"Everyone was just so excited that the deal got done. 20th Century Fox, Gearbox and Sega all had to agree to do this and commit themselves to it. The fact that that deal even existed -- everyone on the business side was so excited that the deal happened that they just wanted to tell the world. So before we even started on the game they announced the deal." - Gearbox's Randy Pitchford

That's why it seems so long from the game's first announcement to actually seeing release! Sounds like the final project will be worth it. According to Pitchford, the game is so good that it'll make Aliens 3 seem like a better film!

"After this game, Alien 3 is a better film. I think [Alien 3] is a great film, but I think that when we came off of Aliens, some of us wanted something different. Also, there were some weird things that we didn't quite make sense of. Inconsistencies with the canon that were created. And it turns out that they're not inconsistencies – there are reasons for things. And we get to be the ones that get to connect all that up and make it clear [...] The fact that we can do it in video game form is just amazing."

Impressions and interviews here, here and here