# A Delayed Game Is Eventually Good But A Bad Game Is Bad Forever > A Delayed Game Is Eventually Good But A Bad Game Is Bad Forever is a 2012 Reddit image-macro attributed to Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto, used as a reaction to announced video game delays. "A delayed game is eventually good, but a bad game is bad forever" is a quote widely attributed to Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto that became one of gaming's most repeated mantras. The phrase circulated as an industry saying since at least the late 1990s and was first tied to Miyamoto around 2002, spawning an image macro format on Reddit in 2012 that became the go-to reaction whenever a major game got delayed. Research since 2022 has shown that Miyamoto likely never said it at all, with the phrase possibly originating from Origin Systems developer Siobhan Beeman in 1996[3]. ## Origin The phrase existed as informal industry wisdom well before anyone tied it to Miyamoto. The earliest known print appearance comes from issue 111 of GamePro magazine, published in December 1997, in a preview of Sony's shooter *Blasto*[9]. The article describes "A late game is only late until it ships. A bad game is bad for the rest of your life" as an "industry catch phrase"[2]. Six months later, the June 1998 issue of Next Generation magazine ran an article about *The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time* that mentioned Nintendo living by the mantra "A late game is only late until it ships. A bad game is bad forever," noting the quote was "posted on the wall at a development house"[4]. That same month, a GameFan magazine preview of *Unreal* attributed a similar line to GT Interactive producer Jason Schreiber[2]. By November 1998, the Schreiber quote was reposted on Usenet but attributed to Rare instead[2]. Research by Kate Willaert for A Critical Hit traced the phrase back even further, to the Computer Game Developers Conference in 1996. There, Ellen Guon Beeman quoted her partner Siobhan Beeman, then a project director at Origin Systems (the studio behind *Ultima* and *Wing Commander*), as saying "A game is only late until it ships, but it's bad forever"[6]. Siobhan Beeman later confirmed to Willaert: "To the best of my recollection I came up with that phrasing," though she acknowledged the sentiment was widespread in the industry[3]. The Miyamoto attribution started picking up steam in the early 2000s. By June 2002, the quote appeared on the Miyamoto Shrine fan website as one of his famous sayings[10]. An October 2003 Usenet discussion about *Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death* included user Charles E. Hardwidge attributing it to Miyamoto: "A delayed game is eventually good, a bad game is bad forever"[11]. In April 2012, The Guardian published a feature on Miyamoto that used the quote in the headline[1]. The attribution stuck. - **Platform:** Gaming industry oral tradition (quote), Reddit (image macro) - **Creator:** Siobhan Beeman (likely originator of the phrase), DecadenceNight (Reddit image macro creator) - **Date:** 1997 (earliest print appearance), 2012 (meme format) ## Overview The meme takes the form of a photo of Shigeru Miyamoto (usually smiling and holding up a hand or posing with a Nintendo product) with white Impact font text overlaid reading some version of "A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad." The image macro gets posted in gaming communities every time a high-profile title misses its release window, serving as reassurance that delays lead to better games. Over time, the format became a target for parody. Users started editing the bottom text to undermine or contradict the quote, pointing to games that were both delayed and terrible, or games that launched broken but were later patched into something great. The meme walks an interesting line between sincere gaming wisdom and ironic punchline[8]. ## How It Spread On March 16, 2012, Reddit user DecadenceNight posted the first known image macro version to r/gaming, featuring Miyamoto's photo with the quote in Impact font. The post picked up over 1,500 upvotes and was widely shared across gaming forums throughout the 2010s[5]. The macro got a second life on September 9, 2015, when Redditor DarkProzzak reposted it to r/gaming, where it gained over 10,200 upvotes in six months[5]. Humorous edits started appearing in 2018. On August 18, Twitter user @Doctor_Cupcakes made the first known parody, recaptioning the bottom text to "but a Spyro game is forever bad," which pulled in over 370 retweets and 1,800 likes[5]. In January 2019, @ArloStuff used the format to joke about *Metroid Prime 4*'s development restart, earning 740 retweets and 4,200 likes[5]. That March, Facebook user Jonathan Dogey posted another edit that picked up over 110 reactions[5]. The meme hit peak velocity around the release of *Cyberpunk 2077* in late 2020. CD Projekt Red's game had been delayed multiple times before launching in a notoriously broken state on consoles, making the Miyamoto quote both ironic and painfully relevant. On October 27, 2020, Twitter user @imsaltYT posted a Cyberpunk-themed version that got over 100 retweets and 960 likes[5]. On March 28, 2021, a shitpost in r/cyberpunkgame mocking the quote with Cyberpunk's buggy reality gained over 3,600 upvotes[5]. The macro kept surfacing whenever anticipated games faced delays. Each major postponement brought a fresh wave of both sincere and ironic deployments of the Miyamoto image[8]. ## How to Use The standard deployment is straightforward: when a game you're interested in gets delayed, post the Miyamoto image macro with the original text as sincere reassurance. For the parody version, users typically keep the top text ("A delayed game is eventually good") but swap the bottom text to reference a game that contradicts the quote. Common approaches include naming a game that was delayed and still turned out bad, or one that launched rough but was fixed through updates. Some versions replace both lines entirely to make broader jokes about gaming culture. The format also works as a reaction image in comment threads. When someone complains about a game delay, dropping the macro (either straight or ironic) is a reliable bit. The meme's dual nature as both sincere and sarcastic means context determines the tone. ## Cultural Impact The quote's reach extends well beyond Reddit and Twitter. The Guardian used it as a headline for a major Miyamoto profile in 2012[1]. TheGamer, IGN, Game Rant, and