anticipation for its release, either.  However; one game I was foaming at the mouth for which got briefly delayed was GTA4.  
Now, I don’t want to go sucking Rockstar’s dick or anything, but GTA4 is fucking brilliant.  Finally we have a somewhat believable story, with a realistic and relatable main character, and an eye-gougingly sweet physics engine in one of my favourite franchises.  Okay; granted the relationship mini-games are balls, and the loss of all that cool shit from GTA: San Andreas (*cough* planes, parachutes, and pedal bikes *cough*) was a bit of a blow to the series, but the significance of a major graphical overhaul on a series which has looked the same since its first incarnation on the PS2 is as enormous as Rosie O’Donnell’s left buttock.
Now that the fellating is over with, time to answer the question I posed earlier.  Are delays a good thing?  Simple answer:  Only if the company which is making the game is a juggernaut of gaming goodness.  I fully trust Square Enix to blow me away with their next Fantasy, and I am positive Star Craft II will kick a fuckload of  ass, but I would not trust a mediocre company such as, say, Koei to man up and make a blockbuster gaming experience if they put off releasing it for more than a year.  I say, if a gaming giant needs a little more time to tweak their art, let them.  In the end, we’re the ones who are going to benefit from it.

-  PeTe the Frostbitten