Altima NEO

Nintendo can take all the extra time they need to perfect this game, because we all know it'll rock when it finally releases. Hopefully they're tightening up the online play. Because non-ranked matches against random players, not even being able to see their name sucks.

Random J

And there's a chance that my first child will be born on the same day that Smash Bros comes out. In which case, I'll have to name my son either Mario or Link.

Or Kirby.

Yeah, definitely Kirby.

2NinjasTapedTogether

With the systems selling as fast as they can build them... they only have to release the games when the system sales flag a tiny bit... Guaranteeing no drop off in demand.

dcartist

DELETED

L

Detha

@Mact: Seconded.

I'm betting it's fixing the online system, since they're finally getting the point that nobody likes Friend Codes.

Sabre_Justice: Okay, no more long name.

Or at least by my birthday.

Sabre_Justice: Okay, no more long name.

I know what you mean, man.

NOTHING is cooler than dissing something just because everyone else happens to like it.

You are my hero! Yay! for being misinformed!

Mact

Thrillhaus

Swift_

Based on the fact that we have reporters playing a build of the game even as I type this, and that Nintendo's comfortable enough to give gamers the opportunity to play a build of the game at E for All, it's a fair assumption that they have the vast majority of the game already finished. Furthermore, I doubt they would have announced online capabilities on the Brawl website unless it were either already in place, or so far into implementation that there was a near 100% chance of success. Given that any release of this game post-holidays is going to hurt sales substantially (there are plenty of kids who want the game who can't even legally hold jobs, after all), what reason could they possibly have to delay that justifies this from a business standpoint?

My personal theory is that they had to re-write a significant amount of the code that was already done due to some internal announcement about upcomming Wii features. My guess in that regard would be downloadable content (who wouldn't pay $10 a pop for new Brawl characters?).

I look forward to the violent debunking of my dream in the coming months.

Apple Kid

2) I knew Christmas would be around the corner, but I also know that the game will be limited shipping, along with the wii and Galaxy this season.

3) My birthday is right after the new release date.

Therefore... can you cancel a pre-order? That way my girlfriend can buy it for me. Wow, this actually sounds pretty good to me.

indiemike

"If this game is delayed in the United States, there is going to be an enormous stream of obscenities flowing from my mouth for not minues, not hours, but days. This game is the only reason I bought a Wii."

And now? I'm somewhat surprised. I'm not swearing outloud (to be fair, I am in the middle of class right now), but I'm certainly feeling overwhelmed by an unholy mixture of anger at Nintendo, disappointment about the delay, and shame for allowing myself to actually believe I'd get to play this game by the end of the year. I'm tempted to sell the system, but I suppose I still have Super Mario Galaxy on the way...

*grumble*

kylenalepa

Soyerz

For the most part, reviewers are analyzing the casual gameplay element, but I'm curious if any of the Smash Melee "tricks" can still be performed in any way (ie L-canceling, wavedashing).

Please report back if you can. I look forward to the gameplay impressions!

Nickname

lolspaceship

This is not going to bode well with a mate of mine back in the US.

Witzbold

Detha

lolspaceship

lolspaceship

But Santa does come. I have no idea what the hell you're talking about, get your facts straight.

Observe:

FACT: Santa came to my (and your) house last Christmas.
FACT: Santa will come to my house again this Christmas, because i've been good.

FACT: The below statement is false.
FACT: The above statement is true.

Darthvinder

Nintendo just needs to work out the kinks on the Blue Bomber...and Mike Tyson

duh

Dr.Chocobo

RedFive

Elyoshi

lolspaceship

MedelliaObscured

TRT-X

phinehas

saying

IT WILL BE DONE WHEN IT'S DONE!
that way no one will get pissed and when its done you know it wont be pushed

Husher

Fadakar

Do Kesubei

roger9614462

There's a lot of interesting commentary here already (won't hurt Wii sales, cheaper holiday season, great releases in 2008) that I won't add to--like everyone else, I'll be enjoying Super Mario Galaxy or some such come Christmas. It's not the end of the world, and two months really isn't a long time in the grand scheme of things considering I still play Melee.

