How did they not see a month delay ahead of time?

Being both "gamers"and snowboarders, my brother and I were really excited about the upcoming snowboarding game, Stoked. It had been a while since either of us had purchased a snowboarding game and Stoked had some exciting features, great reviews, and an awesome price point ($20 less than most Xbox 360 games).

We originally heard about the game back in November, while following the PAX event, so needless to say the wait has been a while. I may seem a bit nerdy to get excited about a game (especially, from a small developer), but its no more nerdy than getting excited about the next Twilight movie. Anyway, we'd been keeping an eye on the game and the development process, getting ever more ready for its release, and today was the day! Back in December on its official blog, posted December 4th the game's developer announced the game's release date as January 20th, 2009. Earlier today I got an e-mail from ign.com (an entertainment website) that detailed the upcoming releases this month, Stoked wasn't on there.

I did a little investigation and checked ign's release date site, strangely it said the game was being released on January 26th... Huh? So I went to gamestop.com and found the game but it said it was being shipped on FEBURARY 24th???? I decided to go straight to the source and went back to their official blog here is what was posted:

Dear Fans,

Stoked is a highly anticipated title and has been subjected to aggressive testing to provide the consumer with the best play experience yet. As a result, Stoked is being held, and will come to consumers in February 2009. The official release date is February 24th.

We deeply apologize in advance to our fans and loyal supporters for the delays. Thanks for your support and we assure you it will be well worth the wait...

This was posted on January 20th at 11:52 am... TODAY! How can a company not foresee a month long delay sooner than the day it is supposed to be in the hands of its consumers?!?!? What could possibly have happened at the last minute to cause this? I don't know, but it all seems a bit sketch.

But on the bright side I get to keep playing the waiting game for free in the meantime.

Photo taken from developer blog at http://gettingstoked.com/blog/2009/01/20/stoked-delayed-until-february-24th/.