Grave Gamer News & Views — delay

Batman: Arkham Knight Falls into 2015

Get it? “Knight Falls”? Because Knightfa– All right, to hell with it. Thought I’d bring some Bat-Puns to the table since this announcement means it’s a dark day for the Dark Knight.

Originally meant to release October 14th this year, Rocksteady’s next-gen only end-cap to their Arkham Trilogy – probably my most anticipated game of the year (pre-E3, of course) – has been officially delayed into 2015. When in 2015? Sometime.

Delays seem to be as common as DLC and manual-less game boxes these days. But the last time Rocksteady was nervous about launching an unpolished product, they took six extra months and delivered unto the world Arkham Asylum in all of its Batman-y, freeflow fighting glory.

Besides, after E3 next week, something tells me the Fall season is going to be jampacked with things to burn my money on. It’ll be like a viking funeral. Except the boat is my wallet and the archer shooting flaming arrows at my money is the seventeen-year-old associate at Gamestop who doesn’t know they’re getting dropped after the season is over. Exactly a viking funeral in other words.

Dying Light Runs All the Way to February 2015

Developer Techland’s open-world, free-running survival horror, Dying Light, has suffered a delay, pushing the game’s release way the hell away to February 2015.

Having already given us a dose of zombie bashing action in Dead Island, Techland is diligent on expanding on that title’s concepts in Dying Light. Familiar to fans of that uneven but still fun game are a disaster-strewn open-world, a heavy focus on melee combat featuring DIY weaponry, and, of course, a shitload of the mortally-challenged coming at you.

However, Dying Light’s signature mechanic – the ability to seamlessly traverse your environment by scaling buildings, hopping obstacles, and other assorted parkour heroics – is exactly why Techland is taking extra time on the game’s brewing cycle.

“We believe the Natural Movement element of our game will change what you expect from the genre, and we don’t want to sacrifice any of its potential by releasing too early,” said the game’s staff on their official site. “This quality-focused thinking underlines all our development choices and we hope you share our belief that the gameplay must always come first.”

It’s probably no small feat the studio is planning to launch Dying Light on five different platforms between the current and last generations (oh, yes, friends; the current-gen is now last-gen and the next-gen is now current. Can you dig it?).

I think this one is truly, truly promising. I find myself more in support of delaying the game to get it right than I am impatient I won’t get to club some zombies with ridiculous goddamn weapons earlier. Dead Island had great ingredients, but the final, rushed dish left most with a rotten taste in their mouth. We’ll see if Techland perfected their recipe… *sigh* in 2015.

The Last of Us Becomes Naughty Dog’s First Delayed Game

Terrible news, everyone!  Those waiting in line come May 7th for a copy of Naughty Dog’s post-apocalyptic opus are doomed to reveal their damning faux pas to the one crushingly cynical, demoralizing GameStop employee they hate the most.  You know the one.  That shit-eating teenager who rolls his eyes damn near into the back of his head every time you disagree with his pompous opinions-masquerading-as-facts.

Oh, how he’ll laugh at you for getting a release date wrong and label you as a filthy troglodyte, all because – Right! That’s what the hell I’ve been trying to say.  The Last of Us has been delayed until June 14th.  Sorry, that one kinda got away from me.

That’s correct, calendar enthusiasts who don’t exist, Last of Us is dropping on a Friday, syncing us with the U.K.’s standardized video game release day (which, at the risk of my citizenship, is arguably more sensible).  Naughty Dog’s reasoning for the date shuffle?  Simple.  They want the game to be great.

“As we entered the final phase of development for The Last of Us, we came to realize just how massive Joel and Ellie’s journey is,” said ND in an official statement.  “But instead of cutting corners or compromising our vision, we came to the tough decision that the game deserved a few extra weeks to ensure every detail of The Last of Us was up to Naughty Dog’s internal high standards.”

I’ll say it again and again: I’m always for pushing a game’s date.  It’s either a polished gem on launch day or several weeks of intolerable bugs until a dev can jump through the tedious hurdles of certifying a patch (which has the potential of breaking the game even more).  Unlike that shit-munch teen – your end draws near, Anthony – you won’t see my eyes rolling during the wait.

Grand Theft Auto V Delayed to September

Arguably 2013’s biggest, most monstrous blockbuster of the year, the greatly anticipated GTAV has been hit with a delay.  Originally supposed to be coming out right around the corner – sometime in the Spring – Rockstar North’s crown jewel has been pushed to September 17th (upshot here is we’re privy to an exact date now).

Hoping that no one vents their frustrations into a newfound life of petty crime and wanton car theft themselves, Rockstar released a statement apologizing for the four month push.  “GTAV is a massively ambitious and complex game and it simply needs a little more polish to be of the standard we and, more importantly, you require,” the statement read.

The PS3 and Xbox 360 additions of the game have been the only versions announced to date (no regards have been made about a PC port or, unlikelier, a Wii U port).

What the Hell Happened to Silent Hill: Book of Memories?

Long story short?  Konami happened to Book of Memories.  Longer story follows:

Yet another delay rocks the gaming world, this time on a smaller scale – a handheld scale to be exact.  The PS Vita title was meant to do two things: usher in multiplayer into the strictly solo player franchise and come out in March.  Sadly, the game half failed, ruining the three pack of Hill’s Konami planned for that month.  Book of Memories very quietly slipped into a placeholder date of May 31st with little fanfare and even less surprise given the amount of smoothing the other two March releases could’ve used.

Now, WayForward Technologies’ (they’re pretty badass at small sized titles, check their resume) apparently canonical spinoff has once again shied away from it’s release slate, the first indications coming from Amazon’s new placeholder date of October 31st.  When pressed, Konami found the strength to comment on the game’s status, confirming an October release (maybe) but denying a solid day to expect it out.

WayForward’s pretty busy themselves; with a Double Dragon downloadable remake and an Adventure Time DS game in the works, one has to wonder how focused the development team is on bringing us miniature scares to the Vita.  Likewise, it’s also worth pondering if the frighteningly bad reception the last couple of Silent Hill’s received is causing Konami to delay the title, for fear of disappointing the survival horror masses yet again.