The 10 Most Delayed Games (And Whether They Were Worth The Wait)

Diablo 3's most recent delay—from "late 2011" to "early 2012"—shouldn't come as a surprise. The third entry in Blizzard's classic series has been in development since shortly after the turn of the century, after all.

The earliest version, developed by the now-defunct Blizzard North, was completely scrapped in 2005, and a from-scratch new version's been in the works since. But the public beta's still going strong, so there's no doubt the game will definitely come out soon.

And besides, worrywarts—not every game stuck in development purgatory stays there. Whether your most looked forward to game is Shenmue 3 or the next Half-Life, you might take comfort from our list of delayed games that actually hit shelves. Of course, whether or not they were actually worth the wait is a different issue.

Halo was originally slated for a dual release on Mac and PC. Bungie had previously worked in Mac development on their Marathon series, a precursor to Halo and a great trilogy in its own right. In addition, Halo was conceived and developed as a real-time strategy game, though it eventually became the benchmark first person shooter loved by millions today.

The best part of this story? The irony of Steve Jobs at the Macworld Conference and Expo in 1998 announcing that Halo would be released on Mac and PC simultaneously. Needless to say, this didn't occur, and Halo wound up putting millions of dollars right into the deep, deep pockets of Jobs's biggest rival, Billy Gates. Though that didn't come to pass without a few years of delays and redesigns, of course.

Although Super Mario Sunshine, in its final form, wasn't unveiled until a year before its release, it was really just another iteration in Nintendo's continued attempts at creating a sequel for the beloved Super Mario 64. Nowadays we're used to only getting one or two core Mario games per console generation, but back then there was still hope Super Mario 64 2 would hit the N64, long before the GameCube was ever released.

Mario Creator Shigeru Miyamoto said in 1997 that Mario 64 2 was being developed for the (terrible, terrible) Nintendo 64DD, a failed peripheral for the N64, and he confirmed in 2006 to IGN that elements of that game went into future Mario titles.

The same goes for Mario 128, a GameCube tech demo that eventually influenced everything from Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy to Pikmin and Metroid Prime. Despite certain criticisms, Sunshine is a solid title in Mario's legacy, so all that experimentation seems to have paid off.

Perfect Dark Zero was the ultimate in disappointment. It's really no wonder, given the fact its development spanned three different consoles and an entire generation. The prequel to the absolute classic N64 game was originally slated for release on the Gamecube, but after Microsoft bought out Rare, it was moved to the Xbox, and eventually the Xbox 360.

As a launch title for the 360, it wowed almost everyone. The graphics were shiny, the controller was wireless, and it had decent online multiplayer integrated right into the console. Unfortunately, the more time you spent with it, the more you realized how disappointing it was compared to the original. Lesson learned? Not exactly, as Rare's only slipped further into mediocrity since.

While the third entry in the Golden Sun series may not have actually been in development for very long, fans were waiting for the game since GS: The Lost Age hit the Game Boy Advance in 2003. Not only was it the best portable RPG ever, but it even stood up to console games in terms of length and depth. Not to mention that the ending was a cliffhanger to end all cliffhangers.

Speculation of a third game naturally took off, with rumors that it would appear on the GameCube gaining traction in 2004. Nintendo was ambiguous about whether they'd even make it, though, so it faded from the spotlight until finally being unveiled at E3 2009. Its reception wasn't all positive, as the formula seems to have staled over the interim seven years, and many considered it too easy. Still, fans were mostly happy it had happened at all.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. was originally slated for a 2003 release, though it missed this mark by a long shot. It suffered a few embarrassments during its lengthy development, including an unstable alpha build leaking in 2003 and a buggy release in 2007.

It even made Wired Magazine's 2006 Hall of Vaporware, along with Spore and, naturally… another game that may or may not appear on this list (you can probably guess which one).

In spite of its issues, the game was met with positive reception, and its post-apocalyptic setting dripped with gooey atmosphere. THQ went on to publish Metro 2033, an incredibly underrated game that shares the apocalypse theme with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and owes a lot to its eventual success.

Too Human began life on the original PlayStation, though its development was quickly moved to the GameCube when developer Silicon Knights partnered with Nintendo. But their focus shifted to other titles, like the awesome Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem (2002), and Too Human fell into developmental stagnation.

Until 2005, that is, when Silicon Knights partnered with Microsoft and the game became an Xbox 360 exclusive. But that wasn't the end of their troubles; Silicon Knights wasn't pleased with the state of Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3, which they were contractually obligated to use, and more technical issues, delays and even a lawsuit and counter-suit marred Too Human's development. All of this loveliness came together to form what was universally regarded as a crappy game. Shame.

Sims creator Will Wright originally envisioned Spore as SimEverything, and that's what it was called upon its announcement in 2000. Although the name changed, Wright's lofty ambitions for the game didn't. Unfortunately, his vision was a little too ambitious, since what ended up coming out—eight years later—was used by many gamers as little more than a glorified character creation engine.

It received decent reviews, but ultimately didn't live up to the expectations built over nearly a decade of development, not to mention Wright's exaggerated and, frankly, unrealistic vision of the god game to end all god games.

Team Fortress 2 is another example of a game that was too big for its developers' britches; the original started out as a mod for Quake in the mid '90s, and once Valve hired on its creators to create a sequel, the sky must have seemed the limit.

In a 2000 interview with Gamespot, they described everything from a bird's-eye commander overseeing the battlefield to network voice chat. The game also sported a modern military aesthetic that no doubt looked bitchin' at the time.

But Valve's focus shifted to other projects, like Half-Life 2 and Steam, and little was heard for more than half a decade. When it was finally released in 2007 alongside Half-Life 2: Episode 2 and Portal in The Orange Box, it was a very different game. Luckily, it's also a freaking awesome game, as its ongoing popularity and consistent updates attest. Unlike most developmentally challenged titles, this one was actually worth the wait. Thanks, Valve.

Prey went through at least three completely different version in its first three years of development alone. Developer 3D Realms, along with talent from Doom creators Id Software, had a demanding vision that involved multiple alien races, a living space ship and manipulable "portals" (before they were cool!). Unfortunately, this and subsequent visions didn't pan out.

Engineer William Scarboro, who worked on one iteration, even commented in 1999, "In hindsight, portal tricks such as these should be used as tricks, not as an engine paradigm."

Though the game seemed destined to be bogged down indefinitely by technical difficulties, 3D Realms kept at it. Development of the final version began in 2001, when 3D Realms realized they could just license the technologies they needed instead of continually failing at developing them. It was officially announced in 2005 and released in 2006, though whether it was worth the wait is still up for debate.

What did you expect? Duke Nukem Forever is the biggest (and longest) running joke in the history of the gaming industry, and with good reason.

Though it's not unusual for a delayed game to stagnate for a while without a definite release date, DNF went for ten years without one. When 3D Realms was downsized in 2009 and the DNF team was disbanded, most gamers lost all hope of ever seeing the game. Sadly, that probably would have been for the best.

The game that 2K ultimately decided to produce was, at the same time, both everything fans wanted, and a total train wreck. The problem wasn't so much the game itself as that the industry has simply grown up.

Duke's bawdy sense of humor, racism and sexism, and general lack of sensitivity toward everything simply doesn't appeal anymore like it did a decade ago. That's what happens when a game takes almost 15 years to develop. Let's hope nothing like this ever happens again, because it discredits our entire industry. Rant over.