Why are PS3 games always late?

22nd Nov, 2007

Oh PS3, you really must work on this tardiness. You’re a strong student with a lot of brains, and you can produce good work when you put your mind to it, but with this persistent lateness you’re not only letting us down, but you’re letting yourself down too. We know you’ve only just joined us and that you’ve had to take some time to settle in, but you’re really going to have to start applying yourself from now on.

Nagging teacher-speak aside, just what is it with PS3 release shedules? Launch dates for games on Sony’s black monolith seem more likely to slip than a fat man on an ice rink. Multi-format releases often see the PS3 version turning up to the party around midnight with a sheepish grin and a story about a train cancellation, and even exclusives have trouble arriving on time.

With the news of the ever-troubled Fatal Inertia’s latest delay sending it’s release into Spring next year, we have to ask just why this keeps happening. Development for the new gen is obviously a far lengthier and more complicated process than it was last time around, but why is the PS3 so often singled out? Do developers want to add extra polish given the PS3’s supposed extra power? Or is the machine really as difficult to work with as rumour suggests? Time to check out some of the most notorious delays and see what we can find out.