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.
I think most people are used to this game getting delayed, it's been delayed now for IIRC 3 years so far, everytime it grows in scope and scale.
Will is probably rich enough he doesn't need to worry about the money and he seems obsessed with the game based on interviews I've read about the game and him.
Expect the game to get larger and better, and possibly delayed yet again before it gets released, but I see no indication this delay is any different than the others.
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Is there any indication of this? Or are you just speculating?