I'm not convinced that this is because of financial reasons. Releasing a game in the first quarter of the year instead of the fourth quarter of the previous year is a poor strategy in any market.<< >> I think it's stupid that there's a release date difference. Besides, Europe, this means if there's a ZOMG FATAL BUG with our games you guys might be able to get a fix. You luckies. xD; . I'm not gonna be happy if Europe gets it first. Not happy if US gets it first. Not happy if Japan gets it. I don't think there's any reason the US, Japan, or Europe should get it before any other country does, but SEGA has a financial chart like they always do, and that's basically what it is >>...
The delay might have something to do with the technical differences between European and Japanese/American television formats. Japan and America use NTSC, which runs at 59.94 Hz (or 29.97 full frames per second) with 486 scanlines visible out of 525. Europe uses PAL, which runs at 50 Hz (or 25 full frames per second) with 576 scanlines visible out of 625. Although this is a programming problem that should have been solved a long time ago, it's possible that adapting the game for PAL televisions is the reason for the delay in Europe.
Here is a video that shows what happens when a developer doesn't correct for the differences between PAL and NTSC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0llsb77Esc