2. Will has expressed (see the earlier link) that he wants to be able to have cross platform communications available. By delaying for more platforms it ensures a LARGER total audience to have this cross platform function be worthwile (both from a game play view and from a cost to develop view)
3. EA is supposedly looking to revamp LINK (again due to increased competition from Steam) so a delay to use SPORE as a launch title for the NEW LINK might be at hand (this is more pure speculation than anything Will has said)
The cellphone/DS versions probably won't affect PC versions much, I'm not even convinced that a Wii version would affect sales much, but I could definitely see a 360/PS3 version reducing sales.
I still don't think that is the reason they delayed this, as this is either the 3rd or 4th time this game has been delayed, and all the other times were because of issues because Will decided to expand the scope of the game, either there are still some aspects of the existing game that they didn't have down or he decided to expand it again is far more likely than delaying for simaltaneous launches on multiple consoles since there is no reason why they would want to do that.
I was refering back to a comment by Pentharian who raised the idea.
Also, Will Wright is known to have said:
IGN: Can we confirm you plan to eventually bring Spore to other consoles?
Will Wright: Well, we're focusing solely on the PC version at the moment. But we're thinking of Spore as a franchise, definitely, that will be across all platforms. Cellphones, too.
So...perhaps (and with EA being involved this is not a stretch) they have decided it is monetarily beneficial to wait until they have more than PC/DS versions ready and launch across all platforms at once.
If they do I think it would mean much less sales for the PC no?
The Sims is a TERRIBLE comparison for Spore. The Sims caught on by word of mouth and Spore is being sold years before release through hype.
Personally, I think this delay is a sign that Will bit off more than he could chew and they're having issues with creatnig such an expansive game that depends on user creativity. Given that we've only seen live demonstrations of the creature creator and a couple of pre-staged events, I would bet that the constant delays are the result of the game being much more complicated than they hoped earlier.
Considering how complex the AI is supposed to be (mapping out movements just by seeing waht the creature looks like), this isn't surprising. Frustrating though.
If the delay is due to EA wanting to ensure more platforms get the game (Wii/PSP/PS3/X360) then would that not LOWER the potential sales of the PC version substantially (esp given that if we are talking late 2008 you would have approx double the consoles out there that you see now...).
So yes...a delay for THAT reason may very well mean lower PC sales.
I'm going to take advantage of the reflex action stock drop, and load up on this more. I agree with Gaara42 that a delay likely won't affect sales. A stumbling buggy launch certainly would. The fact that this being held back indicates to me the importance the developers are putting on getting it working right from day 1.
If there were competing products that could beat it to market I'd be worried, but there isn't.
While the news seems like a credible reason for the recent drop, I wonder if a delay can really cause this game to sell less. Let's take the Sims for example, suppose they had announced it was going to be delayed for a year or so, do you think it would have sold less or not have become as popular (supposing another game like it didn't come out during the delay)? I think that most consumers don't follow these delays as much (I and find out about a game when they enter the store, I doubt many of the people who bought the Sims would know if it had been delayed, they just would have heard/got the game later than when they did.
In the end, I think this game will probably sell around 6 million copies, it could sell higher if it is accessible to new users yet still has a lot to offer for advanced users (which seems to be the case from demos shown).
@justcrim, vaporware? I doubt EA would invest this much in a game only to let it go the way of The Phantom.
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Saving a bit on marketing I could see, but only if they went out and announced additional titles at the same time they announced the delay.
I guess this is another thing we'll have to look to E3 and see if anything comes out of there on it.