Tabula Rasa, the Richard Garriott-helmed, Destination Games-developed PC MMORPG, has been pushed back by a few weeks. Originally announced for an October 19 release, the game will now arrive November 2. Those who pre-order the game will gain access to the final servers on October 30.

"This short but critical amount of time will give us time to address several issues including stability and balance as well as allowing our players to test the continent of Ligo (L38+) and our major changes to crafting for a few weeks rather than a few days," producer Starr Long wrote on the offical community site. "Our entire development staff feels this extra time is needed as does our beta community. We feel confident that this extra time will make a difference on launch day."

In addition to putting the finishing touches on the mystical sci-fi MMO, Richard Garriott, the man behind the title, is busy preparing for his journey into space. For more on the game itself, check out Nick Breckon's hands-on impressions.

Update: A member of Petroglyph's staff has elaborated on the delay, explaining that it is currently limited to European regions. Based off the comments, the PC version of Universe at War is still on track for release in North America this year, with the Xbox 360 edition following in 2008.

Shacknews has contacted Sega for comment, but has yet to receive a response.

Original Story: The PC version of Petroglyph's Universe at War: Earth Assault, originally scheduled to arrive this year, has been delayed into next year. Both the PC and Xbox 360 iterations are now slated for a January release.

"The new release date means that both the PC version and Xbox 360 version will launch closer together," Sega told CVG, "allowing gamers to enjoy the full experience of this fantastic RTS from acclaimed developer, Petroglyph."

When released, Universe at War will be among the few games to support cross-platform multiplayer, allowing PC and Xbox 360 owners to face off against one another. A closed multiplayer PC beta of Universe at War is currently underway.

Insomniac Games' Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (PS3) will hover into stores October 30, a week later than the October 23 date announced earlier this year. Though only a brief delay, this marks the first time a title from the Resistance: Fall of Man (PS3) and Spyro the Dragon series creator has slipped past its initial date.

That said, as the colorful platformer went gold and entered the manufacturing process today, the company is quite confident in the new date.

Coinciding with the above news, SCEA line producer Greg Phillips also utilized the official PlayStation blog to confirm that a downloadable demo of Ratchet and Clank's latest outing--an optimized version of the E3 level--will appear in North America's online PlayStation Store by October 11.

Those unwilling to wait two weeks can visit the all-encompassing game retailer GameStop, which is currently offering a slightly less optimized version of the same demo in exchange for a pre-order of the title.

To learn more about the game and its weapons, such as the deadly slinky assault, check out our latest hands-on impressions.

Pandemic Studios has confirmed the rumored delay of its open-ended soldier for hire life simulator Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (PC, PS2, PS3, X360).

"The easy answer is that we wanted to time it more closely to the movie," Pandemic co-founder and president Josh Resnick told IGN. "But then we realized that we don't have a movie, so we just said, 'Aww hell, let's just make the game better.'"

Previously scheduled for a holiday 2007 release, Mercenaries 2 is now expected in Q1 2008.

Though the console version are still on track for a November release, the PC version of Ubisoft Montreal's stealth action title Assassin's Creed won't sneak into retail until early 2008, Ubisoft announced today. Ubisoft had not given a different date for the PC release until today's announcement on the company's holiday lineup.

Both console and PC versions of Gearbox Software's WWII shooter Brothers in Arms: Hells Highway will also be pushed from their holiday 2007 release to a retail date within Ubisoft's fourth quarter for the current fiscal year. This places the Ubisoft-published title in stores sometime from January through March of 2008.

The announcement listed the Wii port of Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 as on track for a December release, but made no mention the upcoming original Wii title in the series, Demiurge's Brothers in Arms: Double Time.

Bad news ladies. Looks like the much anticipated Crysis demo will not be hitting the internets just yet as was originally scheduled. Word from EA has just come in that the Crysis singleplayer demo is now slated to be released on October 26th. If you're dying for a fix of Crysis though you can check out our recent Hands-On of the Ice level. Here is the note from the Crytek CEO: ... Read more

Outside of the DualShock 3, SCE chief Kazuo Hirai made a few minor announcements regarding Sony's progress in the networking field in is keynote address this morning at the Tokyo Game Show.

In a disappointing note, Hirai revealed that the PlayStation Home platform for the PS3 has been delayed into a new target of Spring 2008. No details were made available.

However, Hirai did outline a few items regarding the PSP. Powering PlayStation 3 systems on and off while on the go will soon be possible under the PSP's Remote Play functionality. In addition, multiple PSPs will now be able to connect to a single PS3.

