Well, this is a very worrying development, for Sidhe, not us the gaming public. If they have done credible market research they will know these facts:
Product Release Date Flexibility:
Strengths:
1. Rugby League is an exclusive licensing opportunity, where due to that factor they can capitalise on the interest of the gaming public and release it whenever they like. Where'll the gaming public turn otherwise?
Weaknesses:
1. Rugby League is a seasonal sport, where interest reaches it's peak in September (Southern Hemisphere), and a percentage of casual gamers, will wait through the summer, pursuing other interests and will either purchase at bargain prices early next season or maybe even not at all.
2. Cricket takes over as a release ***le contender in the SH summer along with the new Tiger Woods, Fifa, PES, and Basketball ***les on their way.
3. Early next winter, Rugby Union will rear it's (possibly ugly) head, and subtract from sales then.
4. Being vague with release data, this demographic are not very happy with being let down, so it's best to drip feed information at the last minute, that'll appease them (yeah right).
5. (And definitely the most likely) Product fine tuning and trouble-shooting/bug fixing can be a nightmare, once the games out - its out. So, it would seem likely that this will be the biggest factor in deciding a definitive release date.
So, in conclusion, my opinion is that some of this is likely the case, and that as a gaming public we just want to be informed. To be fair to Mario, he has done a decent job of keeping us informed, and for that I am at least thankful.
On the downside however, it seems that this product has been poorly timetabled, as we all know that it is a MAJOR problem when a sports game can't be released to coincide with it real life counterparts finals series. It's bad for them sales-wise and it's bad for us gaming wise. There's enough quality games out there, to have some of us carry the grudge untill it's in the bargain bin.
It's to me at least the second biggest issue, behind overall gameplay. If this game isn't out by two weeks after the grand final, I'm not interested.
I like League, I love cricket and rugby, and I hate getting left in the dark.