Assuming it is far along (near completion, with graphics finished), the longer they wait before announcing/releasing the more time the industry has to catch up to/surpass the graphics of TESV. If it is near completion then they must announce soon to stay ahead of the pack, assuming that's what they will want to be doing (going off of prior games).

So 1/1/11 will be marked on my calendar, along with the VGAs of course.

Huh? I thought people were more interested in the actual graphics rather than photographs and videos of the game before release. If the game is announced sooner or later, it doesn't change the in-game graphics. There's really no implication about industry standards and such and a fitting time to announce a game because of this.