Bioshock Infinite Delayed Forever

...Okay, maybe not forever, just until February 26, 2013, but it might as well be forever, amirite? There's a letter from the game's designer Ken Levine explaining the four month delay (which I've posted below the cut) that makes it sound like a good idea and all, but certainly doesn't make waiting for this game even longer suck any less.  Normally I'd have no problem with a delay announcement, as I go by the old Shigeru Miyamoto quote, "A delayed game is eventually good, a bad game is bad forever.", bur the thing is that Bioshock Infinite was announced way back in 2010.  That's right, we've been waiting for this game for 2 years already.  I'm not saying that long dev cycles are bad either (except in the case of Duke Nukem Forever), I'm just saying maybe don't announce your game with images and gameplay footage two years before it's even close to coming out.  I'm sure it was a marketing thing (if we announce a new Bioshock our stocks will go up!) and the devs had no choice in the matter, I'm just saying maybe it's not a good idea, and a good way to make people burnt out on hearing about your game before it even comes out.  We don't need two years of constantly running hype machine-- just a "we're working on a new Bioshock" message and no footage until close to release would of sufficed, and would of made this announcement seem a lot less absurd.  Regardless, good luck with the game, guys at Irrational-- I know it will be great!

When we announced the release date of BioShock Infinite in March, we felt pretty good about the timing.

Since then, we’ve come to realize that some specific tweaks and improvements will make Infinite into something even more extraordinary. Therefore, to give our talented team the time they need, we’ve decided to move the game’s release to February 26, 2013. We wanted to let our loyal (and very patient!) fans know this as soon as possible.

I won’t kid you: BioShock Infinite is a very big game, and we’re doing things that no one has ever done in a first-person shooter. We had a similar experience with the original BioShock, which was delayed several months as our original ship date drew near. Why? Because the Big Daddies weren’t the Big Daddies you’ve since come to know and love. Because Andrew Ryan’s golf club didn’t have exactly the right swing. Because Rapture needed one more coat of grimy Art Deco.

The same principle now applies to BioShock Infinite.

What does this mean for you? It means a bit more waiting, but more importantly, it means an even better BioShock Infinite. The great can be made greater, and we owe it to both ourselves and to you, our fans, to take this opportunity.

We are also going to hold off on showing BioShock Infinite at the big events of the summer, like E3 and Gamescom. That way, the next time you see our game, it will be essentially the product we intend to put in the box. Preparing for these events takes time away from development, time we’re going to use instead to get the best version of Infinite into your hands in February.