Hirai used an example of a golf game to illustrate: "For example if you're playing a golf game, your friends can connect through the PSP as spectators. There is also the possibility for combining the data transfer functionality through the PSP so you'll be able to send certain games that you've been playing on the PS3 and transfer them to your PSP so you can continue playing."

The true sequel to Team NINJA's Ninja Gaiden reinvention on Xbox will also be an Xbox 360 exclusive, Team NINJA's iconic game designer Tomonobu Itagaki said today in Tokyo. Itagaki took the stage at Microsoft's pre-Tokyo Game Show press briefing to make the announcement, confirming the release of Ninja Gaiden 2 on Microsoft's platform in 2008.

Mistwalker's Hironobu Sakaguchi of Final Fantasy fame and fan-fiction also took the stage at the engagement, giving his studio's Xbox 360 exclusive RPG Lost Odyssey a release date of December 6 for Japan, but revealing other territories won't see the game until 2008--a delay from the originally stated winter 2007 release. Sakaguchi also priced the game for some reason, surprising no one with a standard $59.99 price point in the U.S. and comparable prices worldwide.

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Ninja Gaiden 2's announcement was leaked earlier today by... Read more

Ailing publisher Majesco revealed its third quarter fiscal year 2007 results today, showing a $1.548 million net loss for the quarter. The results for the period ending July 31 more than doubled the previous year's third quarter losses of $724,000.

Accompanying the dour news was a delay for the North American release of Budcat Games' Blast Works: Build, Fuse & Destroy, the Wii port of indie developer Kenta Cho's PC shooter TUMIKI Fighters. The game will now be released in the coming fiscal year's first quarter ending January 31, rather than during its previously announced launch window of the current year's fourth quarter ending October 31.

Thankfully, the delay will give Budcat time to add online... Read more

Looks like Rapture may have a second coming. In an analyst conference call, Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick revealed the company's plans to turn 2K Boston/2K Australia's BioShock into an ongoing franchise.

Zelnick was addressing an analyst's question on how to avoid watering down a franchise with annual releases but still foster innovative development on a regular basis. The chairman said Take-Two would be roughly on a biennial schedule for game releases if it didn't have to worry about fostering creativity in game design.

"I would say, probably, roughly an every-two-year schedule would be optimal. And if you look historically that has been largely the case with GTA, and I'd expect we'd apply rougly the same strategy to BioShock because BioShock is shaping up to be a very important franchise," Zelnick said in... Read more

Developer Ready at Dawn told GameSpot today the PSP iteration of God of War will retail March 4, 2008. The date confirms rumors of a delay from the originally planned fourth quarter 2007 release given to Shacknews in an interview earlier this year.

In addition to the demo disc being sent to those who signed up for it earlier this year, the developer revealed that a second UMD demo of the title will be made available. Including gameplay from the game's Cave of Eos section as well as "making-of" footage, Ready at Dawn expects the first demo to ship to selected gamers this month. The other demo, which will not contain the original's special features, will presumably be made available via certain retailers later this year.

The studio has already begun work on a separate original IP and hired on Naughty Dog vet Dan Arey as a new creative director. Shacknews contacted Sony for more information on the delay, but has not yet received a response. To read more about God of War: Chains of Olympus, check out Chris Faylor's aforementioned interview with the Ready at Dawn team.

Project Gotham developer Bizarre Creation's third-person-shooter The Club (PC, PS3, X360) has been delayed until February of next year, Sega announced today. The game was originally slated for a fourth quarter 2007 release.

The game will feature a fairly prestigious roster of composers, with Richard Jacques of Jet Grind Radio, Jesper Kyd of the Hitman series, and Bizarre's own Chris Chudley collaborating on the title's music.

Shacknews has spoken with EA and Pandemic reps concerning a rumored delay in Pandemic's Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (PC, PS2, PS3, X360). European gaming site TVG reported an EA UK representative confirming a delay into 2008 for the previously announced holiday 2007 title.

An EA rep told Shacknews that as of today, the title is still slated for a holiday 2007 release. A Pandemic rep gave a more ambiguous answer, saying the company has "made no announcements on a final release date for Mercenaries 2: World in Flames."

Though frequently listing unconfirmed and predicted release dates, games retail giant GameStop lists Mercenaries 2: World in Flames as having an April 1, 2008 release for all platforms.

The Xbox 360 edition of the John Woo-styled Stranglehold has gone gold, publisher Midway Games announced today. Developed by Midway Chicago, the team responsible for Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy (PC, PS2, Xbox), and Tiger Hill Entertainment, the Xbox 360 version of the Chow Yun-Fat-starring Hard Boiled prequel heads to stores in North America September 5 and Europe on September 14.

