Big Download's 2009 PC Game Vaporware Awards

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Big Download's 2009 PC Game Vaporware Awards

Posted Dec 23rd 2009 5:00PM by John Callaham
Filed under: Features, MMO, RPG

We at Big Download, and the game industry at large, are always interested in seeing what Wired magazine will put into their annual Vaporware list. However, we have been greatly disappointed with the games and game related products that Wired has picked to be on the list in the past few years.

This year's list included StarCraft II at number one which we certainly agree with. However it also included the third episode of Penny Arcade Adventures which we think is a little unfair since two episodes were released last year. And putting Black Mesa, a Half-Life 2 mod that's been in development for several years, is very unfair since the folks behind it are doing it for fun, not for profit or even a deadline.

The truth is there are a lot of high profile games and game-related hardware projects that certainly fit the term "Vaporware" far better than Wired's article. We've decided to give our own Vaporware awards to put the spotlight on those games that were promised at one point for release in 2009 but have not only missed that deadline but have dropped off the the grid in terms of recent publicity and/or any firm new release dates (in StarCraft II's favor, its developer/publisher Blizzard has shown the game as playable at recent events like BlizzCon). We've picked 11 candidates for the award and also given a special mention to a game that, while it didn't have a 2009 release date, should have been out by now as well.

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Gallery: Big Download's 2009 PC Game Vaporware Awards

Tags: aliens-colonial-marines, blur, dungeon-hero, featured, half-life-2-episode-3, jumpgate-evolution, nvidia, onlive, pc-game-vaporware-awards, singularity, the-agency, vaporware, vaporware-awards, world-of-warcraft, world-of-warcraft-headset

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

I know you mentioned Starcraft II in the above article, but I'm surprised neither that or Diablo III didn't make the list.

Also, I agree with Wired putting Black Mesa on that list. I know it's a mod, but I still think they should have waited until they were sure about their project before they threw a release date in the (then) near future.Posted at 5:20PM on Dec 23rd 2009 by thatguyrom

Our criteria, as we mentioned above, is that games and products on our vaporware list had to be announced at some point for a release in 2009 and/or have had little to no PR and marketing for at least the last few months. We didn't put StarCraft II on the list because we didn't want to repeat any selections from the Wired list and also because the game has been shown as playable at recent press events such as BlizzCon and more recently at a Asian game expo called GStar.

Diablo III is not mentioned because it was never expected to be released by the end of 2009. If we do a 2010 list we might include it in that listPosted at 5:36PM on Dec 23rd 2009 by John Callaham

BIGDOWNLOAD STAFF:

I've told several game news outlets this, but its just hurts me that you, pc game related news, don't know this.

The source engine is not going to be replaced by a "Source engine 2.0" ever... like, ever ever. In fact I think the source engine is nearing its 5th "version."

It was designed to be endlessly upgradeable, yet backwards compatible. In this respect, it was EXTREMELY successful.Posted at 5:50PM on Dec 23rd 2009 by Sam

Should'a put PlayTribes on there. ;)Posted at 3:15PM on Dec 24th 2009 by Fixious

You need to correct your vaporware list.

Winter 2009 began on Dec 21, 2009 (2 days ago) and ends on March 19, 2010. OnLive would have said "by end of 2009" if that is when they intended to launch.

I've been in Beta and we're all under NDA, but I can assure you
OnLive is nothing close to vaporware.Posted at 5:31PM on Dec 24th 2009 by Jon Rodgers

Jon
Sorry but using the phrase "Winter 2009" greatly implies that the service will indeed launch by the end of 2009. If they really meant that they will launch in "early 2010" which is what you suggest they imply when they state "Winter 2009" why don't they simply say "early 2010" or "first quarter 2010" and cut the confusion?
Posted at 6:25AM on Dec 25th 2009 by John Callaham