12 Hugely Delayed Video Games (That Ended Up Sucking)

6. Spore

The Delay: Spore began development back in 2000, though it wasn't shown off to the public until mid-2005 at E3. Two years later, the game was again shown off an E3 having undergone a significant aesthetic shift, but with the expectation that the game would be released in 2007. This changed a short time later, with a projected 2008 bow, which eventually materalised in September of that year. The Result: Spore was released to huge hype as it came from Will "The Sims" Wright, and despite strangely positive reviews, it proved to be one of the most over-hyped and unfulfilling games ever made. The game consists of five stages which depict various life cycles of an organism, each essentially representing a mini-game of sorts. The problem is that each of these games is extremely simplistic, and might appeal to children, but quickly becomes boring for adults. The backlash of expectation is truly present here: gamers were expecting an intelligent strategy game with innovative mechanics, but Wright essentially killed his own game by overstating how great it was going to be, when in actual fact, it wasn't far above a game you'd play for free in your browser. Much like The Sims, it's fun for 20 minutes but hardly a game to glue you to your seat. What makes Spore suck is that it's not just a simple game, it's a simple game with pretentious ambitions to something else, which it absolutely does not meet.