Screen Rant have all published dedicated articles exploring the quote's validity and origins[8][3][2][6]. The 2022-2023 investigation into the quote's true origins turned into a genuine piece of internet historiography. Ethan Johnson's Twitter thread documenting his research through decades of gaming magazines went viral in its own right[4]. Kate Willaert's A Critical Hit article definitively traced the quote to Siobhan Beeman, earning coverage across major gaming outlets and giving belated credit to a developer who had been written out of her own contribution to gaming culture[7]. Gabe Newell's paraphrase in the Half-Life 25th Anniversary Documentary showed how deeply the sentiment is woven into the industry's self-image, even when nobody can agree on who said it first[7]. ## Fun Facts - The Miyamoto Shrine fan website listed the quote among his sayings as early as June 2002, making it one of the oldest traceable instances of the misattribution[10]. - The actual earliest known source of the quote's sentiment, Siobhan Beeman, worked at Origin Systems on games like *Wing Commander* and *Ultima VI* and later worked on *The Lamplighters League*[6]. - Gabe Newell's version of the quote, "Late is just for a little while, suck is forever," was delivered without any credit to Miyamoto, treating it as common industry wisdom[7]. - The 2003 Usenet post that is the first confirmed Miyamoto attribution was in a thread complaining about *Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death*, of all games[7]. - Despite extensive research by multiple historians, no interview, press conference transcript, or first-party Nintendo document has ever been found containing Miyamoto saying the quote[3]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is "A Delayed Game Is Eventually Good, But a Bad Game Is Bad Forever"? It's a quote about video game development commonly attributed to Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto, stating that taking extra time to finish a game leads to a good product while rushing one creates a permanently flawed one. It became a widely shared image macro and reaction meme in gaming communities[5]. ### Where did the quote come from? Despite being attributed to Miyamoto, the phrase likely originated as an industry saying in the mid-1990s. The earliest print appearance is from a December 1997 issue of GamePro magazine, where it's described as an "industry catch phrase"[2]. Research suggests it may have originated with Origin Systems developer Siobhan Beeman, who said a version of it at a 1996 game developers conference[3]. ### What does the meme mean? At face value, it argues that game delays are worthwhile because quality lasts forever while a bad launch reputation is permanent. In its ironic form, it's used to mock games that were delayed and still turned out poorly, or to question whether the logic holds up in the modern era of post-launch patches[8]. ### How do you use the meme? Post the Miyamoto image macro with the original text whenever a game gets delayed as reassurance, or edit the bottom text to reference a game that contradicts the quote for humor. It works both sincerely and sarcastically depending on context[5]. ### Is the meme still popular? The image macro is a fixture of gaming culture that surfaces reliably whenever a major title gets delayed. Its status as both sincere wisdom and ironic punchline keeps it relevant across different gaming communities[8]. ### Did Miyamoto actually say the quote? No definitive proof exists. Researchers including Ethan Johnson and Kate Willaert have found no interview or document where Miyamoto says it. The attribution appears to have developed through a game of telephone on Usenet and fan sites in the early 2000s[4][3]. ### Who actually coined the phrase? The strongest lead points to Siobhan Beeman, a project director at Origin Systems, who said "A game is only late until it ships, but it's bad forever" at the 1996 Computer Game Developers Conference. Beeman confirmed she believes she came up with the phrasing, though she notes the sentiment was widespread[6]. ### When did the image macro first appear? Reddit user DecadenceNight posted the first known image macro to r/gaming on March 16, 2012, using a photo of Miyamoto with the quote in Impact font. It received over 1,500 upvotes[5]. ### Why did Cyberpunk 2077 make the meme go viral again? *Cyberpunk 2077* was delayed multiple times before launching in December 2020 in a notoriously broken state on consoles, making it the ultimate counterexample to the quote's logic and triggering a wave of ironic edits[5]. ### What is Gabe Newell's version of the quote? In the Half-Life 25th Anniversary Documentary, the Valve co-founder said "Late is just for a little while, suck is forever," without attributing it to Miyamoto[7]. ### What games are commonly cited to disprove the quote? *Duke Nukem Forever* (delayed 14+ years, poorly received), *Mighty No. 9* (delayed multiple times, mediocre reviews), and *Cyberpunk 2077* (delayed and still launched broken) are the most common counterexamples[8]. ## References 1. [Shigeru Miyamoto: A rushed game is forever bad | Nintendo | The Guardian]() 2. [Famous Miyamoto Quote About Delayed Games Could Be Misattributed]() 3. [Wot no daystick (was dredd vs death demo)]() 4. [A Delayed Game Is Eventually Good, But a Bad Game Is Bad Forever - Know Your Meme]() 5. [List of video games notable for negative reception]() 6. [HonkeyKong.Org • Change is good.]() 7. [10 "A Delayed Game" Memes That Are Too Funny For Words]() 8. [Did Miyamoto Really Say "A Delayed Game Is Eventually Good, but a Rushed Game Is Forever Bad?” - IGN]() 9. [Bite-Sized Game History: Tracking Down the Origin of Miyamoto’s Most Famous Quote and Kirby’s Very First Appearance in a Game – Video Game Canon]() 10. [I Still Can't Believe Shigeru Miyamoto's Most Famous Quote Belongs To Someone Else Entirely]() 11. [Solved: If Miyamoto Never Said His Most Famous Quote, Who Did? – A Critical Hit (2023) – Video Game Research Library]() 12. [GamePro - Issue 111 Volume 09 Number 12 (1997-12)(IDG Publishing)(US) : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive]() 13. [Miyamoto Shrine -:- Shigeru Miyamoto's Home on The Web]() 14. [Why a delayed game is eventually good: The messy reality behind Shigeru Miyamoto’s famous quote - Thepilotworks]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/a-delayed-game-is-eventually-good-but-a-bad-game-is-bad-forever Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library