{"id":27119,"date":"2024-07-19T12:19:15","date_gmt":"2024-07-19T11:19:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/geimers.com\/?p=27119"},"modified":"2025-04-02T09:46:31","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T08:46:31","slug":"the-most-delayed-game-in-history-is-released-for-game-boy-advance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/geimers.com\/en\/the-most-delayed-game-in-history-is-released-for-game-boy-advance\/","title":{"rendered":"The Most Delayed Game in History is Released for Game Boy Advance"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t

It was the early 2000s, and a group of friends with a deep passion for video games and no prior development experience set out to create the first Italian game to be released on the Game Boy Advance. To do this, they founded a company with an initial investment of just \u20ac500 and acquired the first GBA development kit to arrive in Italy. Their budget was so tight that they used their personal computers for the process, and the most curious thing is that none of the five were programmers. It took them quite some time to find one since, as the project leader (and the only remaining member) Fabio Belsanti explains in his memoirs:<\/a><\/p>


<\/span>“We must remember that we\u2019re talking about a time when the internet was just starting, remote work was almost impossible, and attracting a professional international developer to Bari was a pipe dream.”<\/p><\/blockquote>

Eventually, they connected with a web developer who admitted he wasn\u2019t sure he could complete the project but vowed to \u201cfight to the death to finish it.\u201d With that, David Malerba joined the team as a programmer. After several months of tireless work, the game was complete. It featured 23 interconnected levels in an action-platformer title with RPG elements. Behind its cartoonish and colorful aesthetic lay a highly challenging adventure with tightly tuned difficulty. Now, all that was left was to find a publisher and release the game, and that\u2019s where the real struggles began.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t

How long did it take to publish Kien on the Game Boy Advance?<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t

By late 2002, the game was finished and just needed a publishing deal. From that point until early 2004, the small studio pitched their project to various publishers, but they couldn\u2019t secure a release. Though they managed to sign three contracts, all fell through in the end. Overall, the feedback on the product was very positive, and sales estimates were moderate. However, it posed a significant risk due to the high production cost per cartridge (around $15 per unit) and, most importantly, the fact that only Nintendo IPs sold reliably on the GBA. Companies weren\u2019t willing to risk their capital\u2014not because they didn\u2019t believe in the product but because of the market trends on Nintendo\u2019s handheld. Publishers themselves acknowledged that\u00a0Kien<\/em>\u00a0was a great game with strong potential, but they insisted it was necessary to wait, even years, before releasing it. And those years certainly passed.<\/p>

Slowly, the members of the team began to lose hope and abandoned the project until only Fabio was left. But life gave him a second chance, and his tireless effort eventually paid off. It took 22 years for the game to finally find a publisher<\/strong>. This revival wouldn\u2019t have been possible without the efforts of Incube8<\/strong>, a company dedicated to releasing games in physical format. Finally, after more than two decades,\u00a0Kien\u00a0<\/strong>has been launched, marking a milestone as the most delayed release in history. It is now available in physical format through Incube8\u2019s<\/strong><\/a> store, complete with a box, cartridge, manual, and sticker sheet, priced at $60<\/strong>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Kien-GBA-Standard-Edition\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\"SEGA<\/a><\/div>\n
News<\/a>Retro<\/a>Video game preservation<\/a><\/div>

VGHF manage to recover and preserve all SEGA Channel games<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

\"SummerCart<\/a><\/div>\n

SummerCart 64 an Essential Purchase for your Nintendo 64<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

\"The<\/a><\/div>\n

The Video Game History Foundation launches its digital library<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

\"SuperStation<\/a><\/div>\n

R\u00b2 announces PlayStation One-based FPGA console<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n