Lol, you assume those games are coming out. I can't recall a year that has seem this high number of delays.

It is a pretty normal occurance. Though there haven't really been that many delays.

Batman was pushed from Summer to Summer (Late August is still Summer.),
Mass Effect has been set for fiscal fourth quarter 2009 for quite sometime (q4 fisc is Jan - March 2010)
No date was ever set for God of War 3 (most expected it for April 2010 since it coincides with the release date of GoW 1 and 2).

I was personally starting to think Splinter Cell Conviction was vaporware as it was due to come out 2 years ago. I will be very surprised to see it come out this October as I think Assassin's Creed II has taken precedence over a new Splinter Cell.

They were maybe delayed compared to Gamestop/EBGames made up release dates, but those things are just that, made up so they can take pre-orders.

Mass Effect 2 - First Quarter 2010
God of War 3 - Est. March 2010
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 - Fall 2009 (if any game were to get delayed, this would be it)

Batman Arkham Asylum - August 25th, 2009
Beatles Rock Band - 9-9-09
Halo 3: ODST - September 22, 2009
Brutal Legend - October 13, 2009 (granted the lawsuit gets taken care of)
Dragon Age: Origins - October 20th, 2009
Bioshock 2 - November 3, 2009
Modern Warfare 2 - November 10th, 2009
Left 4 Dead 2 - November 17th, 2009
Assassin's Creed II - November 17th, 2009

The ones with set dates are unlikely to be delayed at this point, the ones with a range or estimate are a little more likely to not meet their date.

Only three I could even imagine getting delayed until 2010 would be Marvel, Brutal Legend and Dragon Age and I'm guessing none of them will be.

That's pretty pathetic that the only games most likely to come out this year are sequels. Compare to 10 years ago when you had hundreds of PC and console games being released. I say that the gaming industry is shrinking.

I made that comment 5 years ago when this gen was getting ready to launch. This gen in general has been very sequel oriented with many original IPs falling by the wayside.

It isn't surprising, though, considering how much you have to sink into a game to make it successful with modern hardware. Unfortunately the cheapest system to develop for (the Wii) has largely become a dumping ground for subpar products (there are plenty of gems on it, but most original IPs on there are just.. ouch.)

There's a reason Dragon Age and Brutal Legend are the two most fun looking games of that group.

Are Brutal Legend and Dragon Age sequels? And looking at the year up to now, we've had Ghostbusters, Prototype, Halo Wars, Wolverine, HAWX, Madworld, The Conduit, Deadly Creatures and inFAMOUS. None of those are sequels and all seemed to be at least decent.

Also, to claim the industry is shrinking is beyond laughable. Hundreds of console games are still release every year. And just like 10 years ago, the vast majority of them are average or crap.

My backlog is so ridiculous, nothing could come out for about a year and I still won't have caught up.

Make that 10 years for me. I still want to go through the Heroes of Might and Magic series, never got around to playing the Total War series, only beat 2 games of the Final Fantasy series, missed most of the PS2 gen games. Plus I still have those great Xbox RPGS like KOTOR and KOTOR2. With my time schedule, I've only managed to beat one game all year - Half Life 2. lol

Still even with my incredible backlog, it doesn't stop me from craving new titles and getting excited.

We understand that. But wouldn't your wallet be better served playing through those stacks and waiting until the new/exciting games are cheaper?

I have a list of games I want, but haven't got around to getting. I just keep my eye out for the deals (like $10 for Matt Hazard yesterday) and build the backlog with games 4-6 months old.

Very, very rare that I'll buy something close to full MSRP. I did get Ghostbusters for about $30 net and Overlord 2 for $50, but I don't regret either. Even if it means my backlog doesn't shrink (poor Mass Effect).

Looking down the road I will get Beatles: Rock Band immediately, no matter the cost. I will also get Brutal Legend, though most likely during TRU's B2G1 deal at about the same time.

I mean, whatever works for you works for you. But you seem pretty hung up on having the latest and greatest, even if you never get around to playing it and justifying the "gotta have it now" mentality.

Don't take it personally, it's not meant to be. It's just trying to give my own perspective on it. I was there once myself.

Just use the extra time you have from not watching new Blu-rays.

mass effect 2's 1st quarter release will let me play the first one next - after i finish fallout 3.

I was looking forward to playing Batman this summer, but from the looks of it, that seems like a game that will be enhanced if it's played in October -- just when the weather breaks. So I'm cool with that delay, even if it is my most anticipated game of this generation so far.

It's a buying addiction. Can't help it. Although, I do rarely buy a game new at full MSRP. I usually can get all the new titles I want at Gamestop sales. They are having another B2G1 free sale this month.

I read another blog post that observed how fast game prices are dropping due to the recession. No one should pay full price in this environment. Amazon is offering Prototype today for $40 bucks. Only 3 weeks old, and already 20 buck price drop. Target and Sam's Club are offering killer clearance deals. I got Mirror's Edge PS3 for 8 bucks. Overlord for 4.

I don't mind. I'm still catching up on last falls releases myself.

[Prototype] is Activision, most of their games tend to go on sale for $39.99 a few weeks out. Same goes for Ubisoft.

Was this way pre-recession too. You get the fans upfront, then you sweep the leg.

I was so excited for the release of Ratchet and clank: A crack in time. I really thought it was getting released this month. Then I saw the game is hitting November

I think these games are already finished and ready for release as we speak. But the god damn publisher makes them wait till November for holiday. It's complete bullshit.

Here's another one:

Bayonetta pushed to Jan 2010. Next year is going to be insane!!

R&C has always been slated for November.

Not only that, but EVERY disc-based, console R&C game ever has been a late October or November release. You can't REALLY be surprised by this one's release date, can you?

I'm not really into following release dates. For some reason i thought it was gonna be a summer release. Oh well.

Add Army of Two: 40th Day - for late Nov or mid Dec 2009

Frankly I'm glad Bioshock got delayed as this years last Qtr release got pretty crowded. Even if Marvel gets pushed back to Qtr1 2010 it may be a good thing. We would have Bioshock 2, Marvel and Aliens vs Predator to look forward to.

It looks like Bioshock 2 will be delayed until the first quarter of 2010. I read it in a gameinformer article that I get in my email. It stated something about not wanting to put out a subpar product so it will be delayed. And another blockbuster bites the dust.

Their stock actually took a dive after this was announced, so it wasn't something that was done trivially... and really, like I mentioned before, I'd rather them take the time to, I dunno, finish the game instead of releasing something just to take advantage of the holiday season.

I understand what you are saying but this is still another hit on people's want list. I would rather have a better game but you have to wonder just how much is missing. Obviously the extra months that Rockstar used to get GTAIV out the door didn't help to spruce up the final product unless it was a real shitpot just before it was supposed to be released in October.

The complaint is that games are delayed from their official release dates (or that games are delayed from when people THOUGHT they should be out, as some of these games didn't have release dates to begin with).

And yet, how many people complain when a game is short or incomplete or "not polished" or needs some later patch to make it playable? Is the delay really going to prevent you from buying the game? Probably not. Is coming out with a crappy game going to? I'd think so.

Now if you're anxiously awaiting the next Duke Nukem or some other vaporware that is years beyond release date, that's one thing. But a few months?