Ahead of the publisher's January 31st Q3 results, Janco analyst Mike Hickey has said recent Electronic Arts share underperformance could be coming from the specter of potential product delays, predicting the highly anticipated Spore could be moved from March/April into the second half of 2008.

While Hickey says Janco expects Q3 results to be in line with EA's guidance, the company's "recent share under-performance (closed at 52 week low yesterday) would suggest a potential shortfall... or guidance gimp."

Hickey says that in the current market climate, companies that perform 'only' in-line with expectations are susceptible to damage, as well as those with "conservative tone from management on future performance."

"Additional share pressure could be coming from potential high profile product delays including Spore," notes Hickey, "which we now expect in [the second half of 2008], versus management guidance for March/April."

EA has previously been quite firm on a spring release date for the game, first noting in May that it likely would see release between January and June of 2008, and then in August that it was being "squarely targeted at March, April, or May".

Hickey adds, however, that despite other recent delays, including Army of Two and Warhammer, EA has managed to exceed expectations, and likely will not make major revisions to 2008 guidance.

Hickey remains bullish on the company's future, saying he expecting its legacy franchises to continue to perform well, and is optimistic on its new IP, including Spore and Warhammer Online, also predicting that its EA Partner properties like Rock Band and Orange Box to make up some $350 million of its Q3 sales, some 10 percent of its guidance.

source (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=17158)

Total surprise

Well at least it gives us time to play SSBB before we move on to Spore.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6185888.html
After more than a year of delays and nearly three years in development, Spore finally has a release date. Will Wright's anticipated sim game will arrive on the Wii, PC, and Macintosh during the weekend of September 7, according to publisher EA. The game has not yet been officially rated or priced, but online retailers are listing it for $49.99.

The Wii version of Spore, which was reconfirmed at an EA analysts' event today, has not yet been dated. However, it may not be the only version of the ambitious evolution-civilization-space-exploration sim to hit next-generation consoles. Speaking to analysts, EA Games president Frank Gibeau said that Spore is "already in development" for the newest generation of consoles, "Wii included." He did not specify further platforms, and EA reps could not clarify his comments as of press time.

Designed by Sims creator Will Wright, Spore is among the most ambitious simulation games ever planned. Beginning at the start of evolution, it follows life from single-celled organisms through the dawn of civilization. From there, it follows the player's fully customizable species as it climbs up the technological ladder all the way to space exploration, which allows it to colonize other planets.

In addition to dropping hints about new platforms, Gibeau also hinted that Spore might not be entirely free of charge. He told analysts that the online mode of the game could be an "opportunity" for an "expanded digital revenue stream." He did not elaborate if said stream entailed microtransactions, in-game advertising, subscription fees, or any combination of the three.
:bounce:

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6185888.html

:bounce:

I'll believe it when it's in an amazon box sitting on my front porch! Until then I don't trust that it won't get delayed again.

I'll believe it when it's in an amazon box sitting on my front porch! Until then I don't trust that it won't get delayed again.

SSBB haunting you? :lol:


October October ;)

SSBB haunting you? :lol:


October October ;)

remember remember the 5th of November...yeah that has nothing to do with this, you mentioning the month like that reminded me of the saying.

http://e3.gamespot.com/story.html?sid=6193821&pid=926714
We could listen to Spore creator (and founder of EA's Maxis Software studio) Will Wright talk about anything--even science--for hours on end. And, in fact, he did just that during today's Spore presentation at EA's E3 press conference. Of course, Wright's talk wasn't hours long--it lasted only 15 minutes or so--but during the talk, he touched on the scientific ideas behind Spore's creation and managed to present some amusing anecdotes about the popularity of the game, despite its release still being several months away.

During the presentation, Wright explained that, much like his younger days experimenting with chemistry sets, Spore represents a fusion of the scientific and the creative--a game that seemingly looks to challenge your intellect as much as it stokes your imagination. Wright pointed to the recently released creature creator as proof. Released just a few weeks ago as a free download or a paid retail version, the Spore creature creator can be used to create the many different types of creatures that will inhabit the Spore universe.

And we mean many different creature types. As Wright explained, he hoped to have about 100,000 user-created creatures available by the game's launch, with 1 million created by year's end. Instead, users created 100,000 creatures in the first 22 hours of the creature creator's release. As Wright said, it only took them another six days to have passed the 1 million mark. As of the last count, Wright said there were 1,756,869 user-created creatures in the Spore database; about 100,000 more than there are known species in the actual world.

And it isn't just quantity that has been created so far, Wright said. During the presentation, he showed a number of examples of user-created creatures in a slideshow--everything from the sort of fantastical creatures you've likely seen in the game's screens and videos to more realistic and recognizable versions of common animals (even a few humans as well). Some of the more creative types have even gone on to develop creatures that don't look anything like living beings--but rather like helicopters, jet planes, and sailboats.

Wright also mentioned that the game will feature a partnership of sorts with the SETI (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence), which will somehow use the game to help further the collaborative goals of that collective group--more details will surely be revealed in the future. After his presentation, Wright showed off a brief trailer for the game that gave a good overall sense of the ever-changing feel of the game--as you evolve your single-cell creation to more complex organism, emerge from the sea, develop societies, weaponry, and, eventually, space travel, then set off for the stars to explore new worlds.

With the game set to debut on the PC on September 7 this year (and DS, mobile, and iPhone versions of the game in the works), it's clear that Wright, Maxis, and EA hope Spore becomes as prevalent a brand as another Maxis creation: The Sims. While it's impossible to say if that will happen, we do know that we can't wait to get our hands on the final version of the game. Stay tuned for more Spore coverage in the coming weeks

Total surprise

:lmao: