(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Delays are easily one of the crappiest things about the gaming industry from a gamer perspective. Despite the fact that they sometimes lead to drastically improved titles doesn’t matter. We, as a species, are extremely impatient. Not all of us are, but enough of us to make the complaints seem a lot worse than they actually are. This year we’ve seen delays to a lot of titles, but the delays don’t impact any console manufacturer more-so than Sony. The PlayStation 4 looks like it’s going to bring a dry spell into the Holiday season and as any of us know, that’s a recipe for disaster.

Will all of these delays hurt Sony in the end?

Travis Tucker: It’s impossible to say. If Sony continues to delay releases and doesn’t get a first-party title in the hands of PS4 owners, then yes. If Driveclub releases this year or The Order: 1886 releases next year and the polish and refinement such a delay should allow for isn’t present, then people are going to start asking why the games were delayed in the first place.

However, we all know that the gaming public can be somewhat fickle. People began writing off Watch Dogs when it was delayed just a month before release. I talked to more than one person that said they had completely given up on the game and that they would not be buying if it ever became available, expecting it to be garbage. Fast forward to now, following further delays and a fiasco that saw the game’s trademark abandoned, and Watch Dogs has sold over four million copies within its first week of release and has become the fastest selling game in Ubisoft’s history. Watch Dogs has proven that delays do not necessarily translate to commercial suicide.

That being said, Sony needs to be smarter when announcing when games will be released. It is beginning to come off like the company is making promises with no intention of keeping them. “Oh yeah, this amazing game is coming this year!” says Sony, selling another consumer on a brand new PlayStation 4, only to turn around and reveal “Well, that particular title needs more time.” I’m not saying that this is what is actually happening, but it is the way it can be perceived and perception has a habit of becoming reality. Sony needs to be more conservative when announcing release windows for games and avoid “making promises they can’t keep.” Especially with Microsoft leaving E3 2014 revitalized and with a console that is now the same price as the PS4.

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Joe Garcia: In the long run, delays are never a bad thing. As the immortal Shigeru Miyamoto once said, “A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad.” His track record would suggest that he knows better than most on the matter.

But the gaming public isn’t exactly known for being the embodiment of patience and level-headedness, and delays for highly-anticipated games are a tough sell even if it’s the right thing to do. As Travis pointed out, people buy consoles when they’re promised something to play, and pushing back a game that pushed them into spending several hundred dollars can feel like a kick in the teeth.

I’m not going to pretend to know if these delays will hurt Sony this year. Despite the delay of The Order: 1886, the company could still announce games that could potentially fill the void at E3 in just a few days time. And Sony have survived lengthy delays in the past — Gran Turismo 5 was released six years after its predecessor and went on to sell over 10 million copies, while people still cling for any hope of The Last Guardian ever seeing release.

Quite frankly, there’s also plenty to play on the PS4 right now to tide you over while you wait for games like The Order: 1886 and Batman: Arkham Knight to release in 2015, and plenty more to come in between. There’s a number of reasonably-priced indie games coming out at a steady clip, and open-world stuff like inFamous: Second Son and Watch Dogs can potentially keep you going for dozens of hours at a time.

So just sit tight, because rushed games are forever bad.

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David Wales: I think they will for 2014. I think we’re at the point where so many first-party and third-party offerings have been delayed that the Fall of 2014 is going to be somewhat of a disadvantage for Sony. Microsoft has several first-party offerings planned and haven’t delayed any titles at all into 2015. So, it’s likely they’re going to have a definite advantage to end the year.

With that said, I think this is going to do absolute wonder for Sony and 2015. The lineup for 2015 is already being loaded and we’re undoubtedly going to hear more about other titles expected to release in 2015 at E3 as well. Meanwhile, Microsoft is prepping Halo for next year and maybe the next entry into Gears of War. Either way, 2015 is shaping up to be a blockbuster year for the PlayStation 4 on the first-party and third-party front. If you check Sony’s past, the first year of game offerings have never been very impressive or anything to write home about — things always start spinning in year two.

I have a feeling that’s the exact same thing we’re going to see happen this time around too. After all, the hardware will have been in developer’s hands for quite some time by that time and that usually means that optimization has improved somewhat dramatically. Currently, I don’t think Sony has much to worry about, really. They’ve built a healthy marketshare lead and it’s unlikely to be given up over the next 6 months. This should mean that in 2015, when the games pick up, the PlayStation 4 will have more than enough driving force to increase its share and create a larger footprint within this generation. You must login or register to view this content.

I wish they would just get on with it, ps4 has like 15 games and maybe 2 of them are actually good. I even waited to buy the ps4 in hopes of more games but that was a disappointment.