Greatest vaporware of all time?

[eLiu]

lololol

fuuuuuuuu I still get excited watching the trailer for that game. Damn that woulda been awesome. Also Nova is fuckin hot.

 

[shortylickens]

All the things EA killed over the years, particularly when they bought out a company.
When they got Bullfrog they murdered the Dungeon Keeper series, Magic Carpet, and a ton of others. When they got Westwood they killed the spirit of C&C and made tons of generic, colorful crap with has-been actors. When they got Origin they fucked up Wing Commander and then killed it.
Still waiting on a proper Mech Warrior sequel.

Each of those series was waiting on another title when they got raped or shit-canned.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Baldur's Gate III: The Black Hound.

Of course, unless Atari gives BioWare the okay to make it, it will never be done.

It's just be like DA2. DA is mostly what BioWare wanted in a BGIII. DA2 is what EA let them make as a BGIV.

 

[Anubis]

Diablo 3.

Blizzard is just trolling, they're going to keep putting it off until WoW goes under and they go out of business.

they did another beta update like today

 

[GarfieldtheCat]

Hardware, but Bitboys?

 

[PingSpike]

I thought in order to be vaporware the product in question has to be announced but with no official word that it was cancelled meaning there is still at least a miniscule chance some one is working on it, however slowly, in a dirty basement somewhere. If the title is cancelled or released it can no longer be vaporware.

I think I'd have to go with Episode 3 at this point or maybe Diablo 3. I don't think Blizzard actually announced Diablo 3 until fairly recently right? Everyone assumed they would make one forever, yes, but I think they only announced it maybe a couple years ago.

There were a lot of vaporware titles in the past though that actually ended up releasing that other people are mentioning though. Duke Forever is the greatest of course, but TF2, Stalker and Prey were also quote notable.

 

[Red Storm]

Diablo 3 isn't vaporware people. The beta is out and people have played it (myself included).

Episode 3 is the vaporware king right now. I never thought it would overthrow Duke Nukem, but Valve managed.

 

[mrblotto]

Isn't there some Mechwarrior game that was sposed to be released a long time ago but MS is having a hissy fit over something?

*shrugs*

 

[xSkyDrAx]

I think we all knew Diablo 3 was coming but with all the work around WoW it was pretty obvious it was going to be later than expected. Diablo III however has been announced for at least a year if not 2 already with progress shown and made.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Yeah, Diablo 3 hasn't been around nearly long enough for it to be considered vaporware yet. And like others have mentioned, it's actually a playable beta right now. If they were to release the game right now in its current form, it would probably be more playable than a good number of "final" games that come out.

The real sign of a vaporware game is when it's been hinted at for several years with virtually no clues as to its progress. Releasing a 30 second teaser trailer with no gameplay every two years is a sign, look at Duke Nukem Forever.

I think Fallout Online deserves special mention because they tricked a number of people into thinking the game existed when it likely never did (not even in pre-alpha form). The entire game was essentially a barebones website and a few pieces of concept art.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

I think we all knew Diablo 3 was coming but with all the work around WoW it was pretty obvious it was going to be later than expected. Diablo III however has been announced for at least a year if not 2 already with progress shown and made.

Diablo 3 was waaay more popular than Mists of Pandaria at Blizzcon. Although Blizzard DOTA topped all.

 

[xSkyDrAx]

Diablo 3 was waaay more popular than Mists of Pandaria at Blizzcon. Although Blizzard DOTA topped all.

I meant between the time Diablo II LOD came out and Diablo III. If it wasn't for WoW and all its expansions DIII would have been here at least 5 years ago.

 

[nitromullet]

I have faith that Valve will release another installment and/or finish the HL story eventually, and it will have been worth the wait.

 

[Kalmah]

I fired up Half Life 2 just a few days ago. I couldn't play it for more than a couple of minutes. It looks awful now. I can't imagine they would release ep3 in the same engine after all this time.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

I fired up Half Life 2 just a few days ago. I couldn't play it for more than a couple of minutes. It looks awful now. I can't imagine they would release ep3 in the same engine after all this time.

Engine has been updated. L4d2 uses the modified hl2 (edit: source) engine. There are mods to make hl2 use high res textures.

http://cinematicmod.com/cm_10.php

 

[Kalmah]

Engine has been updated. L4d2 uses the modified hl2 engine. There are mods to make hl2 use high res textures.

http://cinematicmod.com/cm_10.php

Ahh. I was not aware of this.

 

[Sable]

Unlimited detail. Believe it when I see it in a game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-ATtrImCx4

 

[EarthwormJim]

Unlimited detail. Believe it when I see it in a game.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-ATtrImCx4

They said they'd be back in about 16 months, and they were. They posted another video in August and had an interview with someone from HardOCP.

Interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVB1ayT6Fdc&context=C32c0428ADOEgsToPDskJP6g5t7Rpoy9mOKGeJZMxN

New Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00gAbgBu8R4&feature=player_embedded

Carmack seems to think it's real, just not as easy as the CEO is saying it will be to use.

 

[AstroManLuca]

They said they'd be back in about 16 months, and they were. They posted another video in August and had an interview with someone from HardOCP.

Interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVB1ayT6Fdc&context=C32c0428ADOEgsToPDskJP6g5t7Rpoy9mOKGeJZMxN

New Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00gAbgBu8R4&feature=player_embedded

Carmack seems to think it's real, just not as easy as the CEO is saying it will be to use.

Yeah, and I don't think it qualifies as vaporware since it's a new technology that will require a ton of work to implement in an actual game. It's not like when a developer is working on a game for years and years, using existing technology, and just gets lazy or whatever and doesn't finish it.

 

[Anarchist420]

Not a PC game, but the original Shinobi III and the original Shinobi Legions. Yes, both Shinobi games were complete before they were scrapped. An alpha of the original Shinobi III was released, but the complete original Shinobi III wasn't released. However, judging from the alpha of the original Shinobi III I've played and the final Shinobi III, Sega was right to scrap the original Shinobi III.

Also, Sonic Xtreme. Not the nights engine tech demo, but the real thing.

I'm still confident that all three will be released some day (a ROM of the final original Shinobi III and an ISO of the original shinobi legions) although Sonic Xtreme would have to be partially redone/fully completed if I'm not mistaken.

 

[mmntech]

They said they'd be back in about 16 months, and they were. They posted another video in August and had an interview with someone from HardOCP.

Interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVB1ayT6Fdc&context=C32c0428ADOEgsToPDskJP6g5t7Rpoy9mOKGeJZMxN

New Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00gAbgBu8R4&feature=player_embedded

Carmack seems to think it's real, just not as easy as the CEO is saying it will be to use.

It's promising tech, if what they're claiming is true. It seems to be.

Not a game but the current record holder is The Thief and the Cobbler, which began production in 1964 and was finally released in 1995.

Team Fortress 2 was in development for nine years. Kirby's Return to Dreamland was 11 years in the making.

I think DNF though will retain the most infamous vaporware crown for a long time to come, for a lot of reasons. 3D Realms was a legendary developer in the early days of modern PC gaming. Then there's was eccentric director George Broussard's obsession with creating the best looking game, period. All development went into graphics. Prettier and prettier screen shots were teased. Then after 15 years, the final result was a beautiful flustercluck of crap. Ugly, dated looking, horrible game play, and none of the charm of the original. As the Duke would probably say, this game was a major cocktease.

 

[Dankk]

They said they'd be back in about 16 months, and they were. They posted another video in August and had an interview with someone from HardOCP.

Interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVB1ayT6Fdc&context=C32c0428ADOEgsToPDskJP6g5t7Rpoy9mOKGeJZMxN

New Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00gAbgBu8R4&feature=player_embedded

Carmack seems to think it's real, just not as easy as the CEO is saying it will be to use.

There's a lot of controversy over the whole "unlimited detail" graphics engine deal. The main criticisms being:

1) Lead developer has absolutely no academic credentials and has been working on the engine for 17 years but still hasn't released anything.

2) The tech demos appear to be very large, but are actually just the exact same assets repeated over and over.

3) There is only ambient lighting, no dynamic shadows.

4) In fact, there are no moving parts whatsoever. They have yet to show a new demo that demonstrates any sort of animation or lighting.

5) The main guy keeps saying "It's real, seriously guys, believe us" without any proof, and he spouts "UNLIMITED DETAIL! UNLIMITED DETAIL! UNLIMITED DETAIL!" so many times that it would put Billy Mays to shame. Some people think it's a scam.

If we consider for a moment that it is legitimate, there are still a lot of problems and limitations with the technology, even if the creators refuse to admit it ("No drawbacks at all, UNLIMITED DETAIL!"). He claims that the engine is perfectly capable of animation, but then uses excuses like "Well, if I had something, like a little animated teddy bear spinning around, it wouldn't look that impressive to anyone." Bullshit. This is a point he's trying to avoid, because it's really unsolvable (source).

As soon as he can show off a demo that has real, dynamic lighting and animation, and creates an actual varied landscape that isn't the same assets repeated a million times over, then I'll be a little less skeptical. I guess if Carmack believes in it though, then maybe it's not too far off.

 

[Phynaz]

HL2: Episode 3

Has this ever actually been announced? Can something that is not announced be vaporware?

 

[shortylickens]

Ummm, yes, Episode 3 has been promised for a very long time now.
And frankly no one cares any more. Most of us are looking forward to Half Life 3, which will likely contain parts from Episode 3.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Has this ever actually been announced? Can something that is not announced be vaporware?

As I said earlier in the thread...

http://www.gamespot.com/news/half-life-2-episode-one-gold-two-dated-three-announced-6151796