And yet I was really looking forward to spending my Christmas break Brawling with my little brother. I'm sure Nintendo has a good reason for the delay but it is very, very disappointing.

alaren

lolspaceship

@lolspaceship: Couldn't have said it better myself. Just wondering, what are the chances of Megaman making it into Brawl? I'd rather have him as a FREE "post launch" character via download (just so the game won't be delayed anymore than it is).

Fenris Wolf

But it'll be worth the wait.

Red_Maniac

ConfuciusMax

lolspaceship

Fenris Wolf

lolspaceship

lolspaceship

lolspaceship

Walker

Since you're the minority, Nintendo doesn't care what you think.

lolspaceship

chenry

Reading posts like this prove to me that this generation of gamers are SPOILED beyond belief! That would also explain all the whiny 12 year olds on Live!

When I was a kid, we were all waiting for Sonic 3. We knew it was coming because Sonic 2 was popular. Then one day, commercials came on for Sonic 3 and then we bought it! Now, was there hype? Yes. Was everyone mad because the game was delayed a bit, or that it was only half of a game? No. We were just glad we got the damn Sonic game and that it was waaaaaay better than 2 was. That made us happy.

Plus, I remember when Bungie delayed this game called Myth 2 I think. People were mad, but then they found out later that the game had a bug that would erase your entire hard drive. Imagine if they were pushed into the deadline to meet there fans and computers everywhere crashed. Is that what you want?

Imagine if they had to rush Halo 3 and could only include the Multi-Player with single player next year and Forge left out. Would people like that?

Plus, and here is what does it for me....this is not Too Human. Every time Smash is shown, everything about the game gets progressively better than it was before. Awesome over awesome in a hands over fist type way. Not like Too Human which gets delay after delay but never lives up to its own standards.

Besides, more time for me to play Nights into Dreams...about damn time! XD

SidepocketPro

FEBRUARY 10TH = NEXT YEAR. ALMOST NEXT SPRING. XD

lolspaceship

However, I am EXTREMELY disappointed with how they handled this. This is the first time they have pushed back a concrete game release date (December 3rd, 2007) less than 2 months to release. >.>

lolspaceship

2008 has Wii Fit, Wii Music,Mario Kart, No More Heroes ,Super Mario Galaxy and Wii ware titles.

Hiltz

You never heard of Super Mario Strikers Charged don't you ?

Shteve

Wii's will definitly sell less this holifay !

Shteve

Project Thanatos

kingofallcosmos

Take as much time(reasonably) as you need dude. Make this game as close to perfect as you can humanly get it, I say.

When this game comes out, it should be bad ass enough to explode kittens and take a nuns' virginity by fuckin' blinking.

Do what you need to bro, we'll be waitin'.

MakoAoyama

SirMeatloaf

WheelDawg

GamePark32

I'm very surprised that Nintendo went back on a release date - they've recently been very good about announcing a release only when they know they'll make it.

baberg

Whatever. Shall. I. Do.

*faints*

pixelator

Mixiboi

Stormrider

Wuth

YellowEggs

El_Petes

epionx111

themunk

"Hi, I'm Sonic, the blue hedgehog. Why am I blue? Who knows. Look out, I'm going to roll up into a ball and spin towards you now! Here I come! WEEEE!!!"

You want to add a cool fighter, why not MegaMan? At least he was in a NINTENDO game. What's next? Do we get to fight with the Little Mermaid in the next Smash Bros. game? Way to not only unnecessarily delay, but also ruin one of your best franchises Nintendo....

Oh, and to the comment about "why is sonic giving a thumbs-up in Hyrule....HYRULE?!?!?" Well said! May all of the countless deaths of Sonic the Stupid Blue Hedgehog, whether in Hyrule or any other CLASSIC NINTENDO landscape, be as painful to Sega as having that Sonic in my SmashBros. is to me...and all other true SmashBros. fans.

TheOneTrueJedi

That's going to be a painful couple of extra months with the damnable blog updates taunting me every week. Darn you, Masahiro Sakurai!!!

Figment

Foxstar Sixtail

Wuffles

EXACTLY my sympathies.

At least with the Dec 3rd release, I'd have it for the break. Now I'm gonna get it post-holidays which means I won't have the time to play it as much as I wish I could.

