aliens-rpg posts

We've reported in the past on the rather sad fate of Obsidian Entertainment's now canceled plans for an RPG based on the Aliens movie franchise. However, there's never been any gameplay footage on what that discontinued game actually looked like. Now a new YouTube video claims to show some in-game footage from that title.

The (extremely dark) video shows a little item gathering and some combat with aliens in the franchise's typical industrial steel corridors. Combat was apparently designed to happen in real time with an over-the-shoulder third person viewpoint. If this is a fake video it's an extremely good one and if not we wish we could have had a chance to see Obsidian complete this project.

It's a bit of an anti-climax at this point but Obsidian Entertainment has finally confirmed what was highly suspected for months; their Aliens RPG project for Sega is no more. In a post on their message board, a rep for the game developer stated, "Unfortunately, it is true that we are no longer working on the game, and we wanted to finally announce that officially to everyone who has been following its development."

Don't weep for Obsidian; they have two more announced projects in the works; the super-spy action-RPG title Alpha Protocol and the still mysterious Fallout: New Vegas game. They also have a third game under development that nothing is known about yet.

Earlier this year rumors hit the Internet that Sega had decided to put two game projects based on the Aliens movie franchise on hold in favor of a new Aliens Vs Predator title. Now comes word that both games are still in production but question remain about one of them.

Kotaku reports that Gearbox Software is still working on their FPS Aliens: Colonial Marines. However the title, which was first announced three years ago, won't be released in 2009. Meanwhile while our sister site Joystiq is reporting that the other Aliens title, under the code name Aliens RPG, is still in development according to Sega questions remain as to whether the game's announced developer, Obsidian Entertainment, is still working on the project.

A couple of weeks ago, rumors hit the Internet that funding had been pulled by publisher Sega for both the Aliens: Colonial Marines FPS from Gearbox Software and the untiled Aliens RPG game from Obsidian Entertainment. While none of the parties involved would officially confirm the news a former Obsidian team member seems to have put the final ax on the Aliens RPG title.

David Kondor recently updated his LinkedIn web profile. Until this month he worked at Obsidian as a designer and his profile states he was working on a "canceled third-person action Aliens RPG" before leaving the company. As we reported earlier this month, Obsidian's CEO Feargus Urquhart, without confirming or denying the shutdown of the Aliens RPG game, told Big Download, "We are doing fine and do not have to shut down operations. We are still actively developing Alpha Protocol and are working on another couple of properties."

[Via Blue's News]

On Thursday rumors started up that developer Obsidian Entertainment had to lay off some team members as a result of Sega canceling their long-in-development Aliens RPG project. Neither Sega nor Obsidian have commented officially on these reports. However Obsidian's CEO Feargus Urquhart has commented to Big Download on reports from our sister site Joystiq that Obsidian is "apparently on the ropes."

According to what Urquhart told us, "We are doing fine and do not have to shut down operations. We are still actively developing Alpha Protocol and are working on another couple of properties." Alpha Protocol is Obsidian's other game for Sega, a third person action-RPG in the super-spy genre that is expected to be released sometime in 2009. Urquhart would not comment on the rumors of the Aliens RPG cancelation nor on the reports of layoffs at the company. One of their other games they might be working on is a rumored third expansion pack for Neverwinter Nights 2.

Yesterday Sega announced plans to fast track a new Aliens Vs Predator game from developer Rebellion for an early 2010 release. At the time Sega said that to accommodate the new game they have "strategically updated the release of the other upcoming Aliens titles." Now rumors have surfaced that may show Sega has some odd definitions of the term "strategically updated".

According to unnamed sources from our sister site Joystiq, Obsidian Entertainment's long-in-development Aliens RPG project has now been canceled with about 20 Obsidian team members laid off as a result. The layoffs have also affected for Obsidian's other Sega published game, the upcoming spy-themed Alpha Protocol. These team reductions could be cause for concern about Obsidian's future existence, according to Joystiq's sources.

The same story claims that Gearbox Software's FPS Aliens: Colonial Marines had its funding cut a while ago. Several months ago Gearbox head Randy Pitchford tried to head off rumors that the game was in fact canceled but this new development may mean the game is still in development trouble. Sega and Gearbox have not yet commented on these rumors while an Obsidian spokesperson would not comment to Joystiq about the reports.

Sega is apparently rethinking their Aliens game release strategies. In 2006 they announced plans to release an Aliens FPS from developer Gearbox Software and an Aliens RPG from Obsidian Entertainment. Aside from a cover article last year in Game Informer magazine about the Gearbox title (since titled Aliens: Colonial Marines) little has been revealed about either title.

Now it looks like Sega has decided to make some changes in their schedule in favor of a new entry in the Aliens Vs. Predator franchise. The newly announced game, due in early 2010, will be developed by UK based Rebellion who created the acclaimed 1999 AvP FPS title for the PC. No other info on the game, including platforms, have been released. In their press release announcing the game, Sega said they have "strategically updated the release of the other upcoming Aliens titles." That most likely means those two other Aliens games won't be coming out until after Aliens Vs Predator.

[Via Joystiq]

Last week we had a feature article that took a look at many PC games that are currently being developed in near secrecy with little to no info on what those games are actually like. However, there also also a number of games that have been fully announced, with screenshots, trailers and more and yet even after years of waiting (and in case of one game over a decade) we are still awaiting those titles to finally be released. These are the games that we have decided to put in our Vaporware Vault.

Sometimes a game is officially announced and can ship to stores inside of a year (in a very quick turnaround, Electronic Arts officially announced Need For Speed Undercover in August and it's set for release in November). Sometime it can be two years between the game's reveal and its appearance in stores. However we have seen games take much, much longer. For example the original Max Payne game was announced in 1997 but wasn't released until 2001. The just released Spore was first revealed in March 2005. Valve's Team Fortress 2 was first announced in 1998 but the final, and much changed, version didn't get released until 2007.

So what PC games are we still waiting on? Quite a few and they come from developers both big and small. Our criteria for inclusion in our list of tardy games is that they must have been officially revealed in 2006 or later and that they are not scheduled for release until at least 2009. Many of these games have had little to no info on their status since their initial announcement. The reasons for their delays are sometimes unknown. Yet they all have one thing in common besides having their release dates pushed back. They all could be terrific games. We begin our feature with the grand champion of delayed PC games, Duke Nukem Forever

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