Don’t Worry About the Bioshock 2 Delay, There Are a Ton of Great Games This Holiday

BioShock 2 Screen

Sure, Bioshock 2 is being delayed until early 2010, but that’s no reason for you to get all in a tizzy. There are plenty of amazing games coming your way this Holiday season to more than make up for not having a Big Daddy at your fingertips.

You’ll be spending too much time playing Modern Warfare 2, Halo ODST, Uncharted 2, Assassin’s Creed 2, The Beatles Rock Band, and Barbie Horse Adventures to even worry about missing the return to Rapture.

Don’t fret and don’t get your panties all up in a bunch. This delay can only make it a better experience when you finally get to play Bioshock 2.

Batman Not Storming Arkham Asylum Until End of Summer

Batman Arkham Asylum Screen

Those of you hoping to get your hands on Batman: Arkham Asylum soon will be disappointed that the game has officially been delayed until the end of summer 2009. Most likely, that means the August/September time frame. The extra time is being taken to make sure the game is fully polished, so we can’t complain too much.

Based on everything we’ve seen so far, this will be the best Batman game to date (which honestly wouldn’t take much). I’m looking forward to playing more of the game E3.

The Sims 3 Delayed Until June

The Sims 3 Screen

EA announced a firm release date for The Sims 3. Unfortunately, it’s not this month, it’ll be June 2nd.

“The June launch combined with the break-through game the team is building gives us the perfect runway to create awareness for The Sims 3,” said Russell Arons, Vice President of Marketing for EA. “The Sims 3 will be the original IP summer blockbuster of 2009 as we build off the success of the best-selling PC franchise of all time to create awareness with both loyal Sims fans and new players.”

I haven’t played The Sims in a while, other than MySims titles, so it’ll be nice to trap one in a house with a swimming pool for a floor. I’m so sadistic.

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No Final Fantasy XIII for North America This Year

Keep dreaming of those pretty graphics, awesome orchestral sounds, and the gameplay you expect from Final Fantasy titles. The next in the series won’t be hitting North American shores until at least April 2010, according to a interview with Square Enix President Yoichi Wada.

The game is scheduled for release in Japan in 2009, so brush up on your Japanese and importing skills if you have any inkling of playing the game this year.

This isn’t all that surprising given Square Enix’s track record with delaying product for a long time. There will be plenty of other big titles this year to keep your gaming time occupied, so hold on a bit longer.

PAIN Amusement Park Delayed, Trophies Being Reworked

It seems that everything for the PS3 is getting delayed these days. The SOCOM beta, the Resistance 2 beta, and now the PAIN Amusement Park expansion and the Trophy patch. Apparently, the Trophies were too damn hard.

While we were testing it became apparent to quite a few people that although the trophies were achievable they began to resemble the tedious level grinds in MMOs and not the spoils for being good (or experienced) at PAIN.

It’s good to see the developers of PAIN listening to the community. The expansion and patch will still be available in September, just not this week as planned. Sit back and relax, because it might be a bumpy ride.

Life with PlayStation Delayed… Again

First it was supposed to drop in July. Then Life with PlayStation got pushed back to August. Now, we’re still waiting. According to Noam Rimon, a Senior Development Manager for the service, there’s some paperword holding back the release.

Although we’re still waiting, we did get to find out that Life with PlayStation will incorporate Folding@Home in the background. Whenever you’re reading the news or checking the weather, you’ll be helping to cure cancer by running Folding without even knowing it. Good stuff.

Hopefully we see the new service in September.

Rush Album on Rock Band Broken, Pulled

I was all types of excited for “Moving Pictures” by Rush hitting Rock Band. I was sick all day yesterday, so it wasn’t even a thought in my mind. But today, I find out I have to wait. Apparently the album’s release has been marred with technical issues.

Unfortunately, due to unforeseen technical difficulties, we won’t be able to release Rush’s “Moving Pictures” this week. We’ll be working on it as hard as we can, but it looks like it could be a couple of weeks to fix. In the meantime we will be moving around our schedule so we still have DLC coming out each week (including this week, info to follow in another announcement).

Boo on that. Guess it’ll be a while. But it looks like we might be getting something this week. No word yet, but we’ll keep you posted. My guess is that it will go up tomorrow, since it’s the only time the PlayStation Store gets updated.

Spain Might Not Get MGS4 Today as Planned

MGS4 SS

Today is the worldwide release of Metal Gear Solid 4. Our friends in Spain might not be so lucky and waiting might be in your future.

Do to a transport strike of various workers unions in Spain, shipments of the game may not reach their final destinations on time. You might need to hop across and pic up the game elsewhere if you really need it today. If not, encourage thoses unions to strike a deal to get Metal Gear on store shelves.

Home Coming in 2008, But Only as a Beta

PlayStation Home Screen

Looks like Sony is going to take a similar approach as Gmail with the release of Home. It’s still on track for release in 2008, but only as an open beta. Wired had this to say:

While talking to senior director of PlayStation Network Susan Panico yesterday about Sony’s new online PS3 magazine Qore, we got very briefly onto the subject of Home. Saying that the software is still due for release at the end of the year, Panico noted that the “rollout will be similar to Gmail,” describing what will launch this year as an “open, working beta.”

Home is starting to feel like Duke Nuken Forever. So much talk, so much hype. Hopefully there aren’t any more delays and everyone can get their hands on with the PS3’s big networking hit as soon as possible.

Saints Row 2 Delayed

saints-row-2.jpg

It looks as if you are going to have even more time to enjoy GTA IV.  Saints Row 2 has been pushed back from Aug 26 to Oct 14. The reason cited is marketing issues and product quality. I’ll tell you the reason: GTA IV is maybe the best game off all time and Saints Row 2 pales in comparison.  I played Saints Row and did not like it all that much. It had its good points, but was and is a GTA clone. If THQ wants to sell this game, they have to make very sure that it does not suck uber balls. If this game is not close to at least a 8.5-9, the franchise is dead.