The Most Delayed Games Ever

How long does it take to make a game? How long's a piece of string? There's obviously no simple answer because every new hardware generation brings greater expectations and puts more demands on developers. However, most would agree that a decade to make a game is a bit excessive.

So here's a celebration - or should we call it a mockery? - of games that went a little over their original release dates, not to mention budgets. Were they worth the wait?

[Captain Tuttle]

Duke Nukem is a bad joke. That game needs to go away.

[MK_Red]

3 Words: Duke Nukem Forever. It's "FOREVER" so it would win the prize.

They should add Gran Turismo Mobile (PSP version) as well as Daikatana or something.

[Captain Tuttle]

They could even add Fallout 3 to that list...

[barom]

wut? I thought the title was Duke Nukem Never

[MK_Red]

Thanks for mentioning Fallout 3 but I think it was canceled for sometime. Still, it was a long and hard wait.

[Hackworth]

Starcraft ghost is still a project? i thought they tossed that years ago?

Edit:SP

[ruibing]

Yeah they did, Blizzard didn't think it was up to their standards, which is pretty true since Blizzard hasn't really produced a flop to my knowledge.

[ry-guy]

Warcraft Adventures. Granted it got the offical boot but man oh man did they promote that one only to cancel it.

[WafflesID]

E.T for the Atari 2600 should be added to the list...

[WafflesID]

Eh, I wish there was at least one person out there who realized the brilliant humor in that comment :) oh well. heh

[b777conehead]

yeap i grew up with the 2600 in fact it celebrtaed its 30th year in oct

[solar]

i guess the best part about working at 3D Frealms is that ur guaranteed a job for while ;)

that was an entertaining read

[JasonPC360PS3Wii]

Funny Prey was started way back in 95, only to come out in 05 slightly above mediocre.

[WafflesID]

Hmm. I always found it interesting how low the review scores for that game were. Yet I really liked Prey. It was above average in my book.

[Covenant]

They forgot two games: Daikatana and Fallout 3.

Prey, despite its delays, turned out OK.

Also worth mentioning: The lengthy delays that Halo 2 experienced, and the multi-platform/generation bouncing that Kameo went through before seeing the light of day.

[calderra]

Halo 2 wasn't ever actually delayed though. Bungie once said they "hoped" for the holiday season / early next year, for the year earlier than they eventually launched, but that was nothing more than a vague hope.

Retailers like Gamestop, however, were publishing "dates" as early as March 2003 claiming when Halo was supposed to be shipping, and they kept adjusting their dates continuously as it became clear the game was not, in fact, shipping anywhere near that time.

The first official date Bungie ever announced for the game was the date they shipped it on. And I wouldn't call a total development time of ~3 years "lengthy delays". I thought everyone here was always peeved when a game was rushed out in 2 years?

[InMyOpinion]

Rise of the robots for Amiga, 3DO, CD32 etc...

[Charlie2688]

Why isn't Half Life 2 in there?

I think the game should be included there for the sole reason of being the most sadistically delayed game EVER with SEVERAL missed dates, broken promises, blatant lies about the dates and the horrible fact that people had to stand missed release dates over and over and over again...

I think some people got post traumatic stress after the multiple delays of the game >.>

And yes if you suffered from HL2 delay rage like me we can relate >.<

@Gordon_Freeman: I almost forgot that one thanks :)

[Half-Life_Fan]

There was a source code leak as well because a German guy called Axel Gembe managed to hack into Valves internal network.

[Lionsguard]

It just sucked big time after all their big talk.

[SF49er408]

TOO HUMAN IS GONNA BE DOPE. DIABLO F**KS WORLD OF WARCRAFT AND HAVE A DEVIL MAY DIABLO CRAFT BABY.

[gololo]

what about operation flashpoint 2? I heard it was in dev. but still no word from it (and they have been developing this game FOREVER)

[xplosneer]

No SPORE? Phail.

[TruthbeTold]

Spore has been annoyingly delayed for several years now. Not as bad as others on that list, but then again, Spore is still relevant, and highly anticipated.