The Sims 2 and Pacific Assault delayed

EA has revealed that The Sims 2 and Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault have both been delayed until later in the year, during the publisher's annual conference call with analysts and investors to announce its Q4 2004 earnings, which were, as you might imagine, solid profits all round.

According to EA's Chief Financial Officer Warren Jenson, neither PC game will be released until the company's "fiscal year 2005, not until the second or third quarter," meaning between July and December 2004 in calendar terms.

When pressed on the topic by an analyst, who recalled EA's previous comment that both games were "on the cusp of being finished," Jenson said delays were tied into to ensuring quality. "It's really about polishing the product. It's about the entertainment experience, critic meta-rating, and, ultimately, sales."

The news knocked EA's stock off its little mountain for a while, but let's face it, it could've done with being taken down a peg. It had been making all the other shares jealous and getting all the chicks for waaay too long.

Originally planned for release in late 2003, then early 2004 (with EA's UK press site still pointing to Q1 2004), The Sims 2 and Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault are reinventions of two of EA's biggest and most money-grubbing franchises. We hoped Pacific Assault would right the wrongs committed in Rising Sun, while The Sims 2 is EA's big chance to do something new and interesting with the ever-selling series as it starts to stagnate critically.

With both titles now a ways off, EA will have to rely on other franchises to keep its next quarter figures in trim.