Disaster: Day of Crisis

What a tortured development this game has had. Since its initial announcement, with promises of cutting edge physics and catastrophic scenarios, gamers have eagerly lapped-up every screen and snippet of footage. The delays and eventually its indefinite postponement to increase quality have raised alarm bells far and wide. Its absence is all the more glaring when looking at Nintendo’s lack of core games leading up to the holidays. So what’s the story here? Are we looking at another Project HAMMER style core game cancellation from Nintendo? Has the game been delayed out of respect for the Chinese people who suffered in the Sichuan earthquake? Or should we take Monolith Soft’s explanation at face value, and assume the game is being delayed so that it can be improved?

There are some other factors to take into account here: Nintendo in May 2007 bought a controlling stake in Monolith Soft. D:DoC was in development during that time, and must have been one of the reasons Nintendo were impressed enough to acquire the company. Another is that up until recently, Monolith Soft had predominantly been RPG developers; D:DoC is a significant departure for them so it is not surprising that development has not gone smoothly. Finally, the game has been in development significantly longer than Project HAMMER was, and features a far more interesting and ambitious central theme. Its cancellation would therefore represent a far more substantial loss to Nintendo.

Chances of release: 50%