Previously scheduled to hit alongside the Xbox 360 release, the PC iteration of Stranglehold has been pushed back to September 18, with the European edition following on September 21. The PlayStation 3 edition, once slated for September 17 in North America, has been delayed a week and a day to September 25. It will arrive in Europe during October.

A demo of Stranglehold is currently available for download from Xbox Live Marketplace and is expected in the online PlayStation Store at some point. The game will be the subject of what Midway refers to as its "most robust [marketing] campaign ever," spanning "all pertinent mediums worldwide."

Square Enix today disappointed fans of the Dragon Quest series, pushing the estimated release date of the ninth title--set for a Nintendo DS release--into 2008.

As is ever the case in the game industry, the reason given for the delay was to "make a game that will better satisfy players," according to IGN.

Announced last year, Dragon Quest IX will support four-player cooperative play over DS Wi-Fi, and feature the cartoon-esque aesthetic of Dragon Quest VIII. Although the game was earlier reported to feature an action-oriented battle system, recent screens have revealed a more traditional turn-based display.

Funcom today announced that its upcoming MMO Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures has been delayed. Previously expected to be released some time this year, the game is now scheduled for a March 25, 2008 release.

"We naturally regret that we have to push back 'Age of Conan.' However, after careful consideration, and analysis of recent Beta feedback, we believe that the new release date is in the best interest of the gamers, our company and our owners," said Trond Arne Aas, CEO of Funcom. "We are fully committed to delivering games with absolute qualities, and in the current MMO marketplace we know that only the best is good enough to truly succeed. With the new release date we have therefore given ourselves more time to meet and deliver on the massive expectations for the game. We are certain that our choice will ultimately pay off, and that all 'Age of Conan' players will get a special online experience."

Rockstar North's highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, X360) has been delayed into 2008, publisher Take-Two revealed in a financial update. The company cited the necessity of additional development time as the cause of the postponement.

Previously planned for release on October 16, 2007, Grand Theft Auto IV will now arrive in the second quarter of the company's 2008 fiscal year, which spans from February to April. Numerous outlets, Shacknews included, reported that the game ran at a sluggish framerate after witnessing a live demonstration. For more on Grand Theft Auto IV, check out our E3 impressions.

"Certain elements of development proved to be more time-intensive than expected, especially given the commitment for a simultaneous ... Read more

Midway reported a $14.3 million net loss for the second quarter of fiscal year 2007, down from the company's $31.0 million loss during the same period last year. The cut in losses comes partly from a 22.7 year-over-year increase in sales to $31.8 million, higher than Midway's estimates.

During the earnings conference call, CEO David Zucker gave updates on upcoming titles BlackSite: Area 51 (PC, PS3, X360) and The Wheelman (PC, PS3, X360). Previously set for a September release, BlackSite will now launch across all platforms on November 5 in North America and October 26 in Europe.

Zucker also said The Wheelman, a game based on a movie of the same name featuring Vin Diesel, has been pushed to a 2008 first or second quarter retail window. "We'll be shifting our release of The Wheelman starring... Read more

Convention season is here and in full swing. Hot off the heels of San Diego Comic-Con, we have BlizzCon, QuakeCon, and SOE's Fan Faire this week. Oh, and Penny Arcade's PAX is coming soon too.

That said, I think I'll hang back here in Indiana and watch from a distance, but you kids have fun out there. Do me a favor though: if you're at QuakeCon, ruffle Chris Remo's hair for me. And if you see Nick Breckon out at BlizzCon, tell him his shoe is untied. Yes, even if it isn't. Bonus points if you or a friend can knot his laces together without getting caught.

As for tonight's bytes, we have word of a brief Lair (PS3) delay, DiRT on PlayStation 3, new content for Forza Motorsport 2 (X360), and the Record of Lunia War (PC) open beta. ... Read more

Paris-based publisher Ubisoft announced its first quarter earnings yesterday, detailing a 90.5% increase in sales to 134 million euros (US$185 million). Though coupled with the news was a delay for the forthcoming game in Ubisoft's espionage action series, Splinter Cell: Conviction. The title will now retail in the fourth fiscal quarter--January through March of 2008--rather than the planned holiday release in the third quarter.

Attempts to contact Ubisoft for details on the delay have not yet received a response.

In light of the higher-than-expected sales, Ubisoft has raised its predictions for total fiscal year earnings to 825 million euros (US$1.14 billion), up from 800 million euros (US$1.11 billion). Sales of PlayStation 3 software accounted for... Read more