All the games get to Australia and New Zealand after everywhere else anyway so its no biggy
Volcanic ash causes game delays Down Under
Delayed freight flights due to Icelandic eruption pushes out Australian release dates for Konami titles Silent Hill: Shattered Memories Wii, Karaoke Revolution, and Puzzle Chronicles; other publishers say disruption will be minimal.
The hard-to-pronounce Eyjafjallajokull volcano in southeast Iceland has been causing havoc for global travellers in the last few days, and it looks like the games industry isn't immune. Ash from the erupting volcano has grounded flights to and from Europe since last week, resulting in significant freight delays for games being shipped around the world. Australia has been one of the nations hit, with confirmation today that some Konami titles will miss their original street date thanks to the flight cancelations.
In a statement from Konami's Australian distributor Mindscape, it was confirmed that Silent Hill: Shattered Memories for the Wii, Karaoke Revolution (Wii and PlayStation 3), and Puzzle Chronicles (PSP and DS) will all face delays. Silent Hill: Shattered Memories was due for release in Australia this Thursday, and while the PlayStation 2 and PSP versions will still be available, the Wii version "will be delayed until the cloud of volcanic ash subsides and flights resume," according to Mindscape. Scene it? Twilight (Wii and DS), GTi Club Supermini Festa (Wii), and Sports Island (DS) may also be delayed.
"The flight delays are greatly impacting the industry with Mindscape not the only publisher and distributor facing such delays," the company's statement said. "Mindscape’s freight forwarder continues to remain in close contact with airline partners at local, regional and global levels to monitor the situation and develop alternative capacity solutions as the situation evolves and airspace begins to open up."
GameSpot AU contacted other publishers based in Australia to see if the Icelandic volcano will affect their game shipments, but most have reported minimal to no disruption. Spokespeople from Sega, Ubisoft, and EA said no delay is expected for any of their titles. Ubisoft--the distributor of Square Enix Down Under--reported no delay for Nier, which is scheduled for release this week. Namco Bandai reported some delays for new stock of back-catalog titles such as Just Cause 2, Medieval Games, and Wheelspin.
57 comments
I've just read this article for like a third time and I'm still asking myself, "How is an Icelandic volcano affecting game shipments to Australia?" Does Oceania (AU and NZ) get their games from the Euro Zone? Do they get it from there because of their PAL display standard? I don't get it.
I bet theres a bunch of wackos saying the ash cloud is a sign of the apocalypse or something.
And @wildsduelpack No us and Aussie aren't freaking happy with it. I swear if I ever become a game publisher/developer I'm going to release the game in NZ, a week later in Aussie, a week later in everywhere but the US, then in the USA.
God bless Gametraders who have been selling copies of Shattered Memories imported from the UK since March in Australia.
Its Australia. They are used to waiting for their games or extremely over priced games. / Because of the rating system, Nintendo dominates the area and they make them wait a good time and then over price their games. Sony doesn't get excluded from this as they do it too
I feel sorry for all the australia gamers stuck waiting due to this volcano that has a bad name. Makes me appreciate living in So Cal
no offense to those who are affected by this, but this is pretty funny out of pure randomness
So the games have to all fly over the atlantic? I thought the earth was round. Are we going back to flat earth now?
@boricuasnake04 On the contrary, I would be happy if it DID happen just before the MW2 release! :)
you are all very lucky because all these games suck horribly at least its not during the release of MW2 or something like that
I've been waiting for silent hill a long time, but i live face plant in the ash so delay too for me. it's hard living in Denmark, it's the place where all the games arrive last. (T_T) crying inside...
So, in other words, only Silent Hill will be missed down under. My Aussie comrades, consider yourselves luck to not have to suffer through some sh*ty games.
The translation of the name is IslandMountainGlacier Eyja(Island) Fjalla(Mountain) Jökull(Glacier). Iceland loves causing havoc from time to time :D
yeah now developer's need to work on a game where a super hero tries to survive the inside of Eyjafjallajokull.
I got scared when I saw this article, I thought my precious Red Dead Redemption might some how be delayed. A silly notion I know, but still an overpowering one.
Looks like the Aus' can't catch a break... Not only do their governmant ruin perfectly awesome games, but now this... :(
Its great being in the UK atm. Haven't seen a plane or helicopter in the sky for ages. Which is weird where I live. Just hope everything's fine next month because I'm off to Spain.
Lol at all those people thinking the volcano name is "stupid". It's Icelandic (which actually is quite an old language) for a type of... volcano. Weird huh? We should probably name it something easier for the kids, like: "Mr Ash Spewer X".
wow the name of the volcano looks like some baby hijack a professor's com and ram his head on the keyboard
what a stupid name for a volcano lol looks like someone just pressed all the keys on a key board and decided to name a volcano after it xD
Nooo what will aussies do with the delay of Karoake Revolution and Puzzle Chronicles.. Puzzle Chronicles!!! oh my!
At least it's no games i care about. Speaking of the volcano, because of it my friend is stuck in the UK haha :P
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