Have you ever read about an upcoming game that sounded exciting, but then you lost enthusiasm due to the lack of updates that followed? Maybe you didn't even recognize it at the time, because the game just faded from your consciousness. Like many gamers, I like to follow the progress of games I'm excited about from development to release. I enjoy watching all the informative developer interview videos along the way, but when all publicly released progress is nonexistent, you have to wonder what the heck is going on with these games. A lack of progress or information can also lead to games being canned as interest appears to wane.
With that said, I'd like to bring to light a number of games whose presence has simply fallen off the face of the earth since their initial announcement. Some of these may be more familiar, but we're avoiding the most noteworthy titles that "everyone" already knows about. (Yes, Duke, I'm talking about you!) As always, I am platform agnostic, so the following titles may be for PC, Xbox 360, PS3, or some combination of those.
Originally referred to as Project IM, Interstellar Marines wowed fans of first person shooters everywhere with an incredible looking trailer shown off at the Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3) in 2006. You can still see this trailer at the official site. Although there were a few updates that lead up to the release of this trailer, not one official word has been uttered since. Even though many game sites have the game listed with a release date of TBA 2008, it has been updated each passing year with TBA 2006 and TBA 2007. Needless to say, we know very little about this game other than its potential to be a huge hit. Here's to hoping that its developer, ZeroPointSoft, will be dropping some new info about the game really soon.
In 2005, Tarsier Studios announced a forthcoming fantasy-action-adventure game, titled simply Metronome. Updated to City of Metronome, the game stood out from the crowd with its unique art style and wildly imaginative characters. This game also suffers from a lack of public knowledge. However, things haven't been completely quiet. In 2006, an odd piece of information was released. It stated that the game's original concept, which consisted of your character capturing various sounds with a recording device and playing them back to manipulate your surroundings and entrance your enemies, was scrapped. This was reportedly due to the game's prospective yet unnamed publisher claiming that the concept was not marketable. What a shame - it sounded great to me. Still, beyond this announcement, no updates have been made public. In the smaller image above, you can see the original concept at work. Although the game's official site remains active, there are no hints of the game's progress or links to bring visitors beyond the main page.
Coded Arms: Assault is a PS3 exclusive that has flown under the radar since a playable demo of the game was showcased at the 2006 Tokyo Game Show. With only a target release date planned, the demo reportedly showed a lack of polish that resulted in a turn-off for many of the fans that experienced it. After the many rumors that the sci-fi first person shooter was cancelled, a representative of developer Konami recently stated that that there were "currently no plans" to release the game for the PlayStation 3. While many took this statement to mean the game had been cancelled, a more recent buzz has emerged stating that the game is simply on hiatus. Whatever the case, Coded Arms: Assault is definitely missing in action.
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firstpersonpooper - Wednesday, July 2, 2008 - link
Wow. Today's big money games are seriously lacking in the originality department. It's becoming and epidemic. Look at these. Anyone can poop out a game like this, call it "Space Marine Assault War 2008" and as long as it looks pretty everyone will love you for it. I'm so tired of seeing a prettier version of the same game over and over and over again.Great graphics don't make a great game. Expect better.
CZroe - Sunday, June 29, 2008 - link
I was hoping to find info about that old "Dreadnought" 64-bit game demo AMD released (developed by Torc Interactive). It was a very interesting tech (physics, design, and visuals) for an FPS at the time and they clearly had "retail product" aspirations.http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=6...">http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=6...
GTVic - Friday, June 27, 2008 - link
Change the name to Chubby Rain...araczynski - Friday, June 27, 2008 - link
i only recognized one or two of those, but didn't care about any of them, so...JasonMick - Friday, June 27, 2008 - link
From way back in 1995... Ascendancy II.For those who played Ascendancy by the Logic Factory you know it to be perhaps the greatest space strategy of all time, with beautiful graphics and great gameplay (only lacking in AI a bit, which was remedied with a patch).
In 98 the Logic Factory, a small dev house released the Tone Rebellion, which was also well received, but not quite as grand.
They were supposed to then be working on a secret 3D engine project for an MMO game. They said they had sunk millions into producing the engine, but nothing ever was released.
Then came rumors starting around 2001 that a sequel to Ascendancy with shiny graphics, etc. was plan. The few die hard fans of Ascendancy (like myself) were thrilled.
No news came the next year, the year after that,etc. Then in 2006/2007, some German language websites claimed to be emailed by the logic factory, which said itd be releasing the game FINALLY in 2007. But it never came.
To this day I've not heard definitively what happened to the Logic Factory OR Ascendancy II, and I've read a lot of fan communities.
Thats my best MIA story...
2coors - Friday, June 27, 2008 - link
what about guild wars 2 i havent heard anything about this game for a while now, at least a year....johnsonx - Thursday, June 26, 2008 - link
This seems a perfect time to bring up RyderMark; there was supposed to have been a game being developed using the same 'engine' as the benchmark. To this day, AFAIK, F(r)uad still maintains that Rydermark was real, so we should have the benchmark and game by now right?Then again, I don't know of any game that you can play using Photoshop!
Pyrokinetic - Thursday, June 26, 2008 - link
Where the heck is Starcraft II? There are rumors hinting at Christmas '08, but I'll believe it when I see it.phrizzo - Thursday, June 26, 2008 - link
Speaking of M.I.A. games, how about Diablo 3? I remember hearing that it would be out in 2005, then 2006, then ... nothing! What's up with that?7Enigma - Sunday, June 29, 2008 - link
Check out Gamespot. They have a 20min video showing 2 of the character classes (barbarian and something resembling the necro/druid class). Graphically it looks VERY nice, lots of cool lighting, destructible environments, and good shadows. Best thing about this is you know it's the GAMEPLAY that matters with any Blizzard product. I doubt we'll see it before summer/fall of 2009, but it's definitely in production.