Midway has announced that The Wheelman and This is Vegas have been pushed back to 2009. No excuse was given for the delays, but gaming analyst Michael Pachter claims that the move is to make 2009 more profitable.

"Notwithstanding the game slips and the likely delay of a return to profitability for another year, we remain cautiously optimistic that Midway will perform better in 2009 than it is expected to perform in 2008," said Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter, who also said that "the low point in Midway's turnaround story" is behind it.

For as much as I am annoyed that I wont get a chance to play these games until next year, Midway banking on the success of TNA Impact and Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe to keep 2008 afloat isn’t a terrible move. The developer has already posted significant losses for the first half of 2008 (they launched games in 2008?), and attempting to make 2009 a record breaking year would appease stock holders more than 2008 just barely breaking even.

Not only that, but at E3 when I had a chance to play both This is Vegas and The Wheelman my biggest complaint was a lack of polish, so the extra few months of development time will surely help to knock out the issues. A 2009 release also means that Vegas doesn’t need to complete with Saints Row 2, making it the biggest fish in early 2009’s small pond of open world games.

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