Why are PS3 games always late?

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We do a few case studies to find out

PlayStation Home

Original release date: TBC 2007

Current release date: Spring 2008

The reason for the delay

The biggest project Sony has on the go in-house. Home is its much-vaunted answer to Xbox Live and Nintendo’s Miis, and if it catches gamer imaginations in the way that Sony hopes it will, could become one of the PlayStation 3’s biggest killer apps. It’s been hyped to the high heavens (the highest ones) and Sony has a lot riding on it.

Being an in-house project, Home is mercifully free of any messy turf wars and name calling over the quality of game engines, and for once, the actual quality of the product seems to be more of an issue than the technicalities of creating it. Speaking to Japanese gaming bible Famitsu this month, SCE President Kaz Hirai explained,

"...we believe the delay would have a positive effect. I personally am not satisfied with the current version of Home. This is a very big project for the PS3 and we want to make sure that we deliver to our hearts content. We hope everyone will look forward to its spring release next year."

The delay is disppointing news, that’s for sure, but if it’s happening for the right reason then we can’t really complain. Nice to see some humilty from Sony this time too.

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David Houghton
David Houghton
Long-time GR+ writer Dave has been gaming with immense dedication ever since he failed dismally at some '80s arcade racer on a childhood day at the seaside (due to being too small to reach the controls without help). These days he's an enigmatic blend of beard-stroking narrative discussion and hard-hitting Psycho Crushers.
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