Next semester won't be great one way or the other...

Mact

Actually, I'm shocked.

If anything, Brawl was -not- the game to be delaying.

Mact

BenKenobi88

i only got super paper mario last week, and Metriod prime and Super mario galaxy (hallowed be thy name) are en route as well as who knows what VC games - that'll do me.

Gypsie

BenKenobi88

MGS4- Delayed
Rock Band- Delayed
Grand Theft auto 4- Delayed
No More Heroes- Delayed
Super Smash Bros. Brawl- Delayed

skate, Policenauts and Super Mario Galaxy are the only things I'm likely to play this Christmas.

87th

Warik

Smash was supposed to be in development and gearing up for as a Wii launch title. However, Iwata claiming the game was in development was the first time Sakurai had heard of plans for a game.

I take Nintendo release dates with a pound of salt.

DonWii

@Huginn:

I said the same about the Mario Kart delay, but I'm not sure they need that much more padding for 2008. Are they worried about their Japanese sells more than we thought? The second hand market has really picked up now used prices are much lower than retail.

Mongoosekun

Set a release date when it's done for sure.

Gumbydunzeeto

Look I dont care that its delayed.
Take all the freaking time in the world to make it the way it needs to be.

BUT STOP SETTING RELEASE DATES AND GETTING MY HOPES UP!!!!

JermExMachina

Tonx

Cirno

The bad...Galaxy better be a big time dust magnet for my Wii.

gstaff

jive238

doctorwily

hchaudh1

Fuzzba11

P.S. DonWii -- I know you from somewhere... you came in #7 in some contest or other...

Final-Fan

He worked on assets for the game, but they could be cut for any number of reasons. Still, it's definitely promising to see something like that. I figured it'd be impossible to include Shiek with the Twilight Princess approach to the Zelda characters.

Heliophage

We only get one smash per generation, and this game is already gonna be probably the most epic game ever released, so they wanna get it right...

Oh, and lets not forget that they'll bag 2 GOTYs now, with Galaxy and Smash Bros.

Aimless

Kiden4911

This is a killer app title in the making. Nintendo doesn't need another title like this to sell more systems, when they is already selling every system in sight with last years killer app.

By feb 10, sales will start to slow.. for about a week before the Mario-Sonic hype train blows a new whole in the market.

huginn

[www.gametrailers.com]

Enjoy

Video

[www.gametrailers.com]

Enjoy

Video

There are still plenty of other Wii games to hold me over until then, so I think I'll... Live... Maybe. X_(

My only hope is that No More Heroes sales aren't affected by Brawl, with them being released in the same month (day?) now.

D-Pad

theCornerinvasion

Kiden4911

Also, love the Holidays Ruined tag. I've never been a huge Smash Brothers fan (because I'm just god awful at fighting games and don't have the patience to learn) but watching some of my friends in heated 4 way battle was awesome.

amazinglarry

karmaghost

Torusan

bob-e

Stormrider

Yeahhh! That means I'll have some money in my pocket left over this holiday season for things like food and toilet paper.

Well, at least $49.99 worth.

djkibblesnbits

Tonx

I really hope.

ShadeofDante

Well I guess more time for school and Mario Galaxy... and Prime 3, of course.

blacksamurai87

In all seriousness, though. I was excited about Brawl. I still am excited about Brawl. There was a delay. I'll live. I'm glad that Sonic is in it, and I'm pretty sure that the game is pretty much complete and this is just a marketing thing. I mean, I agree with people that they aren't going to release SMG and SSBB at the same time or even relatively close to each other. I don't blame them. And this isn't as big of a deal as, let's say, the Sega Genesis coming out late and Sega always having horrible release times for their consoles. Brawl won't plummet Nintendo.

Also, if this wasn't a marketing thing, I think that they decided to add something 'last minute' and would rather perfect it than ACTUALLY throw it in there at the last minute. Five months is more than enough time to add a new feature.

Sorry this was so long, I can see the tl;dr replys coming in now.

ArgentAngel

William "Killer" Shatner

swankychameleon

Tonx

Well, publishers determine a release date, though they typically tend to honor the developer processess and try not to force them to ship a game before it's done.

