Yeah, Home has been delayed. But that doesn’t mean the open beta period is canceled. In an interview with Gamespot, Phil Harrison confirmed that the Home beta is still coming in 2007.

We will still be opening in late November/early December for general beta testing. So, the commercial start of Home will be pushed out later, but you will still get the experience this year.

If you’ve been waiting to get your hands on Sony’s new online community, you’ll just have to wait a couple more months. It’ll be here before the Holidays, which is a good thing for Sony.

Sierra Entertainment dropped word to Pro-G that the next-gen Riddick title, Assault on Dark Athena, has been delayed until 2008. No reason was given for the delay as of yet.

The game is scheduled to be a port of the Xbox hit Escape from Butcher Bay, but will add some extra levels and multiplayer to complement the game’s enhanced graphics.

I’m not surprised this game has slipped to 2008. We haven’t seen anything new since the first trailer, which was more a proof of concept than anything else. Either way, this game is going to be terrific when it finally ships.

Take Two has just announced that GTA4 won’t be hitting it’s scheduled October release. The game is now delayed until the second quarter of 2008. The delay is due to extra development time needed for the title.

From the press release:

Take-Two is reducing its fiscal 2007 guidance primarily to reflect the movement of the launch of Grand Theft Auto IV for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and the Xbox 360^™ video game and entertainment system from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007 to fiscal 2008, due to additional development time required to complete the title. The title is now planned for release in the Company’s second quarter of fiscal 2008.

Bad news for gamers wanting next-gen GTA this year.

Hit the jump for more…

According to EB Games, Lair has been delayed until September 4th from it’s previously scheduled August 12th release date. Gamefly has also changed it’s release date, but they’re showing September 6th (most likely to account for getting enough copies in to rent to customers). Screenshots taken in case they change it back (EB Games above, Gamefly after the jump).

We’ve previously heard the game has gold gold directly from Sony. What could be causing the delay? Either they pulled the game to fix a last minute issue or they ran into some production problems. Either way, this doesn’t bode well for Sony.

The game looks now to be releasing on the same date as Heavenly Sword. If this rumor proves to be true, Lair will certainly get overshadowed.

[UPDATE] Sony just confirmed the new September 4th release date on PlayStation.Blog.

Hit the jump for more…

It was previously reported as UFC 2007 in all trailers and materials, which hinted at a release this year.

Now, GameTrailers has re-posted the E3 trailer we saw last week, this time calling it “UFC 2009″. I can only pray we don’t have to wait over a year for this game. THQ should have had ample time to develop this game to this level for a release this year.

I needs my MMA gaming………..

Well, even more delays for the big v1.2 update for Motorstorm for the PS3. This time, I respect the developers for delaying the patch.

On PlayStation.Blog, Felice Standifer, a Senior US Producer for MotorStorm, wrote about what’s going on:

“right before we were planning to go live with the 1.2 updates with Time Attack mode, a new issue was found on the patch that could result in people not being able to establish a network connection. So, unfortunately, for now we need to continue to run tests and monitor the fix to ensure that it does not occur when the patch goes live”

I’m all for open communication in the gaming community, and this is a perfect example. There’s nothing worse than delays that are never explained. I have a huge level of respect for any developer that will come out say “We’re delaying this, and here’s why.”

Kudos, Sony. Hope you get it fixed soon though

It seems we’re going to have to wait a little bit longer to play the most coveted title for the PS3, as Gamestop is reporting that Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is now scheduled for release in March of 2008.

User billison over at ps3forums received an email from Gamestop stating this change. A quick trip to Gamestop’s website also confirms the new release date.

Now, Gamestop has been known to be wrong on things, but they’re usually fairly good with pinning release dates. This isn’t good for holiday sales of the PS3, as MGS4 would definitely have caused a big spike there. I wanted to play this game in 2007 too…

Well, chalk up another great game that you can’t play this summer. Bioware’s masterpiece, Mass Effect, has been officially delayed until September.

CVG reports that the news comes from an official Microsoft event this morning, though no more details have been offered.

I’d personally rather have them delay the game and get it right, than push it out the door with tons of bugs.

Just like your old, ugly high school girlfriend, Epic has un-dated the Gears of War Update.

We reported on it earlier, but now the page has mysteriously disappeared from the official website. I would venture to say that some eager web developer at Epic jumped the gun. The update probably is still going through Microsoft’s extremely long certification process. I would expect it later next week or early the following week.

We’ll keep you updated as more details come out. I’m sure Mark Rein will post on the official Epic forums about it. He’s usually very good with talking to the community.

Just a reminder to anyone that wants to dust off their PS3 today… Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection is set to hit the PlayStation Store in the US finally. The game is roughly 800MB and will cost you $20. You get 1080p sweetness, but unfortunately no online multiplayer. I’ve never been a big Tekken fan, so I’m gonna pass on this one. Anybody shelling out $20 for it?

[Update] Well, it looks like the release date got pushed back a week to March 8 (next Thursday). Save up your $20 for a week so you can see some ass kicking in 1080p.

[Update 2] Well, again, release dates get skewed. Tekken 5 is now available for download on the PlayStation Store. Be downloading people. It’s officially $19.99 and 555MB.