10. Far More Strict Quality Control
As mentioned, just this past week (in December 2014, future readers) Ubisoft dropped an otherwise-harmless port of the ancient classic Tetris onto new consoles. It was supposed to be a simple and flashy affair, with bright vibrant graphics and a general feel of gameplay that would connote the euphoric highs of slipping many a coin into many an arcade slot back in the day. Instead, it ran about as efficiently as an inhaler-starved asthmatic in a marathon, wheezing its way across the finishing line in a haze of wasted potential, putting off nostalgia-lovers who were ready to give it a go in the process. As you saw in the very first image for this article, even Nintendo's once proud 'seal of approval' is tarnished and cast aside in favour of getting more products out the door too. When the beloved Mario's face looks more like he's about to say "It's a me, Derpio" than his signature catchphrase, it hammers home just how unacceptable the publisher end of things is alongside that of the developers. The thing is, as much as delays aren't what anyone wants, the simple solution is not to announce tickets to board the hype train so early in the first place. Hang back and set attainable goals, then maintain a stringent series of checks between developer and publisher across the months afterwards. Right now it feels like detached executives are just waving their hands at any old rubbish that resembles a finished product and assuming the developers will make it work later down the line. It's just not good enough, and the production line needs to be thoroughly checked and vetted at every possible interval.