In this case, though, it's first party, and I'm going to have to agree. Don't set a date in stone and then push it away several months. It's not a week, or two weeks, but months. Are they that far behind their targets for this month?

Like Grand Theft Auto, I may grow to appreciate this delay, but that was a huge hit to my Wii as far as having something I want to play on it.

Disappointing, at best.

Heliophage

MNC

TheIrishNinja

also: crap! it's ok though... there were too many games coming out all at once anyways. maybe i should be thankful there's a small delay (it really is a small delay considering everyone will be busy with mario and etc.)

William "Killer" Shatner

But seriously, nothing is worse than having the marketing department drive the development schedule. That's how you end up with burnt out programmers bringing Armalite rifles to the office.

tk.

Maybe they delayed it for a good cause. Maybe there's a glitch? Maybe they're adding new stuff to make it better? In the end, it'll benefit all of us right?

to the user above me, why don't u get a wii on ebay. LOL

DSDragonSlayerz

But it seems that the word "deadline" doesn't exist in the dictionary of game industry. I mean wow, we got so much delays that it's ridicilous... all console applied!

chos3n

JayDiggler

IntelSilver

usfslacker

MNC

Anyways... this gives me a little more time to lock down a Wii. They are STILL non-existent in Orange County, CA.

The Wii is like the Yeti out here, scarce as hell and the only proof of their existence is the occasional obscured/blurry picture.

FrigidAir44

jephs_mun

-

It's all good. As long as it's to make the game better, I don't mind.

SzinDragon

EmeraldDragon

Ilchymis

chardish

Tonx

JonDarkwood

Alazar

But what's all this talk about FF chars in Brawl? Has this been hinted at or is this just a fanboy's wet dream?

Digital-Moth

Xagest

but a smash delay means a mario kart delay.

fuck.

King Louse

After TF2 and Hellgate, this was my most anticipated fall/holiday game.

Oh well, there's plenty of other stuff to play.

PaulMorel

Nickatiah

haldrogenbomb

Kiden4911

NunianVonFuch

I was really looking forward to Christmas break with this game.

TalKeaton

tjcrabtree

subnet6

Rightfully so, but still :P

Aurvant

Unfortunately, this news basically confirms what I've been expecting for a few days now, which means my Wii is going back in its box until next year. Gonna be a long, long winter.

Archaotic

I still have PS2 games that came out last year that I haven't gotten around to playing (I have a nasty habit of restarting RPG's from scratch if I can't remember where I am).

Hoping for more 3rd party characters :D

Digital-Moth

Yes, I'm a sad and hopeful Mega Man fan wanting him to blast into Brawl.

Saint Anima

Anarchist_Gamer

DonWii

Between PH, Dementia, Manhunt 2, and a number of backlogged games I've yet to finish - I need that little break...not to mention SMG, which will prolly consume my entire xmas break from work.

and anytime Nintendo says dev's need more time - most times that works out for the best for everyone....unless it's a zelda delay....then we really can't see why the game was delayed...oh I don't wanna get into that!

sadkermit - soon to be banned for standing up to the ummm nazi.

MetaKz

You realized you can get banned for that stupid "First" crap, don't you?

PapaBear434

Gessepi

Roadkill

Pros
- more weekly Dojo stuff will make the Final Fantasy character reveals that much more exciting (probably various job classes, but I'd kill for a Edgar or Sabin)
- My game list for the next three months just dropped from around $800 to around $750
- maybe they are adding new stuff (e.g. headsets to appease the whiners).

jaredgood1

At least SMG will still be out this holiday, right?

Aex

Malthius

*sniff* yeah... blaming you makes me feel a little bit better.

Maldron

ChymChymX

Okari

Malthius

Seriously though, I was really looking forward to it. And that damned site keeps torturing me every day with teases...

SuperMaxZero

Tonx

valhum

Big_Jock

decoy-b

I guess Kotaku really does care about Smash.

DonWii

coasterjunkieX

silkylove

[Dextr]

I like the "HOLIDAY RUINED" tag there. =P

Anyways, obligatory "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO T_T" starts here.

ThreeLeafIvy

Well, at least it's not just us PS3 owners suffering from optimistic release dates.

PapaBear434