Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto is often quoted as saying "a delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad?” But did he really say it? A new report suggests no.
A Critical Hit article by Kate Willaert digs into the origins of the phrase, which is usually wheeled out whenever a game is delayed to make it better.
According to Willaert’s research, the phrase may have originated from Origin Systems in the 80s. Origin Systems was the American video game developer founded by Richard "Lord British" Garriott and his brother Robert, and best-known for the Ultima and Wing Commander series.
Specifically, Siobhan Beeman, who was project director at Origin from 1989 to 1992, remembers saying a variation of the quote (“a game is only late until it ships, but it’s bad forever”) during a Computer Game’s Developers Conference in 1996.
“To the best of my recollection I came up with that phrasing,” Beeman, who Willaert tracked down, said now, nearly 30 years later. “The sentiment certainly existed in the industry, especially at places like Origin.”
Why is this back in the news? In a recently published Half-Life: 25th Anniversary Documentary, Valve co-founder Gabe Newell says pretty much the same thing: “Late is just for a little while, suck is forever. Right?”
Widsom from Gabe Newell
— DANNYonPC (@DANNYonPC) November 17, 2023
''Late is just for a little while, Suck is forever right?'' pic.twitter.com/a7XFxEMOSy
In truth, it’s impossible to know the true origins of the phrase. Perhaps it’s as old as video games themselves. But there’s no definitive proof Miyamoto came up with it, or has even ever said it. So what are the origins of the myth?
According to a 2022 report by thehistoryofhowweplay, it may have something to do with a rather innocuous paragraph published in the June 1998 issue of Next Generation magazine: "Nintendo apparently lives by the same mantra that we once saw posted on the wall at a development house: 'A late game is only late until it ships. A bad game is bad until the end of time.' We applaud Nintendo for that."
Perhaps that development house was Origin Systems.
Image credit: Photo by Kayla Oaddams/WireImage
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
