EA refines Q1 line-up

Following yesterday's confirmation that the latest Medal of Honor and Sims instalment have been delayed (story), EA UK has updated its charming new press extranet with a selection of new release dates for some key titles that had previously basked under the cowardly blanket of "Q1 2004".

Fortunately for EA, the banishment of two of its biggest franchises to the nether regions of the 2004 release schedule won't hurt it too much (not as much as DRIV3R's delay has beaten down Atari's stock percentage-wise, anyway). February and March are still strong months for the world's biggest publisher, with Final Fantasy X-2 (Square Enix, PS2) due on February 20th, the latest James Bond title Everything or Nothing (all formats) now due on February 27th, and Spawn: Armageddon (Namco, all console formats) arriving on March 12th, before Q1's biggest gun, Battlefield Vietnam, hits on the 19th. Rounding off the month is the roundly disappointing R: Racing Evolution (of which more soon when I've sharpened my fangs).

Q2 is obviously a bit scarcely populated by comparison, and we'd expect the list to grow somewhat before we hit any of these dates, but there's still a lot of potential in the shape of Fight Night 2004 (PS2/Xbox) on May 14th, a boxing title with an unorthodox control scheme which is a bit of an unknown quantity at this point, ANNO 1503 - Treasures, Monsters and Pirates (an expansion for ANNO 1503 from Sunflowers - okay, this probably won't do so well here) on May 21st, and most significantly Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban on every format under the sun come May 28th.

Certainly a lot to think about there, although EA fans (if such people exist) might want to stay home for this Friday unless they're after the SimCity 4 Deluxe PC pack. Looney Tunes: Back In Action and NFL Street are probably worth waiting patiently to hear about...