We think we cracked the code of delayed games. You don't really need to worry unless the title of a game can be easily worked into a headline gag about the delay. Madden? Call of Duty? Boring. Those games are destined to come to market on time. But dangle "The Max Payne of a long wait ahead" or "Agent to stay secret for a while longer" in front of Fate and it just can't help itself. If there's one thing the gaming gods love, it's a rib-tickling blog pun.

It goes almost without saying then that in an investor call today Take-Two would say only that Max Payne 3 and Agent are "still in development," declining even to give a calendar year in which either would be released. It's a tough situation, but if Take-Two would just relent and change the names to Dependable Cop 3 and Trustworthy Spy it could all be fixed.